Dragon's Quest (Dragon Princes Book 1) Read online

  Hannah appeared and called them. Sam raised, shook her head, looked at Kate for a fleeting moment, and walked away. Another tear fell as Kate saw Sam moving toward Hannah. Kate cleaned her face with the dress´ hem; she didn´t want to show herself as a desperate sister who attended Sam´s funeral despite feeling just like that.

  Kate followed them slowly; she tried to postpone what was inevitable. When Kate arrived at the party, Sam smiled and beckoned to everyone; people approached to congratulate her. She seemed happy, even knowing her destiny. Sam took a seat at the head of the table, their parents on the right and left sides, the others were around the big table.

  Kate´s parents forgot her completely; a strange man took Kate´s place near her father, and a woman near her mother. She found a chair in the middle of another family; they didn´t notice her either. Kate was invisible, imperceptible, nobody talked to her or looked at her; she was just the young sister. In Dragon´s Valley, that meant she wasn´t anybody.

  Kate leaned forward to see her family and analyze their expressions, but the woman on her right side put food on her plate, a lot of food, maybe thinking she was one of her children. Kate smiled, tried to eat, but, after a few bites, swallowing anything became impossible.

  “What a waste, it´s unforgivable to eat this amount of food,” she mumbled and pushed the plate far away from her.

  Guests talked and laughed out loud. The day seemed like a common occurrence in their lives because Sam wasn´t their sister. No one shared the same feelings. Only Kate was sad, worried, scared, miserable, and…searching for strength from somewhere outside her powerless body to endure that day. In a couple of hours, Sam would belong to the dragons and Kate would then sleep, play, and live alone. Sam´s empty bed haunting her every night, remembering that Sam once slept there and told her the stories she created.

  Kate left her seat and walked around the table unsatisfied. She wanted to talk with Sam, but her parents stayed beside Sam, making her eat all the food on the plate; of course, they´d force her to eat. That was the last meal she would be sharing with her family and Kate wasn´t in the mood for celebrations, so she stepped away, far away.

  “These people are so disrespectful. Do they not know? It is a hard day for the family. Why do they celebrate a family tragedy?” Kate complained to herself and got lost in her thoughts.

  She wondered how long she could manage that situation for. If she had a child, she wouldn´t give her to anybody; thinking to herself, Kate could rescue Sam from the dragon´s claw. But how? She didn´t know where they lived, and she was only seven years old. Kate would figure it out, soon, before Sam became a slave at best or died at worst.

  First, she needed to learn how to kill a dragon, second, how to make powerful weapons, third, how to become a warrior, forth, she needed to find where the dragon lived, and fifth… she´d be old by then. Kate was disappointed with her ‘infallible’ plan. She couldn´t save Sam by herself, and no one in the village would help her.

  She heard Robert´s voice. “Kate, where are you? Come here now.” Oh! Did her father remember that he had another daughter? She thought about ignoring him, but the consequences would be serious. Her father wasn´t that kind of father who repeated the same thing for thousands of times; he asked once, if he had to talk again his order was followed by a punishment.

  Kate spent hours with crazy dreams and unworkable ideas; she didn´t notice how quickly the time flew. Yes, crazy and unworkable because what could a little girl do against a giant dragon and an entire village? Nothing, just get killed.

  Kate dragged her feet toward him. Hannah put Sam on the dragon´s chair. The chair, built a long time ago with hardy wood and ropes, on the top there was a sculpted dragon´s head. She headed to Sam, but Robert caught her hand and yanked her inside the house.

  “No! I want to say goodbye!” Kate protested; Robert kept quiet. “Let me talk to Sam, please,” she cried. “Don´t let her go, I beg you.” Kate kicked; Robert ignored his daughter.

  At the twilight, people ran fast into their houses, people weren´t allowed to watch the dragon taking the girls, but Kate found a way. She had always wanted to know how the dragon would take her older sister, so two days ago she made a hole in the window of her bedroom.

  Hannah entered the house; tears wet her eyes. She was out of breath. For the first time since knowing about the prophecy and what Samantha was to face on her eighth birthday, Kate saw suffering in her mother´s expression.

