Chapter 3
A/N: Hello all! I'm back with another chapter to the sequel :)
I hope everyone is enjoying it, as much as I am! So with out further ado- here you go! Thanks for all the reviews and keep them coming ^_^
-Standard Disclaimer's Apply-
-
Deedlit ripped her long cape and began to clean her cut leg. Binding her ankle she tried to get comfortable.
As she shifted the ground began to shake and shift once more. As the tremors grew in intensity the sounds of loud snorting also grew.
Pulling herself over to hide behind a rock formation Deedlit's breath stopped as she witnessed a large dragon walk by. To her surprise it had chains attached to its legs and it looked sad.
Trying to stay unnoticed she froze. But that didn't help. The dragon sniffed the air and spotted her instantly. Its large green eyes looked over in her direction and sniffed the air once again.
"What are you doing?!?!" A loud voice called coming from behind the dragon. "You were supposed to find the intruder! He's getting away! Do I have to do everything around here?"
Deedlit was shocked to see a dark wizard appear to scold the dragon. Hitting the creature with his staff, he berated the dragon. "I'll just have to send a blot of lighting to put an end to the spy." He laughed menacingly. To Deedlit, the man looked a lot like the evil wizard Ashram did.
As he began to chant the spell, Deedlit grew desperate.
'He's going to kill Parn…NO! I can't let him do that!' She told herself as she quickly moved into action.
Throwing all her weight on her good leg, she swiftly lunged at the wizard. Her weight and sudden attack caught the wizard by surprise and knocked him down. The spell fizzled, as it wasn't completed.
"What?" The wizard said as he fought with Deedlit. "You stupid girl! You'll pay for that!" He said as he threw Deedlit off of him and against the rock. The wizard stood up and dusted his red robes off. "You dumb dragon! Couldn't you have even located her? I should just put you to death right here and now!" He yelled hitting the creature again. The dragon whined and stepped back from the bad tempered man.
Deedlit pushed her body up on her elbows as the wizard came over to her.
"So, you think you can defeat me by simply finding my lair?" He snickered grabbing a hold of her face. "Tell me Elf, what do you think you and your companion can accomplish?" He asked holding her tightly. Deedlit's eyes closed as he put pressure on her cheekbones as his hands clamped down on her. "I've never seen an Elf this close before." He mused. "Your kind amuses me, but you are so secretive… tell me little girl and I will spare your life."
Deedlit's eyes snapped open as she threw her arms at the man, knocking his grip away.
"Feisty aren't we? I like that in a woman." he growled as he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. "Now move!" he commanded both her and the dragon.
Parn had tried what Deedlit had told him to do, but he couldn't concentrate as he rode back for help.
"Deedlit, please be alright." He prayed with every stride of the horse. Galloping through the open gates of the castle at sunrise, Parn ran to the throne room where everyone was.
"Hurry- we have to go back there!" Parn nearly screamed in distress.
"Parn?" Slain asked seeing the worry on his friend's face.
"You're back so soon? Did you find the beast's lair?"
"We need to hurry! Deed… Deedlit… she…" Parn eyes began to water again.
"Parn? What happened to Deed? Is she alright?" Slain asked.
"She fell in the mountain… we need to go get her before the dragon finds her." Parn said trying to get his breathing back to normal, but his heart rate was pumping too fast. "Hurry!"
"Alright, we'll move out. We should go in smaller groups, that way we won't be detected." Kashue said entering the room.
"Good idea your majesty." Sheris commented. "Lead the way."
The group was assembled rather quickly, but to Parn it took an eternity. He was finally able to connect with Deedlit. He had never felt anything like the rush of connecting with her spirit. He knew she was worried, he could feel it. Some thing had happened… but she wouldn't tell him what. She just kept saying he should hurry and that there was a wizard behind everything. That would explain the dragon's above normal powers. Parn thought as he told Deedlit they were on their way.
