Dragon Eyes

Chapter 20.

Escape.

The dungeon was a damp and cold place, not made to be comfortable. The grey stone floor and grey stone walls, with the few flickering torches gave it a most unwelcome appearance. Lynwood turned up his nose when he entered. The place smelled like a mixture of mold, sweat and filth; and for a boy who had grown up in the fresh air, this was a new, horrible experience.

“Who goes there?” The warden of the prison called out.

“Lord Eadberht,” the nobleman replied. “And I bring with me a most wanted prisoner?”

“I’d say it was no one more than a boy? What did he do to be so wanted?”

Lord Eadberht rolled his eyes. “You fool; this is the boy who caused the trouble in the first place, the messenger who delivered the letter.”

“Oh! That’s him? I was expecting someone a little....I don’t know, older, stronger, bigger. How on earth did you get a hold of him?”

“He came sneaking into my castle today, I have no idea what he wanted, only that I came into my study and there he was, snooping around.”

“How about his dragon friend? Everyone knows he flies around on a great red dragon.”

“There was no dragon. I suppose he flew away or something. Though even if I did see him how on earth would I have caught him? A boy hardly fifteen is one thing, a dragon ten times the size of me is another.”

“That’s true,” the warden shrugged. “At any rate; the dragon is no harm without the master. I only wonder why the king didn’t have the boy put to death at once.”

“Because, idiot, the boy has taken the princess somewhere, and if he is dead, we will never find out where he has hidden her. The boy is a hundred times more useful alive then dead.”

“Could be, could be, where am I suppose to take him?”

“The king said in the cell where the rest of the plotters are being kept.”

“That would be number 13,” the warden mumbled to himself. “Alright, come along boy.” He placed a pair of handcuffs on Lynwood.

“Oh warden,” Eadberht called out.

“What is it?” the warden turned around, only to receive a strong blow in the face. He slumped senseless on the ground.

“Nothing,” Eadberht replied. Quickly he took the cuffs off of Lynwood and handed him a ring of keys.

“I’m not sure which of these keys is the correct one, you’ll have to do some trial and error to find out. Now remember Lynwood, you need to act swiftly. The guards pass that way every ten minutes. Hide until the guards are gone, and then work as quickly and as quietly as you can. The prince is in cell 5, and the warden just gave away the where the other prisoners are in number 13. I don’t know who else is being kept in this dungeon, so try to be discreet.”

“Yes sir.” Lynwood nodded and silently scampered off. He nearly bumped into some guards along the way, but hid in the shadows of semidarkness of the dungeon. He was afraid the guards would hear his heart thumping; it seemed it was literally trying to get out of his chest. At last he reached the cell that Eadberht said held the prince. Taking a deep breath he peeked inside and whispered

“Prince Wilheard?”

“What do you want?” A deep male voice sounded from the darkness

“Oh, please keep your voice down,” Lynwood whispered as he began fumbling with the keys

“Who are you?” The voice, now alert, whispered back.

“No one really,” Lynwood replied as he searched for the right key. “I’m just here to try and get out of this cell.”

“You don’t sound much older than a boy, how did you get in here?”

“I can explain later,” Lynwood mumbled as he at last found the right key and sticking it into the lock turned it. The key made a loud sound, which made Lynwood’s heart beat all the faster. Grasping the handle he opened the door.

“Come on out, Your Highness, there are other people that I have to get out of here.”

Out of the cell came young man, in the darkness Lynwood found it hard to determine his looks or his age. He seemed to have black long hair that was very messily gathered into a ponytail, that was about the only feature Lynwood could determine.

“You are no more than a boy!” Wilheard exclaimed, he too could only see Lynwood very poorly, but could see enough to determine that his rescuer was a young one. “How on earth did you get in here? how did you know I was here?”

“I am the messenger who delivered the letter your sister gave you,” Lynwood quickly stated. “I want you to know that your sister is safe.”

The man took a deep breath, one filled with fear and relief. “Oh?”