  Robert squeezed Hannah´s shoulder; she hugged him and cried copiously, her face buried in his chest. Robert was also in tears. Kate had never seen her father weeping before. She thought that the dragon taking Sam didn’t bother them; she was wrong. They were in pain, like her; however, she still didn´t understand why they allowed it.

  Robert guided Hannah to the chair, kissed the top of her head, locked the doors and windows, and sat next to her. A deathly silence fell on the village, including her house.

  Kate darted into the bedroom and looked through the hole. Sam was there, lit by torches, her short legs dangling to the sides. Maybe she was nervous while she waited for her destiny. Certainly, she was. Kate would be.

  “Poor Sam left alone,” she mumbled. Never more would they play together.

  The silence continued, even the birds stopped singing. Kate realized that it was time, no matter how Sam felt, no matter how Kate felt. Despite all Kate´s prayers, she couldn´t save Sam from her tragic ending. She should have tried harder; if they had run away from home…only if because…in the end, she did not do anything; she was always a coward.

  Kate might faint in Sam´s place; perhaps it´d be a solution, the dragon might think she was dead and leave her in peace. Certainly, the village people would kill her and say that Kate cursed them all.

  A noise startled her; Kate looked for its source; she wasn´t able to see anything, only Samantha sat in the dragon´s chair. Would Kate like to see Sam´s face? Was Sam scared? Surely she was because Kate was frightened inside her home. What happened? It was too long; she thought, not that she wanted to see Sam leaving so fast, but it was torturing to watch her sister alone in the darkness.

  A few minutes later, a huge creature with bat-type wings landed in front of Samantha. Kate got goose bumps and put a hand over her mouth to stifle any scream. Its wings grew out from its back, the body was long and strong, like a serpent; it had four legs. The forked tongue flicked the air around it. The dragon had the paws of tigers, the claws of eagles and green scales; the eyes were big and a little yellow, and…it hesitated.

  The creature raised its head and with an awful roar spewed fire from its mouth. Kate bit her lips and froze; she waited for the outcome. Samantha kept quiet, possibly also paralyzed, waiting for the dragon´s next movement. The dragon stared at Sam, studying her for a fleeting instant.

  “What is the beast waiting for?” Kate´s fingers drummed nervously on the window while she also kept her eyes open and prayed in silence for a miracle to save her sister.

  The dragon´s eyes gleamed with wild delight; smoke came out of its nostrils. It approached Sam; she stretched her arms and went toward the creature. It took her in its claws, holding her in a vice like grip, impossible to escape from; it then turned to face Kate´s house.

  How did it know which one was Sam´s home?

  Then the creature screamed; a terrible, painful sound that echoed through the night as if asking for forgiveness from them. The beast seemed gloomy and unhappy with the situation and its actions. Sam looked comfortable, cradled in its arms; a smile appeared on her face.

  Did she know that Kate looked at her?

  It fluttered its wings, squealed, and flew away carrying Sam forever.

  Kate squinted and then widened her eyes, but she couldn´t see them anymore. “No. Sam.” She whimpered and let her body fall on the floor, she wasn´t strong enough to face the reality, raise her head and move on.

  She couldn´t stay there motionless. Kate leaped up and ran out of her bedroom, out of her house
toward the dragon´s chair. She screamed; her throat burned so loud her voice echoed in the darkness. “Release my sister! I´ll kill you! I promise!” She cried louder, not because it was extremely painful, but because she didn´t have her sister anymore.

  Robert dragged her back inside her home and locked her in the bedroom in silence. It had finished; Sam had gone forever. Would anyone see her again? Why on earth did this happen? It was a lethal predator, how could Sam survive alone, far from her family?

  It was so immoral! Sam was just an unprotected child. It would be a torture for the rest of Kate´s life; she´d never forget that dragon´s expression, with Sam held in its arms. That was the scariest scene she had ever seen, and she wouldn´t sleep ever again because every time she closed her eyes that image would appear. It was a bad joke without a shadow of doubt. Why did it happen to her family?

