The Shamer's Daughter - A Fanfiction

Chapter 21 - To Chain a Dragon

Luckily, there were new guards by the gates, so no one would wonder why the same orphan boy kept passing so many times in the same day. There was no danger of looking the new guard in his eyes, because he never even looked at her as she hurried past him. He was far too interested in something that was happening at the square, but also too dutiful to leave his post to get a closer look. When Dina neared the square, she could see a crowd gathering right in the middle of it. Feet were covering the Raven crest in the cobblestone that she had seen in Nico's mind.

"I can't see it from here!" The guard mumbled behind her in frustration.

"See what?" Dina turned around and asked him very carefully.

"The dragon. They're chaining it, so it will be ready for tomorrow." Apparently he just assumed the kid already knew about the imminent execution, but of course she already did, so maybe it was already commonly known. Dina froze again, like she had done by the cider stand. But when she started walking again, she headed for the crowd and not for the castle gate as she was supposed to. She wanted to see it - the beast that would take her mother away from her in less than a day. The first thing she noticed was the sweet smell of rotting flesh that she had almost gotten used to by now. She could see grown men wafting their noses and she rolled her eyes. The stench was nothing compared to what they were about to see, no one knew that better than her. Next, she heard a frightened bleating. And between a couple of shoulders, she saw a tied up lamb at a big podium. And behind it, she saw big yellow eyes as fixated on the lamb as hers were on them. And another pair right beside them. The crowd gasped as more than just their eyes became visible. They were behind thick solid bars, but every single person, except Dina, took a few steps back. She pushed her way forward until she was standing at the very front. Hopefully people would be too fascinated by the dragon to recognise her. She now saw that the bars were a part of a sturdy gate even stronger than the ones she had gone through with first Drakan and then Nico. It seemed like the dragons were emerging from a tunnel below the castle - there must have been another way out of The Dragon Court through which they could lure the dragons. The two big beasts were snapping at each other and though they were still in the shadow, the sunlight before them already seemed to give them more energy, because they were moving a lot faster than the night Dina had gotten bitten. They were no longer sneaking up on their prey, they were full on fighting over it. The lamb sounded more and more frightened and panic was clear in its bleating. Dina felt like just running to the podium and freeing the poor animal - she knew exactly how it felt - but of course she didn't. The smaller dragon had to pull back, when the bigger one took a chunk out of its leg. It's scream completely deafened the lamb and the now mumbling crowd. The bigger dragon moved towards the iron bars even quicker and after a man shouted from on top of the wall, it was opened just enough for the beast to stick its head out, reaching for the lamb. As soon as its head was through, a couple of brave Dragon Soldiers threw a chain thicker than Dina's arm around its neck. One of them had to jump aside as the dragon tried to bite him instead of the lamb, but it missed by an inch.

"He doesn't scare easily!" A man in the crowd said. "They would have to pay me very well to get me to do that!" Dina noticed him and he, as many others, were wearing a brand new dragon uniform.

"They say he's getting 50 silver marks!" Another answered, but she couldn't see who.

"50 silvers?! My whole family could live on that for half a winter!" A third chimed in.

The second Dragon Soldier dragged the chain to the podium and fastened it as quickly as he could. Tied to a weird contraption of both stone, iron and wood, the dragon didn't stand much of a chance. So when four other men started shortening the chain, it had to move forward and leave its tunnel. The gate was quickly closed so the other dragon wouldn't follow. The chained beast didn't seem to mind the dragging much, because it got it closer to the lamb. Before anyone even realised it was in reach, its jaw had clamped around both its flanks. The little animal's scream was unbearable and Dina had to look away. A good thing too, because as it actually managed the lamb to escape its grip at first, it looked wretched with wool red instead of white. It didn't last long though, because a second after, the jaws clamped around its head. A few bystanders got sprinkles of blood on them and Dina could swear she heard someone throwing up in the distance. She dared look up when she could no longer hear the lamb and saw the rest of its body disappear between big white teeth. And tomorrow, that would be her mother.