A Dragon's Bond

by Johnson, S. B.

  "Chloe, how exactly do you know that this leads to the egg chamber?" Davin shot her an inquisitive look.

  "My brother. He had been looking over some plans of the Keep. He left them laying out and I just so happen to sneak a peek. We will have to come back later after dark though. There will be less guards walking about once we get to the area where the chamber is. If we were to go now, we would surely be heard. Meet me here late tonight after everyone else has turned in for the evening. Unless of course you are too scared."

  Davin postured up and stuck out his chest slightly. "Scared! I am not scared."

  Chloe smiled. "It's settled then. I'll meet you here tonight."

  Chloe put her ear to the door to see if she could hear anyone walking in the hall outside. After a brief moment, she seemed satisfied that nobody was out there. She opened the door and cringed again at the creek the door made as it opened. The two kids quickly jumped out of the closet and shut the door behind them.

  Chloe smiled at Davin again. "I will see you tonight then." She said as she hurried off down the hall.

  Davin followed the hallway back towards the classroom. He passed the classroom and turned the corner leading to the main stairwell. As he walked through the doorway to enter the stairwell, he heard James' familiar chuckle. At that point he knew it was coming. Before he could prepare himself he tripped over the hoof that stuck out from behind the wall of the doorway. Davin fell to the ground and smacked his head on the hard stone floor. The three boys began laughing. James was now chuckling even louder than before.

  Blake reached over and slugged James in the arm. "Shut up you buffoon. Somebody is going to hear you. Come on, let's get out of here before somebody comes." He snorted.

  The three trouble makers ran out through the door and disappeared around the corner. Davin reached his hand up to his head where it had hit the ground. It stung as he touched it. He quickly pulled his hand away. He looked down at his hand to see blood dripping from his fingers. He groaned a little and put his hands against the floor and began to push himself up. He stood up slowly and began to get a little light headed. Davin braced himself against the wall for a moment as his head cleared. Once he felt stable enough, he began walking up the stairs. He was not looking forward to the two flights of stairs to get to the floor he and his father's place was on.

  Once to the top of the stairs, Davin walked sluggishly down the hall towards his quarters. When he reached the door he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brass key. He placed the key in the lock of the door and turned it. With a click, the door unlocked and he turned the handle and opened the door.

  Davin slowly made his way to the bathroom, dropping his school bag next to his bedroom door on the way. He filled the pedestal sink with some cold water. He pulled a small rag down from the cupboard above and wadded it into a ball before soaking it in the sink. Davin brought the now soaked rag up to his head just above the cut and squeezed some of the cool water out to let it run through the wound. He flinched as the water hit the cut on his head. He soaked up some more water and this time lightly dabbed the area. It stung each time he did.

  Once satisfied with his quick clean job, he rang out the rag and hung it over the tub to dry. He pulled the drain to the sink and watched the water swirl away. Davin walked out and into the kitchen area and began gathering some things for dinner. His Dad loved eggs, so he thought he would make some of those and maybe some potatoes. He lit the small stove and pulled a couple of pans out and began to make a simple meal for he and his Dad to have for dinner.

  The food was just about finished by the time he heard the front door open. Kimball walked in and immediately kicked of his boots next to the door.

  "Well, how was the day Davin?" Kimball turned to look at Davin when he noticed the cut on his forehead. "Another one of those huh. I know, I know. You don't want to tell me what happened. Looks like you'll be alright though, huh."

  "Yes Dad, I'm fine." Davin said in a quiet voice as he pulled the pans from the stove.

  "The food smells good. What are we having?"

  Davin began to scoop the food out of the pans and place it in two small bowls. "Your favorite. Eggs and potatoes." He replied.

  "Well, it sure does smell wonderful." Kimball said trying to set a positive mood.

  Davin brought the two plates over to the small table in the kitchen and set one on each side. He set a couple of forks down in the middle and pulled one of the chairs out to sit down. Kimball did the same and they both began to eat their meals.

