Lui tried to steer his kite down, but Luinor remained stubborn. "Luinor! Down!" Luinor didn't move. "Luinor!"
"No, we must not approach the island" Luinor flew in a different direction.
"Are you stupid?! Luinor, cut the crap!"
"Fafnir asked me to take you far away from here. It's far too dangerous if we help them"
"But if we don't help them...Free will die...Please Luinor...let me help him..."
Luinor flew on.
As Fafnir landed, Free got off his back. "Are you all right?"
"It's alright...We have to get out of here..."
Free glanced up. "Do they got Lui too...?"
"No, I asked Luinor to take him away"
Fafnir rose. "Slow down! You're hurt"
"It doesn't matter...we have to get out of here"
"No...You can't fly any further like this..."
"Free, it's my job to protect you...Come on now"
Free was torn. He had to get away from here, yes, but he didn't want Fafnir to hurt himself any more. Nevertheless, he climbed onto the back of his kite.
"Hold on tight"
Fafnir tried to take off but his left wing was too badly injured. "That's no use, Fafnir"
"I have to protect you"
"Stop it, Fafnir...Please...don't hurt yourself any more!"
The golden dragon didn't make it. When Free heard footsteps approaching, he knew it was over.
"We have them, Agni"
They were surrounded.
Free swallowed when he saw his father.
"Free...?"
Free said nothing but nodded.
Everyone around him whispered. Their inheritance that ran away was back. Was he blessed?
"You shouldn't have come back, you know that, right?" "...Yes..." "As a punishment against the law you will be punished with the death penalty" "But...I didn't want to come back...It's because of you that Fafnir fell! You hurt him and that's why we're on the island" "You had no right to come so close to the island" "But...I wasn't close" "You will not be pardoned, even if you were my son" "...I was your son...?" "Tie him and his spirit animal up" "Let me go...My soul mate is waiting for me outside...I can't leave him alone...He needs me!" But Free's begging fell on deaf ears. His father didn't listen to him.
The blonde was tied up with ropes and all of his belongings were taken from him. Eventually he was separated from Fafnir and locked away in prison. "A disappointment for our tribe" Free said nothing. What should he even say? Even his own father was willing to give him the death penalty... He had no chance of escaping.
Agni entered a tent, where a woman was sitting in. She had blonde her and black eyes, she was his wife and Free's beloved mother. "Agni, I heard there were people from outside who came too close to the island?" Abelia had a boy on her lap. "Yes..." "Were you able to drive them away" "One of them, yes...The second one is trapped..." "Are you all right?" "It...is Free" Abelia was startled. "Free? Our Free?" "Free?" Abelia announce the boy. "Are you going out to play. Mom and Dad have to talk about something" "Hmm...yes" The boy got up and left the tent. "Are you sure it's Free?" "Yes..." "Why is he here?" "I don't know" "And you really want to kill your own son?" "He's not our son anymore, Abelia. He left the island even when he knew he wasn't allowed to. You have to accept that he's like everyone else from the outside, even if our blood flows in him" "You have no mercy on him?" "If I don't do it, our family could no longer be trusted and who knows what will happen to Fen. His future is more important than Free's" "I understand that" "Then that's settled. Free will die "
Free sat in the cell with his eyes closed and only thought about Lui. All of this should never have happened like this... Why had he let Lui persuade him at all? He should have listened to his gut and Fafnir...
"Are you Free?" It was a child's voice... A boy. "And if so... what do you care who I am?" "Mama used to talk about big brother Free. She said Fen will see big brother Free one day and he will show Fen the world." Free opened his eyes and could see the boy across from him. He had blond hair and black eyes... He looked so much like his mother... Just like himself... Just missing the red streak. "Are you big brother Free?" The older one didn't know what to say. He was just replaced like that? Just like he never existed? "And even if it's me, I don't care about you! Go back to your parents...They never really loved me...My family would never do that to me if they really cared about me!" "But mama said big brother Free is great and Fen heard mama say she misses Free...mama loves Free and Fen loves big brother Free too" "But I'm not your big brother..." "You not big brother Free?" "No, now leave me alone." Free saw Fen running away and lowered his eyes again. He didn't know how to deal with it...He had a little brother...He really looked like a clone of him, like he had actually been replaced... Was he really that unimportant to his family?
