A Dragon's Bond

by Johnson, S. B.

  "Tomorrow once we enter the forest." Tristen turned the meat as he spoke. "You are to do exactly as I say and when I say it. If I tell you to stay put, you stay put. If I tell you to run, you had better run as though your life depended on it, because it just might." He turned the wood in the fire and it sparked and crackled.

  They ate well that night. The meat was quite a treat actually. They had initially cringed at the site of Tristen butchering the deer, but once cooked, it looked like a prime choice steak.

  Tristen was up early the next morning. He had beaten even the first light of the day. He shook the three kids. "Let's go. We need to leave now if we are to make it through the woods before night. The lycons sleep during the day and come out at night to hunt. So we must make it through, before the sun goes down."

  They packed up their things as quickly as they could and headed out of the cave towards the Forgotten Forest. The forest crept closer as they crossed the small meadow between it and the cave. As they approached they could see the trees for what they truly were. They were extraordinarily tall trees with thick foliage keeping the light from breaking through the canopy they made. They reached the edge of the tree line making up the edge of the forest. Tristen stopped and held his hand in the air for silence. After a moment, he stepped into the massive grouping of trees entering the forest.

  There was a small path that Tristen had taken. It wound around through the trees. He moved quickly, not stopping for anything. The kids and the three dragons followed right behind. They had been running for approximately twenty minutes straight when Tristen finally stopped. He looked around cautiously and pulled out a small leather water bag. He held it under a small spring dripping between two large rocks. Derrick leaned down to the cool water to take a drink.

  "Don't you drink from this spring!" He half snarled at Derrick, who jumped back. "You have water. Drink that." Tristen turned quickly and drank from the spring.

  "Is this the spring from the story Tristen? Is this the spring the young woman was killed at?" Chloe glanced around the small spring and back at Tristen.

  "That is not something we have time to discuss at present. We need to get to the other edge of the forest before nightfall." He stuck his leather water bag into his pack and took off down the path again at a quick pace. The three kids scrambled to their feet and took off after him.

  It had seemed like they had run for hours when Tristen stopped again. "We are past the most dangerous part of the forest. The lycons live back in that part of the forest." He pointed back into a cove in the mountainside past the way they had come. "We can slow down a bit now."

  "Well that's nice, because I don't think I can do it anymore." Chloe was holding her hands above her head panting. "I feel like my lungs are going to burst." She pulled out a small canteen from her pack and took a couple of small drinks.

  "So, are we gonna walk the rest of the way." Davin tossed a small bit of feed to Halo and took a drink a water.

  Tristen walked over next to him. "We will need to walk quickly, but we don't have to run anymore."

  Derrick and Chloe both let out a deep sigh as they sat on the ground.

  "No, no, no. We won't have any of that. We need to keep moving." Tristen pulled at both of their collars lifting them back to their feet. "Come on let's move. We need to keep moving."

  They walked through the forest for the next couple of hours. Once past the creepy nature of the forest, it was actually quite beautiful. There were thousands of ferns growing amongst the tall elm trees, creating a thick carpet of lush greens on either side of the path. There was a small amount of light that poked through the canopy, just enough to shoot tiny rays of light down on to the floor and across the sea of ferns. The fog overhead must have been clearing as they moved further from the mountains. The air became fresher and the slight smell of salt crossed their noses. The path that had been heavily packed dirt was becoming softer. The ground beneath them was transitioning to sand. They were getting close to the ocean. They could hear the crashes of the waves against the shore. They began running, knowing the edge was near.

  It was still daylight when they reached the beach. There was an immediate feeling of success as they ran down to the waters edge. The tide was in and the water was not far off from the edge of the forest.

  "So where's the cave?" Chloe looked up and down the beach. The beach ran to two points lined with rocks either direction. There was no cave that could be seen.

  Davin stepped next to her and began to scan the beach himself, looking for the signs of a cave. "What did the book say again?"