  Kimball looked up from his food. "You know, if you want to talk about anything, you just need to say so."

  "No Dad, really I'm fine." He said quietly, not even looking up from his bowl.

  Kimball shrugged a little. "Okay. Suit yourself."

  They both finished eating their food in silence. Kimball grabbed both of the bowls off of the table and took them over sink and placed them inside.

  "Don't worry about the dishes Davin. I will take care of them later." He walked back over to Davin and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "It looks like you've dealt with enough today."

  "Thanks Dad. I think I am going to go lay down in my room now." Davin got up from the table and started heading towards his bedroom door. "See you in the morning." He said as he opened the door to his room and walked in, slowly shutting it behind him.

  "Good night son." Kimball said quietly.

  Davin went over to the window that looked out of his room. He had a beautiful view of the lake. The sun, had already gone down and he watched as the reflection of the moon danced along on the the slightly rippling water. There was a slight breeze and the branches on the trees swayed lightly back and forth in unison with the ripples on the lake surface. Davin sat with his chin resting on his hands, quietly gazing out his window. He could hear his Dad still moving about in the other room, clanking of the dishes as he washed and put them away. It wasn't too long before he heard the door to his Dad's room open then close. He sat quietly for another thirty minutes or so before getting up to go out and meet Chloe like they had planned.

  Davin opened his bedroom door quietly and as softly as he could. He closed it behind him. Pausing for a moment he listened carefully. Sure enough, he could hear the faint snoring coming from his Dad's room. He crept quietly towards the front door, turning the knob as slowly as he could, gripping it tightly to try and avoid any unwanted clicks. He pulled the door open and peeked out side and down the hall in either direction. Once he saw that nobody was out in the halls, he paused. Again listening for the faint snore. He heard it again and grinned as he slipped out the door and closed it behind him.

  He moved quietly down the hall towards the stairwell. He felt his heart begin to beat a little faster as he rushed down the stairs to the first floor. He stopped at the bottom and peeked out the stairwell down either hall, checking for anyone that might be wandering about. Still clear he hurried down the hall passed his classroom and around the corridor that lead to the closet. He noticed that the lamp was not sitting next to the doorway anymore. Chloe must have already been inside waiting for him. He reached for the handle and began to open the door. The door squeaked as it did the earlier that day. Davin jumped inside and quickly shut the door behind him. It was pitch dark.

  "Chloe." He whispered softly. "Chloe."

  Davin looked down towards the floor as he heard a small scratching noise coming from where the grate was on the floor. It sounded like something was moving through the small air shaft. He could see a dim light begin to grow in the hole and could now see the grate was no longer in place, but was now pushed to one side. The light grew brighter and brighter yet. Finally, the small lamp popped up from the opening along with Chloe's hand. She stuck her head up out of the hole.

  "About time you showed up." she snapped at him.

  "Sorry. I had to wait for my Dad to go to sleep." Davin said.

  "Whatever. Just come on then." Chloe disappeared back down into the hole.

  Davin got dow
n onto the floor and scooted to the edge and put his feet into the opening. He slid himself forward and dropped down into the hole.

  "We better not get caught or we'll both be thrown out quicker than you can get beat up by Blake." Chloe snickered a little. "From the looks of you it seems he's already done that again." She said as she pointed to his head.

  "Never mind that. Let's get moving already."

  With Chloe leading the way they began crawling through the air shaft. Not after too long, Chloe stopped. "We have to go down here now." She said.

  They turned to the right and the shaft began to head downward at an angle. It was fairly steep but not unmanageable. The two of them followed the passage down about a hundred feet or so.

  Davin tapped Chloe on the foot. "Are you sure you know where we're going?" He asked.

  "Of course I do silly. I told you I looked at the map. Now be quiet and come on." she responded in a slightly irritated voice.

