The Dragons Blood Key: Legend of the Dragon's Blood Key - Book 1 (9 page)

“May I tell this part of the story? I love
this part,” one of the other Lillients exclaimed excitedly.

“Of course you may, Brianna,” Syrea replied
with amusement clearly in her voice.

Brianna cleared her throat then began.
“Queen Privlana is truly brilliant for
before Alona forced her to transform into her human form she tore
one of the scales covering her chest over her heart and cast a
spell over it. This making it vanish to the same realm that she had
sent the Blood Stone, thus linking her power to the Blood
Stone.
Isn’t that wonderful?” Brianna smiled.

Roupert was unsure of what that meant, but
he nodded his head letting her know that he heard her words.

“So,
now that I am
aware
what has happened to our King and Queen, what do you
want
of
me?” Roupert asked
nervously.

“
The Queen wishes
that you protect her son. Then once he hatches, you will protect
him until the day the Champion comes to break the curse set upon
the kingdom,” Syrea said in a serious tone.

Seeing the golden egg nestled in the grass,
Roupert felt a warm feeling of affection fill his soul. “I will do
as requested. I will protect Prince Frier until the day he may be
united with his mother and the rest of his Dragon family.”

“Excellent, Sir Roupert, but I have one more
thing that you must know. Queen Privlana has commanded that you not
let Prince Frier know of her or of his heritage until the curse
over the kingdom is broken.”

“I don’t understand why he can’t know of his
family? Would it not be cruel to keep the knowledge of his
birthright from him?” Roupert slowly shook his head.

Syrea
seeing the sadness in his eyes reached out and touched him on the
cheek. “The Prince must not know of his family, for fear he may try
to avenge them. The heart of a Dragon is full of great passion, so
to learn of the death of his father and the enslavement of his
mother and his other family members would only drive him to seek
revenge. He would be no match for the power of Alona, so he must
believe that he is alone, and there are no other dragons in our
realm.”

Cassy sat in silence as Roupert finished
sharing the tale of the day he came to be with Frier.

“How long was it before he hatched from the
egg?” Cassy asked.

Roupert looked at her with amusement in his
eyes. “A Dragon does not hatch like a bird. When it is time for a
Dragon to come forth in this life, the shell protecting it is burnt
away with its first breath.”

Cassy tipped her head to the side, not
understanding what Roupert meant.

“You see, when it is time for a Dragon to
come forth, it cracks a small hole in the shell with one of its
talons. Then as air fills the egg, the Dragon takes its first
breath and blows forth fire, which burns the shell and releases it.
Do you understand now?”

Cassy nodded her head with sorrow showing on
her face. “So, you lived alone waiting for him to come forth from
the egg? That’s so sad.”

“I was not always alone as I waited for the
day of Frier’s birth. I had our friends the
Lillients
and other woodland creatures for company. Then
I had the joy of getting to know your great-grandmother, Abigail.”
His eyes revealed the sadness in his heart.

Roupert jumped to his feet, not wanting to
continue with this conversation. “Come, it grows late and Frier
will worry if we do not join him soon.”

Realizing there was no need to pursue the
subject of her great-grandmother, Cassy stood. “Come on, Aaron,
wake up; he’s going to leave us behind if we don’t hurry.”

“What took you so long? I was beginning to
worry,” Frier huffed as he stacked the last of the wood next to the
fire.

“I am sorry, but we stopped to eat and time
got away from us,” Roupert grinned as he saw the disappointed look
on Frier’s face.

“I hope you are still hungry, for I have
fanish roasting over the fire, and I found some sweet berries,”
Frier
retorted
with a hint of
irritation in his voice.

“I’m hungry, Frier,” Aaron licked his lips.
“Those look
great
. I’ve never had
fish cooked that way. Fish and berries for dinner sound
delicious.”

“So, in your realm they are called fish,”
Frier grinned. “What a strange word.”

Frier walked over to the fire and pulled the
fish away from the direct flames. “They ready to eat.”

Aaron reached for one of the sticks with a
cooked fish, and then took a few steps away from the fire before he
sat in the sand to eat.

Frier grabbed one of the sticks and handed
it to Cassy. “Here you go; you need to keep up your strength.”

“Thank you, Frier. As a matter of fact, I am
hungry,” she smiled. She took the stick with the fish and walked
over next to Aaron then sat next to him.

“This is
really
good
,” Aaron moaned with delight, as he shoved another bite
of the fish in his mouth.

“Frier, you may need to cook some more fish.
It looks like our young friend is hungry this evening,” Roupert
chuckled, as he watched Aaron take another bite.

Frier looked at Aaron and shook his head.
“Well, at least I know that all my work will not go to waste. Here,
try the berries with the fish. It is quite tasty.”

Frier set a large bowl-shaped leaf filled
with berries in front of Aaron and Cassy. Aaron looked at the
berries
then scooped up a handful
and shoved them in his mouth.

“They’re
really
good
. They taste like strawberries,” Aaron grinned as he
chewed the sweet berries.

Roupert and Frier each took a stick with a
cooked fish and sat across from Cassy and Aaron. As they enjoyed
their feast, they all laughed and shared funny stories of their
lives. In spite of this, there was an unspoken apprehension
hovering over the group at the thought of facing the Evil Queen
Alona.