  ""In the cave beneath the sea but not." Derrick blurted out.

  "Hey Tristen. Does that mean anything to you?" Davin tapped him on the shoulder as he asked.

  "I don't know about any cave. There is a small island of rocks in the center when the tide goes out." He replied.

  Chloe began to jump up and down. "That's it. It's got to be."

  Davin walked towards the water and said with a slight hesitation in his voice. "How long until the tied goes out?"

  "About an hour." Tristen said softly as he stepped up along side of him again

  "How far out is it? Can we swim?"

  Tristen cocked his head to the side as he eyed Davin. "Why on earth would you swim, when you can fly?" Davin looked back at him with a funny look on his face. Clearly confused. Half of Tristen's mouth curled up into a smile. " Don't tell me you haven't flown with them yet. You haven't flown with your dragons?" His mouth dropped as his hand slapped against his knees. "Well, it sounds like you're going to in about an hour."

  They knew their dragons could fly but the thought of flying with them hadn't even crossed their minds. They hadn't seen anyone flying with their dragon in the keep and hadn't even known it possible.

  Just as Tristen said, the tide began to go out about an hour later. A small group of rocks emerged from the water. They had decided that Chloe and Davin would fly over first. Derrick offered to stay behind with Calypso to watch the shoreline. Tristen was well involved now and insisted on going into the cave.

  Halo picked up Davin and took flight. She held Davin tight against her chest as she flew. Tesla grabbed Chloe and also took off to the skies. The dragons flew effortlessly even though they were bearing the extra weight. They flew out over the water and gently landed on the rocks in the middle of the cove. There was a cave in the far side of the rocks that headed back towards land. Halo flew back and returned quickly holding on to Tristen, who was in turn holding on to Kala. After landing they all stepped down into the cave and began their descent.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  THE CAVE

  They could hear the waves beating against the rocks as the walked through the tunnel heading deeper into the sea. They had walked about a hundred yards when they slowly began to climb up. The sounds of the waves slowly died down to no more than a slight echo through the tunnel. They went through a series of twists and turns until they finally came to a large cave that opened up under the mountains surrounding the valley.

  Davin stepped out into the cave holding out his hand like a torch, while the flames danced on his fingertips. Tristen and Chloe stumbled in behind him. Halo and Tesla were becoming very uneasy. They began to hiss and growl. Davin turned his attention in the direction the dragons had focused on. Some rocks fell to the ground in that direction.

  "Is that my daughter I smell." An eerie voice hissed from the shadows.

  They all froze in place as the voice echoed through the cave around them. A dragon head appeared from the shadows. Shortly after the first a second appeared and a third. A total of six heads had come out of the shadows. Finally stepping into the light, a dragon easily three times the size of a large green dragon stood before them. It's heads were each a different color, one for each of the dragon types. There was a red, a blue, a green, a brown, a black and a gold. The necks of the beast met together and faded into an opal white body, the same color as Halo's.

  "Come forward daughter." The voice
hissed again. "Let me see my darling." Halo, without hesitation approached the large six headed dragon. "I see you have made a bond. He is very special indeed. Step forward bonder."

  Davin inched forward until he was finally standing next to Halo. "I am the one she shares a bond with." Davin looked up into the dragon's six pair of glowing blue eyes. They were bright blue just like Davin and Halo's. The words from the book rang in Davin's head. "The blue eyes of the Ancient One."

  Davin stepped out further edging towards the great beast. "Tell me great dragon. Why is my dragon different from the others?"

  The dragon laughed and the sound rumbled the cave. "She is my only daughter left that has been born directly from me. All of the other dragons are distant to me. They were born of dragons long removed from my line. All of her other sisters have hatched and have all died with time. The dragons you see about the world were born from them. That is why your dragon is special."

  "Are you the oldest dragon?" Chloe had joined Davin's side. "I mean were you the first?"

