The Dragons Blood Key: Legend of the Dragon's Blood Key - Book 1 (15 page)

“You are right. Name-calling is below us.
On the contrary
, warning her of
your treacherous ways and how making a deal with you can only lead
to ruin, is not off-limits,” Roupert glared at Bonert, challenging
him to respond.

Cassy had heard enough bickering.
“Gentlemen, we don’t have time for you two to argue over old
disagreements. The Evil Queen has Frier, and should she be able to
get his power, we are all screwed.”

Bonert and Roupert looked at each other with
a look of confusion on their faces.

“What does this word screwed mean?” Bonert
asked
while Roupert nodded his
head in agreement.

Cassy exhaled with frustration. “When one is
screwed it means that you have no hope. It means that we will lose
if Alona obtains Frier’s powers.”

Bonert paused a moment then he nodded his
understanding. “Yes, should the Evil Queen
gain
the Power of the Dragon from Frier, the entire
Kingdom is screwed, as you say.”

“Cassy, you do not need his help. You can
use your own powers just as you did at the river.” Roupert hoped
this would change her mind.

Bonert smiled. “So, the stories are
real
? The Breast Plate and Blood
Key do give the wearer magical powers.”

“Stop listening to him. He will only use
your trust
against
you,” Roupert
pleaded.

Cassy was at a loss
for
what to do. On one hand, she wanted to
heed
Roupert’s warning, but the chance that
Bonert could help her conquer Queen Alona was too difficult to
pass.

“Give me a moment, I need to think. I know
that we need to be careful, and I know that if we make the wrong
step that we will lose. I do not intend to allow Alona to destroy
Walandra, and I do not intend to let her kill Frier or Aaron
either.”

Bonert could see the conflicted emotions
consuming Cassy, which pleased him greatly.

“I understand your concern, and I want you
to know that I only came to help you on this quest. Queen Alona is
very powerful and
cunning
so you
will need to catch her by surprise.” He stepped forward and reached
out trying to touch the Blood Key.

Cassy stepped back, surprised by this bold
attempt. “What are you doing?”

“I told you not to trust him. He only seeks
the power of the Blood Key,” Roupert said with hate and mistrust
burning in his eyes.

Bonert pulled his hand back and put it
behind his back. “I meant no harm. I only wanted to feel it, that’s
all.”

Cassy looked at Bonert, not convinced that
he
was
completely honest with her.
She wanted to walk away, but something kept making her want to
believe his words.

“Okay, how can you help me to be triumphant
over Queen Alona?” Cassy said with her eyes narrowed, showing her
mistrust of him.

Seeing this would be his only opportunity to
gain her complete trust, Bonert swallowed and took a moment to
gather his thoughts before he spoke.

“You have a
need
to enter the castle without alerting the guards,
correct?”

Cassy nodded her head.

“Then once you are inside the castle, you
have a
need
to get down to the
great dungeon undetected, correct?” Bonert smiled, when he saw her
nodded that she agreed.

“If I understand the power given to you by
the Blood Key, your
abilities
only
last for as long as you have need of them, am I correct?”

Roupert stepped forward. “Don’t answer
any more
of his questions. He will
only use the information against you.”

Cassy turned toward Roupert, letting him
know she did not appreciate his constant interruptions. At seeing
this, Bonert cleared his throat then continued.

“You need something that will make your
powers more lasting. The last thing you need is to make it to the
castle only to have your
abilities
stop working in front of the Queen’s guards, or worse, in front of
the Queen herself.” Bonert stopped long enough to let his words
completely sink into Cassy’s mind.

“This all sounds good, but what can you do
for her that she can’t already do herself?” Roupert fought the
desire to grab Bonert by the throat and choke the life out of
him.

“That’s true, what can you do for me?” Cassy
wanted to believe Bonert, but she still was not sure if she
could.

“I can show you if you’d like. That
is,
of course, as long as Roupert
doesn’t mind,” Bonert snarled in a dismissive tone.

Cassy glanced over at Roupert, “I don’t see
any problem with him showing us.”

