Locked Legacies

Chapter XVIII: Isosceles

Twelve pairs of hands were being strained by the hot chains wrapping the Flamma Respirarum's body as they tried to take it to the twentieth cell. The Captis Quadrigis —or Capture Team— had been out searching for a powerful Fire Dragon that would equate them to the Phobrakha Kingdom and, even though Flame Breathers were just of medium danger, they took them to the castle; "The more the better," was what Leopold Ashdown said when he was approached by the head of the group. Of course, the man hadn't considered the people that would have to force him into its compartment when making the decision of keeping it.

    I'm here to remind you, dear reader, that dragons are extremely sensitive creatures; every feeling is heightened and expressed somehow, especially anxiety and anger. One from the Water element might have made the atmosphere humid with its desperation, whilst an Earth one might have made the ground tremble with its fury. Logically, a berserk Fire dragon would irradiate a hellish heat that would be transmitted through the metal chains and go through the capturers' gloves. Certainly, a painful job, but they had to get it done; every step, from spotting it in the wilderness to locking the door, was in charge of them.

    It was when someone attempted to put the iron muzzle on that the dragon went immobile for a second, consequently mirrored by the humans, who were puzzled. Their shared stares indicated that it was not usual for such a creature to suddenly stop in its tracks. "Keep pulling!" Someone in the back yelled, trying to seize the opportunity of the beast ceasing to fight back. Of course, they all hummed, agreeing quietly before obliging.

    Yet, despite their best efforts— which were more than decent, given that they were clearly in outstanding shape—, they couldn't get it to move an inch forward. The dark red animal was nailed to the ground, standing motionless in the middle of the way with its neck up straight, staring aimlessly at the distance. A major detail that none of them had noticed was its pupils; their usual roundish shape had morphed into a triangle. That could only mean one thing.

    The confusion had slowed time down for them, those six seconds had felt like a whole minute, so their defenses were down; the creature roared loudly before sprinting forward, breaking free from the hands which felt the chains slip away. It seemed as if its strength had burgeoned in a second, though one might dare to say that it was its will that grew. Just by a hair did the guard with the muzzle in hand move to the side, avoiding a massacre. Unfortunately, the dragon didn't have the same luck and fell unconscious onto the floor on its way to cell number 18. Along with it, the desperate exclamations of the capturers died down, and all of them slowly turned with a foreboding feeling. The only thing that could be heard was a prisoner's chains in one of its cells as the bulky figure standing by the entrance made the whole team stare at their feet in shame as he held a crossbow in the mightiest manner. He didn't even put it down as he stomped in with fury drawn in his features.

    "I came to hang the crossbow with tranquilizing arrows as protocol, expecting to leave with a sense of pride. Yet I walk in to find a group of useless men doing absolutely nothing about a dragon on the loose..." He stared at each of them, not being able to make eye contact, walking towards the unconscious being and poking it slightly with his weapon to confirm it was asleep. "You should be ashamed of yourselves! You are the Captis Quadrigis. I've been leading and training you to be the best capturers in the Mergi Archipelago! How do you think we would be able to fight Phobrakha if you twelve can't even get a dragon to its cell," his voice grew louder, and he let out a scoff before carrying on, "We wouldn't even be able to defeat Parvus if we depended on you!" Parvus was the kingdom with the least territory in Mergi; its name is Latin for small. It was a dishonor to be compared to the least powerful people, insulting even, hence their heads fell to stare at their feet in shame. "Look up, you wandoughts, and tell me what happened!" he demanded.