The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

POV: Fendrel

The warmth from the fire died out and a cool breeze drifted over Fendrel. He closed his eyes, then reopened them. He was no longer in the weapon room. He was outside with the starry sky above him.

Someone nudged his shoulder. He looked over to see the grinning face of his brother.

“Hey, lighten up. We’re only here for another day. We might as well have fun while we still can before we have to go back to training.” Frederick took a sip of some mystery drink from a dragon-carved bowl.

The moon beamed bright overhead, reflecting on the still waters of the oases ahead of Fendrel. The city of the fire dragons was a lot more welcoming than one may have thought, especially considering it was in the middle of a desert.

Fendrel smiled halfheartedly. Part of him wished he had never left the comfort of their adoptive parents’ den.

I should be studying the Stronghold’s passages in case I need to run later, but instead I’m here pretending everything is fine.

A bowl similar to Frederick’s was pushed in front of Fendrel across the sandstone he sat on. The pink-tinted liquid sloshed, almost escaping over the rim.

Fendrel looked up to see the red-feathered fire dragon they befriended on their first visit.

“Ember, I don’t even know what this is.” Fendrel gestured at the bowl.

“He’s always been picky.” Frederick threw an arm over his brother’s shoulders.

“It’s just cactus juice. It won’t hurt you.” Ember giggled.

Fendrel picked up the bowl and took a tentative sip.

“Well, cactus juice and scorpion venom.” Ember shot him a smug smile.

Fendrel spewed out the drink. “Ember!” He groaned.

“Oh relax. It isn’t enough to hurt you, I made sure they didn’t add too much.” Ember flicked her tail in front of her as she laid down.

Frederick shrugged. “I can’t even taste the venom.” He finished his drink in one gulp and reached for the bowl still in Fendrel’s hands.

“And how would you know what venom tastes like?” Fendrel held the bowl away.

“It’s better that you only have one.” Ember took the bowl out of Frederick’s reach.

Fendrel tuned out when Frederick started to plead with Ember for the bowl.

Fire dragons were everywhere, lounging on the sand, laughing with each other, racing over the dunes in the distance, drinking from similar bowls.

He sighed.

What I wouldn’t give to have been born as a dragon.

“Are you okay?” Ember’s talons lightly scratched the sandstone under them, something Fendrel noticed she did when she was nervous.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just got distracted.” Fendrel shrugged it off.

“Well, promise me that you’ll at least have a little bit of fun while you’re here. Otherwise I’ll have to force you to have fun.” Ember’s eyes flashed toward the center of the city plaza.

Fendrel pointed at her. “You are not making me sing again.”

“Okay, fine.” She feigned a look of disappointment. “You’re so-o-o boring.”

“Oh how horrible.” Fendrel let out an exaggerated sigh. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

A mischievous smile lit up the fire dragon’s face.

Fendrel groaned and put his face in his hands. “I already regret asking.”

“It’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Fine.” Fendrel lifted his head and stood.

“Count me in.” Frederick sprang up.

Ember led them away from the party.

A small grin was already betraying Fendrel’s attempts at trying to not be interested in what Ember had in store for them.

<~><~><~>

Fendrel stirred and opened his eyes. It was completely dark.

This isn’t a dream, is it? Is it still night?

He was pressed against something that moved slowly, rhythmically. Fendrel calmed down when he realized it was Venom’s rising and falling chest as he slept. He lifted Venom’s wing and stepped over his tail.

Venom growled in his sleep. He reached out with one of his claws and pawed at the ground. A soft whimper escaped him.

Fendrel placed his hand on Venom’s snout. “I’m still he-”

Before he could finish, Venom’s paw grabbed him and pulled him back under his wing, holding him in place.

…What do I do?

Fendrel froze. He yawned and stretched, pretending he woke up just then.

Venom stirred and his eyes opened. He nudged Fendrel with his nose. “Good morning, young one.”

“Good morning…”

The dragon let go of Fendrel and dragged himself out of the indent in the rock wall. “Are you ready to meet up with the others?”

Fendrel followed Venom out and pulled himself onto the dusk dragon’s shoulders. “Ready.”

Venom took off, his wings a bit slower due to him just waking up.

<~><~><~>

Fendrel chuckled at Fog’s aerial flips. She flew beside Venom, who was carrying Fendrel and Thea again, and seemed to be getting used to the weight of the saddle and bags.

Birch carried Cassius, whose face was pale and frozen with fear, on his back. The floral dragon occasionally scratched his paws, scraping off more dead scales.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Fendrel smiled at the fact that the fire dragon was under surveillance at the Black-Brick Ruins. He watched the terrain change from barren earth to sandy dunes. The heat became more intense the further into the desert they traveled.

Thea peered around Fendrel’s head. “Am I hallucinating, or is that our next destination?”

Fendrel nodded. “That’s it, the Twin Oases.” He couldn’t help the smile that spread onto his face.

I wonder what Ember’s been up to since the last time I saw her.

<~><~><~>

The Twin Oases thrived as much as ever. While most other tribes lived in places where the structures of past human civilizations were crumbling, the buildings of the Twin Oases looked like they could have been built just a few years ago. Of course, the original houses were too small for dragons to live in, so the fire tribe rebuilt the structures at a larger scale. The palace, however, stayed the same size, save for the doors, which were replaced with beaded curtains.

A small channel with a bridge leading over it linked the two oases the city was named for.

Box-shaped buildings made of sandstone surrounded the bodies of water, and every inch of the city was teeming with fire dragons.

Fendrel looked down at the city from Venom’s shoulders, searching for Ember.

If there’s a celebration tonight, there’s no doubt she’ll be there.

He sat rigid. “I completely forgot.”

Thea tapped him on the shoulder. “Forgot what?”

