Finding Home- Chapter Four

“Say your prayers!” Reggie shouted to both of us.

Sarah grabbed my paw and held it tight, I opened my eyes and looked over at her, she mouthed “I Love You.” to me. Then looked as if she were going to cry. I mouthed back “I Love You Too” going through the same thought process she was. We looked back towards the group who were about to kill us.

Putting his finger on the trigger of the gun, Reggie was about to fire when he went stiff.

He dropped his gun, and crumpled to the ground. Looking at what happened, I saw he had a dart lodged in the side of his neck. It was so silent I didn’t even hear it.

The rest of the townsfolk took notice and lowered their guns to see it Reggie was OK.

That’s when gunshots sounded behind the rubble that was Sarah’s house as the townsfolk scattered in panic. Whoever was sounding those gunshots were probably there to help us, but I wasn’t talking any chances in trusting anybody.

“Come on, follow me!” I whispered to Sarah and tugged her to get moving, she nodded. Then I led her to the forest, getting behind the trees as fast as we could.

Once we made it, we both stood motionless behind the thick canopy and waited for whoever was there to leave. I heard the gunshots go silent as all the people who were with Reggie were long gone. I was astonished that a group of about fifty people can be out of sight in a span of 30 seconds.

Footsteps were heard getting closer to us and stopped not too far away. Probably stopping at Reggie.

“Here’s the buffoon who tried to kill them. Take him.” a high pitched male voice, like a teenager, announced.

I heard two other people pick what I think was Reggie up and walk away, not sure where they were taking him.

The footsteps then got closer to us as though this person knew where we were. I tensed up. Then the male voice called out,

“Princess?”

“Here!” Sarah announced, stepping out of the protection of the trees, she looked and me and told me,

“He’s part of the Royal Guard from the Kingdom of Dragons, we’re safe.”

“I hope so…” I responded.

I too stepped out of the line of trees and looked at the stout figure in front of us. When I looked closer at him, he looked back at me with yellow reptilian eyes. He was a bipedal dragon a little shorter than us. Green in color, with a black underside. This dragon was also wearing an outfit similar to that of a top military officer. His face was creased in confusion.

“Prince Monar, why do you act like you’ve never seen me before?” he asked.

“I’m sorry, what did you just call me?” I asked, confused as hell.

“I’ll take that as a no. Princess HItachu, surely you must remember me!” he said in
desperation to Sarah.

“I’m sorry, I don’t remember seeing you ever before today.” Sarah responded.

“Damn, that disease really hit you guys hard.” he said.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, we’ll explain it later. For now, I’ll introduce myself. I am General Incepto. I am the head of the Royal Guard to the King and Queen of the kingdom of Dragons.” The General explained.

“Well hi General.” Sarah said, then continued,

“Can you tell us what’s going on?”

“I was sent by the king and queen to rescue you. Since they saw that you guys were in trouble.” The General explained.

“That’s great! Give the king and queen our best regards!” I said, hoping we didn’t have to go see them just yet. I didn’t want to be confronted with Sarah’s real parents. It would make a bad first impression.

“The king and queen would also like to see you two.” Incepto added.

Shit…

When I thought it couldn’t get any worse, Jenny groaned and tried to stand up as she woke up from unconsciousness.
Oh shit!

She didn’t know Sarah transformed! She’s going to freak!

Jenny stood up, cleared her eyes for a moment, then looked at us. When she looked at Sarah, she looked at a loss for words and sanity.

“Wow Sarah, you weren’t kidding about this dragon thing!” Jenny exclaimed.

I sighed of relief, at least she wasn’t making the situation worse.

“Who is this?” she asked, pointing at General Incepto. Incepto spoke up,

“I do NOT speak to humans!”

“Cool it Incepto, she’s with us.” Sarah explained.

“Oh, then why didn’t you say so?” Incepto replied, then looked at Jenny and spoke,

“I am General Incepto, head of the Royal Guard for the Kingdom of Dragons.”

