Chapter 24

After riding all day, Masonae realized they might have made a grave miscalculation somewhere. They’d reached a wall, literally. They stood in a grove of trees and faced the steep inclined of the mountain range that leveled off somewhere out of sight. It would take weeks of hard climbing to cross them and they had neither the experience nor the supplies to manage the task.
“I don’t suppose you have any experience with mountain climbing?” Prince Orin asked.
“None whatsoever. I think this may be a problem.”
“Well, we could try it, at least.”
“No ropes, no stakes, and not enough food to get us more than two days? Are you crazy.” The prince took affront to this comment.
“If you wish to be left behind, that’s fine.”
Prince Orin was trying to use the same strategy on him that they’d used on Brother Hricks, who sat silently staring at the rock wall. It wasn’t a matter of Masonae quitting and going home, he just didn’t intend to die on the face of a cliff from stupidity. He didn’t intend to let the prince kill himself either.
“There’s got to be another way around.”
“I don’t think there is,” Prince Orin looked east and west. It was true the mountains looked imposing.
“Perhaps we should find another town and at least purchase supplies.”
“We don’t have any money, as you pointed out last night.”
“We could sell the horses.”
“Sell my horse? Now you’re the crazy one.” Prince Orin patted the nose of his horse affectionately.
“And what are you going to do with her? You can’t drag her up the mountainside with you. You’ll have to let her go. At least then she’ll be taken care of rather than be left at the mercy of any dragons.”
Masonae was beginning to realize the prince didn’t like people arguing with him. He wasn’t used to it, which was tough. It wasn’t his parents that were at stake here.
“Perhaps we could use the secret questing gift,” Hricks said quietly.
“It’s only for dire emergency.” Prince Orin patted the bag strapped to his side with a sense of comfort.
“I think this qualifies,” Masonae said, then thought better of it. Magic tended to have a way of backfiring when he was present. Orin stared at the bag, then back to his horse.
“All right,” Prince Orin said. “I’ll open it. You should move back. There’s no telling what magic is in this… this mighty pouch.” Masonae stepped back to the edge of the clearing and gave him a reassuring smile that didn’t quite reach his eyebrows. Brother Hricks followed him, a light growing in his eyes as he reached for his quill.
Orin unstrapped the pouch and examined the outside of it. Innocuous at best, beaten up at worst, he handled it as if were sacred. He steadied himself, grabbed the worn pouch solidly in two hands as far away body as he possibly could and opened it swiftly.
Nothing. Orin glanced around. Masonae shrugged. The prince tentatively brought the bag close and peered in.
“There’s a lizard in here!”
“Who are you calling a lizard?” A voice from inside shouted.
“Excuse me, a talking lizard.”
“Yeah, and you’re a talking monkey.”
“No I’m a Prince. Prince Orin of Galadin.”
“Yeah, I know who you are. You’re the one whose mother kept the stupid rule about no dragons in Capital City.”
“You’re not a dragon. You’re too small… and dragons don’t talk. They eat people.”
“Oh really? Can I eat you?”
“You might manage a finger, but…”
“Humans are disgusting anyway. Where’s the beef?”
“We’ve got bread. I can tear you off a piece,” Masonae said from the far end of the clearing. A tiny head poked out of the bag.
“How about pork? Chicken? Venison?”
“My father was eaten by a dragon, you know. I don’t remember him.”
“Oh, he was an idiot. The man was a baker, not a prince.”
“You knew my father?”
“Didn’t anyone tell you the story of how your mother got the crown?”
“Yes, of course. She navigated the Labyrinth of Lasser, fought and won the mighty Battle of Minis, and defeated the Great Dragon Snult.”
“Me.”
“You?”
“Me.”
“You’re the Great Dragon Snult?”
“Is your brain actually functioning between those big ears of yours?”
“But he was tremendous!”
“I’m tremendous!”
“You’re three inches tall.”
“Back up, bucko!”
The pouch began to balloon outward. Prince Orin hastily tossed it in front of him and scampered rather gracelessly backwards. The leather ripped and wings, first bat sized, then six feet across sprouted from the bag. A head shook, stretching out and away from a gray body, now the size of a house. Snult wiggled his shoulders, breaking away branches to make room for his new girth. He settled down on his haunches and curled his tail around his body. He tilted his head inquisitively at the prince who had pushed himself tightly against the trunk of a tree. Orin could feel the heat of the dragon’s furnace breath.
“Man, it feels good to be out of that bag.”
“You really are a big dragon.”
“Is that the closest I’m going to get to an apology?”
“Forgive me. Please? I mean, you- Are you going to eat me?”
“No, I was just kidding about that. Humans really do taste horrible.”
