Put The Ex Captain

Looking down at the tiny child in a cradle, Queen Sabrina's fingers traced the scar on baby Drazon's face, then down to his broken horn.  Her eyes blazed with anger as she recalled the attempted assassination on her child, few days ago.

The Queen remembered the fear, anger and pain she felt. On that fateful day, while returning from an audience with the king and missing her lovely child, she changed her normal routine and went to see prince Drazon; A small action that saved her child's life.

Guards sprawled out on the floor beside the prince's room, their armour soaked in blood, a deathly pale look on their scales.  Queen Sabrina's immediate concern was of her child. 'Please be safe!!' she prayed to the Great God Anvil as she smashed through the door of her child's room.

A figure in a large hooded robe stood before the Queen's child, holding a sword overhead. The figure stopped mid swing, surprised at the Queens entrance.

Different emotions ran through Queen Sabrina's mind at that moment: astonishment, fear, anger all washed over her, but her body moved even though her brain was stunned. She charged forward, and closed the distance between her and the obscured figure.

The hooded figure brought down their sword right at that moment, but the Queen's scales deflected it. It scraped her scales and slid off, falling on the left side of her son's unprotected face. Though the blade was slowed, the remaining force and the sharpness cut through the child's face,breaking his left horn.

Without waiting to appreciate their handwork, that hooded figure let go of the sword as they took to their heels. The Queen, still scared, and fearing another assassin lurking about, could only look on as the figure charged through the window and escaped, as her son's cries of pain pierced through the dark night.

Picking up the child, she stared intently at his sleeping face as if to ingrain every facet into her mind.

Her joy, however, soon gave way to anger as she bared her teeth and growled at the thought of her so-called husband.

King Novax let out a hysterical laugh when word of the attempted assassination reached his ears.

"He laughed!! He laughed at the thought of his child dying!!" Queen Sabrina lashed out and cursed aloud. Breathing raggedly, her eyes moved toward the direction of the palace, as if she could see the king from where she was, seething with anger.

Softly caressing her child, she whispered into his ear "Don't worry my child, mother will protect you, no one will hurt you again."

Her eyes gleamed from the dark, with a determined face, 'Soon!!' The word kept ringing in her mind.

The ringing of a bell once again filled the streets of Elrandan the dragon capital, though this tune had a different meaning.

Dragon warriors equipped in armor, from head to toe, rushed out at high speed. Hard leather armor covering their gleaming scales, and sharp spears in hand. A bastard sword resting at their waist as they zipped past buildings.

The guards eyes blazing red, swept through the entire street, as they turned the city on its head. The Queen had left the tribe with the prince, and the king ordered to have her found and returned, with or without the cursed child.

***************

Unfurling her large green wings, the Queen took to the sky with her little child strapped to her back. Trying to put as much distance between her and the clan, Queen Sabrina pushed through her heavy breathing, trees flashing past below, until the morning light.

Her only hope was to reach the Griffin tribe nearby, as the dragons wouldn't dare enter due to their fear of coming into conflict, their vegetarian life dulled every warring spirit they once had.

Though a good strategy, unfortunately, she fell short of her expectations. Bringing a child while on the run isn't as easy as she thought it to be.

Lost in her thoughts, something flashed before her eyes. An arrow!! It whistled past her cheek, close enough for the rippling air to scratch her scales.

The queen stopped abruptly and wrapped her child in her arms. "Come out!! Stop scurrying about like a rat!"

Dragon warriors, clad in uniform leather armour exited the treeline. The dragons' helmets covered up their faces, and their gleaming red eyes shone brightly in the dark as they encircled the Queen.

"My Queen, the king has ordered us to escort you back to the palace, please come with us." A Stern face dragon at the forefront bowed. Without a change in tone, he relayed his orders to the Queen.

She swung her head around, counting at least 30 guards. Though powerful in her own right, she didn't have any delusion of breaking through their blockade, less so with a child in her arms.

Queen Sabrina gazed intently at the guard's eye as she spoke in a flat and calm tone. "I will have you relay my words to your king. Tell him I'm tired of the tribe scenery, I'll go back to the clan after having my fill of the outside world."  She kept her eyes locked at the guard in hopes of gleaning something from it.

Much to her dismay, the guard kept calm as if expecting her response. "Forgive me My Queen, but I believe King Novax would like to hear that from you."

"Do you dare hurt me if I disagree?" She challenged, her eyes seemingly wanting to bore a hole into the guard. Holding her gaze, the guards' claws stretched towards his waist as he played with his sword crossguard.

"According to his majesty..." He began slowly, "we are to escort you,... with... or without... (at this moment, he took a glance at the child in her arm) the chil..."

"How dare you!!" Her teeth bared as a scowl appeared on her face. "How dare you threaten me??" Her calm gave way to anger, hearing the threat to her son.

"Forgive me, My Queen." evading her eye, he bowed his head even lower as he continued, " I dare not threaten you. I am only relaying The King's order." 

She breathed raggedly as her chest heaved up and down. Staring angrily at the dragon, she spurt out a fume of smoke, relenting. "Fine, fine... I shall go with you... But remember this, for I will not take this humiliation kindly."

Raising his head, the guards' persistently calm face stared back at the Queen. "Thank you, your majesty." Ignoring the Queen's threat, he and the other guards bowed once again as they escorted the Queen and Drazon back to the city.