Dragon's Treasure (Book 1)

Chapter 11 - Deception Discovered

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Theo kept his sharp, light brown eyes trained on the fleeing dragon and the woman it carried in its claws. He was still bewildered by what he had witnessed. Did the dragon just save the woman from Magnus? Or was she calling out for someone else and he just stole her away accidentally? But that thought didn't seem right to him. He had seen the relief wash over her face when she had heard it roar and the way she had just stood there, in the middle of the stream, trusting it with her life. He knew the feeling very well. He pitied them though, because knowing Magnus, he was never going to give up on his search now. The stakes had gotten even higher for the Prince. Killing a dragon and having for himself the first woman to ever say no to him.

As Theo was looking after their retreating forms while they veered to the right, his eyes roamed around and he stored to his memory the necessary orientation points so they could follow the dragon and its maiden as precisely as possible. He didn't want to, but he also didn't think he had much choice at that moment. Nothing was as simple as it seemed. Staying with Magnus, Damien and he might be more useful. For whom or what, he didn’t know yet.

Down below, Magnus was still furious. He had taken his armor off. The dragon’s fire had heated it, making him feel like he was stuck in a cauldron being boiled alive over a burning fire. The sleeves of his white shirt were rolled up in an attempt to cool himself, his arms an angry red because the heat under the armor had almost reached the blistering point. He was glad he had managed to protect his face, though. A lot depended on his handsome features, but his hair didn’t manage to avoid damage. It would have to be cut, much to his disappointment. Women had loved running their fingers through his locks.

When the redheaded scout descended back to the ground, Magnus raised an eyebrow at him. The Prince’s face was furrowed and marred by a deep, scowl of fury. He was tapping his foot impatiently, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for an answer to his unspoken question.

Theo nodded at him. “If we don’t stop for rest, we might reach them during the night. It was fast and managed to fly far. But, you did manage to hurt it Your Majesty, much to our advantage. So they had to land to rest. For how long, I don’t know.” Theo knew when not to call Magnus by name. When Magnus was angry, calling him by his title and reminding him of his importance helped suppress his rising anger.

“Suits them right! The monster was lucky this time, but next time it won’t be. This is how we’ll do it.  Recoup and then we go on our last hunt. No stopping tonight, not until we reach them!” With that said, Magnus walked away to cool off his heated body in the stream.

Horses and supplies were checked and some food was shared around for what would obviously be their last meal of the day. An ominous silence settled over their little unit. Now that they had seen the dragon with their own eyes  and witnessed what it was capable of, everybody was very wary. Nobody liked the idea of dying by burning to a crisp.

After everything was packed back up they decided to continue their chase on horseback, since they would be going back down the mountain. Magnus still wasn’t wearing his armor. His skin had cooled down a bit from his dip in the stream but it was still sensitive enough so that it made wearing his heavy armor very uncomfortable. He didn’t, however, part with his trusty sword.

Theo and Damien took the lead with others following closely behind. Charlie had been quiet since the whole event and her eyes were still wide with wonder, awe and fear. Even Reed throwing hungry glances at her hadn’t fazed her. Cassiel, the dark skinned knight, was the only stoic one among them. He never seemed fazed by anything. The rest of the knights were quite distraught and apprehensive as they followed their Prince to their unknown, but possibly rather deadly fate.