“Wow! I didn’t know there was more of you Farvin!” Jenny said with excitement to me.

General Incepto looked insulted, then snapped,

“There is a whole race of us, human!”

“Wait, there is?!” I asked in shock.

“Yes, after all, the Kingdom of Dragons has been around for thousands of years, taking care of mankind. Until we were cast out of this cursed world!” Incepto shouted, clenching his fist out of anger.

Wow, a whole race of dragons…. It felt as if I stepped into a fantasy. All my dreams, they all came true in a matter of days.

“Now please, we must get going back to the kingdom, before more of those humans show up!” Incepto warned us.

“Agreed, but exactly where do we go?” I asked, looking at the sky for a castle of some kind.

“Arg, Prince, our kingdom can’t be seen. It is hidden.” Incepto explained as if I were I child.

Still confused why he was calling me a “prince” I just assumed he was telling the truth about the kingdom and told Jenny to climb on my back. She proceeded to walk over to me, but Incepto stopped her.

“It is highly dangerous to bring a human to the kingdom.” he told me.

“General Incepto, it’s fine. I’ve known her my whole life and she won’t be a threat. I promise.” I tried to convince him.

“Hmmm, fine. But be warned, she’ll be in danger the moment she steps into the kingdom.” Incepto explained.

“I understand.” I replied, and the general let her walk over to me.

Jenny still looked dazed and had a big ugly bruise on her forehead. Nonetheless, I bent down so it was easy for her to get on my back.
Taking a bit to get herself situated, she lied down, face first, and dozed off almost immediately. She deserved rest, she didn’t look too good. Looking back at her, I made sure she wouldn’t fall off my back, then nodded back to Incepto. We were ready.

“Follow me, and stay close. The guards won’t let you pass until they see me with you.” Incepto explained.

Me and Sarah nodded, Incepto then stretched his wings, then jumped, taking flight.

Sarah nodded at me, then stretched her wings. She looked gorgeous. Her grey wings glistened in the sunlight as though they had been glossed to perfection. She looked like something straight out of art I had seen online of majestic dragons. She looked downright stunning.

Sarah took flight, I realized that I was just being an idiot and had to catch up to both of them.

Stretching out my wings, I felt the adrenaline start to pulse through my body as I jumped and took flight, looking ahead of mea as me and Sarah followed the green mass that was Incepto.

I caught up to Sarah and got up close, making sure she could hear me over the howling winds as we were flying at a high speed.

“You know, that was brave what you did back there. Going to your dragon form in order to protect me.” I said to her. She looked at me, then spoke.

“I had too, I didn’t want to lose you.”

She then kissed me on the muzzle, then continued,

“Don’t you EVER give me a scare like that again.” She chuckled.

“What?” I asked sheepishly.

“You protecting me from Reggie and getting shot yourself, and you are calling me brave? All I did was scare those people!” she laughed.

“Hey, you were close to being gone from my life, forever. And plus, you have parents you need to meet!” I replied.

A smile formed on her muzzle, then she looked ahead to make sure Incepto was still close enough to us. Wherever he was leading us, it was PRETTY far. We have been flying at high speeds for a good few minutes, and I was dying from the suspense of meeting Sarah’s real parents.

Deciding to kill some time, I spoke to Sarah,

“You know, you look beautiful as a dragon.”

She looked over at me with a grin, her sharp teeth didn’t bother me one bit.

“You know, Reggie would have never said that to me.” she said to me, her smile fading as a thought passed through her mind.

“How did we not see this evil in Reggie when we were human?” she asked me.

“I don’t know…he always seemed like a good sport…” I replied, pondering this too.

“I wonder what’s happening to him. I hope he doesn’t get hurt…” Sarah said to me in a solemn tone.

“Sarah! What do you mean you don’t want him to get hurt?! He almost killed us, called you a bitch, and led almost the entire town to think we were demons!” I explained in anger.

“I know, but thinking of all the nice things he did for us…” Sarah started.

“He was only nice to us when we were human, unlike you, you were nice to me no matter what I was. He only like us when we were of use to him!” I explained again.