Roupert wanted to
yell
at the top of his lungs how it was a mistake to
trust Bonert, but he decided to trust Cassy’s judgment. “Fine, as
you wish.”

Bonert reached inside of his pocket and
pulled out a small pouch. Cassy watched as he poured what appeared
to be dried flower blooms in the palm of his hand. He then held up
his hand and smiled.

“These flowers grow in the meadows outside
of my village. They contain
unique
magical properties when eaten by those who already have the power
of magic within them.”

Cassy leaned forward and looked at the dried
flowers in his hand. “Okay, so just what do they do?”

Bonert looked up into Cassy’s eyes and he
could see the strength hidden behind the fear shining in them. “All
you need to do it eat one of the flowers whenever you want to be
warned of impending danger. The flower will give you the gift of
sight
so that you will know when
the Queen’s guards are near.”

Cassy glanced up at Roupert. “That would be
helpful.”

Roupert shook his head. He was not convinced
of
Bonert’s honesty. “Cassy, I’m
not sure…”

“I see that my old friend, Roupert still
does not trust my intentions to help you on your quest. That
saddens my heart,” Bonert feigned sorrow then was pleased to see a
look of sadness appear on Cassy’s face.

“Roupert, I believe that Bonert
actually
wants to help us. He would have
nothing to gain by misleading us,” she said as she smiled at
Bonert.

Roupert knew there was no sense in arguing
anymore. He would just have to watch
carefully
over Cassy and pray that the power of the Blood
Key would keep her safe.

“Roupert did you hear what I said?” Cassy
asked.

“Yes, I understand even though I do not
agree with your decision,” he groaned.

Bonert smiled as he watched the discussion
between Cassy and Roupert.
Excellent
, I have planted the seed of discontent
between them as instructed.

“Okay, now the important question. What do
you want for these?” Cassy asked.

Bonert looked up into her eyes then lowered
them in a bow of reverence.
“Normally, I
would request much for a substance such as this. Yet, for you, I
only require knowing that my gift will help to free the Kingdom of
Walandra from the clutches of the Evil Queen Alona.”
He
poured the dried flowers back into the pouch then held it out to
Cassy.

Cassy took the pouch from Bonert. When their
hands briefly touched in the exchange, she had a strange feeling
move through her, but once he pulled his hand away, the feeling
vanished.

“Thank you, Bonert for your help.” She then
opened the pouch and pulled out one of the dried blooms.

Roupert turned his head away, not wanting to
watch her make this dreaded mistake to trust Bonert.

“Remember to have faith in the sacred Breast
Plate and Blood Key, our young Champion,” Bonert said with a
twisted grin on his face.

Cassy reached out and took Roupert’s hand in
hers, as she put the bloom on her tongue and closed her eyes. She
searched her mind for the best way to get safely into the castle
when it came to her.

As Bonert watched the two figures transform,
he began to laugh. “Safe travels, little girl, for the Queen awaits
your arrival.”

“Oh, my head hurts,” Cassy groaned as she
tried to stand. “What happened, and where are we?”

“I don’t know, but we are not in the
castle,” Roupert said as he held out his hand to help Cassy to her
feet.

“I don’t understand what happened. After I
had
placed
the flower on my
tongue, I thought of us transporting to the dungeon where Alona is
holding Queen Privlana.”

Cassy rubbed her eyes, trying to
clear
her vision. “This doesn’t look like
a dungeon
.”

“It’s not. I brought you here for your own
protection,” Keira said, as she appeared before Cassy.

Cassy shook her head, not understanding what
Keira meant.

“Cassandra, you were warned not to trust
everyone. You knew there were those who would do you harm should
you give them the chance. Bonert was one of those who did not have
your best interest at heart.”

Cassy glanced at
Roupert
and saw the disappointment in his eyes.

“I told you not to trust him, but you
wouldn’t listen. Who knows what would have happened to you had
Keira not acted.”

