Chapter 6: Rescue Mission
Lucas catches up to her halfway out of the stables. He pulls her to a stop and stands gawking at her.
“Why in the world would you want to free a dragon?” he asks, still shocked by Tris’ declaration.
She takes a moment before answering. Tris trusts Lucas, but what is the best way to approach this? Should she tell him she can talk to dragons, or just take the humble road of wanting to free a creature that hasn’t harmed anyone?
“I can’t answer that right now. I don’t even understand what’s going on, but I need to free her,” Tris tries to explain. “I think the adult dragons are looking for her. Maybe they will leave the Kingdom if I can return the baby.”
Lucas looks at her suspiciously and begins to nod. “So…we would be heroes, right?”
Tris sees her moment and runs with it. “Right! Probably to both the Kingdom and the Dragon Lord himself,” she says.
The thought of deceiving Lucas doesn’t sit right with her, but Tris doesn’t see another way. She needs to get Ember out of here before something bad happens.
“Okay,” Lucas replies, excited by the thought of being a hero. “The wizard has a meeting with the Queen in a couple of hours. Meet me by the tower steps and I’ll get you in,” he says, hurrying toward the stable doors.
Tris nods and takes a breath as Lucas disappears from view. At least she will have time to grab some food and pack a travel bag. Two hours will also allow her to come up with a plan. Getting Ember out is only the beginning. Tris needs to figure out how to get the baby back to the other dragons.
After getting up to her room, Tris starts packing. She puts her hunting clothes into her pack along with a map of the kingdom. While getting ready, she can’t help but wonder what the wizard could possibly want with Ember. She had come across books describing how to use parts of a dragon in spells, but she hadn’t been able to read them. The thought had repulsed her too much.
Tris puts on her hunting boots under her dress and walks out of her room with the pack. She plans on heading down to the kitchen to eat something, grab some dry packs for her travels, and go right to the tower. Her main focus is freeing Ember. Tris will figure out how to find the dragon’s mother once she’s safely away from the palace.
“And just where do you think you’re going?” someone snaps at her from behind.
Tris turns to find her own mother staring her down. She looks angrier than usual, and the thought of being on the receiving end of that anger causes Tris to shiver.
“I was just getting ready to go spend some time in the woods. Maybe take a good book and find a quiet place to read,” she stutters, hoping her mom won’t see through the lie.
“Didn’t you get enough reading in yesterday? You know, when you were supposed to be helping me with the Queen’s gown?” her mom hisses. “Maybe you think work is above you now.”
Tris is about to beg for another day to herself when she sees her father walk up behind her mother.
He places his hands on her mom’s shoulders and smiles at Tris. “I think she earned the afternoon off, don’t you my dear?” he asks.
Tris' mom looks startled by his presence, but she stands her ground.
“She managed to avoid work yesterday. I don’t want a lazy daughter who doesn’t know the value of her trade,” Ava replies, sounding petty and annoyed.
“Come, now. A couple of days off won’t make her lazy. I remember another young girl who would ditch work to wander around the woods,” Levi says before bending down to kiss Ava on the neck.
She appears to melt at his touch. “Fine, one more day. But tomorrow you will be in the shop sowing,” she calls as Tris hurries down the palace steps.
Tris' heart almost jumps out of her chest as she flies down the staircase. She really thought that her mom would get the final say, again. With her alibi in place, Tris hurries into the kitchen to grab some food.
The kitchen workers don’t give her a second glance as she walks through the door. There are still biscuits sitting on the counter, probably leftover from breakfast. Tris takes two and stuffs them into her pockets. In the back cold storage, she locates some dry goods the staff keeps prepacked for the hunters. Tris shoves three packs into her bag before taking two more for good measure.
No one speaks to her as she heads out the back service door and walks toward the armory. Tris doesn’t plan on venturing into the woods without her bow. She doesn’t think she’ll need it, but you never know. After grabbing her weapons, she heads toward the tower.
There are some overgrown shrubs on the side of the building. Tris sets her supplies on the ground and plops down next to them to wait. About ten minutes later she hears the wizard leaving the tower.
“Don’t let anyone in here while I’m gone!” she hears him fuss.
Lucas can be heard from somewhere inside. “As you wish.”
Tris suddenly feels extremely guilty for misleading the young ward. She hadn’t considered the repercussions he may face once the wizard comes back to find his prized dragon missing.
