Dragon Master

            The mysterious crimson stone flickered and flashed in the firelight. For a fleeting fraction of a moment, it appeared to be alive. Adrelius shivered, despite the fact that he was sitting as close to the campfire as he could without getting burned. He kept the coconut-sized Soulstone next to him, not daring to take his eyes from the treasure they had all risked their lives for, and were still risking their lives for. Drel could not bear to think what would become of himself and the prince if they were to fail this mission.

            There’s nothing more to fear, he reassured himself. The dragons would not be able to track them in this blizzard. And even if they could, the cave they were hiding in would be near impossible to find, since they had completely concealed its entrance with snow.

            Regardless, Drel could not sleep. Instead, he prodded the fire every now and then to keep it alive. He watched the Soulstone as it danced with the flames, embellishing the fire’s brilliance across its smooth, warm surface. He listened to the wind as it shrieked and shuddered against the outer stone walls of what was, at the moment, both their sanctuary and their prison.

            The cave was long rather than wide, with only a small portion of it amounting to any sort of habitable space for a scrawny prince, his hulking bodyguard, and a wolf—Drel’s bodyguard and most trusted canid companion. The cave walls were ragged, sending the stone’s enlarged shadows flaunting every which way. To Drel, they were akin to demons, foreshadowing untimely demise by dancing whimsically around humans who were doomed to die.

            Drel noticed Kamunyak prick her black-tipped ears, although he himself had heard nothing but the wind. She cautiously rose to a sitting position, her attention directed at the cave’s covered mouth. Drel had been soulbound to this majestic beast since before he could remember. As any souls bound to each other, they understood each other’s conscious feelings and whims. No gift of the Gods could have been more precious to Drel than his own companion with whom he could depend on through thick and thin. Should he have the slightest worrying though, she was there to help him through it.

            “Dragons,” she growled. Her sleek silver fur rustled at the nape of her neck, and her blue eyes flashed in the dim. She had spoken just loud enough to startle a previously slumbering Cedric into rousing.

            “Impossible,” croaked the prince. “Do they know we’re here?” He absentmindedly ran his hand through his ruffled golden hair. Even in imminent danger, a prince could not avoid worrying about such trivialities.

            “I do not know,” the she-wolf replied. “They are still at a distance, but coming ever closer. We may be found before the storm takes its leave.”

            Cedric cursed under his breath. The smoke seeping through the crevices in the cave’s roof would surely give them away, if it hadn’t already. But they couldn’t risk snuffing out the fire—not now. If the dragons did find them, they might need it to help them escape.

            A stentorian roar from just outside the cave pierced the air, making both humans jump in their skin. The dragons had already arrived and discovered their hiding spot, and had started digging out the barrier of snow that hid them.

            Cedric launched a tirade upon Drel. “I told you we should have kept going! Now we’re as good as dead,” he hissed.

            Kamunyak spared Drel the trouble of replying to this by doing it for him. “The two of you would not have survived in such conditions.” Her teeth were bared in defiance. Drel sensed her opinion of Cedric, a spoiled prince who had never understood hardship.

            Drel realized that he needed to come up with an escape plan, and fast. He dislodged one of the thicker branches from the bottom of the campfire and relit the end of it. This would be his weapon.

            He informed Cedric of his plan, since Kamunyak already knew what it was the moment he’d thought of it. “When the wall breaks, wait for Kam and I to push them back. Once there’s an opening for you, take the stone and flee southward as fast as you can. Kam will come with you. I’ll hold them off here. Just don’t stop running until you’re past the frozen river. I will meet you two there when I’m finished.”

            The prince nodded without a word and went to retrieve the Soulstone from its resting spot beside what was now a smoldering pile of burnt logs and ashes.

The knight was unsettled by his silent compliance; usually, if Cedric did anything that was asked of him, it was not without some form of defiant complaint.

            Kamunyak startled him by replying to his thoughts. He realizes that you know what actions are best to take right now. He trusts you will get us out of this.

            Drel nodded to her. He could only hope she was right.

            Cedric came over to his side, both arms wrapped around the Soulstone. “I demand that you two cease sending one another silent signals at once. It’s… rather frightening.”