"Lui...You have to eat something..."
Lui lay on Luinor's back. He had been crying non-stop since they left the island...Now his tears had dried...He was sobbing...
"Lui..."
Luinor tried to motivate his human somehow but without success.
"Lui...food is important"
"Free's important too...And if Free isn't there anymore...I don't want to be there anymore either..."
"But that's not a solution"
"What else am I supposed to do now that Free is gone...If he dies...I can die too...Then there's no reason for me to live..."
"I won't let you hurt yourself"
"Then I'll do it so you can't stop me"
"Lui, Free will not die and neither will you"
"And you know that because you can see into the future?"
Luinor didn't answer.
"I knew it..."
"You don't usually give up that easily"
"What do you think I should do? Get help because some insane tribe wants to kill my soul mate?"
"You are the human being, don't you always have such good ideas?"
"I would fly back and get Free out of there but you said it was dangerous..."
"Alone, yes"
Luis sat up. "What are you trying to imply with that?"
"Nothing"
Shirosagi looked at his dragon. "You want to see Fafnir again, am I right?"
No response from his spirit animal.
"So yes?"
"Yes..."
"Then you and I go back...I mean you would have come either way"
"Actually, I don't mean me"
"Then who?"
"Where's Mama?" Fen had arrived back in the tent and found only his papa there. "She went to the village, should be back soon" "Papa?" "Yes?" "Do you love big brother Free?" Agni looked at his youngest son. "Mama...How do you know about Free?" "Mama told me about big brother Free" "Mom told you about him?" "Fen was listening because mom was crying...Mama misses big brother Free and loves him...Fen wants know if papa loves big brother too" Agni didn't quite know how to deal with this question. "Fen, it's better if you don't talk about your brother. It's a difficult subject for mama and papa." "Other kids know their brothers too...Why not Fen? Fen was bad?" "No, you didn't do anything wrong" "Then why big brother not there? Why can't Fen see him?" "You'll understand one day, Fen." Agni placed a hand on his youngest son's head. "Papa has to go now" He left the tent and left Fen alone.
"With all due respect, you are not allowed in." Abelia stood in front of the hut in which her older son's spirit animal was. "The dragon is in critical condition, isn't it? If it bleeds to death in there, its human will die too, and maybe before execution! I just want to make sure neither of them dies too soon, so let me in" Reluctantly allowed they enter the hut where Fafnir was held captive. Sensing that someone was present, the dragon prepared to defend against whoever. "It's all good, Fafnir. I don't want to hurt you." Fafnir saw his human's mother and felt that she really posed no danger. He put his head back down and Abelia stepped closer. "Seska, can you ask him why Free and he came back? I'll take care of his injuries in the meantime." The snake approached the dragon and the spirit animals established a connection to each other.
"How did it happen that you and your human came back? You knew about the consequences."
"You...can talk to me?"
"Of course, any spirit animal can communicate with another as long as the human and spirit animal are not connected"
"I understand..."
Fafnir explained the situation to Seska and why he and Free were back. Then Seska reported it to her human.
"Free found his soulmate? That's so wonderful...But it wasn't really your intention to come here"
Fafnir snorted slightly.
"And you said that Agni didn't care that his son finally found someone to love and he still wants to kill Free?"
"Fafnir reported that, yes... He also has the fear, that Free's soulmate and his dragon will enter this island to save Free..."
"If they get caught, they will die just like Free"
"I could talk to him, maybe he will heed my warning?"
"No, if it's a dragon, he won't listen to anyone but his owner or his soulmate and his soul animal. If so, Fafnir will have to try to stop him, but I don't know if it will work that way... This is the island of Dragons and for decades it has always ended in catastrophe when two dragons meet... Even if they are the soul animals of soul mates, that's why there are so few people with dragons as soul animals"
"But then what else should we do?"
"I'll try to talk to the boy, ask Fafnir what Free's soulmate looks like. We'll then make sure he doesn't get too close to the tribe."
"It would be worth a try"
Seska addressed the dragon again before leaving him alone.
