Stargazer: Chapter 2

Chapter Two



The next morning, Serena woke up to a warm spring breeze flowing through her window. Spring was finally coming. The winter they had just been through had been particularly hard on the island, and for once Serena was happy she lived in the Palace rather than being a peasant in the village.

She got ready slowly, catching up with Madison down in the kitchen. As usual, Madison was flirting with one of the other servants. Serena pulled her away for a moment to tell her about the dragon.

“What’s up?” Madison hissed, eager to get back to the servant boy.

“Madison, I have to tell you something. Yesterday, when I was coming back to the room, I saw soldiers, but there were twenty of them, and they were leading a dragon through the hall!”

Madison burst out laughing. Serena gave her a confused look.

“A dragon? Come on Serena, we all know there are none on the island.”

“But I really did see it! It was small, and blue and had piercing turquoise eyes!” Serena imitated the dragons piercing stare by circling her eyes with her fingers.

Madison rolled her eyes. “Uh huh. A few years ago you said that Fairies lived in the palace gardens.”

“They did! I saw them flying around at night!”

“My point is, Serena, nobody’s going to believe you if you keep lying.” Madison left her. Serena sat against the wall. Not even her best friend would believe her.

For the next few days she saw neither tail nor horn of the dragon. She had decided not to mention the dragon to anyone else. Over time, she began to forget about it.

Her life continued on as usual. The new spring began to shine through the last remainders of Winter. New leaves were beginning to show on the trees, and baby animals ran about in the gardens. Serena felt happier now that the warm weather was finally here. She had completely forgotten about the dragon.

She was beginning to work with planting the seeds for Spring. As she watered one of the many rows of budding fruits and vegetables, she saw a blue-green glint in the corner of her eye. When she turned, she saw nothing, but was reminded again of the dragon.

Shaking the thought from her head, she went to go fetch more water. The sooner she was finished, the sooner she could get to her room.

Once again, her work was finished later than usual at nightfall. It had taken her longer than she had thought to water all of the rows of plants. Her legs were tired from walking back and forth to the well to get more water each time she needed it.

She walked slowly back to the palace. As she walked silently along the hallway, she heard voices.

“…we need to get rid of them.” She heard. It sounded like the King’s voice. Serena followed it, wondering what he was talking about. Then she paused. If she was caught, she could be sentenced to death. But Serena’s curiosity got the best of her.

She hid just around the corner of the hallway the King’s voice was coming from.

“Just a few more days, then we set out to attack.” The King sounded eager. Why?

“Where are we attacking, your highness?” It sounded like he was talking to one of the head soldiers.

“Dragon Island.” It was a quick and hushed reply. Now Serena was even more curious. At the mention of the word “dragon” she leaned forward a little more to hear better.

It was a mistake, as she leaned forward she lost her grip on one of the red tapestries in the hall and fell out into the entrance of the hallway. Both the King and the soldier looked up.

At first, everyone seemed shocked and stared at each other, not knowing what to do. But in an instant both the King and the soldier were running at Serena. She quickly got up and ran in the opposite direction. She could hear the footsteps behind her. Raising the hem of her dress, she ran faster.

She turned a nearby corner and continued running. She ran into an open closet door and hid in the darkness. Outside, the footsteps stopped.

“Where has she gone?” The soldier asked.

“I don’t know. Organize search parties. We don’t know how much she heard. I want her found-alive.”

“Yes, sir.” The soldier’s footsteps slowly disappeared. The King started walking down the hall, closer to the closet. Serena tried to slow her heavy breathing.

“I know you’re here.” He called out. As he came closer, Serena pressed herself flat against the wall of the closet. Her hand touched a broom and made it fall.It made a loud noise, and the King looked straight into the closet.

He walked closer and closer. He was getting so close that Serena could almost touch him. She held her breath, thankful for the extra servants’ dresses hanging in the closet that she hid behind.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps ran down the hall and echoed on the stone floor.

“Your highness!” She recognized the voice. It was the same soldier as before.

“What is it?” The King growled, distracted for a moment.

“A dragon has escaped!”

The King flinched at these words. He stopped advancing towards the closet and turned around.

“Well what are you doing? Go find it! GO!” He took one last menacing look into the closet, then followed the soldier.

Serena let out a long sigh and let herself drop to the floor along the wall. That was too close.

The soldier said a dragon had escaped. Serena began to run back to her room. If a dragon was on the loose, she did not want to meet it alone in the hallways. She must warn Madison!

