The Dragon Liberator: Escapee

-29-

As Venom gestured for Fendrel to sit beside him, Cloud nodded at the dusk dragon. "Why don't you tell us what happened out there?"

Venom opened his mouth, then closed it. "I do not know where to start...Well, we searched every dragon hunter base we crossed just in case they had Mist. Obviously, we didn't find her there, and Fragrance had no idea where she was either."

Are we going to tell them about our...incident?

"Before I continue, may we document this?" Venom glanced at the tabletop, but it was empty. "Some interesting events occurred that we need to discuss in future meetings."

Cloud nodded. "Of course."

"I'll get it!" Fog leapt to her feet and raced out the entrance.

Charles cleared his throat. "I hope it's not an inconvenience that we're here." His hand landed on Oliver, who Thea had distracted with a vial full of colorful beads.

Cloud's pupils narrowed. "You also speak draekonik?"

"Oh, no. Sorry. Fendrel's friend gave me a spell so Fendrel wouldn't have to keep translating for everyone." Charles tilted his head at Thea.

Thea nodded. "I did the same for Oliver and I."

And the prince.

Fog flapped back into the palace with pieces of stripped bark held in one foreleg. She set them on the table before Cloud and returned to her seat.

"Now, what is it you requested we discuss?" Cloud poised a claw over one of the pieces of bark.

"There has been a decrease in the amount of dragons captured recently." Venom stared at Cloud's claw as the king scratched a few notes.

Cloud nodded. "That's a relief."

Charles made an indiscernible noise.

"Yes?" Cloud raised his head.

"I actually have a bad feeling about that. The hunters have never done this before." Charles glanced at Fendrel, then back to the dragon king. "He thinks it's strange, too."

"Well, we will go in more depth later." Cloud stuck his claw into the bark. "Venom?"

"The hunters are also abandoning some of their bases."

Cloud continued to write.

"Fragrance..." Venom cleared his throat. "We may need to choose a new floral noble."

The king arched his neck back. "What do you mean?"

"I- well he..." Venom kept looking at Cloud. "It's difficult to explain, but we definitely need to have a discussion with him about his position. I take issue with some of his beliefs, and they must be brought to light."

"Did something happen with him?" Cloud pushed the stripped bark aside.

Venom looked down at Fendrel. "Do you want to tell him?"

Charles stared at Fendrel and mouthed "What?"

The rest of the group shifted as if uncomfortable.

Cloud and Mist looked at Fendrel expectantly.

"I'd rather not say yet. If it's okay with you, I'd like to be there when you have the meeting with Fragrance, to explain what happened." Fendrel drummed his fingers on his bag.

With a troubled expression, Cloud sighed. "If you have something to share, I suppose you can join us. I don't know when we'll hold the meeting, however. We have been a bit...behind due to recent events. Venom, please continue."