another figure who had their back to me. As I got closer, the figure turned to watch my approach. An old man with white hair, wearing dark robes too fine for a battle, and holding a gold scepter in one hand. The Dragon King. As we got closer, the Dragon King motioned with his free hand and the soldiers flanking Liam closed in, one bringing a sword blade up to his neck. I wanted nothing more than to charge forward and rip the old man apart with my bare hands, but his face held no mercy in it and I knew he wouldn’t hesitate to have Liam killed if I didn’t stop. I forced myself to halt, Thunder growling at my shoulder. The Dragon King motioned me to walk closer. I hated being at the command of this loathsome viper, but my choices were limited. Sneering, I stepped closer. When I was only ten feet away from the old man, he held up his hand for me to stop. I took a half step closer. The blade held against Liam’s neck pressed in harder. I brought my foot back again, rage boiling in my chest. “Well, well…" the Dragon King said "it seems as though you have been working very hard with your dragon. How big he is!” “Bigger than yours.” I snapped. The old man chuckled through his nose. “You may have size, but I have numbers, and that number grows with each passing day.” He glanced over his shoulder at Scoots. The little blue dragon looked dazed, but unharmed, still staring at the scepter. The Dragon King made a subtle gesture toward her, and Scoots immediately turned to face Liam, teeth bared, wings half unfurled. The guards surrounding him moved away, but every time Liam moved, Scoots hissed and skittered a little bit closer. Behind me Thunder growled again. The Dragon King looked up at him. “Surely you realize that such a large dragon is dangerous to someone who can't control it. I can help with that." He pointed the scepter at Thunder. Thunder screeched and shook his head as though something were attacking him. Then he roared, and looked straight ahead, also with a slightly dazed look. I took his head in my hands and gently pulled it down to my level as the Dragon King laughed behind me. "Hey…hey! Thunder, look at me. Are you in there?" A moment passed, then Thunder winked at me. It was an act. I spoke quickly and quietly. My dragon winked again, then roared. He spread his wings wide, reared up, and kicked me. I flew backward, landing exactly where I had meant to: Right in between Liam and Scoots. Jumping to my feet, I grabbed Liam’s arm and started to run as Thunder charged toward us. It seemed no one had expected such a bold move because we were well into the trees before the Dragon King’s shouts of “Find them!” were followed by the sound of pursuing soldiers. Thunder flew ahead of us, the wind from his wings merging with high pitched screeches. Looking up, I could see the little blue dragon wrapped up in Thunder’s claws. ***
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