Deedlit felt relief wash over her, knowing they were coming. She would just have to wait and do what she could to keep them safe on their journey here. The wizard had left her in a small cage in his dark cave like residence.
Deedlit struggled against the cage bars, but wasn't able to get anywhere. As she gave up and curled up in a corner of the cage, the dragon slowly made it's way over to her. Sniffing the air the dragon got a good smell of her scent. At first Deedlit was a bit scared as the large dragon came nearer her cage, but soon she realized it wasn't something to fear at all. Slowly outreaching her hand to the dragon she was surprised when it gently sniffed and then licked her hand. The rough feel of its tongue made Deedlit giggle.
"I see, you are a friendly dragon. It's the wizard that has been forcing you to cause all the destruction." She smiled as she affectionately petted the dragon's scaly skin. "You poor thing, no one deserves that. We need to get you out of here…" She said and the dragon, for what it is worth, seemed to understand her. Stepping back the dragon began to try and bend the bars of the cage with its claws and then teeth. Soon it was bend just enough so that Deedlit, with her small frame, could slip right out.
"Thank you." She said as she hugged the dragon's red head. "Now it's my turn to help you escape." She told it was she began to look for the keys to its chains. Not finding them Deedlit resorted to calling on the spirits of flame to aid her in removing the chains from the Dragon's back feet.
"There we are… you are free!" She told the red creature. It looked at her with a confused face. "Would you like to help me get back to my friends?" She asked seeing the dragon didn't know what to do. "Come on…" She motioned for it to follow her out of the cave. To her surprise the dragon picked her up by it's short front arms and placed her on its back in front of its wings.
"Alright, I'll ride. My ankle needs a break anyway… now let's go home." She smiled as she petted the dragon again.
Parn and the first group of men, consisting of Slayn, Sheris, Orson, Kashue and several other knights reached the mountain as a large storm began to brew. Lighting flickered across the sky, as thunder roared in the air. The mountain ahead of them looked ominous and scary. However, none of that mattered to Parn. All he knew was that Deed was inside that mountain and he was going to get her back.
Unexpectedly the group witnessed a large dragon lift off from the mountain's side. The men fell into fighting formation as they prepared for he dragon's assault.
"Get ready men!" Kashue commanded as he drew his sword. Several men with bows took aim at the creature. The small catapults that they had brought were readied as the creature sailed effortlessly in the sky.
"Why isn't it attacking?" Parn asked Slayn.
"I don't know Parn…" Was the best answer the wise man could give.
"Something's not right here…" Parn looked over to Kashue.
"Ready! And fire!" Kashue ordered his men. The first waves of projectiles were thrown at the monster that loomed overhead.
Parn felt a rush of fear from Deedlit's circlet. She was in trouble… Parn concentrated as hard as he could and finally was able to connect with Deedlit.
'Deed, what's wrong?'
"Stop the attack!' She screamed in fear and pain. 'Parn you have to stop them… we'll fall.'
'What? Fall?' Parn strained his eyes to get a closer look at the dragon. What he saw scared him beyond words. There on the dragons' back was a person. It was a woman because of the long hair flowing in the winds, and Parn instantly recognized her… Deed. "NO! Kashue stop! Please!" Parn yelled as he ran over to Kashue and the men. Trying to put himself in between himself and the archers he yelled for them to stop.
"Parn? What's wrong?"
"Deed! She's on the dragon!" He screamed. But he was too late to stop the catapult from firing it's second round, and a better aimed attack.
Parn watched in horror as the rock went straight for the dragon's wings. The impact didn't phase the dragon too much, but the rider was thrown.
"DEED!" Parn screamed as he watched her fall. He was afraid, more afraid than he had ever been in his life. He couldn't move… all he could do was tremble as he saw her form tumbling. 'Please no, spirits of the forest, goddesses of Lodoss, please don't take her form me now…' He prayed.
