The chain Khollo had been working on snapped just as the alarmed voices of vertaga began filtering down through the corridor. Hurry, the dragon urged. Tail next.
Khollo made his way further back into the cell, stepping around vertaga corpses and several dead rodents. As he did, another chain snapped. The dragon was nearly free now, but the guards’ voices were getting closer. The dragon heated the chain holding down its tail and Khollo began beating away at the hottest links, squinting into the flames. Another chain snapped off to his right, the one Sermas had been working on.
A shout rang through the corridor, and the sound of running feet came from beyond the front of the cell. The dragon swung around and roared a challenge. Khollo raised the borrowed axe one last time –
And the final chain was broken.
The dragon lurched forward awkwardly, ramming its head through the wall of the cell and bulling its way into the corridor. The vertaga guards shouted in panic and turned to retreat. But the dragon was having none of that. Its head jerked forward and the massive jaws clamped down on a vertag. The creature screamed once then was still. The dragon set the dead monster aside and killed another by smashing it against the side of the corridor with its powerful front foot. The rest of the vertaga made it to the stairwell, retreating quickly. The dragon roared in triumph, then bent to its kills, growling and snarling as it fed.
Vertaga meat good, it announced. Fresh meat even better.
“Enjoy,” Khollo told the dragon. “You’ve earned it. When you’ve finished those two, we’ll go up to the main fortress and finish off the rest of them.”
Yes, the dragon agreed. Then leave this stinking, dark hole, fly, be free!
“Right,” Khollo muttered. “We need a plan.” He turned to Hern and Sermas. “What do we do now?”
“We can’t control it once we’re up in the main hall,” Sermas pointed out. “That dragon will be able to do pretty much whatever it wants.”
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Khollo agreed. “I’ll try to persuade it to stay with us for now, so that way it doesn’t start terrorizing the kingdom. But after that . . . we’ll need a long-term solution.”
The sounds of the dragon eating, crunching bones, tearing flesh, and contented growls, ceased abruptly. Home, the dragon whispered in Khollo’s mind. It calls me.
“Home?” Khollo asked. “Where are you from?”
It calls, the dragon repeated.
Stumped, Khollo shrugged and put the matter aside. “Right. Well, shall we finish off the vertaga?”
The dragon roared in agreement, and Sermas and Hern shouted enthusiastically, tossing aside the vertaga swords they had destroyed breaking the dragon’s chains and drawing their own weapons. The dragon lumbered towards the stair well, snaking its head into the winding passage. Then, it pulled its body through with barely any room to spare. It was good that the dragon was only young, and not fully grown, or they would never have made it.
“Let’s go,” Khollo said. “I want to see what happens.” And we need to be close so I can persuade the dragon to stay.
Khollo, Sermas, and Hern followed the dragon up the stairs, taking great care to avoid its tail. When they drew near the top of the stairs, the dragon suddenly raced ahead and roared again. Khollo sprinted after it and stumbled back into the main hall of the vertaga fortress.
The remaining vertaga, five in all, had scattered again as the dragon emerged. The dragon half-extended its wings and jumped over them, landing heavily in front of the outer door and blocking the only exit from the room. The vertaga skidded to a halt and looked around wildly for another means of escape. The dragon meanwhile lowered its head and opened its mouth. One vertag shouted a warning, then a blistering stream of fire consumed the lot of them. The vertaga writhed in agony for a few moments, then went still. The dragon roared its victory, and paced back to the trio of stunned cadets, lowering its head.
Thank you, the dragon said in Khollo’s mind, its voice surprisingly calm and gentle. I had all but lost hope of being free.
Khollo smiled, and bowed slightly. Now that it was out in the light, Khollo could see that the dragon was really quite spectacular. Its scales were a deep emerald green, paler on its belly and under its legs, and those that were not encrusted with filth from the dungeons sparkled like gemstones. The dragon’s eyes whirled with streaks of black and green as it examined its liberators.
“You are most welcome,” Khollo said finally, stepping forward and resting a hand on the dragon’s snout gently. The creature was warm to the touch. “Now, we need to figure out what to do next.”
The dragon cocked its head as though thinking. Then, it turned towards the open door of the fortress, looking at the open world beyond.
The dragon snorted, shook its head, then looked down at Khollo.
We are free-
“Yes.”
The dragon reared back, and the talons of its front two feet wrapped around Khollo’s body. Khollo shouted in surprise and struggled to free himself.
“What the-?”
“Khollo!”
Now, we fly!
The dragon hopped awkwardly through the front door and spread its wings, pursued by Sermas and Hern. Then, with a convulsive heave, it launched itself skyward. Its wings spread to their full extent, sunlight shining through the translucent green membrane.
Khollo yelled as the ground dropped away rapidly, Sermas and Hern’s faces fading to tiny white dots. He heard their distressed cries as the dragon climbed higher and higher into the sky. Then