  Chapter 3

  Samantha

  The dragon took off. Sam saw the village diminishing below them. She wondered how her family was feeling; her heart slammed fast. She gripped the dragon´s claw; the wind whipped her braid and she closed her eyes feeling like she had butterflies in her stomach, but Sam had been raised to serve the dragon, that was her destiny; however, in the last few minutes she wanted to back out, maybe she should have run off with Kate.

  She opened her eyes and looked up at the starry sky through the few clouds; they were so close, the stars almost touchable. She could catch a star if she stretched out a hand. “Don´t be a fool.” She giggled. “Where might I put a star? I´ll probably share a room with the other girls, and they wouldn´t like a star shining during the night. Kate ought to allow a star inside our bedroom.” She giggled again thinking of Kate´s expression seeing a star.

  One thought crossed her mind, would she take care of a nest full of baby dragons? She knew they lived in the mountain, but where, in the trees? The big nest might be full of servants because the dragon had caught many girls recently.

  Was Kate sleeping? Her thoughts returned to her sister. Sam should forget her, but she could not erase from her memory Kate´s wet eyes begging her to stay. “Who will take care of her? She requires someone alongside her to avoid problems and risks; Mom and Dad work the whole day,” she muttered in tears.

  She detected a strange smell, neither good nor bad, just different; they were arriving at the end of their journey, at Sam´s new home. Lights shone in the middle of the forest, a small building appeared and rose as the dragon approached.

  They landed. Dizzily, Sam stood and glanced at the vast construction. “Who built this? It is unbelievable.” She studied the place.

  With motherly eyes the dragon got close. “Mary is coming, she´ll explain your job, show you your room and the allowed places. Obey the rules, and everything will be fine. Stay away from Jin Quan, he is evil, don´t believe in his stories. I´ll be watching and protecting you as I can,” it winked, spread its wings that shook a little at the beginning and then fluttered them, gaining altitude and disappearing into the darkness.

  Sam nodded and remained in front of the big door. A chilly air made her body shiver; she rubbed her arms and leaned forward to look inside the building. She sniffed, almost freezing outside. On the top of the mountain the air was colder than the village even on a summer night.

  Sam was certain that the dragon wasn´t the enemy, only another servant like her and the girls. Who was Jin Quan and why should she stay away from him? What kind of hazard might Sam face in her new house? Lots of questions emerged in her mind while she waited; she didn´t have answers to any of them.

  A woman signaled and grimaced. Sam hadn´t noticed how the woman got there; it was as if she just had materialized in the middle of the corridor. She walked slowly through the empty hall toward the woman.

  “Follow me.” The woman picked up her pace; Sam ran behind her. “Tomorrow morning I will show you the house; sleep tight because you´ll need to be restful. There are unbreakable rules, disobedience is punished, so…” She didn´t finish the sentence.

  Another question appeared in Sam´s mental list. What kind of punishment did they mete out to those who broke the rules?

  “I am Mary.” She entered the office and sat behind the desk. “What´s your name?” Mary opened a notebook and began to write.

  Samantha stayed still in front of the desk and answered in a low voice, “Samantha Stern.”

  “Mother´s and father´s name?” Mary continued the interrogation.

  “Hannah and Robert Stern.” Sam lowered hers eyes.

  “Do you have siblings?” Mary shifted uncomfortably.

  “One, Kate,” Sam mumbled; she had never thought that one day it´d be so difficult to say her sister´s name.

  “Do you have health problems or need any kind of medicine?” The woman gazed at her and raised an eyebrow.

  If Sam said that she had some kind of disease would the woman send her back home? Probably not. “No.”

  “The rules are…” Mary numbered them, “…you can walk only in the allowed places, breakfast at seven a.m., lunch at noon, and dinner at seven p.m., you have thirty minutes to have each meal, if you delay, you lose it. All the tasks must be complete, you can leave the house only when you´re authorized, at nine p.m everybody goes to the dormitory. You can´t talk to the dragons, you talk to Mr. Jin Quan only if he asks you something.”