As if the dragon had heard his pleas, it swooped down and caught the elf in its front claws. As gently as possible the dragon held her unconscious form to it's chest as it made it's descent to the ground.
Parn sighed with relief and turned to stare down the catapult operators.
"I said STOP!" He roared with rage. He then ran to where the dragon had landed. Crying out his wife's name he ran to her as the dragon tenderly set her on the ground.
Seeing the human run closer the dragon snarled and put it's front legs protectively in front of Deedlit's body. Parn couldn't help but come to a halt at the creature's angered growl.
"Deed!" Parn yelled to her. He didn't dare come any closer to the angered beast, but his wanting to touch her and see that she was alright welled up inside.
"…Parn…" Came her weak voice as she began to stir. The dragon seemed to forget there was anyone else there as it tried to get Deedlit to move by nuzzling her face with its nose.
"Deedlit." Parn said taking a step closer. This caused the dragon to begin to sniff the air. Getting a good smell of Parn, he sniffed Deedlit. There were traces of this man on her scent. Feeling content that this human wasn't going to hurt her, it stepped back and let Parn run to Deed's side.
"Deed, are you alright?" He asked as tears of joy came out of his deep blue eyes.
"Parn, don't hurt him." Deedlit said quietly reaching out her hand to touch Parn's face. She then turned her attention to the dragon that had saved her twice now. "Thank you." She smiled taking her hand off Parn and petting the dragon's nose.
"Deed!" Came the voices of the others. But the overprotective dragon intercepted them again.
"It's the dragon!" Kashue's men cried in fear grabbing for their swords.
"NO! Stop this." Deedlit said as she forced herself to sit up. "He helped me! He was forced to do all this damage by a dark wizard. Please don't hurt him!" She pleaded resting in Parn's arms. "It's ok, they are friends… come here." She told the dragon. And to everyone's amazement the large red-scaled creature did as asked. "See? He's a nice dragon." Deedlit added as she petted him again, and got the dragon to sit behind her.
A/N: Hello all! I'm back with another chapter to the sequel :)
I hope everyone is enjoying it, as much as I am! So with out further ado- here you go! Thanks for all the reviews and keep them coming ^_^
-Standard Disclaimer's Apply-
-
Deedlit ripped her long cape and began to clean her cut leg. Binding her ankle she tried to get comfortable.
As she shifted the ground began to shake and shift once more. As the tremors grew in intensity the sounds of loud snorting also grew.
Pulling herself over to hide behind a rock formation Deedlit's breath stopped as she witnessed a large dragon walk by. To her surprise it had chains attached to its legs and it looked sad.
Trying to stay unnoticed she froze. But that didn't help. The dragon sniffed the air and spotted her instantly. Its large green eyes looked over in her direction and sniffed the air once again.
"What are you doing?!?!" A loud voice called coming from behind the dragon. "You were supposed to find the intruder! He's getting away! Do I have to do everything around here?"
Deedlit was shocked to see a dark wizard appear to scold the dragon. Hitting the creature with his staff, he berated the dragon. "I'll just have to send a blot of lighting to put an end to the spy." He laughed menacingly. To Deedlit, the man looked a lot like the evil wizard Ashram did.
As he began to chant the spell, Deedlit grew desperate.
'He's going to kill Parn…NO! I can't let him do that!' She told herself as she quickly moved into action.
Throwing all her weight on her good leg, she swiftly lunged at the wizard. Her weight and sudden attack caught the wizard by surprise and knocked him down. The spell fizzled, as it wasn't completed.
"What?" The wizard said as he fought with Deedlit. "You stupid girl! You'll pay for that!" He said as he threw Deedlit off of him and against the rock. The wizard stood up and dusted his red robes off. "You dumb dragon! Couldn't you have even located her? I should just put you to death right here and now!" He yelled hitting the creature again. The dragon whined and stepped back from the bad tempered man.
Deedlit pushed her body up on her elbows as the wizard came over to her.
