It's been a while, but I had a tough time deciding where to end this chapter. It's kind of a key chapter in which we see Rose/Thorn battling herself a lot. I hope you enjoy it as much as I am.
I'VE GOT 569 HITS! YAY! WOW! MORE THAN 30 PEOPLE ARE TOO LAZY TO REVIEW! (; P)
Writingcat730: I'm sorry I didn't update as soon as usual, but this chapter is crucial and I couldn't botch it up the way I did the last one! Thank you for ALL your support. You are awesome. I like your stories as well. Thank you again. You'll never really understand how much my reader's support means to me.
HORSELUVER101: I'm trying to convince the 30 some odd people who are keeping up with my story to review because I have an average of 2 reviews per chapter and more than 500 hits. It's a little frustrating, you know? But thank you very much for all your support and I hope it wasn't TOO confusing.
Fudogg: Well, I'll be honest. The seven hours I worked, I had about four different ways that Rose got out of the ropes. In the end, I'd opted for the "Jake cut the ropes with a knife Rose told him was in her shoe," because it was the most believable, but apparently, I'd erased it while editing something else. I'm sorry. I knew I forgot something. Very keen eyes you've got there.
STORY TIME!
The dragon opened her eyes. She first realized she was shackled. There was a strange green energy running is a 3 or 4 inch cord from one ankle to the other. Then she noticed she was no longer in dragon form. It took a minute to sink in. She couldn't see her hands. They were chained in a similar fashion behind her.
She managed to stand leaning against the wall and tried to look around through the gloom. She began trying to shuffle forward before as bright beam of light shown down on her.
"Don't move." She tensed at the voice. She knew it.
"Dragon of the Lotus line," the male let out an evil chuckle, "Welcome to my… humble abode."
She sighed wearily. "How many times are you and your line going to come after me before you realize that it won't do you any good?"
"I've got you. Tomorrow you will die by the hand of one of my Huntsgirls."
"How many times have your kind tried to burn, drown, decapitate and just kill me? Even your poison didn't work, Hunter." This was said with an exhausted tone.
"It's HuntsMASTER, now, dragon." He took a step into the light so she could see him. "We'll see if tomorrow you can remove the head of a Lotus Dragon with a ceremonial sword."
She only shook her head. "And when you can't? How long will you keep me here?"
He chuckled again and put a hand beneath her chin. "Well, let me put it this way. Tomorrow, either a dragon will die…" he snapped his fingers and a light turned on across the room, illuminating a mesh wire cage with Lily and three others in it, "Or a dragon will loose her purpose."
A tear slid down the girl's face. "Please, Huntsmaster, spare them. They are innocent in this. I am the dragon here. They are no sport for you."
"Then your solution is simple. Die tomorrow, or they will." With that, he was gone. The girl stood there for a moment before collapsing, allowing a few stray tears to wash down her dirty face.
"I'm so sorry, my friends. There's… nothing I can do." She glanced over at the four sleeping forms. "Your guardian was not fit…" She curled up and waited for sunrise, listening to the even breathing of her charges.
-:-
Rose was now at the door of the apartment building. She looked back at Jake with pleading in her eyes. "Jake… I know this seems sort of weird, but… you do believe me now, right?"
Jake looked at her through clear eyes. "Rose, I always believed you. Look, before that dragon showed up, there was something I was trying to tell you. Rose, you aren't the only one with a secret. I'm…"
She held up her hand. "Did you hear something?" Jake sighed exasperatedly. "Seriously, it sounded like crying."
"Rose, I'm trying to tell you… wait a minute…Crying?"
"Um… never mind. I think I know what it is. See you tomorrow Jake? Okay. Later!" With that, she was in the building and the door slammed shut. Jake scratched his head.
"Oookay." He walked away from the front of her building and stopped. He still hadn't heard anything… but maybe… "Dragon ear."
With his one red, pointed ear, he listened carefully. There it was. Something was trying to muffle its own tears. He went around to the side of the building it came from and bent down. Whatever it was, it was down underground. He returned his ear back to normal.
"Could it really be that easy? Could this place really be the Hunts-punk's headquarters?" He realized he didn't really have time to worry about that. But he would need some help. He turned in the direction of Lao-Shi's shop. 'Maybe G knows something about this dragon.'