  "Yes dear. I am old indeed." The dragon puffed bits of smoke as she laughed again. "You must forgive me. It has been so long since I have enjoyed the company of a bonder. Now, you tell me bonders. Why is it that you have come all this way to find me here?"

  "Something terrible has happened.Someone drank the blood of my dragon. Guards that once protected us have been turned into mindless raging beasts. We have come to believe that a bonder has been turned by a flesh demon and is now probably changing again from the blood he drank. They have taken over our home. Keep Academy has fallen."

  The ancient dragon began to thrash about as smoke and fire came from it's mouths. "How dare they. How dare they take from my blood. Keep Academy you say. I know where to find them now."

  "How do we stop him." Davin yelled. "How do we kill it?"

  The dragon began laughing again. "You can't kill it. Only I can kill it. My blood has given it new life, an abomination. Only my blood can end it."

  "What do you mean?" Davin asked.

  The great dragon moved closer to Davin. "I have dealt with one of these once before. I could not bring myself to kill it at first. I stood by and watched others try, but the blood shed became too much. It had been burned, stabbed and even shot. It wasn't until I tore the head from it's body that it quit returning to life. He had been bonded to my first daughter and she was the reason I had hesitated to kill the beast. By killing the abomination, I also killed my beautiful daughter."

  The Ancient One turned and took off towards the opposite edge of the cave. She was gaining speed and took flight heading up towards to top. With one final hiss. "I will rid the world of the abomination my blood has created."

  The massive beast broke through the rock at the top of the cave. They all ran and took cover as the rocks from above came crashing down to the floor.

  "We have to get out, before the ceiling comes down." Davin yelled as he started to run back through the tunnel.

  They all ran as fast as they could. They began to hear the crash of the waves up against the walls once again. As they started down again, they heard the sound of rushing water coming towards them. They kept moving even though the water began running down past their feet, as they began to climb out again. The waves were now rushing down in to the mouth of the tunnel. With one final burst of speed Halo grabbed Davin and Tristen and flew out of the mouth of the tunnel. Tesla grabbed Chloe and Kala and followed right behind. Just as they burst out of the opening the waves crashed down on top of it one final time before completely covering the rocks again.

  They landed back down on the beach as Derrick and Calypso greeted them. "Did you see it. Did you see it. That was a six headed dragon and it was enormous."

  "Oh yeah! We saw it all right. It spoke to us." Davin was still kind of shocked at the fact that she had spoken to them.

  "Where did it say it was going?" Derrick asked, still bouncing around.

  "I think she went to the Keep." Davin replied.

  Suddenly they saw something coming over the mountains and down towards the beach. It was small and flying at a pretty good speed. The dragons began to growl and hiss as it got closer. It was almost over head when they heard the cackling laugh of the imp. It dropped a bag down to the ground. "See you around kid." He yelled from above in his raspy voice. "That is the last task I perform for that, Lugos."

  "Lugos?" Davin said. As he ran to pick up the bag that had been dropped by the imp. Derrick and Chloe rushed over when they saw Davin drop to his knees.

  "What is it Davin?" Chloe shouted as she ran to him.

  When Chloe got to Davin, his eyes had already filled with tears. Chloe looked down at his hand. He was holding the ring that was once on his father's hand. "The bag is covered in blood and his finger is inside." Davin hung his head until he finally began to yell. "What did I do! What did I do, to deserve this!" Davin began to pace quickly. "We need to get back to the Keep."

  The sun had begin to set an the sound of the waves crashing against the shore were broken by a series of loud howls coming from the forest a little ways off.

  "Oh man. This is bad. We've got to get out of here. The lycons are coming." Tristen began to scan the beach. "I can probably out run them, but you three won't stand a chance."

  "What are you worried about? Chloe and I can fly now and Derrick can hide amongst the shadows."

