Chapter 16: The Fire Princes of Earth and Sky

He was home. 

At least it looked like home. It was storming, and Emmet could barely see around him. It wasn’t until the lightning flashed that he could see where he was. He was in front of the barns, and he thought for a second he could see Granite.

“Granite?!” Emmet cried out, moving forward in the pouring rain. 

Another flash of lightning, and sure enough, the earth Dragon stood there. He looked back at Emmet for a moment then towards the storm. “Get back inside Emmet!” Granite called. “Not even a Water Dragon would be out in this!”

“You can’t be out here either!” Emmet reasoned.

“I’ll hold it off for now!” Granite said. “Now get inside! The Fire princes of Earth and Sky can help you!”

Emmet blinked. “Wait, what?!”

“They’ll help! Now go!”

There was another flash of lightning one that felt like it hit emmet in the chest. 

He panted, hearing roars of distant dragons, but there were also shouts from all around him. His eyes still felt hot and heavy, but there was another nudge on his chest. 

“Hey kid!” Came a voice. “You gonna sleep all day or what?”

Emmet groaned and finally opened his eyes. He was expecting to be back in bed at the Blue Prince Pub, but he wasn’t. The area was a mix of Copper colors and grey. There was a light filtering in from the right of the room which Emmet realized was a window with metal bars on it. Under the window was a bucket with a pipe and funnel of some kind laying beside it. Then opening that would have been an entrance to the room he was in was also barred. At the moment he was laying on a cot with an old blanket draped over him. 

Sitting across from him with a pipe, he had a thin black beard, but he also had dark eyes under heavy eyebrows. His dark hair looked messy, but the wrinkles on his face made him look older than he really was. He was leaning forward, looking at Emmet with an almost calculating look. 

Emmet looked back at him before moving to sit up. The person stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. “No, stay down.” he said. “Being awake is the best indicator that you’ll live. It’s not like you can go anywhere here.”

Emmet looked around the room again, now getting a sense that it was a cell. “Where am I?…” He asked, his voice sounding dry. Then his eyes widened and took another look around the cell. “Where’s Esther?! And Alchos and Umbris??” He asked, moving to sit up, but he was hit by a wave of sickness that rolled in his stomach and he laid down again.

“I did tell you to stay down.” The guy said, getting a small bowl and getting something out of the bucket with it. “I don’t know about the names you gave, but I can tell you that you’re in the one place that the residents call Earth’s Hell.” He walked back over and carefully lifted Emmets head for him to drink.

At first Emmet refused, but the guy gave a huff. “It’s just water kid.” He said, proving it by drinking some himself. “See? I’m not low enough to kill someone by poison.”

Emmet hesitated, but he eventually drank. The water was a bit stale, but it felt good against his parched throat. “Earth’s Hell?” He asked. 

“Yeah,” The guy said. “It’s the biggest prison of Keris with one way out. Beating the Arena.” 

As if on cue, there was a roar of cheering coming from the window. The guy looked up before getting his stool and looking out the window at the world outside. “Looks like Clot the Hunter has the upper hand again.”

Emmet looked up at him, carefully sitting up again and this time not meeting the wave of sickness. “I’m, in an arena?”

“The holding cells.” The guy said. “When they first brought you in, I thought a kid would have done something royally bad to end up here. But then I noticed your Amethyst Clavis.” He looked at Emmet with a hard stare. “Slayers never last long here. The other inmates make sure of that.”

Emmet felt his blood go cold. “I-I’m not a Slayer!” He said. 

“Says the kid wearing an item that only a Slayer wears.” The guy said. 

“No!” Emmet insisted. “I’m just a farm boy from Peca!”

The guy laughed. “Well thats a bit of a stretch for a lie isn’t it?” He asked. 

“I’m serious!” Emmet said. “My sister and I were helping a Shadow Dragon that escaped the Slayers and he gave me this thing! But they came after him and destroyed our farm!”

“So why not stay with your family?” The guy said. “The dragon can hide himself. And why would a dragon give you his soul?”

Emmet clammed up and looked down. He couldn’t tell him about Alchos. There was no way he could spill that here and now. The guy sighed and approached him. “Okay kid, if you want me to believe you and not try to kill you in the arena, then you’d better tell me the truth.”

Emmet shuddered, but he closed his eyes. The Guy looked at him before rubbing his chin. “I’m guessing Umbris is the Shadow Dragon. And Esther is your sister. But Alchos… A name meaning Magic…” He looked at Emmet. “You bit off more than what you could chew didn’t you boy?”

Emmet pressed his lips together, lightly biting the inside of his lip. 

The guy sighed and pulled the stool back to sit in front of Emmet. “Okay kid. Spill.”