  Mary opened the closet, grabbed clothes, towels, flip-flops, a map, and tossed them to Sam. “Are you hungry?”

  “No, madam, thank you.” Samantha turned her attention to her new stuff. The clothes smelled of mothballs, and she really wanted to know just how long they were in that closet for and if everything else in that place had the same intolerable odor.

  “Good. I´ll show you your room.” Mary gripped Sam´s wrist and dragged her out of the office.

  They walked a few feet along the corridor, took another one and then went downstairs. The light bulbs blinked on and off, producing a terrifying atmosphere; Samantha was unable to imagine sleeping in that moldy place. She could have forgotten some important information from when her parents explained to her about the legend because she didn´t remember any mention about that.

  Was that Sam´s new life? Mr. Quan´s slave until the end of her days. It was so unfair. Her mind was playing tricks, it couldn´t be true. Would he lock her in the basement alone? Help! Her thoughts yelled, only Sam heard.

  Mary opened the door. “These are your roommates.” She pushed Sam into the room. “Seven a.m,” she warned and then closed the door.

  The girls smiled at her. “That´s your bed.” The older one pointed to the small bed next to the wall.

  Sam nodded and crossed the room in silence; she sat on the bed and rubbed her painful wrist that had now gained a red mark with a finger shape.

  “I am Susan.” The girl continued talking, “They are Lindsay and Helen.” The girls beckoned and smiled.

  “I am Samantha.” She waved back and opened the map, trying to figure it out and find her location while what she desired the most was to find a way to her house.

  “Don´t bother with this, tomorrow we will show you everything. This map is a little… confusing; it is easy to move around here, you just need to avoid the forbidden places.” Helen grinned; she made things appear so easy.

  “What is your job? Mary didn´t tell me what I have to do.” Samantha focused her attention on the map.

  “Cleaning.” Lindsay frowned. “Your job too because they split the girls into rooms according to their occupation.”

  “Perfect.” Sam snorted; she hated housekeeping duties.

  “Let me ask. Do you know Linda Hail?” Helen scooted closer to her.

  Sam nodded and remembered that Linda died a couple of months after Helen had left. The poor woman was so sad that she didn´t want to live anymore. Sadness killed Helen´s mother.

  “She is my mother, I miss her so much. I´d like to see her again. How is she? How is her life now?” Helen held Sam´s hand.

  Samantha hesitated for a
split second. “Fine, she misses you too; you know, our mothers will talk about us when they meet each other; it will be funny. Don´t you think?” She lied. Sam couldn´t say that Helen´s mother died in that way.

  “Tell me about the dragons. How many live here? Do you see them frequently? Who feeds them?” Samantha asked, nervously changing the topic of the conversation. She hoped that Helen didn´t ask about her mother ever again.

  “They are amazing; I counted two dragons, I don´t know if there are more. Sometimes I see the big one staring at us when we are cleaning the outside of the building. He looks sad and unsatisfied,” Helen answered thoughtfully.

  “I had the same feeling when the dragon dropped me here. I think it is forced to take us.” Samantha tapped her index finger on her upper lip.

  “Time to sleep, goodnight.” Lindsay put an end to their conversation.

  Sam lay down, a tear dropped when she thought about Helen´s mother. Bad feelings engulfed her, and it became impossible to not get worried about her own mother.

  In a low tone she pled, “God, keep Mom safe, don´t let her die, please. Even now, being far apart from her, I want her to live for a long time. Dad and Kate need her, and she is so young. I´ll do my job and I promise you, I´ll be a nice girl. I accept my destiny, but keep my family protected and together. If someone needs to die, I offer myself because no one will miss me.”

  She cleaned her face, softened the pillow, and tried to sleep smelling the mothball odor, but instead she fell asleep, an unknown feeling possessed her. I´m in a real mess. Oh! She tapped her mouth with her finger. Her mother would say, ‘Watch your mouth, Sam. Girls don´t say those things.’ Who cares? I´m in a real mess. I´m in a real mess. Nobody will change it. Nobody will come to save me. My own parents handed me in to the dragon, and I hate them.