-:-
Rose ran straight to the main room in the Headquarters, where she'd previously met with her two cousins. They were there yet again.
"Ah! The lady of the hour!" Sylvia held up a goblet of a red substance up as in a toast. "We couldn't have done it without you, Thorn!"
She only nodded. "Where is it?"
"Down in the dragon dungeon, of course." Goldie took a bite out of a chicken leg. Rose noticed a Kernal Fried Chicken bucket near her. "It was a big one, but after we injected her with the tranquilizer, she instantly reverted to her humanoid form. She's a lot easier to tie up that way."
"Heh heh! I can hardly wait until tomorrow! Then my first Hunter's Quest will be completed!"
"Well, mine basically is already done. The Well Wishers are captured in a faerie proofed cage, so they won't be getting out anytime tonight. All I've got to do is present them to the Huntsmaster during the ceremony." Goldie took another bite. "You want some, Rose?" She slid the bucket of chicken legs closer.
Sylvia motioned to a chair. "Take a seat, Thorn. I've got plenty of Pomegranate Punch too. Let's celebrate! Our right of passage is coming along swimmingly!"
Rose looked down at the seat. "That's alright. I'm kind of tired. See you guys at sunrise."
"Alright. We'll have a real party tomorrow night then!" Sylvia downed the juice in her goblet then refilled it from a bottle nearby. "Then you'll be in the company of true Huntresses!"
"Goodnight, Rose!"
"Goodnight." Rose went down the hallway towards the apartment then doubled back. She couldn't leave it like this. She had to know. Why had that dragon spared her life? Why had she just left her on the roof? And how did that little creature know her name?
She opened a door that was partially hidden by a tapestry that showed a dragon slaying by her ancestors
She walked down a flight of stairs before she reached another hall. This one only had a few doors in it. The one to her right had a light on and there was a sobbing sound coming from inside. She lifted herself up to see.
'There she is.'
Rose gently turned the knob. 'Locked. Darn it!' She turned to the wall where they kept the keys when there was no one on guard duty (Let's face it, with as few hunters as there are, sometimes you just can't spare one). There were three rings of keys. One ring for each prison corridor. Some of them looked very old, like the locks wouldn't need keys anyway because you could just break the rusted things open. She grabbed the first ring and brought it over to the door and began trying keys.
-:-
Lily woke up and began looking around. This didn't look like Master Jake's closet. It was too un-cluttered. And dusty.
She looked out to see her friend.
"Lian! Lily has been worried!" She came close to the wall of the cage and stuck her hands on it before pulling them back with a yelp. "Ouch!" She looked down to see burn marks in the shape of the mesh of the cage.
"Don't struggle, little one." Lian looked up from where she was sitting. "You can't get out of that cage. It's faery proofed. You'll only hurt yourself."
"Lily doesn't understand. Why are Lily's brothers and sister here?"
"They were captured in the raid at the Lotus Shrine. I don't know how you escaped, but the copper haired huntress herded you to this city when you did. How did you get your name, Lily?"
Lily sat down by the cage wall and began telling her story. When she was done, Lian looked thoughtful.
"So, the other dragons know I exist now. Maybe all hope is not lost." Then she heard someone enter the hallway outside her door.
Lily began sobbing. 'Please! Hurry, Master Jake! Hurry!'
-:-
Lao Shi looked down at his dragon pupil who was still out of breath from his very fast flight almost all the way across town. This news alarmed him. The Lotus dragon was captured, as well as the Well Wisher.
He waited for his grandson to take a breath before asking his next question.
"How did this happen?"
"Everyone… was… leaving. Rose… was tied up… when the dragon took off, the other two shot her with something. She hit the ground and they teleported her to their base."
"Then we must find them. Quickly."
"I think I know where we should start."
-:-
Rose opened the door slowly. She'd expected the girl to be chained to the floor or the wall. Apparently, Huntsmaster thought neither was necessary for this dragon. She walked forward and shut the door behind her.
The dragon girl looked up at her. "What is it now?" she asked quietly.
"I've got some questions for you." Rose intended it to sound like an interrogation, but it sounded more like a plea.
"Alright. What do you wish to know, young hunter?" Rose looked taken aback. No threats? No refusals? This dragon was full of surprises.
"First off, why didn't you kill me? That's the way things are, isn't it? We slay you, or you slay us. It's what you're here for, right?"
