Chapter Fourteen – Alive
"How are we going to get past the dragon?" Justin asked. Obviously Duncan already knew, but he shrugged, not wanting to let the other boys know his only advantage. They were close now, they had just passed the home of the Sullivans where Courtney and Duncan had stayed only a couple of nights ago. It seemed like so long ago now, and so much had changed. Duncan sighed out loud, thinking about the time he'd spent with Courtney and how once he'd "rescued" her he'd have to deliver her back to her father and never see her again. Unless of course he chose the prize of marrying her, rather than the money. He shook his head, annoyed with himself for even considered it.
"Is everything okay, Duncan?" Harold burst through his thoughts. Duncan glared at him.
"None of your business, dweeb," Duncan snarled. Harold flinched and went back to looking at his feet as they walked along. Duncan felt a little bad about snapping at the wizard but not enough to apologise. He was really getting on Duncan's nerves as he kept breathing way too loudly and every now and then he'd ask how much further they had to go.
"Why don't you use your magic to find out?" Duncan had snorted.
"I'm a wizard, not a psychic, gosh!" Harold replied, offended. Harold was silent now though and Duncan found relief in the small bout of quiet. Justin gave Duncan a knowing look and gestured towards Harold with his head. Duncan rolled his eyes, not really sure was Justin was trying to say so he simply ignored him. Justin dropped back to walk with Harold and Duncan could hear them whispering but he didn't particularly care, so long as they weren't talking to him.
Sick of having to crawl around the tower, Courtney decided to try putting some weight on her sprained ankle. As she gingerly stood up she found she could put stand on it for a small amount of time. She couldn't see her ankle or foot as it was still bandaged up, but she guessed it was still fairly bruised, although the swelling had gone down considerably. Her hand on the wall for support, Courtney managed a lap around the tower, limping slightly, but better than not being able to use her leg at all.
Daniel still hadn't returned so she assumed Duncan would be there soon, possibly with guards from the castle. Her heart swelled at the thought of seeing him again, but she immediately scolded herself for being so foolish, remembering what Daniel had said about kidnapping victims falling in love with their captors. Could it be true? she wondered. She didn't particularly trust anything that came out of Daniel's mouth, but it would explain a lot. Why else would she feel any affection for a man who held a knife to her throat, dragged her across the countryside and locked her in a tower? He saved your life though, she reminded herself. She exhaled in frustration as she collapsed to the floor after her lap around the tower. She put her head in her hands, wishing there was someone to talk to so she wasn't alone with her own confusing thoughts. As if on cue, Heather's eye appeared at the window. Courtney looked up as the sun was blocked by the huge green dragon.
"What is it?" Courtney asked.
"There are people coming," Heather informed her. Courtney jumped up excitedly, wincing as she put weight on her sore ankle.
"Who is it?" she inquired desperately.
"Your lover and two others," Heather replied.
"He's not my lover," Courtney corrected. Heather snorted loudly, startling Courtney. "What?" she demanded, frowning at the dragon.
"Nothing. You said I can't kill him, but I can kill the other two, right?" Heather asked. Courtney hesitated. She didn't know who the other two were and she didn't want to act too rashly. If they were with Duncan they must be okay.
"No, don't kill them yet," she decided. "But maybe act like you're going to… if it looks too easy for Duncan the others might get suspicious." Heather huffed, flames erupting from her mouth. "Be careful!" Courtney scolded. Heather rolled her huge eye and flew off. Courtney made her way to the window to await the arrival of Duncan and whoever the other two were. She didn't know if Heather would do as she asked, it's not as if the dragon owed her anything, despite the song she had sung for her. She sighed dramatically, resting her arms on the window sill and staring out across the trees.
Duncan, Harold and Justin stood in the tree line, staring up at the dragon circling above them.
"What do we do now?" Harold asked. "And DON'T suggest I use magic," he added, shooting a look at Duncan who had been about to suggest just that.
"You distract the dragon, Justin will kill it and I'll get to the tower and rescue the princess," Duncan suggested instead. Harold gulped and Justin looked at Duncan in disdain.
"I have a better idea," the lord said. "You and Harold distract the dragon and I will save the princess." Harold gulped again but Duncan just rolled his eyes. He knew the toad would say something along those lines, but he wasn't that bothered by it. Neither Justin nor Harold knew about the trapdoor, and he knew that while Harold was acting like a total idiot trying to distract the dragon, and Justin was trying to sneak past, he'd easily be able to make it to the trap door without the dragon burning him to a crisp. He couldn't say the same for Justin and Harold but sometimes sacrifices had to be made.
"Fine," Duncan agreed. Justin looked at him in surprise before glancing at Harold. Harold shrugged. Was it just Duncan's imagination or was there something odd going on between those two? He shook off the feeling, he didn't have time to worry about that right now.