She turned a corner, bumped into something, and fell to the ground.

“Are you okay?” A voice asked. She looked up and saw a young man, maybe a year or two older than her staring down at her with a worried expression.

“Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” She said as he helped her back up. “I’m terribly sorry but I’m in a hurry.” She pushed past him and continued down the hallway. If it were any other time she would have loved to stay and talk with him, but she had more important things to do.

After turning another corner, she paused to catch her breath. She could hear no footsteps, but she was sure the soldiers would still be looking for her. Making a quick dash across the hallway, she ran into her room.

She quickly grabbed her pack and stuffed a container full of water in it. Then, looking to see if anyone was watching, she reached under her straw mattress and pulled out a small maroon sack. She pocketed it.

She heard footsteps coming closer, so she darted out of the room and down the opposite hallway. From behind her she heard one of the soldiers say “ She isn’t here, keep looking.”

She kept up her pace, putting as much distance between her and the soldiers as possible. But the King had so many soldiers around the palace, where would she hide? They would find her sooner or later. There was nowhere to go.

At that moment she decided she would escape. Instantly she began running towards the castle door. It was unguarded on the inside, but on the outside there would certainly be soldiers. What would she do? She didn’t know. She would decide when she got there.

As she got closer to the door, she heard a muffled rumbling sound. The walls slightly shook. She stopped. It came again. She listened as it became louder and louder, the walls shook with such force they seemed like they were going to fall apart. Then something came crashing through the wall.

Serena covered her face with her arms to protect herself from the stones and dust. She felt the force of the loud screeching roar coming from before her. When she lowered her arms the same dragon she saw so long ago was standing before her, shaking debris from its large wings.

They stared at each other for a while. Serena was unable to move, afraid that any movement would startle the creature and it would kill her.

It wasn’t nearly as small as before. Now it was larger than a horse, not including the long tail. It’s horns were as long as her hand, if not longer, and its claws were long and sharp. Its wings no longer looked fragile, they now looked powerful and muscular.

It stood before her with a sort of majestic pose, looking down at her with its long, slender neck.

“There they are!” A voice shouted. The dragon looked up, smoke pouring from its nostrils. Serena spun around. A group of about ten soldiers was at the end of the hallway. One of the soldiers ran off to get more help to take the dragon down. With the soldiers in front and the dragon behind, there was nowhere for Serena to go.

Some soldiers pulled out their swords and shields, others pulled out bows and arrows. As they got closer, Serena could see the fear in their eyes. They knew the dragon was dangerous.

The soldiers were only a few steps away. Serena stepped back cautiously, closing her eyes, waiting for a sword or an arrow to pierce her heart. Nothing happened.

She felt a gust of wind come from behind her. It nearly knocked her to the floor. It was followed by intense heat. Serena opened her eyes slightly, just to see. Several soldiers were on the ground. Serena could smell smoke.

Something grasped her shoulders. Her eyes snapped open just in time to see her feet lifting off from the ground. Looking up, she could see the dragon’s head. She let out a cry. “No!” She feared the dragon would kill her. The soldiers readied their arrows and let them fly.

Serena closed her eyes once again, prepared for a certain death. She felt herself swerve as the dragon dodged the arrows. The arrows all missed her, except for one, which cut through the bottom of her dress, missing her leg by a small distance.

“Let me go!” She yelled. She began kicking and screaming. The dragon only held her tighter. Its claws began to pierce her skin, and a single drop of blood flowed from one of the wounds.

The dragon looked back at the soldiers and roared the same screeching roar from before. It flew higher and higher towards the ceiling where the arrows could not reach.

The dragon dove down and the remaining soldiers jumped to the ground. The dragon spat blue fire warningly around the soldiers. Then, it made a quick turn, wing-tips brushing the sides of the hall. It was heading straight for the door.

Serena braced herself for impact as the dragon crashed through the door. The dragon had no problem getting through the door. Serena opened her eyes to the darkness of the night. The dragon rose higher and higher into the air.

Serena looked back to see several people looking out the windows in awe, woken by the noise of the fighting. Serena thought she saw Madison, but wasn’t sure.

The dragon flew swiftly over the palace grounds and over the village. It was unseen by anyone in the village. Back at the palace, groups of soldiers were beginning to pursue them.

Serena looked up at the dragon. What did it want with her? Her heart beat rapidly. It wanted to eat her, that’s what. Serena pushed the thought away. She would face death if she went back to the palace anyway.

She looked deep into the night, thinking about her fate.