The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

-4-

POV: Fendrel

Fendrel and Thea kept their heads down and passed the guards at the mouth of the gate. Posters displaying Fendrel's face with a large bounty underneath were pinned on both sides of the city gates. "Dragon Liberator" was what they labeled him as.

A guard glanced at Fendrel then looked away as a merchant asked him something.

"I should turn you in for all that money." Thea elbowed his ribs.

"Har, har... speaking of which, what do you do with the money you earn from your job? I know you don't use it all on food." Fendrel glanced at Thea as they cleared the city and looked around for any signs of Cloud or Oliver.

"I trade it." Thea picked under her nails.

"For what?"

"Those jewels I've been saving up for my not-so-little collection." Thea had a habit of experimenting with gemstones and precious metals, trying to find some use for them other than money or bargaining tools.

A sky masked with light gray clouds shrouded the fields around the city of Sharpdagger. Lightning lashed out at the dismal air. Far off, gray dragons with vibrant markings darted from the clouds to catch the powerful whips of electricity.

"Those are spark dragons, right?" Thea pointed to the dragons drawn to the lightning like fish to a baited hook. She seemed proud to know something Fendrel was interested in.

"Yeah." Fendrel only half heard what she said. He walked around the outside of the wall until his eye caught on a shadow that freed itself from the grove of trees that surrounded the city of Sharpdagger. Thea noticed this too and waited for Fendrel to make the first move. Upon reaching the edge of the trees, two silver eyes shone out of the shadows and peered with curiosity at Thea. Soon a huge, gray head appeared.

"You rescued that?" Thea shook. She had never been this close to an adult dragon before, let alone a dragon king.

"Him, yes." Fendrel gave Thea a gentle nudge. "And he can understand you."

Oliver, who until now was hidden by the leaves, almost fell from Cloud's back as he stood up. Too excited for words, he waved at the two adults.

"And who is this?" Thea gestured at Oliver. "You didn't tell me you took on an apprentice."

"I didn't. That's Oliver. It's a long story, I'll tell you later." Fendrel turned and addressed Cloud. "For now, we have to fix your wing before any guards realize you're here. There's a law against dragon trading but that doesn't necessarily mean the citizens have the same mindset as the king."

He turned to Thea once again. "You brought the spell, right?"

"Uh-huh." Her wide-eyed gaze was once again set on the large frame of the dragon. She grabbed the bottle from Fendrel's bag and placed it in his hand.

Fendrel looked down at his bag. "I thought you were holding it. When did you put that in there?"

"When you weren't looking." She averted her gaze for just a second.

Fendrel stepped toward Cloud and peered at the vial's contents—a small branch with berries still attached. He pulled the branch out and unsurely placed it on Cloud's broken wing. The branch lengthened and wrapped around the bone, shifting it into place as if the branch had a mind of its own. The berries popped and their juices traveled to the torn skin to mend it. Fendrel stuffed the empty bottle back in his bag.

"How did that happen?" Fendrel had seen dragons be healed by Thea's spells but never asked how it worked.

Thea shrugged. "I just put a spell on the branch and told it to heal whatever it touched that needed fixing. The branch kind of figures it out on its own if I don't give clear directions."