Seven

I stare for a little while at Clara because she hugged me and she is doing the same thing. It is almost as if we want to get grips on reality. I never thought that she could be so gentle and caring at the same time. For the first time, I see her in an entirely new light.

I see the candlelight playing so gracefully on her skin and then for just a moment I realized what every man sees in her. She is true beauty from the inside and the outside. But I quickly shake that thought out of my head because for all intents and purposes she is my sister. The one that I made mud cakes with and threw her in the river.

The one that I could not stand with all her snappy comebacks. I do not have time to think about anything else except taking back the kingdom that belongs to me.

"I have to go"

My mother then jumps up and walks to me, saying.

"Where are you going?! It is already after dark and you know the dragon king-"

I suddenly jerk my head backward as she wants to say that the dragon king does not want us to be out after sundown. I do not care what the dragon king wants. From now on I will do what I think is the right thing to do. I have the blood of Kings in my veins.

"I do not care what he thinks. I am going to find the dragon slayers. I promise I will be careful. Do not wait up for me"

For some reason, I glance at Clara as if her reaction is important to me. All I see on her face is that she is worried about me. I do not know why but that brings me some sort of peace. Then I turn around and walk out the door.

I know that I was very brave to walk out of the house but now that I am outside in the dark, I start to wonder if it was the right thing to do. I have heard rumors that they gather in the woods at night. So, that is where I will start.

I make sure to move as stealth as possible. I do not want to attract any attention to me. I know the woods pretty well and so I do not need any kind of light to navigate through it. Then suddenly I hear the wailing of the dragon's cry.

I immediately go down hiding behind a tree. Then I see the great dragon flapping its wings just above the woods. It is as if he is doing some sort of patrolling to see if everyone is inside their houses. I start to wonder why I never thought about why he does not want us out at night.

This just motivates me even more to find the dragon slayers. I need to know why he does not want us to be out at night. Every time he comes close I make sure to stay close to the ground. I do not know how good his eyesight is but I am not ready to die by fire just yet.

Then it hits me like a slap through my face that my mother and father probably died by the flame of the dragon, that dragon king. I have to stand still because the feeling is so overwhelming just the thought that I had the chance to have a normal life with my mother and father. But not just a life, a life as a prince.

I walk on through the woods trying to get to some place that might give me a clue of where the dragon slayers meet. Then, out of nowhere, someone holds a sword against my neck.

"Are you not supposed to be in your house, boy? What are you doing out here this time of night?"

I turn around slowly and the sword stays against my neck. I lift my hands up in surrender while I say.

"I am here to find the dragon slayers"

The man steps into the moonlight and now I can see his face much better. I always imagined how a knight would look like and I swear he would look just like this man. His posture is that of authority and power. The way that he is holding his sword is as if he can cut you at any second.

His presence is gentle yet authoritative. Then he smiles while making sure the sword does not leave my neck.

"There is no such thing as a dragon slayer, son"

I know that it is a secret society and they will never admit of its existence.

"I know that it is not the truth and I wish to join them to stand against the dragon king who is destroying our land"

He burst out with laughter as if I just said something very funny. Then he lowers his sword, putting it back.

"I think it better if you go back home because no one should stand against the dragon king. Go and find rest, for only in your dreams you can be a dragon slayer"

I feel a sudden spurt of anger because he dismisses me like that. I am not a young boy anymore but as of today, I am a man. I am not just a man, I am the King of this land. He will listen to me. I pull out my sword and then with one swift action I swing it back against his back.

But my efforts are in vain as he has already turned around locking my sword with his. He pushes me down to the ground making sure that the blade of his sword is against my neck again. He smiles as he breathlessly says.

"You have spirit, kid. I will give you that. But you are barking up the wrong tree. Now...go...before the dragon king finds you"

He directs my attention to the sky where the dragon king is flying close to the ground. I look back at the man but then he is gone. I jump up and look around me to see if I can find him but the darkness has covered him completely. Then I start to run, I run back home because my mission has failed.

I will have to wait for daylight before I can look for them again. In the meantime, I am going to have to finish my sword so that I can enter the winter games. I get home and fall on my bed. I know that I will not sleep tonight because of everything I have heard today.

I wake up before my usual alarm from my mother calling me to wake up. As I suspected, I could not sleep last night. I stand up and get dressed. Then I hear a faint knocking on my door. My mother opens the door and I can see the surprise on her face.

"What are you doing up already?"

I avoid her eye contact because I do not want her to see how I really feel. I will always love my mother but the letter has definitely changed things in my heart. I just need some time to work through everything.

"I could not sleep much last night"

"I see...breakfast is ready if you want to come and sit down with us?"

I can hear there is tension in her voice as if she is not sure whether I would come to breakfast or not. I guess I am not ready to go on with the life that I used to have. I do not have time for breakfast this morning and that is for the best because I know it is going to be awkward.

"I thought I will just go straight to work this morning but I will see you tonight"

I can see that she is relieved knowing that I would come back to her house tonight. I do not want to let her know that I feel like there is a little bit of distance between us because I do not even know whether that is what I am feeling or not.

She leaves my room and then I finish getting dressed. I need to finish my sword. I need to see that man of last night again. I need to find out where the dragon slayers are.

I have to walk past the kitchen on my way out. I see Clara standing in front of the fire. She sees me and I see her but it is not like any other morning. Today we just glance at each other. Somehow things are different between us. I see her in a completely different light. As if she is someone strange to me. Then I see her giving me a slight smile and I return the smile getting out of the house as quickly as possible.

There are so many emotions going on in my heart and mind. I do not know what to think or what to feel. I decided to just focus on what I need to get done and what I need to get done is getting the dragon king off his throne.