"What do we do now?" Davin asked staring up towards the Keep.
Derrick stepped forward. "Let's go to my Father's. It will take at least two days to walk though."
"Two Days!" Chloe shouted.
"We have no choice Chloe." Davin replied. "And we definitely can't stay here. We need to keep moving and get some more distance between us and the Keep."
They stood silently for a moment. Then one at a time began to turn and walk away from the Keep led by Derrick. Derrick may have been returning home, but the Keep was all Davin and Chloe knew. They were leaving their homes and family behind. They didn't know what would happen to the ones who had been left back at the Keep. Fearing they had no other options they continued down the beach following Derrick.
The dragons ran about and played amongst each other as they walked. Jumping and playing in the sand and the waves that fell up onto the beach. This was the first time the dragons had been outside. They appeared as though they had energy that had been pent up from being confined to the Keep.
It was turning to night and the red sky had slowly fallen to black. The stars began to poke out of the night sky and the moon shot up from behind the tree line along the shore. They had a long journey ahead of them in order to reach presumed safety.
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE FALL OF THE KEEP
The Keep had been overrun by Lugos and his minions. All of the minotaurs had been turned by him, they were all under his control and obeyed his every command. In the dark dungeons beneath the Keep he had in secret, built a small army. The minotaurs had been turned into blood thirsty vile creatures. For years nobody had seen the truth in Lugos. Nobody knew that he had once been turned himself and was fighting the constant hunger that grew inside of him. Nobody had known that he was the monster behind the brutal murder of his own dragon.
Those that were still alive, were given the option of joining Lugos and his forces or being thrown in the dungeon to die. Most could not bare the thought of becoming one of his blood thirsty puppets. Although, there were a few of the weak ones that chose what they thought to be the easiest way out. They agreed to join Lugos and his evil army. A single bite was all it took to be filled with the venom that lived within him. They immediately fell weak and immediately looked ill as the venom spread through their bodies. They were carried off to another part of the keep where they would become ravenous and wild until their first feeding.
The dungeon was deep under the Keep and it was a complete substructure beneath the pits. There were three levels to the dungeon itself. It's walls were line with cells cut out of the rock and were sealed with large, metal bar doors. The only light was that of the oil lamps that hung sporadically from the walls. It was dark, cold and a dreadful place to be. The cells were full and crammed with people. There were at least four or five to a cell, cells that were meant to hold one or two at the most.
Myrdinn was being kept on the very bottom floor of the dungeon. He was kept in a cell that was simply a deep well like pit. The hole was topped with very thick, thinly spaced bars. On the floor of the dungeon against the far wall, there was a large wooden wheel that had handles all the way around. When it was turned, it operated a spiral staircase that retracted into the walls of the cell. Once the staircase was retracted, there was no way out of the pit. It's walls were completely smooth, so that you could not climb out.
Myrdinn sat at the bottom of the pit. He lay weak and helpless. It was cold and dark, all he could do was lay and wait for death to find him, stashed away in a hole deep within the earth.
Keep Town had be mostly been burnt to the ground. Those that didn't flee were killed or turned. It now resembled a war camp just outside the newly taken fortress. Chloe's father had been taken captive. Lugos decided he would use him as a sort of political liaison. He was ready to wage war on the rest of the world. He had so far built a small army and now had the Keep as his stronghold.
"You know what you must do!" Lugos growled. He looked at the imp with a scowling face and glowing blood red eyes. "Find them and bring them to me."
"Yes Master. I will not fail you." The imp turned and motioned to the twelve minotaurs he had assigned to the task.
"I must have the opal dragon alive. It does not matter who else lives." A reptile like tongue flicked from his mouth as he hissed.
The imp turned and followed the minotaurs from the room. The twelve minotaurs and the imp left the keep to track down Davin and Halo. They rushed out the front gate and down towards the shoreline where the mine shaft entrance was. They soon found where the kids and their dragons had escaped the Keep.
It was the third morning since the kids escaped the Keep when they finally arrived to Derrick's home. It was a large house tucked away in a small valley between the rolling hills. They came over the hill and headed down towards the large home. They were greeted by a pair of large wolf hounds. The two dogs knocked Derrick to the ground and began to lick his face. A tall thin elvish man stepped out on to the front courtyard and walked slowly to the gate.
"Welcome home!" The man shouted as the three kids walked up to meet him. The man's cheerful expression quickly turned sour when he saw the face his son wore. "What's wrong? Somethings wrong. Why have you left the Keep?"
"I'll explain when we get inside." Derrick said.
"Did you walk here? All the way from the Keep?" The man asked.
"Yes and I am really tired. Please, can we go inside? By the way. This is Davin and Chloe. They are friends of mine from the Keep. Chloe, Davin, this is my father Demetrius Greenwood."
"Very nice to meet you sir." Chloe said gracefully.