Emmet looked at him, the thought of his journey ending here leaving him feeling cold. So he sighed and spoke. “My name is Emmet Fields… My sister and I discovered Umbris in our forests with our Earth Dragon. He escaped the slayers after he was forced to take the royal egg.”

The man’s eyes widened slightly. “The egg was in Peca?” He asked. 

Emmet nodded. “And hatched in my closet.” He continued. “He’s grown, but the Slayers found Umbris. They destroyed my home, and killed Granite…” Emmet’s eyes narrowed and he gripped the edge of the cot, feeling an anger boil in his stomach as he revisited the memories. “I’d kill a hundred slayers before I let them take me…”

The man’s face darkened. “You start talking like that and you’ll open yourself to being a Slayer yourself kid.” He said. “But I take it you haven’t a clue where the prince is now?”

Emmet shook his head. “I got sick… I think I passed out. But that was back at the Blue Prince Pub…. In front of Umbris’ stall.”

“I don’t know where that is.” The guy said. “Or your sister. You and your dragon were the only ones that came here.”

“Do you know where Umbris is?” Emmet asked.

The guy gave a nod. “Yeah. The cells are set up with humans on one side of the halls and dragons on the other. The only open cell was across from us.”

“Why haven’t I heard him?” Emmet asked. 

“They drugged him.” The guy said. “My guess is that he put up quite the fight when they caught him.” He stood again. “He should wake soon, and you should rest a bit. Ghost Petal is rough to go through.”

“Ghost Petal?” Emmet asked as he laid down again.

“It’s a poison.” The guy said. “It was originally used as an innocence to induce Lucid dreaming. People in the old days believed that using it would help them speak to the dead. But concentrated doses cause a Fever, hallucinations, bad dreams, and can cause the nervous system to shut down. How do your hands feel?” 

Emmet blinked and looked at his hands, clenching them into fists then loosening them. “They’re a bit numb.”

“Then the poison is still in your system.” The guy said with a matter of fact tone. “You’ll live, but the next day is going to be hell. So get some rest. I’ll let you know when your dragon is awake.”

“Um… thanks..” Emmet said. 

“Don’t thank me yet.” The guy said. ‘You’re in more trouble than an herb induced mental trip.”

Emmet tried to relax, but he looked at the man. “What was your name?”

The guy looked at him for a moment. “Theo. Theo the Feral.”

* * *

“Faster Reggie! Come on I know you have more in ya!”

The dark haired boy held tightly to the feather-like scales, his brown eyes bright with excitement as his air dragon, Reggie, climbed higher into the sky. 

The bird-like dragon laughed. “Be careful what you ask for Angelo!” He said, but he curved his wings to gain speed. Angelo held on tighter as he and Reggie skimmed through the skies and through the clouds. Angelo smiled and whooped with joy as Reggie curled back into a backflip. Reggie smiled and gave a cry, sounding like a mixture between a roar and an exotic bird, showing his enjoyment of being in the sky.  Angelo smiled, knowing full well that this cry could very easily blow and eardrum if one stood in it’s path.

Then his pocket buzzed. Angelo jumped slightly and pulled out his phone. he smiled. “Hey Reggie, slow down a bit please?”

“I thought you wanted to go faster!” Reggie said, still slowing down and settling into a glide. 

“I do but hold on.” Angelo said as he answered the phone. “Hey Axel. Whats going on brother?”

“Hey!” Came the voice of his older brother. “I’m right bellow you. Mind landing for a moment?”

Angelo looked down and smiled as he saw an earth dragon loping calmly under them with he guessed was his older brother. “Yeah, whats up?” Angelo asked

“We have a guest back home,” Axel said. “Moms hoping can help her.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right down.” Angelo said. “See you in three.”

“See ya bro!” Axel said before hanging up the line.

Reggie looked back at Angelo. “I guess the flights over?” He asked with a slight pout.

“Only for a bit,” Angelo promised him. “Axel wants to meet us down bellow.”

“Already on it.” Reggie said.”Hang on!”

Angelo clung tightly to Reggie as the air dragon dove, folding his wings close to his body. Angelo smiled as he held on as tightly as he could, but looked ahead as they got closer to the ground.

Once they were close enough, Reggie opened his wings again and circled, watching the earth dragon that lay in the grass with another young leaning against him.

“Show Off!” The earth dragon, Terrian, called after Reggie. 

Reggie only laughed as he landed and played down, letting Angelo off his back. Angelo laughed and patted Reggi’s neck before walking over to Axel. His brother was a bit taller than him, and had the starts of a beard. Axel smiled as Angelo landed and greater his brother with a bro fist. 

