"Where is that blasted dragon?" I heard someone stirring. I looked at Anthony and David and noticed David get up. His eyes were still closed and he cringed in a way that said he wasn't feeling like he was in the best condition currently.
"Sir, you don't have to worry about the dragon now," Anthony said.
"Why do I hear the squire's voice? What are you doing here Anthony?" he asked.
"The royal saved me at the start of the Royal Path. The memories of how I got onto the path in the first place remain foggy to me. The same applies to the Megalion. We found you among the pile of carcasses the dragon was going to eat and got you," he explained.
"Yes, that dragon knocked me out by luck. He won't get another chance, where is he?" he began trying to get up.
"There is no need, sir. Sit down before you get yourself in a worse condition than you already are," Anthony said forcing him back down. This would have been impossible if the soldier was in mint condition. David's awareness had not yet expanded as he was still only aware of the squire that was tending to him.
"Step back," Dera's voice came into my mind getting my attention. She was eyeing the firewood which gave me all the information I needed to know. I quickly stepped back as her chest began turning brilliant red lighting up a bit of the forest. I almost forgot to step further as I was mesmerized by the sight of watching a dragon breathe fire.
Dera let loose a brilliant flame whose heat spread almost twice as far as the flame itself. I took a few steps back and watched in awe as the dragon set the firewood ablaze. When she was done she turned away and I came to arrange the wood so that it could last longer and burn slower, keeping everything that was lit in the centre and all that wasn't outward so that it looked like an ordinary campfire. Though the ground around it was charred randomly, no one was going to ask for the details if it meant that we didn't have to light up the firewood on our own. Something heavy dropped beside me while I organised the campfire startling me. I jumped back only to see that Dera had dropped a plump dear beside me.
"You guys can eat that," she said before she got back to her meal. I was not even sure how this was supposed to pan out. I stared at the carcass before me, then at the dragon seated with her back turned away from me tearing meat off yet another unfortunate animal.
"This only proves I was right about him. He's worthless," I heard someone say besides me. The sudden outburst seemed to catch the attention of all those who were present. "If it were up to me, you wouldn't be a Royal," David grunted before walking up to me. He retrieved a metallic intricately designed rob from his waist belt which I recognised as one of the weapons the soldiers all held. He squeezed it lightly and I watched as it began to elongate and change form. Metal sang in the air as the long-handled sword(as I had named them) was revealed in its full glory. He spun it in his hand and the ground rumbled.
"Sir, you shouldn't use it in your condition," Anthony yelled at him trying to appeal to his sense of reason.
"Oh, don't worry squire. Something as simple as this won't require any energy at all," he said before spinning it once more with more elegance and faster. The ground rumbled, even more, the faster he spun it. I stepped away from him as the tremours became increasingly difficult to balance under. When he seemed like he had reached his peak he stabbed the sword into the ground. Almost at the same time the ground on which the plump deer was rose to the height of a table. David then proceeded to skin the animal with his sword as though he had just done nothing at all.
"What did you just do?" I asked.
He paused in his endeavour, "I don't have to tell you the simplest of things." His rotten attitude was starting to get to me, but I wasn't about to allow it to show. I only had to get back home and I wouldn't have to deal with him. The dragon stopped eating and turned to me.
"You know, being a Royal, you should show your power once in a while," Dera said in my head.
"I understand that you are trying to help Dera, but I don't plan on doing anything royal here," I said walking over to Megalion and taking a seat next to him.
"Did you say, Dera?" Anthony asked.
I groaned having walked right into that one. "Is there a story for everything here that I simply don't know," I somewhat yelled.
Dera and Anthony laughed at my reaction. Megalion seemed to be asleep at the moment so I simply leaned against the tree he was seated by to avoid waking him. "You are just surrounded by stories once you are in this forest. The Royal path was designed to help Royals activate their full powers and to help them learn their role," Anthony explained.
"I see," I said going silent having realised these guys probably thought I was here to stay. There was no way I was going to stay, but I needed to get them out of here first if I could find a way to. I waited and drowned in my thoughts before a delicious thought wafted and found its way deep into my nostrils. I was instantly awoken by the scent of nicely roasted meat. I looked to David only to see that he had prepared everything well.
"You going to get here or not," he grunted as I was now used to as his way of communication.
I walked over to him along with Anthony and helped ourselves to the meal. I looked at the enormous amount of meat he had just prepared and started doubting if we even capable of finishing half of it, but these two companions of mine didn't look bothered in the slightest. This world was so different from what I was used to. I didn't bother asking questions as I dug into the dinner that had just been prepared for us.
As we ate, Dera finally slowed down as she had finally had her fill. She grabbed another carcass and dropped it in front of Megalion. The beast wasted no time in eating it, but not after bowing to the dragon. I was about to get back to my meal when I noticed something unbelievable. Dera wasn't as big as she had been when we found her. She was now barely bigger than Megalion, "You don't look so big now."
"That is because I don't feel like it. Smaller creatures burn way less energy than big creatures," Dera said.
I continued on in quiet silence until I was done from where I walked up to Megalion to sleep. "Someone likes sleeping around beasts," David said although for the first time I couldn't tell what he was saying.
"Not such a bad trait for a king, but right now you are moving towards the wrong beast. Don't you know who Dera is?" David asked.
"No, I don't know who she is," I said.
"She is the daughter of the previous king, Jekyll's dragon," Anthony said.
"Oh that guy," I said.
"How do you know him? Yet you know nothing about our world," David asked again.
"Oh, he's like a legend where I come from. Although he died a long time ago that I am like a descendant of his or something. You people make it seem like he was here just recently. Where I am from, he is long recorded in our history," I said.
I thought about what they had said a bit, but I couldn't come to the conclusion on if I knew Dera's mother or not. I soon gave up and lay by Megalion to sleep. Before I could drift off I detected a presence approacinh me. I was too late to react as I was carried into the air immediately. I opened my eyes to see that Dera had got me by the collar in her mouth, "It's like you didn't even hear what the soldier said," she said.
"What do you mean? Put me down you firebreather," I yelled throwing a tantrum.
"Oh calm down, you troublesome ignorant king," she said. I didn't like the way these people called me a king like it was something very normal. She walked back to her spot and rested placing me by her side and covering me with her wing. This was warmer and more comfortable, but I was not just about to admit it. "Since I am the daughter of the former king's dragon, it falls upon me to be yours."
"Dera, why can you guys calmly call me a king when you only just met me?" I said.
"So I take it that you don't know anything about Royals then?" she asked.
"No, I have never heard about the term in the way you guys use it," I said.
"Okay, I'll explain then. Every world has two Royal families or two Royals as you might call it. The role is always given to one person in that family, there cannot be more than one royal from the family at a time and the chosen royal can easily be identified by either the Royal path or just the way they behave and the power they radiate," she explained. I kept quiet as I felt this was going to be a long story.