“You know my mother, don’t you,” Masonae asked calmly. The dragon seemed to know he was caught between answers, but Masonae knew the truth. This was the same dragon he’d seen talking to his mother a month or two ago.
“Your mother knows a dragon? I didn’t know that. Why didn’t you tell us?” Brother Hricks was already writing him his journal as he asked the question.
“It never seemed to come up.”
“That seems like something that would always come up, like my mom is King of Galadin.”
“Listen, I’ve got better things to do than listen to the two of you bicker.”
“We’re not bickering, we’re conversing.”
“Oh really? From inside the bag you two sound like two old housewives.”
“Well, dragon, what’s your suggestion?”
“Well, first of all, I plan on finding a snack, and if you two don’t stop it, you’re going to be it.” Snult seemed to have fun cowering the prince.
“You can’t eat him,” Brother Hricks said. “You’ve been bound by Great Mage Lasser to assist Prince Orin on his quest.”
The dragon swiveled around to Hricks. “First, a great dragon is bound by no one. I’m a free agent. Second, no one should say can’t to a dragon. Third, I may just eat you instead, because frankly, you’re getting on my nerves. So I suggest you tie a knot with your lips, because I don’t think I like you.” Hricks backed up as the dragon blew a smoke ring that neatly encircled him. He stumbled and fell back on his rump, but still managed to keep writing.
The dragon smiled a toothy grin. He turned just in time to see Pylon drop a carcass at Masonae’s feet. Masonae gave Pylon a good scratch and the dragon eyed the dead thing with interest.
“Hello there, Pylon. Interested in sharing?” The cat settled lazily.
“You know the cat as well? Does everyone know the dragon except me?” Orin exclaimed.
Masonae began to gather bits of firewood and rocks to create a ring. The light was fading behind the mountains and it would soon be dark. Whatever plans they made would have to wait until tomorrow.
“Well, when your mother makes a law against dragons in Capital City, and you never leave Capital City, there’s not a whole lotta chance for a chance encounter.” Masonae paused as he realized the dragon was shrinking, slowly reducing until he was the size of small dog, or a large cat. Snult flew over to Masonae’s ring and with a quick breath, let out a stream of fire that instantly started the wood burning.
“You gonna clean it?” Snult asked, when the boys just stared at him. He settled down next to Pylon.
Masonae shook off his wonderment and began to skin the rabbit Pylon had provided. When the prince continued to stare, Masonae prompted, “You might want to unroll your beds before we lose all the light. The prince nodded swiftly and scurried towards Mary. “And you need to stop writing, and go fetch some water from that stream that we passed.”
It was odd, somehow, this strange shift of power, but for some reason the dragon hadn’t threatened him at all. It was almost as if Snult was afraid of talking to Masonae in front of the other two. He knew exactly who Masonae’s parents. Dragons weren’t affected by magic the same way humans were as the stories went.
Masonae rigged a makeshift spit and placed the meat over the fire to cook. Snult waited until the other two were too far away to overhear before he did speak.
“Do your parents know you’re here?”
“No.”
“Do your parents know you know?”
“They’ve probably figured it out by now.”
“Your mother is going to kill you when she finds out where you are. She’ll kill me too. And Pylon.”
“I’ll tell her you had nothing to do with it.”
“Yeah, and she’ll probably try to chop off my scales when she finds I didn’t drag you straight home.”
“Prince Orin needs help.”
“From you?”
“He needs all the help he can get. That’s why you stayed, isn’t it? I just couldn’t leave my parents’ fate in his hands.”
“Not just your parents, remember. You weren’t alive when the magic was dead. It was awful. Believe it or not, I could very well die myself if it disappears again.”
“Then maybe you should stop antagonizing him and make yourself useful.”
“Just because I’m tolerating him, doesn’t mean I have to be nice.”
“It would help.”
The dragon let out a smoky hmph and pointed to the spit. Masonae rotated the rabbit.
Hricks and Orin returned to sit around the campfire just as the last light left the sky.
“So Princey, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, actually I… do you know a way over the mountains?”
The dragon rolled his eyes and flitted a wing. “Hmm… I wonder how I usually get over the mountains. It’s not exactly a pleasant trip, but I’ve done it a couple of times.”
Still not catching Snult’s meaning, the prince replied. “Can you guide us across?”
Snult flapped his wings again, this time lifting off the ground. “Guide no, fly yes.”
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Are you implying that I’m a bad driver?”
“The food’s ready,” Masonae interrupted, pulling the spit off the fire. Masonae did not want to see a repeat of the argument earlier this evening. Prince Orin wasn’t used to losing, and the dragon always won.
The food stopped the conversation. They each took a piece of the meat. The boys took a piece of cheese and bread as well. After he finished, Snult settled down in the middle of the fire and closed his eyes.
“Get some sleep, boys. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.”