"So, you think you can defeat me by simply finding my lair?" He snickered grabbing a hold of her face. "Tell me Elf, what do you think you and your companion can accomplish?" He asked holding her tightly. Deedlit's eyes closed as he put pressure on her cheekbones as his hands clamped down on her. "I've never seen an Elf this close before." He mused. "Your kind amuses me, but you are so secretive… tell me little girl and I will spare your life."
Deedlit's eyes snapped open as she threw her arms at the man, knocking his grip away.
"Feisty aren't we? I like that in a woman." he growled as he grabbed her arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. "Now move!" he commanded both her and the dragon.
Parn had tried what Deedlit had told him to do, but he couldn't concentrate as he rode back for help.
"Deedlit, please be alright." He prayed with every stride of the horse. Galloping through the open gates of the castle at sunrise, Parn ran to the throne room where everyone was.
"Hurry- we have to go back there!" Parn nearly screamed in distress.
"Parn?" Slain asked seeing the worry on his friend's face.
"You're back so soon? Did you find the beast's lair?"
"We need to hurry! Deed… Deedlit… she…" Parn eyes began to water again.
"Parn? What happened to Deed? Is she alright?" Slain asked.
"She fell in the mountain… we need to go get her before the dragon finds her." Parn said trying to get his breathing back to normal, but his heart rate was pumping too fast. "Hurry!"
"Alright, we'll move out. We should go in smaller groups, that way we won't be detected." Kashue said entering the room.
"Good idea your majesty." Sheris commented. "Lead the way."
The group was assembled rather quickly, but to Parn it took an eternity. He was finally able to connect with Deedlit. He had never felt anything like the rush of connecting with her spirit. He knew she was worried, he could feel it. Some thing had happened… but she wouldn't tell him what. She just kept saying he should hurry and that there was a wizard behind everything. That would explain the dragon's above normal powers. Parn thought as he told Deedlit they were on their way.
Deedlit felt relief wash over her, knowing they were coming. She would just have to wait and do what she could to keep them safe on their journey here. The wizard had left her in a small cage in his dark cave like residence.
Deedlit struggled against the cage bars, but wasn't able to get anywhere. As she gave up and curled up in a corner of the cage, the dragon slowly made it's way over to her. Sniffing the air the dragon got a good smell of her scent. At first Deedlit was a bit scared as the large dragon came nearer her cage, but soon she realized it wasn't something to fear at all. Slowly outreaching her hand to the dragon she was surprised when it gently sniffed and then licked her hand. The rough feel of its tongue made Deedlit giggle.
"I see, you are a friendly dragon. It's the wizard that has been forcing you to cause all the destruction." She smiled as she affectionately petted the dragon's scaly skin. "You poor thing, no one deserves that. We need to get you out of here…" She said and the dragon, for what it is worth, seemed to understand her. Stepping back the dragon began to try and bend the bars of the cage with its claws and then teeth. Soon it was bend just enough so that Deedlit, with her small frame, could slip right out.
"Thank you." She said as she hugged the dragon's red head. "Now it's my turn to help you escape." She told it was she began to look for the keys to its chains. Not finding them Deedlit resorted to calling on the spirits of flame to aid her in removing the chains from the Dragon's back feet.
"There we are… you are free!" She told the red creature. It looked at her with a confused face. "Would you like to help me get back to my friends?" She asked seeing the dragon didn't know what to do. "Come on…" She motioned for it to follow her out of the cave. To her surprise the dragon picked her up by it's short front arms and placed her on its back in front of its wings.
"Alright, I'll ride. My ankle needs a break anyway… now let's go home." She smiled as she petted the dragon again.
Parn and the first group of men, consisting of Slayn, Sheris, Orson, Kashue and several other knights reached the mountain as a large storm began to brew. Lighting flickered across the sky, as thunder roared in the air. The mountain ahead of them looked ominous and scary. However, none of that mattered to Parn. All he knew was that Deed was inside that mountain and he was going to get her back.