Free didn't know how long he had been in the cell. To be honest, he didn't care either... He was only worried about Lui... He wanted to go back to him and just take him in his arms.
"Free" He didn't say when he heard his father's voice. "Look at me when I talk to you" "Why should I still respect you when you don't even have the respect to save me from death? I'm still your son whether you like it or not" "Was Fen here?" "Fen?" "Your brother" "Aha...How am I supposed to know if he was there if I didn't even know I had a brother?" "Was there a little boy here?" "And if so, then what? Do you reject him as much as you do it with me? Won't you shy away from killing him either? Do you really think you can just throw away your own children as you please?" "Before you left, at least you had respect for me. The outside world made you stupid." "No, it told me the truth...You know it, don't you? Wren Dokata...Who later became known as Wren De La Hoya...I read it and wondered who he was and why no one had ever told me about it...he was the one who left the island years ago and he brought a man here from outside...due to his law, that the chief of the tribe must have a successor, he became a father to a woman of the tribe, nevertheless the child was raised by Wren and his husband Neel and that child was you, Agni De La Hoya, Grandpa was the man who fought for it that Sola Island is making contact with the outside world. Neel was even popular with the people of the village, up until the day Neel was found dead...He was slain, actually by his foster son, wasn't he? You could not live with the fact that grandpa loved someone from outside and that this man was your father. You were afraid that all this would happen again and that's why you came up with the law of killing. Grandpa had no problem returning as that law never existed, the only law back then was that he couldn't leave the island because the outside world was trying to wipe out our tribe, but that hadn't been the case for centuries because nobody really knew that the world has changed over the years and that's why you want to kill me, am I right? You're afraid I'll tell the tribe the truth and you'll look bad, am I right father?"
It was quiet. Free had hit the mark, he knew that.
"I never thought the man I admired was such a coward" "You don't have the right to talk about me like that" "I don't have the right? You've threatened me since I was little, killing me if I ever leave the island! But this time isn't about protecting someone just because you're scared! It's about finding our soulmate and we can only do that if we leave this island. We can leave for good, and we will. There is one person out there who knows all about you, and if I die, he will make sure our people know the truth!" "Are you threatening me?" "Yes and this is just the beginning of my revolution!"
"For the record again, Free is on Sola Island and in captivity and you want us to enter the island with you and risk our lives to get Free back?" "That's the short version, yes." Lui put on Free's overskirt. "And what were those weird outfits for again...Don't feel very comfortable in this...I'm mostly naked" Valt looked down at himself. He was only wearing an overskirt and a piece of cloth covering that below. "This is native people, we would immediately notice if we go to the island with our normal clothes"
Why were Valt and Shu there? Well, when they looked for the school for Free, Lui noticed that Valt had sent Free a massage, where he said that they were on their way to Japan to meet the dragon boys. Lui for his part still carried the note with Valt's phone number with him after Free gave it to him. So Lui had called the two to help, along with Gabe. He just needed all the support he could get. "I'm scared...What if we get caught?" "Oh, everything will be fine. Luinor and I are much more conspicuous." Lui took off Valt's headband and put it away. "But they won't know us..." "Free said there's still a part of the tribe at the end of the river, it's sort of the outpost, they might be a part of the tribe but they're mostly unknown the to the people in the center" "Here, this is the map"
Shu spread out a map of the island. "It's a bit older, but it's still up to date... Here's the river, it flows across the island. This is the end of the river and that's where the outpost is, we're not allowed to get too close here. The Radius should be very far, so the best thing is to land further east and enter the island that way. The tribe that Free is in will be more in the center of the island, so around here. Where Free and Fafnir are being held captive is unclear but from what I know celebrations are organized days before so we still have some time. It would be good to save Free during the celebration I don't think we can find him without a lot of attention so we have wait for the best moment" Shu looked at Lui. "I know it's going to be hard for you, but it's the safest way" "I know..." "Fine, leave everything that could cause a stir here on the mainland. Then we can go" Lui took his cell phone and saw looked at the wallpaper he and Free were on.
"I'll get you out of this...Wait for me..."
