over it and headed to the now broken wagon. No one stole from him.
Jacob landed in the road causing the horse to rear in panic. He watched through his haze of anger as the horse tipped over, breaking free from the harness. As the horse struggled to its feet and disappeared over the crest of the hill, two men climbed out of the wreck of the wagon.
Jacob sat without moving, except for the tip of his tail. It twitched and jerked, showing his anger. He felt his flames build in his stomach. All he had to do was open his mouth and let the flames out. Twin plumes of smoke rose from his nostrils as he waited for the men to leave the wreckage of the wagon.
The two men were poking and prodding each other and Jacob heard snatches of conversation.
“Don’t worry. I’ll deal with it.”
“He’s going to eat us.”
“Quit babbling. And shut up.”
“He’s going to fry and eat us.”
“Will you shut-up?”
“I don’t want to die.”
Jacob wrapped his tail around his feet and flexed his claws. A squeaking drew his attention down. Trevor was struggling to free himself. He carefully released his claw and wrapped his tail around the magician. He lifted Trevor over his back and placed the magician between his wings. He didn’t want to have to test the statue’s powers for damage he had caused. With Trevor out of the way, he turned his attention back to the men standing just out of blast range.
One of the men strode forward, fist raised. “What right do you have to take my property?” he yelled at the dragon. “I demand you give her back.”
Jacob raised one eye ridge. He smiled at the man, showing all his teeth.
The man with the raised fist blanched but stood his ground. He pulled his sword off his hip and charged. The other fell to the ground and rolled into a ball whimpering something about being eaten.
Jacob’s claw flashed out and pinned the advancing thief to the ground. “This is the last lesson you will learn in your life, thief. Do not steal from dragons for you are crunchy and taste good barbequed.” The man shrieked and flailed his sword. One of his panicked movements sent the sword into Jacob’s foot. Shock at the pain loosened his jaw. His flames roared out and the man disappeared, screaming.
He turned to the other figure. He reached out his claw and prodded the bundle of rags. “Get up, you poor excuse of a man. What did you hope to achieve stealing from me?”
“I didn’t want to,” he squeaked. He curled tighter around himself, hugging his knees to his chest.
Jacob stuck his muzzle in the man’s face. “Run little man. I don’t feel like indigestion tonight.” He turned and without looking back, trotted over to where his statue was laying.
He closed his talons around the figure and lifted. He nearly dropped the statue in surprise when instead of the stiff coldness of gold, the statue bent in half and dangled from his claws. He lifted the statue higher, noticing the golden pallor was now pinker and the dark blonde hair flowed freely. What the heck? Who is this and what happened to my statue?
He lifted her to his muzzle and sniffed. Laughter trilled down over his horns. Once again, he’d forgotten Trevor. With a huff of annoyance, he launched into the sky and headed back to the cavern, enjoying the magician’s stifled shout of panic. He folded his wings and plummeted through the hole. Unfurling his wings at the last minute, he glided down to the grotto.
He landed next to the standing stones and gently laid the girl on the mossy rocks.
“Who’s this? I thought you’d grabbed the statue.” said Trevor.
“She’s the statue.” Jacob nudged her with his nose.
“B…but, she’s alive.” Trevor stammered. He blinked in amazement. “How did that happen?”
“I don’t know. One minute she’s stiff as a, well a statue and the next she’s glowing red and limp.”
“Glowing?” Trevor knelt down next to the ex-statue. He reached out a hand and brushed her hair from her face. “There’s no spark. Where’s the spark?” Trevor panicked and leaned over her, placing his hand on her shoulder.
A bright red spark jumped from her shoulder to his hand. He yanked his hand away, shaking his fingers to relieve the sting.
Jacob had been watching the magic swirl around the girl. It was condensed, squeezed into the space behind her heart. When Trevor touched her, part of the magic had jumped from her and seemed to be attacking the magician. “The magic.” He turned wide eyes on Trevor. “It’s defending her.”
Trevor leaned back on his heels and looked at her thoughtfully. “I think your fire, which is magical in nature, mixed with hers and brought her to life.”
Jacob opened his mouth, intending to ask a question when a slight noise distracted him. He turned toward the sound, splashing his tail in the water.
Thinking something must be hiding in the plants around the statue, he lowered his head and sniffed at the ferns. He reached out to part the plants but stopped and stared in shock at the pair of green eyes blinking up at him. “Oh, you’re awake.” After the words escaped his mouth, he wished he had swallowed them instead. He hated sounding like an idiot, but a smile spread across her face and she reached out a hand. She rested her fingers lightly on his muzzle. A shock jumped from her hand to his muzzle and race through his blood. The spark raced around his body until it filled his heart. A glowing pink haze filled his eyes with the clearest part centered on her.
“Thank you for saving me,” she whispered. Turning as she rose to her feet, she faced the island in the middle of the lake where her pedestal stood. To Jacob’s amazement, she stepped calmly off the bank and glided across the lake. He followed, sending little waves crashing against the banks.
Trevor stood on the bank watching the dragon follow the statue across the lake. He smiled sadly when he realized what she was doing. He knew this was potentially bad news but did nothing to stop it.
She climbed up the bank and approached her dais, the dragon following close behind. She turned and looked back. Beckoning him closer, she waited until he was within reach to kiss his muzzle. The dragon turned bright pink, from the tip of his muzzle to the end of his tail.
Trevor laughed, thinking Jacob would have trouble hiding for a while. Then he thought about what that kiss sealed and realized that the statue had just insured her guardian would be staying. “Bravo, girl. Wish I’d thought of that earlier,” he whispered to the air. The statue had assured her safety by making the dragon fall in love with her, magically.
The girl climbed back on her pedestal and assumed her former pose. A shaft of sunlight glinted off the water and hit one of the rubies littered around the dais. Slowly the sunlight moved until it illuminated the girl. As it faded, a shine of gold caught Jacob’s eye. He climbed the bank and pushed through the obelisks. Something was wrong. She didn’t move and the magic was swirling freely around her again.
Jacob looked over his shoulder at Trevor still standing on the bank. With a wounded expression and a pain in his heart he didn’t understand, Jacob leapt into the air and wheeled over to the magician. He landed behind Trevor and stalked through the ferns until he could stand beside the man. He sat, wrapped his tail around his feet and slouched against Trevor.
“What happened?”
Trevor swayed slightly under Jacob’s weight, “She returned to her place.”
“I got that. She’s a statue but she was a woman. Why did she want to go back to being a statue?”
“She does a lot of good as a statue that she cannot do as a woman.” Trevor closed his eyes. The day had caught up with him and it was just late afternoon. “I never really worried about her being stolen. She always returned. At least now I know how she did it.”
“She’s done this before?” Not really wanting the answer, Jacob sighed and waded into the water. He swam lazily across the lake and climbed the bank before stretching out on a pile of coins and jewelry. Feeling like his heart had been ripped out and not understanding why, he pillowed his head on his arms, closed his eyes, and
felt a tear roll down the side of his muzzle. The hole in his ceiling was more preferable to the hole in his heart.
End
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Dragon's Prize Page 5