“Tonight’s the beginning of the Summer Entwined Festival.” Fendrel sighing heavily.

Venom cocked his head to the side. “You’re not alone. I also forgot.”

“If there’s a festival, then there’s drinks, right?” Thea moved her hair over her shoulder to expose her neck to the breeze.

“It doesn’t start until dusk, but we’ll try to find something before we leave.” Fendrel continued to scan the city.

Venom dipped his wings and banked toward a large sandstone circle set in the plaza just before the palace. He landed in the circle. The other dragons followed suit.

Fendrel slid off Venom’s shoulders and immediately felt as if the whole city was watching him. All the fire dragons stopped what they were doing and murmured excitedly.

The other humans dismounted and followed the dragons toward the palace with Venom in the lead.

Two fire dragons with metal helmets and plates running down their spines pulled the curtains apart to let them pass. The beads clinked together as they were pulled to each side. The guards nodded at Venom as he entered and eyed the humans suspiciously.

“Venom? I didn’t know you were coming. Has Mist been found yet?” The female voice of a dragon came from within the palace.

Fendrel cocked an eyebrow. He peered out from behind Venom. “Ember?”

Ember stiffened. Her wings drew closer to her body. She rested on an ornate rug against the wall across from Fendrel. Her eyes widened. “Fendrel. What are you doing here?” She rose from the rug and made her way toward him. A pair of small amber earrings caught his eye.

“You’re a noble?” Fendrel took a step back.

“I thought you and Frederick would think I wasn’t fun anymore if you saw my business-y side.” Ember shrugged.

“Well, that explains why we’ve never seen your house.” Fendrel stared. “You always dodged the question of where you lived.”

“You two know each other?” Venom gestured between Fendrel and Ember with a claw.

Ember closed the distance between her and Fendrel. She threw her wing over his shoulders. “I knew him before he even thought of becoming the Liberator.” She scanned the others. “What did you get yourself into this time?”

“He got himself into the dilemma concerning Mist,” Venom spread his wings out toward the rest of the group. “We all did.”

“Wow, His Majesty let all of you in on the mission?” Ember cocked her head to the side.

“That’s kind of a long story.” Fendrel looked up at Ember.

She sighed and took her wing off of Fendrel’s shoulders. “I would have come for His Majesty’s meeting, but I’ve got my talons full here. I heard from my scouts that there was an increase in activity at the Stronghold, so I sent them to check it out and…they didn’t come back.”

“What is this Stronghold?” Venom narrowed his eyes.

Fendrel’s mouth became a thin line. “It’s the training center for incoming dragon hunters.”

Smoke curled out of Ember’s nostrils. “I haven’t sent more scouts out that way, but I have doubled the security around the city at night.” She shook her head. “Well, you all came here looking for Mist. I’m sorry to say, for once, I don’t think any of the news I’ve gathered recently could help. It’s like she’s disappeared off the face of the world.”

Venom sighed. “Thank you, Ember. We’re sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s no trouble. You traveled all the way out here, let me at least be a good hostess before you go. I assume you all want something to drink?” Ember smiled.

“Yes, please.” Thea nodded her head so much her face became a blur.

Fendrel hung his head. “You aren’t going to trick me into drinking that cactus-scorpion drink again, are you?”

“Maybe.” Ember winked.

“Ember, I’m serious.” Fendrel pointed at her. “I’m not drinking anything you give me unless it’s water.”

“Oh, you don’t mean that.” She threw her wing over his shoulders again and guiding him toward a side passage near the rug she was on earlier. She waved at the rest of the travelers with her other wing. “There’s refreshments this way.”

Ember led them to a room with heightened slabs of sandstone, like counters, with bowls full of liquid on them.

“These are for the festival, but there’s always extra after each night. Go ahead and take what you want.” Ember sat beside the end of the counter. “By the way, are you planning on staying for a few of the festivities?”

“We should be going as soon as we can but thank you for offering.” Venom took one of the bowls.

Ember nodded in understanding. “It lasts for two months. If you find Mist by then, don’t hesitate to stop by.” She scooped up one of the bowls. “In the meantime, I’d love to get to meet you all. Any friend of Fendrel’s is a friend of mine.” She took a sip and pointed at Thea. “You must be Thea. Fendrel mentioned you a few times. Oh, shoot—” she looked at Fendrel “—can she even understand me?”

Fendrel nodded. “Thea’s a mage. She enchanted something for herself and the others so we can all communicate.” He gestured at his friend, who was happily drinking from her bowl.

“A mage, huh? You must be quite mischievous. I can already tell we’re going to get along.” Ember grinned at Thea. “So, how do you know my friend here? He refuses to tell me very much.”

Thea shrugged. “We’ve got kind of a long-term dragon rescuing partnership.”

“Well, then I guess I have you thank for the rescuing of some of my subjects, as well.” Ember sat and swept her tail over the paw that wasn’t holding the bowl. “So what about you, how do you know him?” She flickered her tail at Cassius.

“I literally just met him.” The prince shrugged. “We have a deal.”

“Oh? What kind of deal?” Ember had a curious glint in her eyes. She leaned toward the prince.

“His cousin’s an awful person and we’re planning on defenestrating him.” Fendrel crossed his arms.

“Ah, so he’s an important figure to you humans.” The fire dragon set her bowl down on one of the counters.

Cassius nodded. “And extremely self-conceited. He always wears his armor and takes his horse everywhere just to show off his prowess.”

Ember tapped her talons on the ground. “Does he have dark hair and blue eyes?”

The prince narrowed his eyes. “How did you know?”

Ember giggled. “It looks like I have exciting news for you after all! Let me go get it.” She narrowly missed the door frame as she ran out of the room.