The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

-21-

POV: Fendrel

The fire dragon hadn't moved from his spot, and his eyes were closed. His guards stood like statues beside him.

Charles, Fendrel, Cassius, and Fog sat in the grass in silence.

Fog nudged Fendrel with her wing. "You know, you're a lot nicer than what some of the rumors say."

Fendrel gave a cynical laugh. "I wonder if they're similar to the humans' rumors."

"Maybe." Fog spread out her wings. "There's a lot of them! I think every tribe has different ones."

"This should be good." Charles leaned his elbows on his crossed legs to watch Fog as she spoke.

"Yeah. Most humans who enter the Hazy Woods and see vapor dragons act like we're ghosts, but our tribe has a rumor that when you saw us you weren't afraid. You weren't even scared of the rogue vapor dragons!" Fog's eyes lit up and she leaned toward him.

"Everyone's afraid of a rogue dragon." Fendrel's voice was full of amusement. "That's probably the nicest rumor I've heard about myself, though. The humans have plenty of nasty ones."

"Did I hear someone say rumor?" Thea came up beside Fendrel with Oliver holding her hand. They plopped down. "What are we talking about?" She rested her chin in her hands.

"Rumors we've heard about Fendrel. Oh, I just remembered one!" Fog's feathers puffed out in excitement. "Another one of ours is that the only reason you help dragons is because you're not even human, so you can sympathize with us easier." She sniffed the air. "You smell like a human, though."

Fendrel chuckled. "I am."

"I heard that you punched Zoricus." Cassius had a small smile pulling at his lips.

"That one isn't a rumor." Fendrel shook his head.

Cassius sat rigid. "You actually hit him?"

"Yeah. He's scum and a hypocrite. Wait...isn't he your cousin? Why are you smiling about me punching your family?" Fendrel pointed an accusatory finger at the prince.

The prince laughed. "Why would I consider him family? I'm trying to kick him out of the kingdom."

Fendrel nodded. "Yeah, that's fair enough."

Charles moved to sit beside the prince and patted him on the shoulder. "You know, Cassius...I can call you Cassius, right?"

Cassius gave a slow nod.

"Great. I don't like a lot of your father's laws, even when he was still well, and your cousin makes me glad I never met him, but you're starting to grow on me." Charles shut his mouth. "That sounded better in my head, but please take that as consolation."

The prince blinked. "Thank you..."

"But since we were on the topic of Zoricus, I have to tell you this story." Charles pointed at everyone gathered. "He's absolutely horrible at arresting dragon hunters. A few days ago, you were there." Charles gestured at Fendrel "When you set the dragon king free, I led as many hunters as I could out into the streets in hopes that the royal guard would notice something was up. Nope! Those guards were fumbling over themselves while all the hunters escaped!" He threw his hands up in exasperation. "I made it ridiculously easy for them."

Fendrel pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you serious?"

Cassius crossed his arms. "It's not that they're incapable. They're doing this for a reason."

Charles snorted. "What purpose does being ineffective serve? Aren't they supposed to make the citizens feel safe? How can they do that if they can't catch a few disoriented hunters?"