“I guess you’re right…” Sarah responded, but was interrupted by Incepto calling in ahead of us.

“We’re about to enter the kingdom! Stay close!”

Ignoring the conversation we just had, we caught up to Incepto and looked ahead for any sign of civilization.

We only saw blue skies ahead of us, and nothing more.

“I don’t-” I began.

“Hush! We are close!” Incepto snapped.

Backing off, I just kept mindlessly following where he was leading us. Looking ahead, I thought I saw a glimmer. Like light shining on glass, not too far away. Were we near the kingdom?

Incepto stopped abruptly and halted us, hovering in mid air. I couldn’t see anything in front of us, it was just more skies.

“Open! This is General Incepto!” Incepto shouted in front of us, looking up.

Thinking he was crazy, I looked over at Sarah, and she too had a puzzled look on her face.

Then that’s when I heard a loud creaking noise, like a door being opened that hasn’t been oiled on it’s hinges in years. This caught me off guard as I looked in front of us. I could see a huge door of what looked like glass open outwards. All I could see in the doorway was this silvery liquid as if this was a portal somewhere…

“Come, the King and Queen do not have much time.” Incepto spoke to us.

“Why are they in a rush?” Sarah asked.

“That will be explained later, now please, come.” he replied.

He then proceeded to go through the doors, and as soon as he stepped through the silvery liquid, he disappeared. Enveloped the the liquid. It reminded me of entering the Stargate in one of my favorite TV shows.

Looking back at Sarah, I said to her,

“I guess we have no choice, let’s go.”

I then moved slowly to the doors but was stopped by Sarah as she grabbed my paw.

“Let’s do this. Together.” she said quietly to me.

I nodded, then took a deep breath and stepped through the doorway, Sarah next to me the whole time.

What I saw beyond the doorway looked straight up out of a movie. It was magnificent.

The whole kingdom seemed to be from the medieval era. Straw roofs, wooden homes, taverns, and Dragons.

Lots of Dragons.

They were carrying duties like what a human in the medieval ages were doing. Walking to various shops, carrying food. The streets were packed with bipedal dragons as if it were a bustling city. My heart fluttered as I discovered that I wasn’t alone.

Me and Sarah landed on the stone paved street below us. I instantly picked up a strong smell of baked bread. I haven’t eaten since that breakfast I had the day I turned into a dragon. Which was how long? Days? Weeks? I lost track of time already.

General Incepto was waiting for us further down the street and I decided that I had to get Jenny off my back.

“Jenny!” I whispered. Sharking her awake.

“Mmmf…?” Jenny groggily groaned.

“Time to get up!” I replied.

She sat up, rubbed her eyes for a moment. Then looked around and gaped in shock.

“W-Where are we?” she asked, at a loss for words.

“We’re in the Kingdom of Dragons lil’ sis.” I answered.

She got off my back, shaking and landing on the stone pavement. Her slippers making a loud clapping noise as all the other dragons in the street at the time looked my way. I heard gasps as they all looked at Jenny.

“A human! What do we do? What if she’s armed?!” a woman mumbled within the crowd.

“Call the Royal Guard!” someone shouted.

Stopping this from happening, I stood up on two legs, and held up my paws. Calming them down. The pain on my injured leg was less than this morning, but it was still noticeable. The dragons on the street then looked at me in shock.

“It’s OK, she’s harmless, and she’s with us!” I announced.

“Who’s us?” A lone voice shouted.

“Us!” Sarah shouted, standing up on two legs and stood next to me. They all gaped at us.

“Noo.. it can’t be!” they all mumbled.

Puzzled, we started walking to General Incepto, the group of dragons parting to let us pass by. Still gaping and mumbling at us.

We made it to General Incepto, he looked at us with impatience.

“Follow me, and don’t say a word.” was all he said.

Reluctantly, we nodded, and followed Incepto through the winding streets.

The rest of the dragons in the kingdom was the same as they saw me and Sarah. They all lined up on the streets, stopping whatever they were doing to look at us. They were all dead silent.

