Prince of Dragons

Chapter Seventeen

Now, with a...surprise adventure, such as this, there were certain things we needed before we began out journey. Horses, rations, a tent, other supplies. I wasn't sure how long the journey was going to be, so I made sure to grab enough gold to cover the costs of whatever we managed to obtain.

Getting out of the castle thankfully was relatively easy. Thanks to Alaban's help turning us invisible—of all things. It was so unusual not seeing my own body, but...it was also kind of thrilling, in a sense.

No one tried to stop us, or question us, and in a way, it was freeing.

Once we were well out of view of any prying eyes, Alaban ended his fancy invisibility spell, revealing us so we could purchase the necessities for our trip.

Alaban, however, altered his coloring into something more akin to a green dragon—his onyx skin now a rich, dark brown, and amber eyes now a forest green. The only thing he kept were his long blond locks that were tied back from his face, and the color of his horns, which remained a light grey. Gone were the intricate golden tattoos he usually adorned, and, if I were honest with myself, I very much preferred his original form.

I definitely wasn't going to admit that to him, though, especially since it would no doubt make things awkward.

I was here to help the man, not be wooed by him. Even if he was attractive.

Speaking of...I glanced at the man in question from the corners of my eyes and watched as he leisurely browsed the shelves for anything we might need for our quest. He was eyeing the different, well made, leather satchels that sat aesthetics in place, and I was—admittedly—too preoccupied staring at him that I failed to notice the tall, red dragon that approached me.

"So, what graces my humble little store with your presence, your highness?"

I startled, flickering my gaze to the new arrival—probably the owner—just as Alaban turned to see who had spoken.

This dragon was about Alaban's height—so, taller than me—with a friendly face that was currently pulled into a warm smile. His eyes were a dark, cerulean blue, his skin tanned from long hours in the sun, and he had short red hair that framed his sharp, angular face.

Feeling a little awkward, I cleared my throat—trying not to focus on Alaban's gaze as he stared at me curiously. "Oh, um, well, you see, my companion and I are setting out for a long journey, and we are in need of some supplies for our time in the wild. We're not exactly sure how long, said journey would be, however."

The man perked up and placed one hand on his hip, while his other swept across the large, shelf-filled room. "Well, as you can see, I have plenty for those wishing to travel. Might I ask where you both are heading?"

I cleared my throat, ready to answer, when Alaban spoke for me—the man having gotten closer to me without me noticing. "I don't think that is your business, sir."

"Ah, don't listen to him, we're just...travelling for...clarity?" I glanced towards Alaban, his disguised eyes meeting me. "I'm wanting to clear my head, and I figured a scenic route might help with that. A couple weeks, is probably how long it will take us. Maybe more, maybe less, I'm not a hundred percent sure. What do you have in dry rations? And do you have something akin to a tent?"

The red dragon was eyeing Alaban with a look of irritation in his eyes, but when I spoke, that irritation disappeared, and a business front fell across his face as he turned back to me. "Of course! I'm pretty sure I have everything you might need." He gestured for me to follow him, and I did, and he led me to the farther left-side of the store. He then placed a hand on a long black satchel.

"This here is a two-person tent, that comes with stakes you can push into the ground to keep it in place. It's made of a water-resistant material, so if it rains you won't get soaked, and there's a handy dandy little mechanism on the floor of the tent that heats it up to a comfortable temperature—should it get too cold."

My brows raised, and I already had a feeling something this good was no doubt going to lighten my coin purse a bit too much. I know, shocking considering I was a prince, and all. But I could only carry so much gold on my person, and I didn't want to haul around a massive chest, and I doubt our steeds would be appreciative of that heavy weight. But, I still needed to ask for the price, just to see what the option was. Because let's face it, a waterproof tent for two people with an optional heated floor? That would most definitely beat laying on the hard ground with nothing to cover us. It was perfect. But...

"How much will this run me?" I finally asked, turning my attention to the other man.

The red dragon lifted a brow, looking me up and down as he pretended to think about it. "Well, you are our prince, and this journey may be important—who knows, I won't butt in with too many questions...hmm...I'll drop the price down, for you, your highness, to only 200 gold pieces. It's normally 500, but I'm willing to drop it that low to help you out."

200 gold wasn't really that much. At least, to someone of my station. I had about 30 platinum on me—roughly worth 300 gold—and I doubted rations and simple supplies would cost us that last hundred...the only problem was we still needed horses, and a good, strong, young horse was expensive in these parts, because of how limited they were in the mountains, and volcanic land. But then again, perhaps Momma Ray knew someone who could provide us with a form of transportation. She was very well known around these parts and knew just about everyone in town.

So maybe she could help us?

I was really debating here, because if we bought this expensive, luxurious tent, if Momma Ray had no access to anyone with horses, we wouldn't have enough to cover the tent and supplies, if we had to dish out extra gold.

Gods, but we needed a tent, though. While I didn't mind sleeping on the ground under the stars, Ilsar was known to have quite a few thunderstorms, and rainstorms, thanks to where we were located, and I would much rather be comfortable in a tent that was a little more on the expensive side, than risk getting soaked on our first day out—because the weather was incredibly unpredictable. One second it could be sunny and cloudless, and in the next the entire sky would bottom out and it could rain for hours.

"We'll take it," I told the owner before I could change my mind, causing him to perk up and grin even wider as he pulled it off the shelf and placed it on the counter. A few other supplies later, and we had maybe about...50 gold left to our name—for now, at least—and I did wonder if I should return to the castle to pick up more funds, however, I didn't want to risk running into father, because let's face it, he would no doubt be angry at me for disappearing again. Even if, this time, I left a quick little note to inform him what I was doing.

So, I assumed we were fine with fifty gold. If we needed anything else while in the middle of our journey...well, I guess 50 gold would have to hold us over until we either find his people, or return.

Honestly it was too much effort, so here I was, grabbing everything we obtained before I went to find Momma Ray. Thanks to the grace of the gods, she managed to find us two horses that a friend of hers had been holding on to, and I of course paid her a few gold—even when she insisted she didn't need payment from her "favorite prince"—and loaded both the horses up with our supplies, before I looked to Alaban as he stared back at me.

"Well, let's go find your people."

And with that, our new journey began.

A/N: Yes, yes, I know, it's been too long since I last updated, but I have good reasonnnnn. I finally was able to make enough money to get a new laptop! (I'm hella broke all the time, so a $400 laptop seemed much out of my budget), however, with my new job, I managed to save enough to get a new one! My last one decided to die on me (hense lack of update), and it was an 8 year old laptop, so it was definitely time for a new change.

So yay! Finally an update! I hope you all enjoyed the chapterrrrrr! Lemme know what you think! I love feedback!! :)