“Yes, I rescued her and took her to a hiding place, where I hope to get you as well. But first I must find my father and the other brave men who are stuck here.”

“Your father?” Wilheard whispered as the two of them began walking down the narrow corridor of the dungeon.

“Yes, my father was one of the men who was plotting to put you on the throne. He was the one who was supposed to deliver the letter. It only got into my hands when he was arrested.”

“I see,” Wilheard mumbled and the rest of the way they walked in silence. The dungeon had a very good echoing system and even when they whispered they risked being heard. Lynwood counted the cells and at last stopped at number 13.

“According to what the warden said they should be here.” Lynwood thought. He peered inside but all he could see was blackness. “Hello,” he called in a soft voice. “Hello, is anyone here.”

“Who is there?”

Lynwood instantly recognized Tristan’s voice.

“Tristan!” he exclaimed in a whisper.

“Who is ask...?” Tristan began but was cut off by a voice that Lynwood knew so well, a voice he had wanted to hear ever since that fateful day in July.

“Good gracious! Lynwood, is that you?!”

There was a shuffling noise and then Lynwood could see the faint outline of his father’s face appear in the little window of the cell door.

“Father,” he nearly shouted then checked himself. “Yes Father’s it’s me,” he quietly said as he began to fumble with the keys again, trying to find the correct one.

“What on earth are you doing here?” Shock and disbelief were mixed together in Lyndon’s tone

“I’ve come to get you out of here,” Lynwood replied as he tried one key after another. Bother this darkness, it really got in the way.

“But, where, how, how did you get in here?” Lyndon still couldn’t believe that his son, whom he had long given up hope of ever seeing again, was standing right outside the cell door fumbling with a set of keys

“That is a very, very long story Father,” Lynwood replied, still trying to find the right key. “One I will be sure to tell you once we are all safely out of here.”

“Is Sofia with you here too?”

“No, she is in a safe hiding place with Princess Collyn. Don’t worry, Father, they are both very safe, a lot safer than you or I at the moment.” At last Lynwood found the proper key and opened the door. Before he knew exactly what was happening he found himself in his father’s tight embrace. Lynwood was glad it was dark, there were other men coming out of the cell door and he would have felt a little self conscious if they would have seen the tears in his eyes.

“Where on earth did you come from? How on earth did you get here?” His father’s voice was breaking

“I’ll explain everything later,” Lynwood said, brushing his tears with the back of his hand. “We have to get out of here now.”

“And how do we plan to do that?” Wilheard asked

“There is a seceret passage at the end of this hall. We need to get to the last cell and make a run for it. Everyone follow me,” he commanded and they all began making their way through the flickering darkness to the end of the corridor

The men nodded and the set off. Just as they reached the cell a loud shout was heard.

“They’re gone!”

“I think we had better hurry,” Wilheard stated the obvious.

“You try finding the correct key,” Lynwood muttered. At last the he got the right key and they all tumbled into the cell. The guards were hot on their trail though. Grabbing the keys from his son, Lyndon locked the door from the inside. It wouldn’t hold the guards back for long, but it may give them a few extra minutes. Lynwood pushed back a stone in the wall and it moved to open into a very narrow tunnel.

“His Highness goes first,” Lynwood commanded. “The rest of you follow single file, come on, come on, the guards will be following us so there is no time to lose.”

“Lynwood you go in next after His Highness,” his father ordered

“I can’t, Father,” Lynwood shook his head. “I go have to go last”

“Go last? Never!” Lyndon set his lips in firm line. “There is no way I am allowing you to go last.”

“Father please, just trust me. I have to go last, Eadberht told me to go last; it is part of the plan.”