It was no shock that Sarah was getting attention, because she was born princess of this kingdom. But me? I was just like all of them, I didn’t deserve all this attention.

The population of dragons seemed to increase in density as we made it to the center of the kingdom. It was remarkable that a dragon population of this size, which was maybe a couple thousand, could fit into the size of my home town, which was REALLY small.

Without warning, Incepto halted us at some sort of gate. It was solid gold encrusted with what looked like diamonds. At the top of the gate, a figurehead of a dragon roaring was seen, also solid gold. Whoever lived in here, they must be pretty wealthy. Or whatever counted as currency here.

Two dragons in iron armor came up to the gates, looked at Incepto, and unlocked the gates for us to pass. As we passed by, one of the guards spoke up.

“Hey! Are those…”

“Yes.” Incepto snapped. “Resume your duty.” he continued, not looking back at the guard.

Judging by the guards and the heavy security, I assumed this was the place the king and queen of this kingdom resided. Although this didn’t look like much of a castle. It looked like Tony Stark’s house from Iron Man… except it wasn’t on the side of the cliff. But the futuristic theme was there. Totally different than the rest of the buildings in the kingdom.

We reached the front door, which was also solid gold, and Incepto opened it for us to pass. We did so, and the interior of this place caught me off guard.

The outside may have looked modern, but the interior was like stepping into a real Medieval castle. Anything you could imagine in a castle was there. Paintings of past kings and queens, armor lining the halls, a royal dining hall, everything. It even had that damp would smell that you would get from an antique shop. Totally authentic!

I looked back at Sarah, and she was most likely thinking what I was thinking about this place. We were both in awe.

While we looked around like two kids in a candy store, a female dragons walked up to us and gasped in shock when she saw me and Sarah.

Typical.

“Oh my gosh! Are they….” she started.

“Yes.” Incepto snapped, sounding like he was reciting lines in a play.

“Oh my! We must get them to the king and queen immediately!” The female dragons continued.

“That’s where we’re headed, now please we’re in a hurry.” Incepto replied, shooing her off.

“Ok, Ok.” she said with disappointment. Then walked off and did whatever she was going to do.

“Come. The throne room is just down this corridor.” Incepto told us, expecting us to follow.

We did, and followed him straight ahead towards rub doors at the end of the hall.

As we approached, a group of male teenage dragons from the looks of it came out of another room in this hall, laughing and holding practice swords. Peculiar, since dragons don’t need to wield words. But that’s not the reason I pointed them out. They saw us approach, and the one at the front locked eyes with me and silenced the rest of his group. The dragons was red in color with a black underside and wearing an outfit that a Prince would wear. He stepped forward and stopped us.

“Monar?” he asked, looking at me. It seemed like he recognized me. But how? And why is he calling me Monar?

“Who?” I replied.

“Monar! How do you not know me? We were friends ever since we were hatchlings!” the dragon exclaimed.

“I’m sorry, you must have the wrong dragon.” I explained.

“Nope, see that scar on your neck? You got it from when we were playing a long time ago and you bumped into an armor stand! Come on! Don’t you remember your old pal Samuel?” the dragon, Samuel, explained.

Feeling my neck, I noticed that I had a long rough scar on the side of my neck. I never noticed it before. Is Samuel telling the truth? Before I could reply, General Incepto interrupted.

“Please excuse us, but we need to see the king and queen, this is urgent!”

“Fine.” Samuel replied. “See you later Monar!” he waved to me, then motioned for his group to follow him.

Ignoring what just happened, we walked the remainder of the distance to the ruby doors, Jenny just silently trailing behind me as if nothing happened.

The doors to the throne room were the biggest doors I’ve ever seen. The entire structure was ruby and it seemed as if it was constructed out of broken shards of glass.

“Ready?” Incepto asked us, putting his paws on the doors.

We nodded as Jenny squeezed my paw tight. Incepto opened the massive doors, and we entered the throne room.


To Be Continued...