"The pleasure is all mine." He replied. "Any friend of Derrick is welcome in our home."
Derrick led them into the house. It was an amazing home. There was a large entry way with a large double staircase leading to the second floor. He led them to the right, through an archway leading into a large study in the front of the house. There was a large fireplace on the outer wall with two large picture windows on either side of it, looking out to the small hills topped with trees. On the inner wall was a large built in bookcase. It spanned the entire length of the wall, end to end. There was a rolling ladder attached, allowing access to the higher shelves.
The three sat on the couch in front of the fireplace while Demetrius sat in one of the armchairs to the left of them.
"The Keep has been taken Father. The town has been burnt down. I didn't think we were going to make it out alive." Derrick began.
"What do you mean, taken?"
"We're not sure. Goban the minotaur the head of security was murdered. Just before he died he told us to get out. Somebody had kidnapped Davin and his dragon and nearly killed them both. Myrdinn was about to tell everyone when this all happened."
Demetrius turned to Davin. "So, tell me Davin. Why is that they're after you and your dragon? Could it have something to do with it's bloodline?"
Davin looked back at him with a shocked face.
"Don't think that I hadn't taken notice of your eyes. Clearly you and your dragon are tied to the Ancient one."
"What do you know about the Ancient one? And why would someone want it's blood to drink?"
Demetrius raised an eyebrow at Davin's questions.
"Does it really turn man into a dragon?" Chloe asked.
"Yes. But that is not what it's use was intended for. It is actually the cure to the bite from a Flesh Demon. The turning to dragon is really just a side effect. This is of course all superstition though, as nobody has seen the ancient one for many, many years. Well, almost nobody. There was one man who wrote about his search for the Ancient One. His tale was quite well known when I was a child. He had actually been a friend of my father. But that is not all he wrote about. He also told of a story of a bonder that had been turned by a Flesh Demon. It was said that once they took their new form, they were immortal and would live forever. He wrote that the secret to destroying them was kept by the Ancient One."
"So you are saying,
if someone manages to drink from the blood of the Ancient One after being turned by a Flesh Demon, they become immortal." Chloe's face grew pale.
"That is what he claimed anyway. They can be killed but only the Ancient One knows how."
"I wish we still had that book of Myrdinn's right now." Davin said.
Demetrius looked at him as he cocked his head to one side. "What book?"
"Myrdinn had a book that talked about the Ancient One and this ritual." Chloe explained the story of how Davin and her had come about it.
"Well, I think I can help you there." Demetrius stood from the chair and walked over to the large bookcase ladder. He rolled it over towards the center of the shelves and climbed up, almost to the top. He scanned the shelf quickly and then reached for a book. "Aha, here we go." He said as he started to climb down the latter.
"Myrdinn knew of my research and my interest in the obscure. He was nice enough to lend me the book you speak of many years ago, so that I could make a copy for myself." He set the book down on the table in front of the kids. Chloe picked it up and briefly flipped through the pages. "This one though, has been fully translated." He said.
Davin stood up. "It seems we are going to have to search out this Ancient One so that we can destroy whatever evil is taking over our home."
"Yes, but nobody knows how to find it." Demetrius said with a grim look on his face.
"I guess we will have to try our luck with the friend of your father. You said he wrote a book about how he had found him."
"Her actually. The Ancient One is a female." He said as he cleared his throat. "The book is being held by his son. He lives in Seaport. It's a large city about a day north of here by train. You can leave tomorrow morning from the train station in town. I will send a letter with you, asking him to lend you the book. Surely he will see to the request of an old friend."
"Thank you. We are grateful for your help." Davin reached out to shake Demetrius' hand.
"You all look horribly tired. Are you hungry?"
At the sound of eating, Davin's stomach began to growl. They hadn't eaten anything in the past couple of days except for some apples they found in an orchard that they had passed through on their way.
Demetrius walked to the wall and pulled a small rope which caused a bell to ring off in the distance. Not even a minute had passed and a young lady entered the room.
"Please prepare some food for Derrick and his guests. And see that a room for each of them is also prepared. I am sure they will want to rest when they are finished."
Demetrius gave Derrick a hug before sending them off into the kitchen to eat something.
After eating the three went up to their rooms. Derrick stayed in his room, Davin and Chloe were put up in two of the spare rooms down the hall from his. The rooms were large and followed the grand scheme of the rest of the house. The three kids slept through the remainder of the day, exhausted from their long walk. They didn't get up until dinner was ready later that evening.
Davin, Chloe and Derrick filed into the Kitchen. They sat down at the large table where dinner had been placed. Demetrius was already sitting at the table when they arrived.
"Good evening. I hope that you all got some rest. I took the liberty of feeding your dragons. They appeared as hungry as all of you did when you got here."
"Thank you sir."Davin said.