Lui handed his cell phone to Kyo. "It'll be fine." He looked at Gabe. "We'll get Free out of it." Shirosagi took a deep breath. "Yes, I know. Let's go" Lui went to Luinor and mounted. "Los Luinor" Luinor spread his wings and took off. They didn't know if they would make it, if Free was alive or if they would make it out alive, but Lui had to do it.
Free was in pain, great pain. He had no idea of the custom of punishing a traitor...However, no one before him had left and re-entered the island while this stupid law existed...Blood dripped onto the ground...while his body was still trying to process the burning on his back...The word "traitor" was branded on him with glowing coals...while his father stood by and did nothing.
But why? How could you do that to your own child. Free always thought his father loved him.
"How come...?" Free wanted an answer. "Didn't you always say...that we, as chiefs, should protect the people...we love?...I thought you loved me..." Free looked at his father...He was shocked, that he couldn't even look him in the eye...He who just watched his own child suffer...The blond bit his lower lip and lowered his gaze. "I see...So you never really loved me...I'm starting to understand the hatred Lui has for his father...You guys don't even get the hang of being good fathers to your own child...No wonder that we don't do what you expect of us" "Free, you have to understand me..." "Understand that you are putting a stupid law before your son's life? Kill me right now if you mean so much despise! Why make such a fuss out of it when you can just kill me yourself right now" Free was full of hatred and anger. He never thought he would ever have such feelings for his father. This man was always everything to him...An inspiration...But now it was all just a facade...A lie... "I hate you...I hate you so much!" It pained him to say this but it was the truth, the cold and cruel truth. "Go away! I don't want to see you anymore!" He narrowed his eyes to stop the tears from forming. He didn't want to cry...Not for this man...And not in front of this man either. He could hear his father leaving him alone. Free took a deep breath and although he didn't want to, the tears started to fall... At that moment he didn't want anything but one thing... A hug from Lui and the words that everything was fine and that together they will make it. ..But Lui wasn't there... And maybe he would never see the blue-haired one again. At that thought he burst into tears completely...He missed Lui...He missed him so much...
"That's the island ahead! Get ready to land. Start descending" Lui and the others were very close to Sola Island, so it was time to make their way to the island without attracting attention. They had to move slowly and undetected because if they got caught now it would ruin the plan. Their spirit animals flew lower and finally landed successfully on the island. "Well, that was very good." They dismounted from their spirit animals. "So this is the island of dragons..." "Doesn't look like paradise..." "Lui, you know you have to be careful" "Yes...I know" "But not just because of Free. It's the island of dragons but there wasn't a single dragon on the island except for Fafnir, so if they see Luinor they might get suspicious and that wouldn't be great." "Should Luinor wait here?" "That would be too dangerous. Even if they don't look for him consciously, they will find him sooner or later." Valt looked around. "Ah!" He picked up palm leaves and attached them to the kite with vines. "Hey, stop it! Luinor will get dirty and lose his shine!" "That's probably more important than the shine of your dragon" "You have no idea how difficult it is to wash a dragon!" "It's not about that, it's much more about the fact that we cover Luinor with palm leaves and he can move in the treetops without being detected" "That's a...good idea?" "I know! I'm not just stupid" "Nice that you know you're stupid but the idea is good, I admit that" "Uh, you don't just think I'm bad after all" "I never said that. Go ahead, let's implement the plan." They gathered palm leaves and vines to cover Luinor. Lui was glad that Free showed him how to tie knots that don't break easily.
"Everything okay?"
"Yes...I can feel his aura..."
"Fafnir's?"
"Yes...He feels tired and exhausted...But since I can still feel him, he and Free are still alive"
Lui rested his forehead on his dragon's head. "We'll get them out of there, I promise. For now you have to stay covered and whether you find Fafnir or Free, you have to be patient, promise?"
"It will be difficult but promised"
Luinor rose into the treetops. It wasn't easy to see him, but it wasn't very difficult to miss him either if you looked closely. He should be safe for the beginning.
"Let's go" The four started walking towards the trunk.