"Ready Wiz?" Duncan asked Harold. Harold screwed up his nose at the nickname but nodded. He and Duncan ran out from the trees and into the clear grassy area between the forest and the rocks. Duncan made sure he was standing directly in front of the trapdoor so he could simply open it and drop down. He and Harold began waving their arms around to try and get the dragon's attention. The great beast spotted them and began flying towards them. Justin ran out from the trees and Duncan smirked to himself, ready to dive into the trapdoor as soon as the dragon got close. He was about to open it when he was knocked away by the great force of Harold. Except it wasn't Harold's body, but some invisible force. Magic, Duncan cursed. He looked up from the ground to see Justin grab Harold and drag him through the trapdoor. How did he know about that? Not that it mattered now; Duncan knew he was a dead man. He tried to get up to get to the trapdoor but Harold had knocked the wind from him and he couldn't breathe properly. The dragon was so close now, any second it would barbecue him till he was nothing but bone. Duncan looked up at the tower and saw Courtney standing at the window. He wished he could tell her how much he loved her before he died. He looked back at the dragon and braced himself for the pain, but it never came. The dragon got as close to him as humanly possible before twirling gracefully back into the sky.
"What the?" Duncan stared at the dragon, bewildered. By all intents and purposes he should be dead. Yet here he was, alive.
Courtney watched as a man with red hair signalled to her fiancé Justin to come out from the trees. The man then made a kind of sweeping gesture and Duncan was thrown to the ground. She wanted to call out to him, but she doubted he'd hear her, and it was a little late now anyway, Justin was already pulling the red haired man down the trap door. She'd recognised Lord Justin Toadie immediately of course, and groaned to herself when she saw him. She'd almost forgotten she had to marry that loathsome man. He was extremely conceited and he usually ignored her or acted like she was a simpleton, just because she was a woman. However, her father had insisted and she felt she had no choice. Besides, she planned to make his life miserable once they were married and that would be fun in itself.
But for now she knew he was headed through the tunnel and would soon be entering the tower to escort her back home. She could not let that happen, or else Duncan wouldn't get his money and this whole thing would be for nothing. She watched as Heather flew up into the sky as Duncan lay on the ground, looking confused.
"Heather!" Courtney called out. The dragon circled back to her and hovered by the window.
"Can I kill him now?" she asked.
"No!" Courtney snapped. "I… I need a favour," she stammered nervously. She wasn't sure how Heather was going to take this.
"What is it?" Heather queried.
"I need you to save us from those other two men," Courtney answered.
"They're already in the tower, I can't kill them from here," Heather pointed out. Courtney took a deep breath before asking the next thing.
"No… but you could carry us away from here," she said firmly, though still worried about the dragon's reaction.
"You want me to carry you. On my back." Heather stated. Courtney nodded. "No way!" Heather refused.
"Please Heather!" Courtney begged.
"Why should I?" Heather sniffed. Courtney could hear footsteps ascending and she knew she didn't have long to convince Heather to help her.
"Because I love him and after today I'll never see him again, and if you let those two imbeciles take me, he'll have no money and I'll be able to do nothing to help him since my father controls all my money and once I'm married to Justin he'll control my money and I can't let Duncan and his family die like that, they deserve better. And Justin deserves nothing!" Courtney ranted. Heather stared at her, saying nothing. "Please, Heather. Haven't you ever been in love?" Courtney begged. At that moment Justin and Harold burst into the room.
"There you are my love!" Justin announced. Harold went to go over to her but Justin pushed him down the stairs.
"Justin!" Courtney gasped.
"I've come to rescue you, let's go!" Justin commanded. Courtney glanced back at Heather who gave a sharp nod. Courtney turned back to Justin.
"No thank you!" she said, flinging herself out the window and onto Heather's back. Justin looked absolutely flabbergasted as Heather flew towards Duncan, pausing so Courtney could haul him onto the dragon's back. Duncan groaned, still feeling the effects of Harold's spell. Courtney smiled at him and he managed a small smile back. Courtney helped him into a sitting position and put her arms around him so he wouldn't slide off, or at least that's what she told herself. The wind rushing through her hair was exhilarating and she'd never felt more alive. It was a shame it wouldn't last long, as she knew they'd be back in Evershire in no time. She pushed the thought from her mind and just enjoyed the moment.
"How do you feel?" she asked Duncan.
"Like I've been run over by a herd of cows," Duncan moaned.
"Don't be such a drama queen!" Courtney laughed. "At least you're alive!"
I'm so sorry it's been so long since I updated! I was on placement which takes a lot of energy out of me so I didn't really feel like writing. Anyway hope you enjoyed it! Hopefully I'll update again soon.
Hola - Would love to say I'm glad the semester is over but sadly for me it is not! I don't finish until the 30th of May! I live in Australia so by the time I get holidays it will be winter haha! Thanks for spotting the thing about the horses, I totally forgot they had them so I went back and fixed it so they left them behind haha! Thanks for your reviews!