The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

-29-

POV: Charles

Oliver abandoned the stick he had been playing with when the others returned, and with a new dragon.

Charles followed Oliver to greet the group. "You're back already?"

Fendrel dropped down from Venom's shoulders and gave Charles an indecipherable look.

"Who's the new straggler?" Charles gestured at the extra vapor dragon.

"This..." Fendrel moved to stand next to Charles "...is our missing dragon. And Cassius went back home."

Charles' shoulders dropped. "Really? I missed everything?"

"You definitely missed a lot." Fendrel nodded.

Thea raced over from Venom and grabbed Oliver's hand with an ecstatic grin. "Oliver, come meet Auntie Fog-y's sister."

Fog's eyes widened as she mouthed "Auntie?"

While Oliver gasped and introduced himself, Charles stepped forward. He gave Mist a respectful nod. "It's incredible to meet you, miss."

"And...you as well..." Mist drew her wings closer to her body and her ears gave the slightest flick.

"I like your hair." Oliver reached out for Mist's fur, drawing her attention down.

Fendrel cleared his throat and lowered his voice. "Have you ever seen her before?"

Charles shook his head. "Believe me, if I got the opportunity to see a dragon as rare as from the vapor tribe in one of the bases, I would have told you. I have no idea who she is."

"I know." Fendrel avoided meeting his gaze. "I'm just making sure."

"Do you think I'm lying?"

"No, no." Fendrel sighed. "It's just, Fog noticed Mist's scent on your gloves, and just now Mist gave you an odd look."

Charles removed one of his gloves. "These? Sadon gave me these."

"He did?"

"Yeah." Charles put it back on. "You know how he is about everything being up to date. My gloves had a hole, so he lent me these until he could buy a new pair."

Fendrel nodded. His face was full of relief. "Okay."

Venom flapped his wings to gain the others' attention. "I don't mean to be rude, but we should return to the Hazy Woods as quickly as possible. Just because we know Mist is safe does not mean His Majesty and the other nobles do."

Charles smiled at Fendrel, but as his friend joined Venom, his face faltered.

What am I going to do now?

***

POV: Fendrel

It was as if a giant, invisible shield had kept the rain from the Hazy Woods out of the Storm Hills. But as soon as the group flew past the forest's tree line, Fendrel was met with a light drizzle.

The tall silhouettes of the pillared cliffs stood out from the vapor as the group flew nearer to the Meeting Cliff with the hypethral palace as its crown.

Fendrel squinted at the trees below. Few dragons wound through the trees or clung to the rocky cliff sides. It looked haunted and empty.

His gaze returned to the Meeting Cliff when Venom landed on the platform that led to the palace.

Venom rushed under the shelter of the ruined building with the other dragons following suit.

The humans dismounted while Cloud's voice carried over from the other side of the palace, sitting behind the circular meeting table from the beginning of the mission. "Great stars..." The king glanced at the unfamiliar faces "What happened?"