“Hey Axel,” Angelo said, smiling at him. “What was it you wanted to talk about? Who’s our guest?”

“A girl that was found in George Town.” Axel said. “With Lost Magic.”

Angelo blinked in surprise, and Reggie straitened. “Lost magic?” Angelo asked. “I thought that magic had faded away!”

“I guess not,” Axel said. “Come on, Mom wants to see if we can calm her.” He smiled as he put an arm over his brothers shoulders and they walked back to the castle. 

* * *

Esther sat on the bed in her chamber. It was a very lavish room, where the fabrics were soft and the bed allowed one to sink into it and instantly warmed you on cold nights. But Esther sat cross legged, with the door closed and locked. She wasn’t sure how she got to the palace, but she knew the Mage had something to do with it.

She took a breath and looked around. She had to get to Emmet. She looked at Nym, who sat on the windowsill and looking down at the city bellow.

Esther walked over to her and looked out as well. The castle seemed to be on a mountain, and in the distance was a ring of mountains, and she thought she could hear cheers echoing from there. “Can you sense where Emmet is?” She asked Nym.

Nym whimpered and lowered her head. Esther got an image of a rope being stretched into mist, and sighed as well. Emmet was too far away to sense. “What about Alchos?” She asked. 

Nym looked around and swished her tail before mewling in a direction. Esther looked, but saw nothing. Then again her senses weren’t as sharp as her Siberian Psychic. “He’s not captured is he?”

Nym looked at Esther, sending her an image of Alchos crouched and sneaking. He was free, but keeping out of sight. Esther nodded. “Okay, and he’s that way?” She asked.

Nym trilled and nodded. 

“In that case, I need a way out of here…” Esther said, looking around at the room. “There has to be a way out of here….” She looked everywhere in the room, but there wasn’t much to work with. She then looked at the bed. She raised an eyebrow with curiosity and pulled back the sheets. There was the decorative comforter, the top comforter, the light sheet and under sheet. Esther smiled. “Nym, how far is the window from the ground?”

* * *

Axel and Angelo looked at each other as they approached the door where their guest was staying in. Angelo took a breath and knocked. “Hello? Um, do you mind if we come in?” He asked. 

No answer. 

“I’m prince Angelo, and this is my brother Prince Axel.” Angelo continued. “We don’t mean any harm, we just want to talk.”

Still no answer. 

Axel bit his lip. “Okay, we’re, gonna open the door then.” He said. He grasped the doorknob and went to turn it, but it didn’t move. He blinked. He wasn’t told that it was locked. “Look, kid, we really don’t mean any harm, we promise.” He said.

But like before, there was still no answer. 

Axel’s brow furrowed, not liking this. He knelt and pulled out a pick and started working on the lock. Angelo shook his head. “You know that skill is mostly associated with thieves.” He said. 

Angelo chuckled. “I know.” He said. “Thats what makes it fun.” He said as the lock clicked open. He opened the door and stood, looking around. “What on….” He said, finding the room was empty.

The two princes entered the room and looked around, but Axel was the first to see how their guest had gotten away. There was a make-shift rope tied to the bed and slung out the window. The boys rushed over to the window and looked around, spotting a small shadow darting away to the left. 

“She’s pretty good.” Angelo said. “Come on! We gotta get her.” 

Angelo lead the way out of the room, running with his brother through the halls of the castle, when something no larger than a mid-sized dog got entangled with his legs. 

Both boy and creature yelped with surprise as they fell, and Angelo sat up to see a Purple Picasso dragon. He was laying over one of his legs with one of Angelo’s legs over his back. 

“Angelo!” Axel said, turning the corner and skidding to a stop when he spotted the oddly placed dragon. “A Picasso?… What are you doing here?”

The dragon got up and shook himself, the smell of blueberries living from his scales. “I’m looking for a friend. But I think the princes know where she is.”

“Well, we’re the princes of Keris.” Angelo said as he got up. “But we’re in a bit of a hurry, so you’ll have to wait a moment.”

As Axel and Angelo started moving off, the Picasso scowled. “No! I need to talk to you now! I need to find my friends!”

“You can wait a few moments.” Axel told him, sounding a bit annoyed. “Now wait patiently and we’ll be-“

The Picasso would have none of it though. He scampered in front of the two princes, spreading his wings in a manner one would use to stop passage. He looked at them for a long time before turning his head and licking at his shoulder, where a patch of purple was. But as he licked, the purple grew lighter until it was a scarlet red over cream colored scales. 

“My name is Alchos.” The hatchling said. “I am the lost prince of Queen Allure. And I demand an audience with the princes of Keris!”

Author's Note

Oh boy, Alchos blew the secret! Now what? XDXD