  They went a little ways further and came to another fork. "We have to go left here. Then it's about a hundred yards or so till we get to the egg chamber. There are vents there too so I am going to have to put out the light now."

  "You've been in here before haven't you?" Davin hissed.

  "Of course not. But the plans on the map were very specific." She said with a smirk.

  Chloe blew out the lamp and started heading down the shaft again. The small ventilation shaft had leveled back out again, which made navigating it in the complete dark that much easier. The further down they got the warmer it became. It felt like they were moving closer and closer to a burning furnace. The air began to get sticky and humid the further they got. Just as Chloe had said they came to a vent on the side of the shaft. Chloe stopped and turned around to Davin and reached out and touched her finger to his lips. They both peeked out the vent to see a large doorway about twenty feet further the direction they had been heading. There were four minotaur guards standing side by side in front of the door.

  Chloe turned and began crawling forward again. She slowed down as they came to another vent and stopped. She looked out and then moved forward very slowly. Davin followed her and was moving cautiously, trying not to make the slightest sound. In the distance they could see yet another vent. This one had a red glow coming through it. The heat was still rising in the small shaft and the surface had become sticky and damp from the moisture that was in the air.

  They had finally arrived. The vent with the red glow shining through looked directly out into the large egg chamber. The chamber was enormous with rows upon rows of eggs. The eggs themselves were individually sitting on stands that sat over small canals filled with water. Along the walls were several large coal furnaces heating the room. The furnaces along with the water in the canals generated a steam room effect. The heat kept the eggs alive, while the moist air kept the eggs from fully hardening which would lead to the eventual hatching of the offspring.

  Davin and Chloe looked out the small vent in awe. This was a sight that was normally only seen by a bonder that was receiving an egg. Davin would get to enter the room on his thirteenth birthday since they already knew he was bonded. Chloe would also be able to enter in the event she became bonded like her older brother.

  The two kids sat in the shaft peering out the vent whispering back and forth to one another about which egg they thought would become their own. This went on for about ten minutes or so until they heard a startling noise. It sounded like a stone was being pushed along the floor within the chamber. They both immediately stopped talking and sat silent and still. Across the room they saw one of the large stone bricks in the wall slowly sliding out, away from it's place in the wall. After it was fully out, they saw two hands slip along side of it through the cracks and push it to one side, revealing a small passageway.

  From the now dark hole in the wall, two bodies slowly emerged one after the other. The two figures stood up and paused for a moment looking towards the door. They were both dwarfs. They were short, very stout and had long bushy beards. One pulled out a large sack and walked over to the row of egg stands nearest to them. He stood with the sack held out in front of him, while the other carefully began plucking eggs from the stands and gently setting them in the sack.

  They had bagged five of the eggs when yet another figured appeared from the dark hole. "Hurry you fools." The small figure hissed at them. "We mustn't keep our master waiting."

  Unexpectedly Davin's foot slipped on the wet shaft surface and it slid into the metal vent in front of them. It made a loud clunk as it rattled against the fasteners.

  The small figure quickly looked their direction. Both of the kids quickly moved away from the vent on either side and back a few feet. It was dark enough in the shaft that they could not be seen except for Davin's eyes.

  "Close your eyes!" Chloe quickly whispered. "I can see your eyes."

  Davin shut his eyes and even put his hand up in front of his face.

  The creature was slowly walking over to the vent. It was an imp. Nasty little creatures with horrible dispositions. They were semi intelligent creatures, able to speak and think for themselves, but by no means evil masterminds. The imp was wearing a small loin cloth with a knife belt, that held a small dagger. It had pale purple skin and fire orange eyes. It stopped a few feet away from the vent and stretched out it's small wings. With a few flaps of it's wings he was up in the air in front of the vent the kids were once looking out of. He peered through the vent with his beady eyes. He looked to the left and then to the right. Quickly dropping back to the floor, he hurried back over to his accomplices.

