Otto and the Dragon

Chapter 9: Into the Dragon's Lair

When Ben brought the guards to get Otto and the other prisoners, the guards did not bind Steve’s hands with rope but in heavy chains. Otto, on the other hand, was too small to hurt anyone—and had nowhere to run—so his hands were left free. He was simply pushed in the direction the guards wanted him to go.

They led Otto and Steve high up into the castle, to the throne room. It had once been a room of tremendous light, but the wizard had changed all that. 

The throne room was long, with a narrow feel. It ended in a half circle with the throne at the apex of the circle’s arch. The ceiling curved high over head, like a great cathedral. Along the sides, huge windows started just above the floor and stretched 20 feet high, ending where the walls curved to become the ceiling. But the windows had been painted black, so no sunlight came through. Instead, great torches, burning green and blue, were lit, infusing the room with an unnatural light. Between the torches, evenly spaced around the room, guardsmen stood at attention, unmoving, unsmiling, and unwavering.

Otto and Steve were marched towards the throne; Otto assumed that once again Tyrol followed along unseen.

The dragon wizard wore a long black robe that concealed his body. All that could be seen was his head. He had long gray hair, pulled back neatly at his neck. His  clean shaven face was long, thin, almost pinched. But what caught Otto’s attention were the wizard’s eyes: They were slightly larger than expected and the pupil was a slit, not round. At first Otto thought they looked like a cat’s eyes, but then realized what they were: dragon eyes.

As they approached the throne, Otto saw someone tied and bound off to the right of the throne. It was only as they got close that Otto realized it was Father. A large pole had been erected in the throne room, and Father was bound to the pole, his hands tied together behind his back and around the pole. Father’s concern, and disappointment, were evident as he silently watched Otto walk toward the throne.

Ben had them halt about 20 feet in front of the wizard.

“Ah ha! At last! So much trouble to capture such a small boy,” the wizard said, then he looked at the ogre, and gave Ben a puzzled look. “Why have you brought me an ogre? I didn’t ask for an ogre.”

“He’s not really an ogre, apparently,” said Ben. “He tried to defend the boy and was easily captured. We thought if someone was made to look like an ogre to hide him, then he might be important, or at least useful.”

“Hmmm,” the wizard said, furrowing his brow and looking at Steve. “Perhaps. But we’ll worry about that later. For now, just get him over there, out of the way,” and wizard motioned for Steve to be moved back behind Father.

The wizard stared at Otto, but his eyes didn’t seem to be focused on the boy.

“You may leave,” said the wizard, briefly looking at Ben and then back toward Otto. 

Ben gave a growl that seemed to express annoyance, and then he and the other two half-trolls left the throne room.

After they were gone and the doors shut, the wizard, who was still looking toward Otto, gave a particularly evil smile. He stood up and walked down from the throne, towards Otto, but still looking past him. He stopped just in front and to the side of Otto, looking at the ground just behind the boy.

“And you, my little friend,” he said to the ground. “What are you doing here?”

“You can see me!” Tyrol said, appearing behind Otto.

“Of course I can,” the wizard laughed and leaned forward. “I have dragon eyes!”

Tyrol spun around, and headed for the door, but the wizard moved with amazing speed and grabbed the dragon, holding Tyrol behind the neck and around the legs. No matter how he squirmed, the dragon couldn’t free himself. The wizard called to a guardsman and had him wrap rope around the dragon’s body, pinning the wings to Tyrol’s sides. The guardsman returned to his post and the wizard pinned the dragon’s head to the ground with a knee, and bound his legs. Last thing the wizard did was wrap some rope around the dragon’s snout.