“Just go, Lyndon,” Tristan prodded. “The boy obviously knows what he is doing”

“We have an army on our trail you are asking me to go in before my son?” Lyndon asked

“Lyndon, I don’t like the idea anymore than you do, but the longer we stay here arguing, the more chances of us being caught. Ugh, I know the two of you are extremely stubborn, so Lynwood you go in before me, I’ll take the end. Now go Lyndon and go Lynwood

“Alright,” Lynwood gave, and crawled into the tunnel after his father, he knew that Eadberht wouldn’t really mind if he were to come out the one before the last. The tunnel seemed to go on forever; Lynwood could hear shouts and guessed that the guards were in the tunnel too

“I suppose we just couldn’t do without a chase,” he thought.

At last they got out into the cool dark air, and Lynwood drank deeply the freshness of the night. No time to relax, the guards right behind them and three of them came tumbling out only seconds after Tristan. Lynwood could see Eadberht waiting for them, there were also several horses. He must have rounded them while Lynwood was getting everyone out of the dungeon. Only where had he got them from?

There was no time to speculate, for Eadberht yelled. “Now, Lynwood!”

“Now Lynwood what?” his father turned to him. Lynwood just nodded his head and putting his fingers in his mouth gave a loud and sharp whistle.

It seemed to come out of nowhere and gave a loud and deep growl. Everyone, from the guards to the escaped prisoners froze and looked up to see the dark figure soaring above them

“It’s a dragon,” Wilheard whispered.

“Impossible!” Lyndon gasped.

“But true!” Tristan said behind him.

“Men quickly get on the horses,” Eadberht called. “We don’t have that much time, soon this place will be swarming with guards. The king has no doubt already been informed.”

“Eadberht, don’t you see that we are being attacked by a dragon?” Wilheard pointed to the sky.

“Now don’t you mind the dragon, just get on the horse, Your Highness, we have to get you out of here.”

The dragon in the mean time swooped down as if it was going to attack then suddenly swerved up and flew back into the sky, but not before grabbing Lynwood.

“Lynwood!” his father yelled.

“Don’t worry, Lyndon,” Eadberht called. “Just get on the horse!”

“My son was just grabbed by a dragon and you are telling me to get on a horse,” Lyndon asked in disbelief.

“Exactly so. have no fear, your son is perfectly in control of the situation. Please get on the horse, or you will put the rest of us in danger.”

“Now you listen to me...”

“Lyndon,” Tristan ordered. “Just get on the horse! There is nothing we can do for Lynwood at the moment, but we do need to get the prince out of here.”

Lyndon had to comply. The dragon attacked again and again, but it seemed he was mainly attacking the guards and not them. The escaped prisoners, using this distraction for their own advantage and urged their horses into a gallop.

“You all have to get to my castle,” Eadberht yelled. “I think it best if we split up. Use the cover of darkness to your advantage. Do you all know how to get into the secret quarters?”

“Not all of us,” a man yelled. “But those of us who do will lead the way.”

“Alright,” Eadberht shouted back. “Above all make sure the prince is safe.”

“He will be,” Tristan promised.

The dragon continued attack the guards. He created turmoil and confusion in the darkness. He would catch some of them and lift them into the air before dropping them. The runaways were quite forgotten as the soliders did their best to fight off the great beast. And thus the crown prince and his faithful followers disappeared into the shadows and darkness of the night.

***

Lynwood in the meantime, had not expected Caderyn to grab him like that, but made the best of the situation. He quickly scrambled up the dragon’s back and took his usual seat

“Come on, Caderyn,” he said. “Let’s put up a show for these guards, one that they will never forget.”

It was great fun playing with the guards, but at last Lynwood felt it was enough. They didn’t want to stick around till sunrise. Aiming at a dragon in the dark is hard enough, but once the light came it would turn the favor towards the guards.

“Let’s get back to the castle,” he told the dragon. “I’ll bet you scared my father to death when you grabbed me like that. Why did you?”

Caderyn turned his head and looked straight at Lynwood, then turned back and soared high into the night sky. Lynwood got the message; Caderyn had been worried for Lynwood’s with all those soldiers and decided to get him out of harm's way.

“Thanks Caderyn,” he softly said. “You are a good friend.”