Chapter 7: The Boogey Monster Hunt
"I swear that there was someone in there!" Dragon said as the sunshine streamed into his now empty cave.
"Well, no one's in here now." Jane said, looking around the cave, with an exasperated sigh. It was like looking for the boogey-monster in a little kids room, only this little kid was a three-hundred-year-old dragon.
"B-but he was here! He was standing right there! He had a sword and…"
"I think you just had a nightmare, green lips." Jane said, rolling her eyes impatiently.
"But…"
"Let's go on patrol." Jane interrupted, cutting off Dragon's protest.
Dragon opened his mouth again, but he was silenced by a look from Jane.
"Alright." He said, giving in to her look. As soon as she climbed on, Dragon spread his wings and took off for the sky. At first, Dragon was quiet, and then he said:
"So, you really don't believe me?"
Jane was caught off-guard by the question, but bounced back and answered, "No I don't think you are lying, I just think that you may have exaggerated parts of the story."
"I didn't exaggerate!" Dragon said as he realized that it was a lost cause, fell silent, and stayed that way for the rest of the patrol.
When he pulled into the castle courtyard, he gave Jane just enough time to get off, and then he took off once more to the top of her tower. She watched him go, wondering if maybe he was right. Or, said the other side of her, it could just have been a vivid nightmare that he took too seriously. Unfortunately, she had no further time to ponder the thought, for she and Gunther began their usual match of staves.
"Give up, Jane! You cannot match me!"
"I can, and I will!" Jane said as she returned one of his blows.
This lasted for about an hour, and it was just about lunchtime, so Jane headed off in the direction of the kitchens, and Gunther moved off to the knight's quarters to eat alone.
"You seem in the highest of spirits, Jane." Pepper commented as she handed out servings of soup.
"A good patrol and a favorable match of staves will do that, Pepper." Jane replied with a grin.
Once the others had moved on to more absorbing conversations, Jane whispered to Jester.
"Things with Dragon have cleared up."
"Really?"
"Now he doesn't even want to go into his cave."
"Oh. How'd that happen?"
"He says he saw something in there last night that, well,..."
"Ah." Jester said, understanding immediatly. He wondered what could have happened in there that would have made Dragon afraid to go back.
Meanwhile, up in the tower, Dragon raised his head and inhaled. There was a strange scent on the air, but this scent was familiar, but new, like he knew it from somewhere. But how could that be? He wasn't even sure he recognized it. Pushing the thought out his mind, he settled down and listened to the voices of the humans bellow, all talking and laughing at the same time over lunch.
Shortlives... he thought as he listened to the sounds below.
So, what'd you think? Please review!
