Tessa didn't know what to expect when she had stepped outside for a quick break during her afternoon shift at The Sensor. She had decided to make a stop at the local baker and buy some fresh desserts. Ever since Will had begun working at Magnus's shop, Tessa now had some extra money to indulge in.
So what was Tessa expecting? Probably the normal idleness that always resided in the sleepy town of Blackfriars. But no. When Tessa opened the wooden door of the inn, she was hit by blast of heat, instead of the usual chilly air. Gray clouds engulfed Tessa, and she had to squint to see straight. Tessa's heart leaped in surprise, as she saw what she never thought she would ever see in her lifetime.
A great, big, emerald green dragon had situated itself right in the center of town, vigorously blowing bright streaks of fire in front of her. Curiosity getting the better of her, Tessa half ran, half walked towards the dragon, not wanting it to spot her. She had to gently cover her nose and mouth to prevent the fumes from permeating into her. It had squashed some of the buildings behind it and had landed its large arse right atop it. As she approached the dragon, she could see the lines and scales more clearly and the pure expression of anger on the dragon. Why would a dragon want to attack an innocent town, especially Blackfriars? Tessa watched from the side, as people helplessly skittered around the dragon, trying to evade its attacks.
Ultimate havoc. At the rate the dragon was going, he looked like he wasn't going to stop and would keep going until the village was burned down to the ground. Taking a deep breath, Tessa shuffled around the run down buildings, careful to avoid the dragon's line of sight. Tessa ran down the street, going to the one person who could help: Magnus.
Tessa felt like an annoying pest, always pestering Magnus for assistance. She couldn't help it that Magnus was a sorcerer. He had knowledge beyond anyone else in Blackfriars, and perhaps even Idris itself. And besides, this was important.
Tessa reached Magnus's shop, which was thankfully still intact. She raised her hand to knock, but before it reached the wood, the door flew open. Magnus stood at the threshold, wild-eyed, Will Carstairs right behind him. They must have heard the chaos from within the shop, Tessa thought to herself.
"Magnus! Will!" Tessa could barely hear her own voice on top of all the commotion. She was relieved that they were alright.
"Tessa, what's wrong?" Magnus asked, concern lacing his voice.
"The village," Tessa managed to get out. She took a breath, before continuing, "there's a dragon out there attacking the village. He's going to burn it down."
Magnus's eyes widened in fear and Will took a sharp breath. "Dragons?" Magnus spat out, "here? I thought there were none in this neck of the woods." He maneuvered around Tessa to get a better look, Will right behind him.
"By the Angel," Will breathed. He turned to Tessa, placing a hand on her shoulder. Tessa felt a jolt of electricity spread through her body. She looked up at Will's blue orbs in a daze, seeing nothing but concern in them. Concern, for her. Tessa felt a little giddy, despite the circumstances. "Tess, are you alright?" Will's tone matched his eyes.
Tessa felt herself nodded, before snapping back to attention. "Yes, I am. But we have to stop the dragon, before it causes anymore harm." She spun around to Magnus. "Magnus, are there any spells are magic you can use to get rid of the dragon?"
"No can do," Magnus said. Tessa felt a twinge of disappointment.
"What do you mean?" Tessa said, sounding a bit frustrated. Tessa instantly cursed herself. It wasn't Magnus's fault if something was beyond his control.
"Dragons are ancient creatures, Tessa. Magic is no match for them." Magnus sounded solemn, almost hopeless. Tessa had faith in Magnus; he never backed down from a fight. At that moment, there was a loud boom, and the bakery exploded, the dragon crashing through the rubble. Tessa let out a scream. She could only hope that her brother was safe and sound amidst all this. She had no way in hell in knowing where he was.
"Isn't there anything else we can do?" Will asked desperately.
"Hmmm," Magnus thought, and then his eyes came alight, "I know."
"What?" Will said impatiently.
"Come with me, pretty boy," Magnus said, seizing Will by his sleeves and dragging him behind him, leaving Tessa behind in the dust.