Cassy knew that he was right. She had acted
foolishly, and nearly cost them their lives. “I’m sorry, I just
thought…”

Keira drew closer to Cassy. “No, you did not
think
. You wanted to take the easy
way and trust the wrong person. You have all the magic you need, so
why do you continue to question yourself?”

Cassy hung her head in shame. Keira and
Roupert were right. She had tried to take the easy way, and in the
process, she had nearly handed herself and Roupert into the waiting
hands of Queen Alona.

“You’re right. I was a fool, and for that, I
am truly sorry. Tell me then, what should I do? How can I use the
Power of the Blood Key to get Roupert and me safely inside the
castle?”

Keira glanced over at Roupert and smiled. “I
believe that our Champion is ready to fulfill her destiny now. Sit
and listen.”

In a flash of light, two stools appeared.
Cassy and Roupert sat on them, each wondering what plan Keira had
for them.

Keira’s face took on a serious look as she
began to explain what they should do to conquer Queen Alona.

“Your first mistake was to think that you
could just pop into the dungeon and save Queen Privlana. Do you not
think that Queen Alona would have thought of that already?”

Cassy nodded her head, as shame filled her
heart.

“You must not think like a child. You are
the chosen Champion, so you must think as such. Queen Alona has a
spell cast to keep you out of the dungeon, thus, away from Queen
Privlana. She knows that once you are able to restore the sacred
Breast Plate to Queen Privlana, the power of the Blood Key will
belong to her. The only way you will ever get inside the dungeon is
to lift the spell preventing your entry to the
dungeon
.”

Cassy lifted her face, her eyes meeting
Keira’s. “I don’t understand how I can do that. How can I lift the
spell? Do I have the power to do something like that?”

Keira shook her head, as sadness filled her
eyes. “You did. That is until Queen Alona sent the Demlins to lure
Frier away with their lies.”

Cassy thought for a moment, trying to
understand Keira’s words. “Are you saying that with the power of
the Blood Key and the powers that Frier has
from
his Dragon’s blood that is how I would have lifted
the spell over the dungeon? Oh, that’s just great,” she moaned, as
she realized that she had had everything she needed all along.

Roupert sat and listened carefully to
everything Cassy and Keira said.

Keira turned and looked at Roupert, sensing
his question. “You want to know why I didn’t tell Cassy all of this
before, correct?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, I would love to
know why you waited to
tell
her
now,” Roupert fought to control his anger and disappointment.

“I can only help, I cannot lead. She never
asked the needed
questions
so I
could not offer any answers. I know it may seem strange, but that
is how it works. I only pray that I have not overstepped my bounds
by bringing you here,” Keira shrugged her
shoulders
and grinned sheepishly.

Cassy glanced around, trying to get a
gauge
of where they were.

“I seem to know this place,” Roupert said,
as he scanned the area.

“As you should, Sir Roupert. This is where
you hid Abigail from the Evil Queen when she was the Champion.”
Keira smiled when she saw his eyes light up with the memory of
Abigail.

“So, you really did know my
great-grandmother? Aaron, my sister and I call her Queen Abigail,
and we are her little Prince and Princesses,” Cassy grinned at
seeing his cheeks flush at the mention of Abigail’s name.

“Yes, she was very special to me,” he turned
away, trying to hide his feelings for Abigail.

Realizing that he was uncomfortable speaking
of that time, Cassy decided it was best to work on the task ahead
of them.

“So, tell me Keira, how can we get safely
inside the castle without alerting the guards and how do we find
Frier?”

“Finding Frier will be quite
easy
; for once you find Queen Alona, you will
find Frier.
Yet,
on the other
hand, getting safely inside the castle will be far more difficult.”
Keira knew these words were not the ones Cassy wanted to hear, but
they were the truth.

“Oh, that’s just great. First, you’re
telling me that it will be nearly impossible to get inside the
castle undetected by the guards. Then the only way that I can break
the spell preventing me from entering the dungeon is to rescue
Frier, but that he will more than likely be with Queen Alona. Oh,
yeah, that sounds like no problem at all,” her words dripped with
sarcasm.