"Tell me, what were you doing just now? Like when you were looking at Luinor" "We humans are able to communicate with our soul animals via telepathic means" "Something like this works?" "With certain conditions, yes" "And you really just spoke to Luinor?" "Yes, we are very strongly connected and that's why we can talk to each other telepathically" "I didn't know that something like that was possible" "Me neither, I found out by accident" "I can do it too?" Valt looked at Valtryek, who was looking at him. "Try to come to that later" "Right, it's about Free right now" The four ran through the dense jungle. "But you've informed yourself about dangerous animals and you know what to look out for, right?" "Free talks about venomous snakes and such but doesn't really go into detail" "Oh...great..."
When something rustled behind bushes, Valt jumped behind Shu. "What?! What is that?!" "Whatever this is...you should shut up if you care about your life." Aoi clapped his hands over his mouth. Gaianon, Valtryek, Spryzen and also Luinor got ready to protect their humans from the thing that was coming their way. Valt started screaming when he saw a huge snake. "KILL IT!" Spryzen wanted to stop the gigantic beast, but he stopped midway. "What...Why did Spryzen stop out of nowhere?" "I don't know..."
"He knows Seska isn't a threat" The four jumped slightly when someone spoke to them. It was a woman. "A resident! We're lost! Run for your life!" Valt was in a total panic, but he was the only one. "Guys?" He looked at the others who were still standing in place. "Hello?" "It's understandable that you don't understand." "Take a closer look at the woman." Valt looked at the resident and realized that she looked a lot like his blonde friend. "You are...Abelia..." "And you are Lui Shirosagi" Valt didn't understand. "You know her?" "No but Free told me about her...She's his mother" "His mother?!" "Fafnir has already told Seska that he thinks you're coming here, but he doesn't mention that you're not coming alone. Are you all friends of Free?" "I'm just surprised that she understands and that we..." "Yes, we are good friends of Free" Abelia was delighted with Shu's words. "It's all well and good but where's Free?" "Unfortunately, I don't know. My husband, Agni, locked him away. Since he knows that I would free him, he didn't tell me where he is, but I know where Fafnir is." Luinor immediately landed next to the humans and looked at the woman. "Luinor, if I remember correctly. May I?" Lui didn't know what Abelia meant, but nodded slightly. The woman put a hand on Luinor's head. "He seems to be injured" Lui looked at his dragon and indeed he could see a wound because an arrow was stuck in it. "Oh God, Luinor! Why didn't you tell me?!" Lui was about to pull the arrow out of his kite, but Abelia stopped him. "What are you doing?! My dragon is hurt! I need to help him!" "It's dangerous just pulling an arrow out of someone like that. Please let me do it." Shirosagi remembered what Free had told him...His mother was a doctor. Lui left the care to Abelia, who took cloth and ointment from her bag. She put a piece of cloth to the wound and pulled the arrow out of the dragon's skin. "It's all right. Seska" The snake came towards her and pressed the piece of cloth with its tip. Abelia took another piece and dripped some of Seska's saliva on it. "You're not poisoning my dragon, are you?" "No, there is a certain liquid in Seska's saliva that can be used to clean wounds." She wiped lightly around the dragon's wound and placed a new piece of cloth on it, which held the snake in place again. "I see someone there is very good at tying knots" "Yes, Free taught me when we traveled the world" "Free was always very eager to learn" Abelia began tying vines together. "Yes but from what he told me, especially when he learned from you. He could talk for hours about what he learned from his mother" "Really? When he was little he always was annoyed because he was learning things that only women need" "I think he's especially aware of it when he left the island" "Yes, that's possible" Abelia tied the chain of lianas around Luinor's leg. "It's done" "Thank you" "Please don't thank me. You're my son's partner, I'm very happy to help."