"Hmph, well this is just great," Tessa said, crossing her eyes as she watched Magnus force Will back into the shop. Suddenly, there was a big thud and Tessa felt a hot presence behind her. Slowly, she turned around. She already knew what to anticipate, so it was no surprise when she found herself face to face with the dragon. The dragon was looking at her squarely in her eyes, it's amber eyes narrowing at her. Tessa held back a scream and maintained her calm, while taking a step back. She had to be brave and would survive this. But before she could do anything, she stumbled backwards, landing unceremoniously on her butt. The scream she was trying to contain escaped her mouth.
The dragon snapped and stood tall, unfurling its wings and flapping them violently. Tessa used her hands to back away as fast as she could, getting up to break into a run. The dragon heaved its chest up, as if it was preparing to breathe more fire. Before it could, a figure burst through the doors, a sword in hand. Will.
"Get away from her," Will said, with a dangerous menace to his voice. He held his stance as if he was ready to pounce at the dragon at any given moment. Tessa's heartbeat sped up, part in fear of the dragon, but also in Will. There was nothing friendly in him, in his voice and in his posture.
"If you hurt her in any way," Will continued, keeping the same tone in his voice, "I swear I will kill you. And I will never regret it." Will, surprisingly, did not have to say anymore. The dragon took one swift look at Will and let out a long whimper. Only then did Tessa realize that the dragon feared Will. But why? Before Tessa could think anymore about this, she felt the wind whip around her. She glanced up to see the dragon flapping its wing and flying up and away. And then, it was gone.
"Tessa?" Tessa looked up and saw Will making his way towards her. "Tess, are you alright?"
"I – I'm fine," she stumbled, still in shock. "How? How did you do it Will? And where did you get that?" She pointed her finger to the sword that he firmly gripped.
Will shrugged. "I have no idea," Will said, sounding truthful. He continued, "and this is a sword that Magnus gave me."
"Oh, I see," Tessa said lamely.
Will held out a hand, and Tessa took it. He hoisted her to her feet and wrapped a comforting arm around her waist. "Come, let's go take you home, away from all this." Tessa obliged, but still felt numb. Who was this Will Carstairs? And what more skeletons in the closet was he hiding?
"This is absolutely unbelievable!" exclaimed Alexei de Quincey, the town leader. He slammed his hand on the table for further emphasis. "Never in the history of Blackfriars have we had an attack this fatal. Let me take that back. Never have we ever had a dragon attack these parts of the kingdom. This is an outrage!"
Will was in the town hall, one of the few remaining buildings that was miraculously still standing after the afternoon's catastrophe. Unlike the wooden structures throughout the village, this one was made almost entirely of stone. It was almost like a miniature castle, though it had only a single room, where they were all seated in. The room would have been freezing if there was not a fire burning in the hearth at the corner.
Night had fallen on Blackfriars, and de Quincey had called for an urgent meeting. He had gathered some of the more prominent members of the town. Will recognized Henry and Charlotte, as well as Magnus, who were all seated beside de Quincey. Tessa was beside Will. Although Tessa and Will were considered minors, they had been requested specially by de Quincey, since they had firsthand witnessed the devastation left behind by the dragon.
"Yes, it is a tragedy indeed," a woman said, not sounding like she meant it at all. Will turned to get a full look at her and felt his jaw drop. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with silvery blonde hair, lush red lips, and glowing emerald eyes. There was something dead about her beauty. Like it was there, but did not fully emanate from her.
"Stop being cynical, Camille," Charlotte snapped. The lady – Camille – only smiled at Charlotte, a smile like daggers. Why were these people so hostile to each other? Politics, Will thought; those that he could never understand.
"Yes, we must discuss this important matter," Henry perked up, jabbing his finger up in the air to emphasize his point. "Why would the dragon want to attack us?"
"It's simple," de Quincey started, "the boy." He turned to Will. There was something about de Quincey that was unsettling. He had a tall, lithe figure, with pale blond hair that boxed his face and black eyes full of menace. And those were glaring down right at Will. Will swallowed and felt himself shrink back in his seat.
"Why me?" Will demanded, trying to not sound afraid. "Is it because I'm so undeniably handsome that the dragon just had to request an audience with me?"