Unexpectedly the group witnessed a large dragon lift off from the mountain's side. The men fell into fighting formation as they prepared for he dragon's assault.
"Get ready men!" Kashue commanded as he drew his sword. Several men with bows took aim at the creature. The small catapults that they had brought were readied as the creature sailed effortlessly in the sky.
"Why isn't it attacking?" Parn asked Slayn.
"I don't know Parn…" Was the best answer the wise man could give.
"Something's not right here…" Parn looked over to Kashue.
"Ready! And fire!" Kashue ordered his men. The first waves of projectiles were thrown at the monster that loomed overhead.
Parn felt a rush of fear from Deedlit's circlet. She was in trouble… Parn concentrated as hard as he could and finally was able to connect with Deedlit.
'Deed, what's wrong?'
"Stop the attack!' She screamed in fear and pain. 'Parn you have to stop them… we'll fall.'
'What? Fall?' Parn strained his eyes to get a closer look at the dragon. What he saw scared him beyond words. There on the dragons' back was a person. It was a woman because of the long hair flowing in the winds, and Parn instantly recognized her… Deed. "NO! Kashue stop! Please!" Parn yelled as he ran over to Kashue and the men. Trying to put himself in between himself and the archers he yelled for them to stop.
"Parn? What's wrong?"
"Deed! She's on the dragon!" He screamed. But he was too late to stop the catapult from firing it's second round, and a better aimed attack.
Parn watched in horror as the rock went straight for the dragon's wings. The impact didn't phase the dragon too much, but the rider was thrown.
"DEED!" Parn screamed as he watched her fall. He was afraid, more afraid than he had ever been in his life. He couldn't move… all he could do was tremble as he saw her form tumbling. 'Please no, spirits of the forest, goddesses of Lodoss, please don't take her form me now…' He prayed.
As if the dragon had heard his pleas, it swooped down and caught the elf in its front claws. As gently as possible the dragon held her unconscious form to it's chest as it made it's descent to the ground.
Parn sighed with relief and turned to stare down the catapult operators.
"I said STOP!" He roared with rage. He then ran to where the dragon had landed. Crying out his wife's name he ran to her as the dragon tenderly set her on the ground.
Seeing the human run closer the dragon snarled and put it's front legs protectively in front of Deedlit's body. Parn couldn't help but come to a halt at the creature's angered growl.
"Deed!" Parn yelled to her. He didn't dare come any closer to the angered beast, but his wanting to touch her and see that she was alright welled up inside.
"…Parn…" Came her weak voice as she began to stir. The dragon seemed to forget there was anyone else there as it tried to get Deedlit to move by nuzzling her face with its nose.
"Deedlit." Parn said taking a step closer. This caused the dragon to begin to sniff the air. Getting a good smell of Parn, he sniffed Deedlit. There were traces of this man on her scent. Feeling content that this human wasn't going to hurt her, it stepped back and let Parn run to Deed's side.
"Deed, are you alright?" He asked as tears of joy came out of his deep blue eyes.
"Parn, don't hurt him." Deedlit said quietly reaching out her hand to touch Parn's face. She then turned her attention to the dragon that had saved her twice now. "Thank you." She smiled taking her hand off Parn and petting the dragon's nose.
"Deed!" Came the voices of the others. But the overprotective dragon intercepted them again.
"It's the dragon!" Kashue's men cried in fear grabbing for their swords.
"NO! Stop this." Deedlit said as she forced herself to sit up. "He helped me! He was forced to do all this damage by a dark wizard. Please don't hurt him!" She pleaded resting in Parn's arms. "It's ok, they are friends… come here." She told the dragon. And to everyone's amazement the large red-scaled creature did as asked. "See? He's a nice dragon." Deedlit added as she petted him again, and got the dragon to sit behind her.