The Dragon Magnet | Embers of Destiny 2023

Long Live the King

It's foolish to wake a dragon, but waking a prince can be fatal.

There was a pounding on the door.

Edan pulled the covers over his head.  But when the banging didn't stop, he was forced to get up. The light was starting to stream through the crack in the threadbare curtains, so he didn't bother to light the candle by his bed. Instead, he stormed across the weathered floorboards and yanked open the door. His displeasure turned to puzzlement as he saw the stocky man standing in the doorway.

"Bold of you to knock so early." Edan said. Still, he moved aside to let in his former friend.

Colin nodded his acknowledgment but didn't say anything.

"Bit early for a visit." Edan said.

"I have news." Colin started. He looked paler than Edan remembered. "James is dead."

"Is he?" Edan leaned against the table, staring at his fingernails.

Edan hadn't seen James in years. It wasn't that he didn't care about his older brother, but they'd lost contact after their parents' deaths. That was when Edan had been banished.

"It tore him up to send you away like that, you know. Especially so soon after..."

"So now they need me?" Edan asked.

They hadn't wanted him in the Southern Isles in a decade. That's why he was at the far end of the world. But apparently, he was the only one left. It seemed his curse no longer bothered them.

At least they'd never officially blamed him for his parents' deaths. There'd been a fire, but Edan hadn't been anywhere near the castle at the time. Still, a prophecy was a prophecy, and the second son was cast away.

"Without James, there's only your uncle to care for the kingdom."

"And that's my problem?" Edan asked. But they both knew it was. And shunned ex-prince or not, he'd still been raised to be nothing if not loyal to the kingdom.

"There's a boat leaving at noon." Colin said.

"Are you sure you trust me on a boat?" Edan asked. "All that wood..."

"All that water..." Colin countered.

"Suit yourself. Your life, not mine."

Colin considered him, and Edan knew he was trying to decide just how much control Edan really had. "Come on, now. We both know you had nothing to do with that fire."

Edan didn't bother to acknowledge that. Instead, he turned to the battered wardrobe in the corner. He threw his meager pile of clothes into his bag and tossed the pouch with his handful of dragonscales on top. Turning to Colin, he asked, "So where's this boat of yours?"

The two of them walked down the cobblestone streets, making their way towards the docks. Colin turned up his nose at the crumbling walls they passed.

"All the money of the Southern Isles and you end up in the rat-infested Canal District of Skaala."

"I'm working my way up."

Edan might have had all the riches of the Southern Isles when he'd been a prince, but he'd been cast out with just the shirt on his back. And being hardly better than a fugitive didn't exactly open a lot of doors for him.

They walked down the docks, towards a ship bustling with activity. A man was near the helm, barking orders.

"Ah, Mr. Harrison." the man said when Colin approached. His face darkened when he saw Edan. "No."

"No?" Colin raised his eyebrows. "I've paid for–"

The man pulled a sack of coins out of his vest pocket and hurled it towards Colin. He only just caught it in time.

"A man like that has no business on my ship."

"A man like what?" Colin asked, turning to Edan. But Edan wasn't about to tell him what he'd been up to these past few years, especially not with the captain of the ship staring at him so disdainfully.

"A man who attracts monsters." the captain said.

"I don't attract monsters. I hunt them." Edan grinned. The captain took a step back, eying his too-sharp teeth.

"Sir–" Colin started, turning towards Edan. Edan quickly wiped the look off his face.

"I may have something of my own to trade for passage." Edan told the man.

He reached into his pack and pulled out the small pouch. He hadn't wanted to show Colin; they were banned in the Southern Isles. But if what was inside would get him passage home, he'd worry about Colin's disapproval later. He opened it and put it under the captain's nose. The captain's eyes widened as he saw the blood-red dragonscales intermixed among coal-black ones.

And they weren't just any dragonscales, either. Each was the size of a gold coin – none of those tail-scales that were barely the width of a fingernail. And the way they glimmered even in the dimmest light was enough to put the jewels in his father's crown to shame.

The captain was transfixed. As if in a daze, he reached into the pouch, pulling out first a black scale, then a red one, holding them up to the sun. Colin took a sharp breath once he saw what was in the satchel. But before Edan could even make a step towards the ship, the captain had dropped the scales back into the bag and held out his hand.

"Two bags." he told Edan.

"I beg your pardon?" Edan drew himself up, trying to look like the intimidating king he'd be, if he could ever get on that infernal boat. "These are worth two of your ship."

"They're worth half." the captain countered. "And if another dragon follows you and burns us down? Then they're worth even less."

"Dragons don't follow me." Edan snapped. He resisted the urge to say he only had experience with just the one. The captain was unmoved.

Edan snatched his satchel away and stormed back up the pier. There was a sharp whistle, and someone called out, "Hey, you!"

Edan turned on his heel. A lanky young woman with long white hair spilling out from a tricorn hat was leaning up against a dock post, staring at him critically.

"I'll take you wherever you want." She stood up, grinning as she did. "And I'll do it for only half the treasures in your bag, Dragon Magnet."