De Quincey rolled his humourless eyes. "Very funny, but no."
"Please Alexei," Camille drawled, "enlighten us with your reasoning."
"Yes Alexei," Magnus said coldly, "please tell me why you think this was Will's fault. I can vouch for him. He was under my supervision the entire time and there is no way he could have conjured the dragon."
"Is there?" de Quincey said with a hint of amusement. "The boy has caused nothing but misfortune ever since his abrupt appearance here. First he nearly destroyed poor Charlotte and Henry's inn. Then, he had to lure those bandits into the woods. And now the village came this close into vanishing into nothing. I say it's all his fault."
This was incredulous. Will had nothing to do with any of those. Okay, maybe he nearly did ruin The Sensor, but all of the other things had nothing to do with Will. Will felt a burning hatred for de Quincey. He then felt a gush of warmth around his hands and looked down. Tessa had grasped his hands under the table and gave it a light squeeze. Will immediately felt reassured. At least someone didn't believe de Quincey's lies.
"So what are you proposing, Alexei?" Camille asked excitedly. This seemed to wake her up.
"I propose that we should send the boy to go slay the dragon," de Quincey said simply, with a sense of closure to his voice.
"What?!" Will exclaimed, standing up and knocking his chair down to his ground. Will didn't dare to pick it up. A gasp ran through the crowd and Will only then realized that he had spoken out of place. "You possibly can't send me after that horrible beast." The thought alone scared Will, and he could never imagine killing a dragon. It just wasn't him. He had only grasped that sword earlier with the intent of scaring the dragon. And that certainly proved to be true.
"This is madness Alexei," Charlotte said, seeming to agree with Will. "He's just a boy. You cannot just send him out there alone."
"He's nearly an adult, not a boy," de Quincey corrected, baring his teeth, "and it shouldn't be too hard. I saw him wield the sword earlier today. Quite impressive. You certainly have the skills to take down that dragon."
"I'm not going to kill anything," Will said firmly.
"Oh you will. And we will make you." De Quincey looked at Will straight in the eye. His black eyes seemed to get even darker, if that was even possible. "Think about it, young man. The whole town already hates you. Would you want to make them dislike you even more by declining such a mission? Think of all the glory and fame you will have once you arrive back. You'll gain back everyone's trust." De Quincey spoke convincingly, but Will didn't buy it. It wasn't like everyone hated him, and there were other ways that Will could do to make them like him.
"Can't you have the knights from Herondale slay the dragon?" Will inquired. Will remembered that whenever there were disasters large enough that they caught his father's attention (which was extremely rare, considering how oblivious Edmund Herondale was), the king would always send knights off to the rescue.
"Knights?" de Quincey scoffed. "The king answers to no one. He'll never help us. We must handle this on our own." This much Will had to agree with. His father answered to nobody, only to himself.
"I think we should take a vote," Camille suggested lazily, "majority rules."
"I agree," de Quincey nodded his head, "all those in favour of sending Will to the quest, raise your hand." There were twenty people in room, apart from Will and Tessa, who both couldn't vote. Of the twenty, seventeen raised their hand, including Camille and de Quincey. "All those against," de Quincey continued, though there was a thrill to his voice. Only Charlotte and Henry raised their hands. "And all those abstaining," de Quincey said finally. To Will's surprise, Magnus raised his hand. Will looked at Magnus, and Magnus met his gaze, giving him I'll tell you later sort of look.
"So it's settled," de Quincey said with a smile, "Will Carstairs shall depart the morning after tomorrow at sunrise on a quest to slay the dragon."
Yes another chapter done! Ooooh and Will is about to go on a quest! But will he go alone? ;) hehe. Things are about to get really interesting :)
Okay, it's like 1 in the morning and now I can finally go and read Midnight Heir. WOOO. JAMES HERONDALE! I AM SERIOUSLY FREAKING OUT OVER HERE. Okay, now I have to relax. HERONDALES. EEK!
Now I must run away to a corner and indulge myself in the awesomeness of the Herondales :D Toodles!