Her thoughts are interrupted by Ember’s cries coming from the tower. She’s relieved to hear the little dragon is still alive, and a sudden sense of urgency causes Tris to hurry to the door and knock. Lucas lets her in but stops her before they go up the steps.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asks, looking stressed and anxious.
Tris had thought he might get cold feet. He doesn’t understand the importance of the situation like she does. If he could hear the dragon’s cries, she knows Lucas wouldn’t hesitate to do the right thing.
Lucas shifts his feet from side to side while glancing around the base of the steps.
“It’s just, the wizard was talking about needing the dragon to break a curse suffered by the royal family. The Queen is requesting a potion that uses dragon oil. I think we may get in big trouble for taking the dragon back to its family,” he explains nervously.
Tris isn’t sure what it would take to get dragon oil, but she’s willing to bet it means killing Ember.
“What curse was he talking about?” she asks. In all her years living in the palace, she has never heard anyone talk about a family curse.
Lucas just shrugs and shakes his head. It pains Tris to see him so worked up, but she can’t ignore Ember’s cries for help.
She reaches out and rests her hand on Lucas’ shoulder. “I really need to do this. I can’t explain it right now, but I promise it’s important,” Tris says calmly.
Lucas looks her in the eyes and collects himself. “Follow me,” he instructs as they head up a long spiral staircase.
As they ascend, Tris can hear Ember’s cries growing louder. The desperation she feels is almost crippling as they climb. The stairs finally open up into a very large room. There are tables and bookshelves everywhere. Plants are growing and hanging from the high ceilings, giving the impression she just walked into a garden.
Tris’ heart races as her eyes land on a hanging cage where Ember is being held captive. The little dragon sees her and starts chirping happily while walking circles in her prison.
Lucas looks confused. “It hasn’t acted like that since it got here,” he says, with a frown.
“Ember, are you okay?” she asks, hurrying over to the captive creature.
“Mama,” Ember whales.
“That’s right. I’m here to take you back to your mom,” Tris stammers, fumbling to remove the lock on the cage.
“You can understand her?” Lucas asks, walking up behind Tris.
“Please, don’t tell anyone,” Tris begs. “I just found out the other day when I stumbled across Ember lost in the woods. I have no idea how, or why, but yes.”
Lucas studies her for a minute before pointing a finger at the heavy lock and mumbling an incantation. The metal gives, and Ember jumps out of the door, landing on the stone floor with a solid plop. She looks up at Tris with her large sad eyes and lets out a whine.
“Oh, you’re fine,” Tris says, bending down to scoop Ember up in her arms.
The little dragon lets out a few more whimpers while snuggling into Tris’ neck. Lucas reaches out slowly and runs his hand down Ember’s back. A small smile flashes over his lips as the baby dragon purrs at his touch.
“You have to get out of here,” he snaps, making his way back over to the door. “I have no idea how long the wizard will be gone, and he’s going to be angry when he gets back.”
“What about you?” Tris asks, suddenly very worried for him.
Lucas gets a lopsided grin and reaches over, knocking some glass bottles off a table onto the ground. They explode upon contact, spreading glass everywhere.
“Don’t worry about me,” he says with a wink. “Someone broke in, trashed the place, knocked me out in a struggle, and took the dragon.”
“Oh, Lucas,” Tris whispers. “I can never repay you for this.”
“Go,” he says before pushing some books onto the ground.
Tris doesn’t hesitate as she takes off down the stairs. Ember holds tightly to her as they descend toward freedom. She slips out the door into the bright sunlight and makes her way around the bush where she stored her things.
After opening her pack, Tris peels Ember off her chest. “You have to get in here,” she explains. “I’ll take you out once we are deep in the woods, but you will draw too much attention right now.”
Ember looks at the bag and then up at Tris, letting out a low growl and shaking her head.
“We don’t have time, just please get in,” Tris begs.
After sniffing the pack, Ember babels her disapproval before hopping in. Tris folds the flap over the top and carefully slings it over her back. Once she grabs up her weapons they take off for the woods.
Tris wants to run, but she’s afraid if she does, someone will notice. It takes everything she has to compose herself and leisurely stroll to the tree line. Tris considers looking back at the palace one last time before disappearing into the forest, but she can’t bring herself to do it.
If she had, she would have noticed the shadow of a man following silently behind her.