Kaden's (un)lawful adventures

Storming the Castle

anticupid16 sent the first story in. YAY!! I loved it! Hope you enjoy it as well :)

If you like what you read, you can check out her story called "With the Rain Came Their Fate" :)

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It was a warm day in the valley. The sun stood slightly to the East of the center of the sky, and burned down through a lack of clouds in the sky. Kaden was sitting on the outer cliff of the mountain side, letting the sun soak into his scales. He had been taking a nice nap, when the sound of horses woke him. Yawning and snorting a bit of smoke, the sleepy dragon opened one eye and watched the hunting party dash through the forest below. Their armor glinted in the sun, and Kaden surmised that they were knights from the castle not far from there. He stood up on his talons, stretched, and continued to watch the progression of the hunting party.

            Perhaps I should stretch my wings, he thought to himself, working his jaw and preparing to take off. It was simple work to fly slowly after the hunting party, and Kaden found it mind numbing and a good excuse to stretch his wings. He hadn’t left his cave in a while other than for food, and it was beginning to make him stir crazy. It wasn’t long before the party caught the hog that was their goal, and set up a camp in which to roast the creature. Kaden flew closer, still unnoticed, and considered scaring them. However, he decided against it and chose to continue flying on, in the direction of the palace they had come from.

            It was a short journey on a dragon’s wings, and soon enough he could see the entirety of the stone building before him. And they could see him. Archers positioned themselves in the walls, and the knights that hadn’t gone on the trip were gathering. Perhaps he had a bit of a death wish, or he just wanted to put on a good show, but either way, Kaden blew a ball of fire at one of the towers. He laughed the smallest amount when several screams responded to his fire. He flew easily over the first wall, and landed in the vast courtyard. Several armed knights rushed him, and he stomped his foot on the ground, shaking them in their suits and causing them to fall with a great clamor.

            Puny humans, Kaden thought, lumbering forward towards the large open doors of the castle. He squeezed himself through and found the entrance hall of the palace to be rather large. He watched as a group of servants ran for the kitchens, but paid no more mind to them. Something sharp prodded his tail, and he looked over his shoulder to see a small boy prodding the underside of his tail with a fork, glaring angrily. “Scram,” Kaden commanded, and the kid jumped, before dashing in the other direction.

            Kaden spotted what was clearly the entrance to the throne room, and he flicked his tail, cracking the doors open. The King himself was still inside, cowering behind his throne and surrounded by a few guards. “Back you evil beast!” one shouted, and Kaden snorted, filling the room with thick smoke. There was a lot of coughing, and the clink of armor as a few guards blindly ran towards him. He flicked a claw at them and they cringed. He laughed again. Finally, the king removed himself from the throne as the smoke cleared up.

            “Great dragon,” he said in a low voice. “What is it you wish?” Kaden blinked and tilted his head. He hadn’t really thought about what he wanted. But naturally, he wanted something. He lifted one of his feet and the entire room cringed in fear.

            “Not sure, what do you have?” he asked, and the king nodded to a few servants, telling them a room to go to and handing one the key. The king seemed unsure of what to do while waiting for the servants to come back, and he looked around nervously. “Having a good day?” Kaden asked, and the king jumped.

            “W-well—“

            “You were until I came, I suppose. Very nice palace you have here. I like the design. Who was your architect?” The king stuttered.

            “The erm palace was build h-hundreds of years ago,” he said nervously, and the dragon nodded.

            “Ah, I see. That would make sense. You keep it very well, I must say.” Kaden laughed and the king flinched away again, before sighing in relief. The servants came in with several trays laden with gold and jewels and other valuables that sparkled very brilliantly. Kaden grinned. “I’d like that packed up in a back, please. Much easier to carry than on trays.”

            “O-of course, oh mighty dragon. Pack the jewels!” the king commanded, and the servants again scurried out of the way to do so. Kaden settled himself down on the floor, and turned his foot over to inspect his claws. There was some moss stuck in between a couple, and he used his other claw to pick the material out, flicking it to the floor of the throne room.

            “Sorry about that,” he said nonchalantly as the king stared in shock at the moss on the ground. The servants scurried back, offering up three bags packed full of jewels and gold. “Why thank you,” Kaden said, reaching out and slipping the bags into the firm hold of his talons. “And good day.”

            The shocked king and the other residents of the palace watched as he lumbered out of the castle, and took flight once more, taking his catch home with him. It had been a good, eventful day.