  The plan seemed sound. Derrick and Calypso ran off towards the trees the opposite way of the howls and Tristen ran the other direction. Chloe and Davin had taken flight with their dragons when they saw them. The lycons had created a border on the edge of the forest surrounding the beach. Davin quickly flew in the direction Derrick ran and yelled a warning to him. He quickly turned and landed behind Tristen. Chloe and Tesla landed down shortly after Davin and Halo.

  "What are you doing? Do you want to die with me here on this beach?" Tristen scowled at Davin as he stood firmly beside him.

  Davin looked back at him and smiled. "You helped us and we will not leave you to die. Besides we had to come back for Derrick. We surely couldn't leave him here alone with you."

  "Suit yourself." Tristen said smoothly.

  At that moment a single lycon stepped out from the trees and onto the beach. "My son has returned to mock us once again." He said as he let out a growl.

  "Father." Tristen said as he gave him a slight nod.

  The lycon stood approximately ten feet from them now. He was as least twice as tall a large man. He would have even towered over one of the minotaurs. His body was covered in black fur that dripped with sweat. He smelt fowl, like a filthy dog that had just come in from the rain. Only, it was much worse. It's arms hung well past his waist and were ended with over sized hands and massive claws. It's face resembled a wolf's but was much more human like. It's visible skin was black and rippled over the muscles encasing it's massive body.

  "I told I would kill you if you ever showed your face around here again. Didn't I?" The lycon let out another snarl.

  Tristen walked out toward the lycon and began removing his shirt. He dropped his shirt to the ground and began to loosen his belt to remove his pants next. As he did, his back arched and a loud snapping could be heard. His body began to convulse as he continued to walk forward. His body began to bulge out and his bones kept cracking and popping as his body changed. He grew taller and hair grew from his neck and shoulders as he turned into a lycon.

  "What then father? Shall we finish this?" Tristen stood now a monstrous beast, equal to his father.

  In a rush the two slammed together and began to fight fiercely. The other lycons stood by, not moving and only watching the two lycons tearing at each other.

  The fight went on for several minutes. Blood was flying and splattering across the sand. It ended as quickly as it had begun though. Tristen had gotten behind his father and had his head, firmly wrapped in his arms. In one solid motion he bit at his neck and twisted his head clean off. Tristen stood holding the head of his father. Tristen slowly began
to shift back to his human form, his fathers lifeless body also turning back. He stood holding his father's head up, for all of the other lycons to see. "My father is dead! Now leave me alone!" He threw the head to the ground and walked back to where he had dropped his clothes. He turned around after putting his pants back on to a shocking sight. All of the lycons had dropped to a knee and were bowing towards Tristen.

  "We will follow you now." One of the lycons said lift his head up slightly. "It is our tradition. You are his only son. Leadership of our tribe falls to you. You know this as well as I."

  Tristen began to laugh. He doubled over holding his sides because he was laughing so hard. "Fine. First. Let me show you how to control our curse as I do."

  Davin walked up to Tristen. "Congratulations, I guess." He slapped him on the shoulder. "Love to celebrate with you and all, but I have to get back to the Keep."

  Tristen placed a hand on Davin's shoulder. "We will meet you there. I know you are in a rush and all, but you really should wait for us to arrive. Don't just go rushing in there. We should be able to make it in three days, if we run quickly." He looked over to Derrick. "Hey you think that dragon will let you ride him. He could probably keep up."

  "I guess I will have to give it a try. Won't I?"

  "Good. It's settled. Chloe and I will fly to the keep. We will wait for you at the hillside just before the lake. We will probably beat you there by at least a day." Davin grabbed Chloe's hand. "Time to go home."

  Halo and Tesla picked Chloe and Davin up and took off into the sky. They were headed back towards the keep. Calypso was most obliging and Derrick climbed onto his back and they raced off behind the lycons back into the forest, heading back towards the pass. In three days they would meet at the hill just before the Keep. Then, they would mount their attack.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  RETURN TO THE KEEP