            In less than a minute, the last of the frozen barrier had crumbled away. From the opposite side emerged snarling snouts, ivory teeth, and icicle claws. But Drel was ready for them: claymore in one hand and torch in the other.

            The knight guided his claymore across one of the dragons’ faces with astounding speed and precision. The poor creature howled and retreated. He took the burning torch and thrust it at the remaining two dragons. They leapt backwards and away from the licking orange flames. Now that they were all out in the open, Drel pushed them back and over to his left. Kamunyak came up from behind to help, but an opening had already been made.

            The moment Cedric burst out of the cave and started running, the winged beasts had their full attention upon him. Or rather, upon the vermilion stone wrapped snug in his arms. Despite Drel and Kam’s best efforts, they could not stop the dragons from going after the prince. They swerved around, leapt over, and glided away from Drel. It took them only a moment more to catch up to Cedric and knock him to the ground, several paces away. Luckily, Kamunyak was already by his side. Drel could do nothing but trudge through the snow and hope that he could get to the prince before something terrible happened.

            Kam tried her best to protect Cedric, but the dragons ignored her advances and tore away at the helpless prince with their sharp ice claws. Drel could only watch in terror as these events unfolded before his eyes in the longest seconds of his life.

            Cedric could barely feel the claws raking across his back. Whether this was due to numbness or adrenaline, he was not sure. All he could think about at that moment was the Soulstone. Didn’t his father tell them that once they stole it, the ice dragons would lose all of their power? All this time, he had assumed that had been the whole reason for stealing it. But stealing the stone had had the opposite effect. Instead of losing their power, the practically harmless creatures had become enraged that their precious treasure had been stolen.

            The prince reached for the dagger at his belt. My father must have been misinformed, he thought. The only other solution… He put the crimson stone down in front of him and raised the dagger to the sky. And, with the last of his strength, he brought it down upon the stone.

            …Is to destroy it.

~*~

            Drel watched in confusion as the three ice beasts suddenly ceased their assault and crouched low to the ground, whimpering and trembling. Then, they stretched out their baby blue wings and took to the air. They were headed north, back to their lair. But why? Drel wondered. Are they afraid of something?

            A wave of terror washed over him then, but it was not his own: it was Kam’s. He saw her sitting next to the unmoving heap in the snow that was Cedric. Or perhaps his body. What the devil is going on!? Drel asked the she-wolf.

            He felt her terror morph into curiosity and amazement. You must come and look for yourself, she replied. I am unsure of what I am seeing.

            When Drel reached them, he could see that, although injured, Cedric was not dead. The knight let out a sigh of relief so loud that it sounded more like a gasp.

            But what he saw next dissolved any relief he had left. Countless scores of cracks ran across the whole surface of the Soulstone. It looked like it would completely shatter if anything so much as sneezed on it.

            Drel’s knees gave out at the very thought of what this meant. They had failed their mission. The king had specifically ordered them to bring the stone back to him in pristine condition. As of now, they would be lucky to get all the pieces back to him.

            Drel managed to force out the question, “How did it break?”

            Cedric looked up at the knight, shaken. “I… thought it was a stone…?”

            “Of course it’s a stone,” Drel snapped. “Just a very fragile one. So how did it break?”

            “I broke it,” Cedric shook his head, “but it’s not a stone, Drel! It’s an egg! A dragon egg….”

            Drel picked up his head to look at the “Soulstone” just in time to see it fall to pieces. But there was, indeed, a dragon inside. A crimson dragonling. Its scales were just as vibrant and magnificent as the egg it had emerged from. It stretched its silky wings and yawned, quite pleased to be free from its cage at last. Cedric picked up the tiny creature and held it to his chest.

            Drel panicked. “What are you doing? That thing could be dangerous!”

            The prince let out a laugh, his breath fogging up the air. “Of course he’s dangerous, but not to us. I’m soulbound with him now.”

            Drel shuddered. He’s nowhere near as dangerous as your father, who may very well kill you now that he can’t soulbind with the last fire dragon in the world.

            “Still cold?” Cedric questioned.

            As your bodyguard, you must protect him, Kam advised him.

            “I suppose so,” Drel puffed, releasing a puff of condensed air from his mouth. It was better, at least for now, if Cedrus was kept in the dark on this matter. “Can it light a fire for us?”