Demetrius reached into his coat pocket and pulled out three tickets. He handed them to Derrick who was sitting next to him. "These are for the train in the morning." He reached into his other pocket. "This is for the trip." He handed Derrick a small fold of money.
"Thanks Dad." Derrick tucked the tickets and the money into his pocket.
Finished with his meal, Demetrius stood up from the table and headed towards his study. "A coach will be here tomorrow to take you to the Train. I have spoken to the train master and informed him of your cargo. He has assured me that accommodations will be made for the three dragons." Demetrius then disappeared from the kitchen, heading in the direction of the study. The three kids finished eating and went outside for some air and to check on their dragons.
The morning came quicker than the three kids wanted. They all got up early even though they could have slept hours longer. They met downstairs in the entryway where Demetrius was waiting for them.
"The coach has arrived and is waiting outside." He said as they approached him. "There is a basket of food for you in the coach. I had it prepared for your trip. The train master informed me that their would be some dragon feed available for you in the cargo hold where the dragons will be as well."
The three climbed aboard the coach and they set off for the station. The dragons walked alongside the coach as it was pulled down the road. They were surrounded by fields of green grass that covered the small rolling hills on either side of them. The thick trees lined the top of the hills and the large house slowly vanished behind them as they went further down the road.
It wasn't long before they came to a small town. "This is Brentwood." Derrick said. "It's small, but has everything we needed. Not many people though. That's why my father built the house here. He does like his space from other people."
"I didn't see your mom at the house. Is she traveling?" Chloe felt the lump in her throat when she saw Derrick's face turn down.
"She left us about five years ago." He said. "She said, she couldn't handle family life anymore and that she had to leave. No further explanation, just that." Derrick turned around and fell silent as he stared off into the horizon.
They were met by the train master at the station. He took them to the back of the train where they loaded the dragons into a cargo car. It was empty except for the dragon feed that had already been loaded.
"Your seats are in the car just in front of this one." He pointed to the next car up.
"Do you mind if we ride back here?" Davin Asked.
The train master scratched his chin. "Well, I guess it really makes no difference to me where you ride. Demetrius paid for the tickets, so I guess it really doesn't matter."
Davin nodded and they all climbed into the cargo car with the three dragons. The cargo car wouldn't have the amenities of the passenger cars but it suited them just fine. The door closed behind them and the first whistle blew notifying the remaining passengers that they were about to take off. A couple of minutes went by and a second whistle blew. With a slight jerk the train was on it's way, headed towards the large city of Seaport.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
THE CITY OF SEAPORT
Seaport was a large city indeed. Davin and Chloe were amazed at the number of buildings that lined the streets. They could see the crowds of people hurrying along as they passed by. The streets were filled with people, much like Keep town was during the festival.
The train pulled into a large station in the center of the city. The train master had waited until all of the other passengers had cleared the train before opening the cargo door. Davin, Chloe and Derrick hopped down on to the platform. The dragons followed out in a playful manner. Stretching like cats awakening from a long lazy sleep.
Derrick walked over to the train master. " Can you tell us where to find..." He pulled out the letter his father had given him. "Lord Eldenwood?"
The train master let out a smile. "You will find his estate on the north end of town." He answered and then turned to continue on with his business.
Davin grabbed the food that Demetrius had given them and they headed off in the direction the train master had motioned towards.
"You can't miss it." The Train Master called. "The large gray house at the very end of Port road."
Port road was the road that ran north and south through the middle of town. It ran parallel to the tracks they had come in on and was right in front of the station. They wandered up the road towards the edge of town. It was true that they couldn't miss the house the train master had spoken of. It was in fact large and gray. The outside had a sort of eerie feel. The courtyard was filled with brown dried u
p plants and didn't appear to be well kept. They entered the gate and walked up to the front of the house.
Davin reached up and knocked on the door a couple of times. Loud enough to easily be heard by anyone inside. They heard footsteps coming quickly towards the door. It flew open quickly and a short plump man with a bushy beard stood before them. His hair was bright orange and his eyes were pale blue. "How can I help you?" He said abruptly.
"My father Demetrius sent us. He said you might be able to help."
The man looked over the top of his glasses at Derrick. A small smile sprung to his face. "Ah. Derrick. I didn't recognize you. You were only this big the last time I saw you." Holding his hand to his waist. "Please come in. I am afraid the dragons though, will have to wait in the courtyard."
"Sure. They'll be fine out here." Derrick said as Lord Eldenwood ushered them through the door.
"Now. What brings you all the way here. I thought you were at Dragon Keep Academy."
Derrick didn't respond immediately and simply handed him the letter from his father. Lord Eldenwood looked at him with questioning eyes. "What is this?" He questioned as he opened the letter. His eyes widened as he read. "This is troubling." He muttered to himself. "Come let us sit. It seems you have much to tell me."
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