The moon shone down brightly on the water as
it flowed over the rocks into the deep pool below.

The Falls of Clamore are quite
beautiful
, Cassy thought.

As she lay by the fire, she could not help
but wonder what lie ahead for her.

How am I supposed to win a battle against
the powerful evil Queen? I’m just a kid. Why do they think that I
can break the curse and free the kingdom?
The words burned in
Cassy’s mind. She wanted to believe that she was the Champion, but
a voice inside of her mind kept reminding her that she was just a
silly teenager.

Cassy turned on her side, trying to get
comfortable. “I sure do miss my bed,” she chuckled silently.

Not able to fall asleep, she decided to get
up and add more wood to the fire. She walked over to the stack of
wood
when suddenly she noticed a
small light floating along the water’s edge.

“What’s that?” she whispered to herself.

The light flickered as it began to float up
and down then it stopped and started to move slowly along the
shoreline again.

Cassy tossed a piece of wood on the fire
then she walked toward the strange light, wondering what it could
be. She glanced over her shoulder at the three sleeping forms by
the fire then she continued toward the light.

“Stop, wait, who are you?” Cassy whispered
as she rushed after the light.

Once she was a distance from the campsite,
the
light
stopped
and then transformed into its
true
form as it waited for her to approach.

“Arianna, is that you?” Cassy asked as she
closed the distance between them.

“Yes, it is I, Cassandra. I wanted to speak
to
you in private. Please sit so
we may talk.” Arianna waved her hand and a small wooden bench
appeared.

Cassy sat on the bench then Arianna sat
beside her. A few tense moments passed between them before Arianna
finally spoke. “I sensed your fear as you lie by the fire trying to
sleep.”

“Yeah, I’m a bit worried, Arianna. How am I
supposed to conquer the Evil Queen? I don’t know anything about
magic, let alone how to properly use it. What if I mess up? What if
I can’t do what I’m supposed to do?” Cassy hung her head and softly
cried.

“Cassandra, the Blood Key chose you for a
reason. It saw strength in you; otherwise, it never would have
brought you here. Then again, you will need to force your fears
aside, and believe in yourself. For you see, Queen Alona will use
any doubts or fears you have against you.”

“I just don’t feel brave enough to do what’s
asked of me. May I ask you a question?” Cassy looked at Arianna
through tear filled eyes.

“Of course you may,” Arianna assured
her.

“When we first got here Frier thought that I
was my great-grandmother returning. When was she here?”

Arianna sat for a moment, remembering those
troubled days.

“The spirits were low among the subjects of
the kingdom when Abigail came to us. She appeared to myself and the
other Lillients, confused and afraid. We knew immediately why she
had come, as she wore the sacred Dragon’s Breast Plate with the
Blood Key; the very one you wear now.” Arianna pointed at the plate
on
Cassy’s
chest.

“I don’t understand why it would choose me
though. I’ve never done anything brave my entire life,” Cassy
moaned, as she rubbed her hand along the edge of the plate.

“Silly child, the Blood Key did not choose
you for your past deeds. It chose you for your inner strength. I
have looked into your soul and I see greatness there. You may not
know it yet, but you possess much strength and a willingness to
sacrifice for the greater good. That is what drew the Blood Key to
you. Those are also the very things that drew the Blood Key to your
great-grandmother.”

Cassy shook her head, still not willing to
accept her fate.

“Arianna, I have another question. What is
it that I have to do to defeat the Evil Queen and restore the
kingdom?”

Arianna could see the doubt and fear in
Cassy’s eyes, but she also knew that she must know what they
expected of her
to
prepare for the
task ahead. The Lillients had made that mistake with Abigail, so
she did not want to repeat it.

“As you know on that fateful day when Alona
cursed the kingdom, our Queen Privlana also cast a spell. Yet,
Alona in her blind quest for power did not understand what our
Queen had done. When she cast her spell on the Blood Stone, she
transformed it into
a special
key
.”

Cassy nodded her understanding as Arianna
continued.

“And through that spell the Blood Key would
only come to one who was worthy; one who would only use its power
for the
benefit
of the Kingdom.
That is why the stone burned the hand of Alona before it vanished.
The spell cast on it by Queen Privlana sent the Blood Key to a
realm where Alona could not find it.”

Arianna shook her
head as the painful memories of that day consumed her.
“This,
of course, angered Alona
significantly
, so she cast our Queen into the Great
Dungeon, where she stays trapped in her human form today.
Still, our Queen was much too smart for
Alona. Before changing into her weaker human form, Queen Privlana
cast a spell that the Dragon scale over her heart. The spell joined
the scale with the Blood Key to be worn by the champion when they
came to Walandra to battle the evil Alona.”

“You mean to say this very plate I wear is
from the Queen? Roupert had said it, but I didn’t honestly believe
him.” Cassy’s eyes were wide with surprise.

“Yes, my child. That is why you must have
faith in yourself. The scale that covers a Dragon’s heart has
magical qualities, and it would never come to someone not worthy.
You have two powerful articles that have chosen you for
a
n important
task.”