"No. I'm here only to protect them." She motioned toward the cage. "That's the only reason I'm still alive as it is. It's my sworn duty as the Lotus Dragon. As for the way things have been; it wasn't always this way. There was once a time when there was no aggression between hunters and dragons, except for those of us that overtook our boundaries, on both sides."
"Overtook your boundaries?"
"Like in medieval times. When dragons would take over kingdoms for revenge on the destruction of magical creature's homes or when hunters killed dragons so they wouldn't be bored. There are bad dragons and good dragons the same as with hunters."
"All hunters are the same. We stand with honor to destroy your kind. You should be grateful you are not already dead."
"Hunters are not all the same. That is like saying all dragons are the same. You have already illustrated that they are not, with my case. As for your case, you are not the same as the others. I can sense that you are not blooded from just this one clan." She turned toward the wall. "As for being grateful, I have many times wished I were dead. I would be grateful for this burden to be gone."
"What are you babbling about?"
"Surely you have heard of the great split in the Huntsclan?"
"That was a long time ago."
"But I remember it like it was yesterday." Rose's eyes nearly popped out of her sockets.
"Just how old are you?"
"What year is it?"
"2005"
"Almost 500. I've lost exact count, but I know my coming of age birthday was in the early 1600's, so I'm not far off."
"But… that's not possible… You were around when there were thousands of hunters looking for you! Surely you'd have been killed by now!"
"I've been drowned, burned, poisoned and the list goes on, yes. But I am the last Lotus Dragon. So it is my destiny to protect my charges until there are no more charges to protect."
Rose's mouth hung open. "B-but… How!"
"That is a very long story."
"Well, it doesn't look like you'll be going anywhere anytime soon." Rose gestured to the shackles on the girl's ankles. "And I've got time to spare."
"True. Alright. It's all started at my coming of age birthday. We were a peaceful clan of dragons, the Line of Lotus. Like all dragon lines, when the girl became of age, she was put in charge of a specific colony of creatures, unlike the boys who were put in charge of the family territory. It promised that each creature would be far more secure than if there was only one dragon looking after several hundred creatures.
At the time, I was young and easily influenced. That's when I met a hunter for the first time. He had come from Europe. His first intent was to slay me, so he had followed me one day after patrolling the Well Wishers. He realized, I suppose, that it would be far easier to capture me in my human form than to drag a huge dragon all the way back to Europe. But, after I'd changed back into my human form, he couldn't do it. He looked at me in my human form and saw a beautiful young girl, not a hideous beast. But he still had to take a dragon back to Europe.
He spent many months in China, both privately meeting with me as a friend and thinking on his dilemma. He decided then, to write his family with a proposition. In the letter, he suggested that instead of slaying a dragon, they purpose a new tradition for the clan. They would not wipe out the dragons, but tame their bloodline with marriage to hunters, both making the hunters that much stronger and the dragons that much less of a threat."
"That's disgusting!" Rose couldn't help but interrupt. Lian just smiled.
"He was afraid I would marry another dragon more than he wanted to marry me himself, and therefore prove that I was in fact more dragon than his ideal image of just a pretty young girl. But I agreed. I was very young, as I said, and easily influenced by sweet words. Back then it was difficult to get messages from one place to another in a timely manner, especially across continents. There was no telling if there was a war braking out along the way or what have you. So, when he got a letter from his clan leader, he immediately assumed everything was as he said, temporarily fine. This would be an experiment.
When he went to my parents for permission, he left out the fact that he was a hunter, but emphasized that his family was very well off. My parents, obviously wanting the very best for their daughter, agreed, under the condition that after we were married in Europe with his family, we would return so that I could re-assume my duties at the shrine."
"Shrine? That Lotus Shrine? Wasn't it just a den for evil creatures?"
Lian motioned to the cage with her head. "Do they look like evil creatures to you?" Rose was silent. What was she going to say? Big, bad wolves come in small, innocent looking yet brave packages?