Just as Lui wanted to ask something else, they heard another rustling. Valt was right behind Shu again, and when they saw what was coming out from behind the bush, the friends were surprised. "Look...Free has shrunk" "I don't think that's Free" "Fen, what are you doing here?" "Fen?" "Papa says Mama village and Papa go, Fen see Mama and follow" "Is that...?" "I think so..." Valt looked at his friends. "What? Who is that? How come you know who that is and I don't?!" "We don't know him 100% but it makes sense" "What is it?" "He's Free's brother" "Yes, that's right" "Free has a brother?! Why didn't he say anything?!" "Free didn't know about it himself. Fen came when Free had long left the island" "Oh, that explains it of course" "Boy, big brother Free?" "You know where he is?" "Fen see Papa and followed, then see the boy...Papa call Free but he says Fen, not big brother" "It was probably difficult for Free to understand..." "Understandable" "Fen,can you bring Mama to the boy?" "I'm coming with you" "No, it's too dangerous" "But, I have to see him" "I'm not actually allowed to see him myself, so it's better if I go alone. I'll tell him you're here. Seska will take you to Fafnir meanwhile" "But..." "It's better this way, Lui...At least for now" Shirosagi clenched his fists. "Fine...I trust you though" "I promise. I'll try to find out when the execution will take place, then we'll meet back here tonight" "Okay..." "Seska" The snake started on the way and the four friends followed her. "Bring Mama to Free, Fen"
The friends got closer and closer to the village and also to the hut where Fafnir was imprisoned. It was guarded, so it wasn't easy to get inside. "And now?" "We could distract them" "Are you playing the decoy?" "Rather not..." Gabe looked up, noticing Gaianon looking around. "What's the matter, Gaianon?" It looked like Gaianon was going to say something, but Gabe didn't understand.
"Lui"
Shirosagi looked up.
"It looks like Gainon is warning you to duck..."
"How come?"
"I don't know but I can feel that he wants this..."
"But why should we duck?"
"Like I said, I don't know but it feels like this island has something to do with it"
"I don't understand what's going on, but I trust you"
"Take cover" "Why?" "Just do it" The four ducked for cover and with a fist punch against the ground, Gaianon triggered an earthquake. The friends felt the slight vibration, unlike the guards who seemed to get the full load and passed out.
"Woah..." "Has Gaianon always been able to do that?" "No...Not that I know of" "Anyway, Luinor and I are going in. You stay here in case someone comes." Luinor landed next to his human and the two approached the hut.
"He's in there...I can feel him"
Lui opened the door and Luinor was ready to fight other guards, but nobody was in the hut...Only the golden dragon.
"Fafnir!"
Luinor ran to the golden dragon and nudged him.
"Fafnir? Is everything alright?"
But there was no answer from the golden dragon.
"Fafnir?! Are you still alive?!"
Lui noticed his dragon's panic.
"What about Fafnir?!"
When Luinor heard the golden dragon snort, he was relieved but annoyed at the same time.
"He's just sleeping"
Lui was relieved as well...But also angry...Fafnir was really like Free.
"Fafnir!" The silver dragon blew on the other, which opened its eyes.
"Oh...Hey Luinor...let me get some more sleep, okay?"
Fafnir closed his eyes again, but they were quickly open again.
"Luinor?!" "Are you awake, you bum?"
Fafnir looked around and spotted Lui.
"What... how did you get here? And what are you doing here?" "Saving you and Free, what else?" "But it's far too dangerous" "We noticed and we don't care" "You're just as careless as your human" "You of all people have to say that" "Have you seen Free yet? How is he?" "Unfortunately not, but his mother is on her way to him" "Lucky" "Can we really trust her?" "Abelia is a very trustworthy person so yes" "Good" "Now come here I missed you"
The two dragons snuggled up to each other. Lui was happy for his dragon but that made him miss the blonde even more...
"I'm glad you're okay, Fafnir." Fafnir looked at the boy and leaned down to him. Lui put a hand on the golden dragon's head. "I promise you that we will rescue Free"
Fafnir looked at his partner. "Who exactly does he mean by 'we'? I have a vague feeling he's not just talking about the two of you..." "That's right, Valt, Shu and Gabe are here too. They're all here around you and Free to save" "Then...are they friends?" "Yes, these are friends"
Lui felt that Luinor Fafnir had said something that made the golden dragon very happy.
"Lui" Shirosagi looked at the gate, where Gabe was standing. "We have to get out of here" "Okay. Come on Luinor" Luinor looked at him. "Nothing will happen to Fafnir, I promise. Come on now." The two left the golden dragon alone and they disappeared into the jungle.