Page 26 of Henry & the Dragon
“I couldn’t see your face, but I could feel you in my mind and in my heart. Mama said she knew you would be the one who’d keep me safe. I didn’t know at the time she was…” She fell silent.
Going to die. Henry understood what Dmitra was saying. “Your mother was an amazing woman. I wish I could have known her better.”
“She was the best. We didn’t have much, but Mama always took care of me. She taught me to read, which made others jealous. She offered to teach others, but their parents refused. They shunned my mother, and the other children thought me a witch, because I could do things they couldn’t. That was even without them knowing I have my mother’s gift of sight. At night, when she told me bedtime tales, she would say that my future would be unlike any other. It would be filled with wonders no one even dreamed existed.”
It was a high bar to set, but Henry would do his best to give that life to his daughter. It struck him. What would Kai say? Would he balk at being responsible for a child? Would he want to continue his wandering life? Henry shook his head. That wassomething for a future conversation. First they had to find him and save him from the dragon.
Henry pushed the horse, moving faster than they had earlier. He knew the heat of the day would take a toll on the noble steed, but they needed to reach the cave that Constance told him of. It was an imperative now, because there was a growing dread within Henry that told him if they did not find Kai now, it would be too late.
They rode nearly half the day. The sun had slipped beneath the horizon, and now the night enfolded them in its embrace. Dmitra clung to Henry, not speaking. He wished he had the power of a wizard, so he could send her to his mother, but that wasn’t to be. Though he put up a brave front, it still worried him that Dmitra would be in danger, and from a dragon no less.
Dragons were seldom seen, but tales were told of phenomenally powerful beasts, who ravaged towns and claimed treasures as their own. They rarely left anyone alive, though those who managed to survive all spoke the same tale. A great beast that plunged down from the sky, belching fire that engulfed everything, reducing even stone to ash. Unlucky victims were snatched and tossed into the beast’s maw, swallowed whole, armor and all.
Henry had never believed the sagas, which grew more fanciful with each retelling. Still, he reached for his sword and gripped the pommel. “Father, I beg thee to guide my hand so that I might save Kai and keep Dmitra safe,” he whispered. In return Henry felt nothing. Did spirits sleep? Henry hoped that he’d been heard, because they were approaching a large wooded area, with spires of rock reaching high into the sky. Peering up, hope infused Henry. He could sense Kai. He knew it was there he would have to climb and find Kai.
To save him. Or to avenge him.
Chapter 9
The climb was as tough as Henry feared. Sharp stones, coupled with perilous angles. Perhaps that was the reason the dragon chose it. No one in their right mind would dare to try and scale it. Henry knew he wasn’t in his right mind. The higher they rose, the more certain he felt that Kai was in there, dying.
Dmitra clung to Henry, which made the journey even harder, but her hands were too small to make it on her own, and she still refused to stay behind.
“Don’t be frightened,” Henry called to her, wanting to make himself heard above the wind that whipped them from all sides.
“I’m not,” Dmitra said, her voice stronger than Henry’s.
“It’s okay to be,” Henry assured her, because he certainly was. His fingers ached, and his mind was plagued with images of the two of them falling to their deaths on the rocky crag below.
“I saw it! We’ll make it safely to the top.”
Her words didn’t exactly instill confidence in Henry, whose fingers were numb now. “I hope you’re right.”
“I am,” she said. “And he’s there, Henry. I can see him waiting for you. He’s very sick, and he needs you. He’s calling your name.”
That spurred Henry on, redoubling his efforts. Whether it was true or not, Kai did need him, and he knew now, more than ever before, that he needed Kai. They could work out their lives once Henry had him back from the… dragon.
What would he do about the monstrous beast? It could swallow him in on gulp, and that would put an end to everything. Yet, if Dmitra and Constance foresaw him finding Kai, then itwould be worth it. Even if it was the last time they’d see each other in this world.
“He loves you,” Dmitra shouted.
“I love him,” Henry replied.
“I know. I can… feel it. A connection that binds the two of you. His mind is scattered by fever, but the one thing he is absolutely sure of his his love for you.”
She was saying everything Henry needed to hear, and he was grateful for it. He would find a way to slay the beast, to save Kai, and build a home with him and Dmitra. He would do whatever was necessary to ensure that dream came to pass.
They remained quiet as they continued to rise. High above him, Henry saw a dark patch on the rocks, and believed that to be the opening to the cave. The wind was stronger now, and it buffeted Henry, making him lose his grip more than once. He wasn’t sure how he hung on, but he knew he had to. In order to save Kai, Henry could not fail.
Inch by inch they moved upward. Henry’s fingers bled and his muscles screamed, demanding he stop, but he pushed past the pain and continued his climb. When he reached the opening, he wanted to weep with relief. He collapsed onto the rocky entrance, doing his best to catch what little breath he could. Dmitra disentangled herself from him, and stroked his hair.
“You did it, Henry.”
He gasped to get a good breath, if for nothing else than to tell Dmitra that it was her words that gave him the strength to make it. He hadn’t done it alone, his daughter had helped. Without her reminding him that Kai waited, Henry might have given in to despair. He sat up and peered around. The cave entrance was lit by the waning rays of the sun, but it vanished in the depths. If this wasn’t where Kai was, they’d be in trouble. He had no idea what kind of beasts might otherwise inhabit this place.
He took note of the size of the entrance. It was large enough that he could stand in it, but not much beyond that. There was no way a dragon of that size could possibly fit through it. That concerned him.
Dmitra clutched his hand. “He’s calling. He needs you.”