"But back to what I was saying. We made the journey to his home country. A little island you know as Britain. Our arrival was pandemonium. We were not aware that the clan had divided after the leader's decision. Half of the clan had been all for the experiment, the other half however… they assassinated the leader and called that a leader be elected from another bloodline. They also insisted that I be put to death the instant I was off of the boat from China, as well as my future husband for treason on the clan. The half that was in favor to what we were doing tried their very best to warn and protect us, but my fiancé fell in the battle. The ship was turned around and I was escorted back to China. When we got there, my family, my home and the shrine were all gone. What was left was a note from the new Huntsclan. The essence of it was, 'All dragons are hereby criminals to all countries, so decrees the Huntsmaster of the Huntsclan.'"
"…so what happened to the others? The hunters, I mean." Rose curled up, listening carefully to this side of the story. This wasn't what was described in the archives. It was similar, but very different. But, Rose reasoned, the Archives were probably not translated by someone who had been there.
"They became sort of like modern day conservationists. They continued with their experiments of both protecting people from magical creatures and taming dragon lines. They are a bit more underground than your kind, but I do still see them time and again." She looked Rose over. "You look a lot like some of them in the line I was almost married into. Creepily so, in fact. You look almost just like Robert's sister."
"Robert Tyson Hunter. The traitor." Rose looked down. "I don't know if I'm from that line or not. My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was really little. My uncle, the Huntsmaster raised me after that."
"Mmm. Wouldn't it be in a record of some kind in your archives?"
"I suppose… I don't spend much time in there. It's not necessary to… become a full fledged hunter."
"To slay a dragon." Rose flinched.
"Yes." She cleared her throat. "But… how are you so long lived, then?"
Lian smiled bitterly. "The last of the Well Wishers survived the attack, but only long enough to leave four eggs behind. She made me swear on my life to always protect the four creatures in those eggs. I swore. She used her wish granting power to bind me to that promise, and here I am, unscathed by 500 years of advancement and change."
"You've got quite a life's story." Rose shifted uncomfortably, still unable to shake the shameful feeling that she was conversing civilly, if not kindly, with a dragon.
"Yes. It is quite a story. I bet yours is just as interesting, though. The niece of a Huntsmaster, right?"
"It's not glamorous, if that's what you mean, but it does have it's moments. The best part is when he praises me in front of influential hunters. It makes me feel really big inside, you know? To think he thinks so much of me."
"That's how it is with all young ones. The good part is always the part that tastes sweetest."
"Yes. Well, I have to go. I'll… see you later…"
"I am not going anywhere. Feel free to drop by anytime before sunup."
Rose turned to leave when a small voice called out to her.
"Miss Rose! Wait! Please, Miss Rose?" She turned toward the cage. One of the creatures was staring at her while the others cowered in a corner.
"How do you know my name?"
"Lily will tell Miss Rose, if Miss Rose does something for Lily." The determination in the green eyes of this creature held Rose captivated for a moment.
"What do you want?"
"Let Miss Lian and this one's brothers and sister go! Then Lily will tell you everything!"
Rose stared at her for a moment. "I can't do that. I can't interfere with another hunter's coming of age ceremony."
"Miss Rose! Please! Miss Rose, you would want the same if the American Dragon caught your family. Miss Rose… Lily doesn't care what happens to this one. This one has had a Master that has been very kind to Lily. But… the others don't know anything like that. Lily might be the youngest, but Lily is the strongest. Let the others go, Miss Rose?"
"I can't." Rose turned away.
"Miss Rose! What if it got Miss Rose her American Dragon? If this one could give Miss Rose her dragon, would she let the others go?" Rose stared at the little creature suspiciously.
"How?"
"If Miss Rose lets the others go, I'll show you!" Lily pulled out a handful of wish drops.
"…I'll think about it. Give me a little while." Rose opened the door and left before anything else could be said. Her heart couldn't take anymore. This was just too much to load on her shoulders. She put the keys back and walked upstairs. As she opened the door to the corridor, she heard a small voice.
"…Please hurry, Miss Rose?"
END CHAPTER 10: DRAGON DUNGEON
Yes, I realize this isn't as long as my last one, but I didn't want to stuff too much in here, since there's already a lot going on in this chapter.
Thank you again, my avid readers who are lazy and don't review. I love you anyway. I love you because you've made the hits for this story surpass any three of my other stories combined. So I love you and forgive you. Nyah nah. LOL
As all of the problems
Draw to a close
Will there be any reviews?
Only the readers know.
(P.S. If there aren't many more reviews, I can't do a sequel when this one's over!)