The Twenty-Sided Dice

Chapter 8: Enemy Of My Enemy

Isabel slowly sank between a pair of rocks, obscured by the isabella vines that she was named after. Her scales scraped uncomfortably against the cold stone, but she ignored that and focused on her best friend, Misty. She couldn't stop blaming herself for letting Misty get so deep into this war, and she knew it made no sense, since she wasn't responsible for Misty's rebellious personality, but she felt responsible nonetheless. After all, it was her fault Misty had a reason to hate her parents in the first place.

A few months ago, when Misty was little more than a wyrmling, Inferno and Hurricane had stomped into the camp holding a dryad, snarling and kicking her as they walked. The dryad had looked defeated, a dejected look on her face as they mercilessly kicked the leaves off her legs and feet. She was a dull greenish-gray color, a sharp contrast to the bright green and yellow colors of typical dryads. Isabel had instantly decided that she was going to help the forest creature escape this miserable prison.

Isabel hurriedly returned to her den, a simple cave underneath a massive boulder, to retrieve her worn-out lockpick and rope. After grabbing her things and throwing them into a small pouch, she flew straight towards the black market, a look of determination etched onto her face.

After a few minutes, she had arrived at the market, diving into a thick bush to avoid being spotted by Addison's spies. They hadn't found her so far, and there was no way they would find her now. She easily slipped into Addison's tent, her long claws clicking against the stones on the floor. After she was sure no one was watching her, she fished through her bag, pulling out her lockpick and beginning to work on the steel padlock.

"Don't worry, dryad. I'm gonna get you out of here." Isabel muttered in Draconic, aware that the dryad's piercing gaze was centered on her. The lock clicked open, and Isabel swung open the door. They dryad gave her a grateful look, handed her a small amulet, and whispered something in Elvish. Isabel nodded quickly, slipped the small necklace into her pouch, and flew out of the tent. The dryad seemed to recognize the urgency of the situation and followed her out of the tent with equal haste. Together, they darted into the forest, glancing behind them to be sure that they weren't followed. The dryad disappeared as soon as they reached the forest, but Isabel stopped at the edge, seeing a commotion near the prison under Addison's tent.

"How could you do this? You know we needed that dryad, and you let it go anyways! How could you be so careless, Misty?" Inferno was screaming at a small dragon whose scales were a strange purple color, unlike any dragon Isabel had ever seen. She knew the wyrmling had to be evil, as she had learned from birth that metallic dragons were good and chromatic dragons were evil, but something about this chromatic wyrmling seemed... different. She didn't seem to take joy out of the suffering of the prisoners, as most of Addison's spies did.

"Misty? You did do this, right? You're the one who let the dryad out?" Inferno paused, a puzzled expression as his face, as if something about the dryad's escape seemed unfamiliar to him. But for reasons that Isabel had no understanding of, the young dragon stood up taller and looked Inferno in the eyes, speaking confidently.

"Yes. Me free dryad. It not deserve be here with you." Misty blinked at Inferno, not flinching as he snarled in a dragonlike tone.

"You foolish child! Have I not raised you to obey orders, like a young dragon is supposed to? Well, this has gone too far. That dryad was a very important prisoner, and you just set us back a few months with your idiotic mistake." Inferno roared in fury, red scales popping up all over his body as flames engulfed the wyrmling in front of him. Isabel could faintly hear a pained yelp, and as the flames cleared, she saw Misty, curled up in a ball, burn marks all over her legs and wings. Isabel's twinge of satisfaction at delaying Addison's evil plans was all but buried by her shock at the cruelty of the older dragon.