Princess Kate and the others wove their way through the rocky cliffs, taking cover behind the occasional random tree or sparse bit of brush. The air was flavored with a hint of salt, and they could hear waves crashing against the cliffs in the distance.
They walked a while through Hattania before they saw their first dragon. It was Joshua who spotted it- a gleaming yellow creature with glittering wings soaring through the sky above them. Sir Castle seemed a little worried after actually seeing one, but Kate waved it off, telling him that most dragons were docile enough and only killed cows for food.
There were some, though, that weren't quite as safe. The travelers at one point came across a deep valley, in the middle of which sat a circle of midnight black dragons, roasting something over a fire. Esposito's hand fisted in his horse's mane and he suggested that they move on soon. The fumes coming off of the fire pit didn't smell like an animal.
"How can you be sure that one of those wasn't your Dragon?" asked Sir Castle as they rode around the rim of the valley.
"Because he's a loner," said Kate. "Lives up in a cave on the highest point of a cliff. Only comes down to…" She paused, took a breath, and ran her fingers through her hair. "To do what he did to my mom."
"Let's go," said Esposito, and they wound their way up the next cliff.
It was slow going, because they needed to walk in single file and kept stopping whenever a bit of rock crumbled and fell into the chasm beneath them- which was often. Finally, though, they reached the top. Kate dismounted and pulled out her dagger, followed by the rest with their swords. Castle tied Serenity to an outcropping of stone, as did Joshua and Esposito with their horses. O'Ryan looped the reins on his mule over the rock.
Kate leaned against the corner of the opening to the vast cave, dagger out, and peered around the corner. There was the monstrous red dragon, sitting in the middle of the cave. He was facing away from the cave opening. The princess turned, nodded thrice to her comrades, and then they went in.
A doctor all scrubbed up for surgery- scrubs, mask, blue latex gloves- stepped into Beckett's hospital room and began wheeling her away. "Wait, what are you doing?" asked Castle, standing up.
"Detective Beckett is being taken away for an MRI," said the doctor, continuing to roll her out the door. Castle nodded and sat back down, still a bit shaken- maybe it was just because in the past thirty-six hours he'd rarely spoken to anyone but Josh.
"I guess they want to check her brain activity," shrugged Josh, but something was bothering him. Maybe it was just the fact that the doctor had been prepared for surgery- but he knew, sometimes a doctor ready to perform surgery was taken away at the last minute for another task. And yet…
"What's wrong?" asked Castle, sensing Josh's dismay.
"I don't know," he said. His expression was distant. "Hands of blue…" His eyes came to meet Castle's. "The man who took her away was wearing blue gloves, only last month everyone at the hospital had to switch to hypoallergenic white gloves."
Castle was already up and running out of the room, calling her name. Josh followed. "Kate!" yelled Castle. They could just see the wheels of her cot turning the corner, down into the hallway that led to the surgical ward. "Kate!" The two of them sprinted down the slick linoleum, sliding a bit- evidently, the janitor had just recently mopped.
"Excuse me," said a frantic nurse, coming around the counter to stop them.
"There's an intruder headed to the surgical ward," Josh ran off quickly. "Call security." Castle zipped around the corner, the water on the floor sending him zooming forward. If he hadn't been so worried, he would have thought it was awesome. "Somebody stop that surgeon!" yelled Josh, racing with Castle into the surgery wing. They were just in time to see Kate disappear into one of the rooms. Castle caught the door and followed them in.
There was the surgeon, positioned with a sharp scalpel right above her chest.
Sir Castle rammed into Princess Kate, knocking her out of the way of the Dragon's snout. The Dragon leaned forward, sniffing at him, baring his fangs. Castle's sword came around and caught him on the side of its nose. Black blood spattered the floor of the cave.
"Josh, get her out of here!" yelled Castle, holding the man with the scalpel against the wall. The man spun around and out of Castle's hold, wielding the scalpel dangerously. Castle backed up and grabbed the first thing that fell into his hand- a long suture needle. He deflected a swing of the scalpel with it and jumped out of the man's reach as he heard the door swing shut- Josh had gotten away with Kate.
The Dragon slashed out at Castle with his talons, but he had jumped away at the last minute. Out of nowhere, Josh stabbed it through the eye with his sword, half-blinding the beast. Furious, the Dragon's jaws snapped, too near to Kate. She jabbed its nose. More dark blood.
Esposito and O'Ryan came from behind, plunging into its chest from opposite sides. It was still alive, though, and it was coming after Sir Castle.
The man held the scalpel to Castle's neck, his eyes burning with a sickening glee. "You're not even going to put me under anesthetic first?" he grunted, trying to maneuver his needle into a position in which he could strike at his captor.
"This should feel just like a little pinch," said the man in an evil impression of a pediatrician with a syringe. He brought the scalpel down- but Castle wasn't there anymore. He ducked under the man's arm and pivoted, switching their positions so that Castle was the one holding the man against the wall.
"You'll never touch her," he said. A bullet smacked into the man's leg just then, downing him, and Castle turned around to see three security guards in the doorway, guns out. "Took you long enough," he sighed, exhausted. The needle dropped out of his hand and hit the floor.