  "Must have just been a rat." The imp muttered to the two dwarfs. "Now let's get out of here."

  As quietly as they came, the three thieves crawled back into the dark hole on the opposite side of the room. They pulled the large stone brick back into place. Other than the five missing eggs, you could not even tell the room had been disturbed.

  Chloe quickly scooted over towards Davin who still had his eyes closed and his hand in front of his face. Chloe grabbed Davin's hand and pulled it from his face.

  "They're gone. You can open your eyes now." She said to him softly.

  "What in the world was that all about?" Davin gasped. "They just took five eggs from the chamber."

  "What do you think they are going to do with them?" Chloe asked.

  "I'm not sure, but it's probably not good."

  "Well we're kind of stuck. We can't very well say anything. Then we would get in trouble for coming here in the first place. And who would believe us anyway. Even my brother would laugh at me if I walked up and told him I saw two dwarfs and an imp steal five eggs from the egg chamber."

  Davin looked at Chloe with a serious look on his face. "Maybe we should just wait and see what happens. Surely your brother will find out that the eggs are missing and start an investigation."

  Davin and Chloe sat in the shaft for a bit longer contemplating what they should do. They finally decided to keep quiet on the issue and would wait and see what happened. They crawled back through the shaft the way they came, being careful at the vent next to the chamber door where the guards were. After getting back to the small closet, they climbed out of the shaft and placed the grate back in place. They both looked at each other and let out a sigh of relief.

  Chloe slowly opened the door slightly and peeked out the crack. She turned to look back at Davin. "I'll see you tomorrow at school," she said as she blew out the lamp. Chloe slipped through the doorway and disappeared off around the corner.

  Davin walked out the door and shut it quietly behind him. He started making his way back to his room upstairs. The halls were quiet and quite eerie this time of night. After seeing the imp in the egg chamber, Davin had a small fear in the back of his mind. He hurried down the halls and up the stairs with a feeling of being followed. He scurried past the shadows quickly, thinking that something was going to jump out and grab him if he took too long to pass.

  Once at his door he opened it slowly. He
would catch hell if his Dad woke up to find him coming in so late after sneaking out to wander the halls. With the door open he stepped inside and closed it behind him. To his relief, he could still hear the slight snore coming from his Dad's room. Davin went back to his room and laid down on his bed. He was really tired from the long night. His eyes grew heavier and heavier then he fell asleep.

  In the morning Davin woke in a panic. He had overslept. He jumped out of bed and threw on some clean clothes. He didn't even take the time to get something to eat. He grabbed his school bag and rushed out the front door. The halls outside were unusually busy. Everyone was running about frantically.

  Davin stopped one of the men who was quickly walking down the hall. "What's going on?" He asked. Although in actuality, he already knew the answer.

  "There has been a breach in the egg chamber." The man replied in a panicked voice. "Someone has taken five eggs from the chamber. Everyone is gathering in the main hall," he continued.

  That was quick. Davin thought to himself.

  Davin raced to the stairwell and began his descent down to the main floor where everyone was meeting. When he got to the bottom of the stairwell, Chloe was standing at the doorway.

  "There you are!" She whispered. "When you didn't show up for class, I thought maybe you had been caught going back to your room. Wait. You didn't tell did you?" She asked.

  "Of course not Chloe. Why on earth would I do that."

  "Good!" She said a bit harshly. "Sorry, I am just a little worried is all." Her tone softened. "We should head to the hall."

  Davin and Chloe headed around to the main hall. Everyone in the Keep was making their way in to find a seat. They saw Kimball sitting a few rows from the back. They casually walked over and sat down next to him. A few minutes had passed and finally people had all settled in. There were only a few people still coming in through the doors when Myrdinn walked in through one of the side doors. He was followed by Lugos, Goban, and Aiden. They quietly walked up to the front podium. Myrdinn took his place behind the podium while the other three took seats along side.