Enjoy!

Chapter 1

Dragon Jewels
By: David Doucet

Chapter 2: The Dragon, The Bandit, and One Unlucky Squire

Parker standing over the red hair elven lady with his sword was drawn aiming right at her while she sits on top of the pile of gold. Her eyes widen, fully awake to see what has been going on during her slumber. Parker staring with a red blush on his face as he always had trouble with the ladies; never did he have to chance to even build up the courage to face the young maidens in his home town of the capital. “ She’s….she is so- .” Soon she screams on the top of her lungs in a panic, covering herself “EEEKK!!”. Parker began startled from the elf’s scream falling backwards.”Aahh!” She scurries away from the intruder getting on the other side of the gold pile. Her face flustered as she shouts, “Please don’t hurt me, just take what you want and go! “ Parker blinks, trying to stand back up and slowly putting his sword away. He then gently raises his hand trying to explain. “Ma’am please, I believe this is some kind of mistake. “ She grabs a stone and tosses it at him, shouting louder “Get away you…you …Pervert Bandit!” Parker holds up his shield blocking the stone when it makes a clunking sound on impact. He tries again to calm down the frighten damsel. “Pe…pervert bandit?! I am neither of those things!” She glares at him almost tearing up from embarrassment, hiding her face yet looks back through her fingers with a shy stare. “Only a deviant man would aim a blade a helpless sleeping woman!” He stands there frozen feeling ashamed making accusations, until he snaps out of the mortified state the next moment. “I- Wait! Why is a fair maiden even sleeping in pile of gold in the middle of a dragon’s lair?!” The elven woman goes silent for a moment then softly spoke “I…I was kidnapped, against my will.” She looks away almost in wiping her eyes. Parker looks down at her feeling odd about the situation but none the less he kept his guard up looking around the cave. He looks back at the entrance in question the maiden “Where is the dragon now? “ She goes silent trying to think yet still keeping her distance “I don’t know. I’ve been so scared hoping someone would come save me.” Parker then pulls out an amulet from his satchel aiming it around. She blinks watching him wave such a lovely piece of jewelry around. She softly speaks “What are you doing?” He turns to her holding the amulet in her direction with a calm expression. “I’m just checking something.” She stays still looking at the amulet and then back up at him feeling nervous of his actions. Parker ponders to himself seeing that the amulet did not react to her or the cave itself. He puts it away with a sigh of relief. He then bows politely and apologizes to the elven maiden. “Forgive me malady. I did not mean to startle or rudely awaken you. I was suspecting you were the dragon.” She glares at him at the remark sitting up straight “Are you suggesting I am such a thing!” He takes a step back with his hands up “No! Not anymore more; I was only being cautious.” She soon begins to calm herself and lightly lectures him “Still, that doesn’t excuse you for the way you were treating me earlier.” He flinches a bit feeling his honor take an arrow to the chest, yet he tries to keep her satisfied. Parker speaks “Please, forgive me; I am still new to the world on my own. It is very rare to find such a fair lady in this place” She blushes lightly from the compliment but cautiously looks at him still not trusting his words, soon making a request “Oh! Well then what is your name?” He stands up with his hand on his chest trying to show his courageous side “I am Sir Parker James, squire to Sir Gerald Watson of the Dragon Slayers. “
She stands up slightly, wiping herself off of the gold dust on her thick silk attire. The elven maiden makes a quick reply “You don’t look much like a Dragon Slayer. You’re so very…young.” Inside, Parker can just feel his pride take another arrow to the chest, but he still presents himself with great confidence and a little false boosting to convince her. “I assure you my lady. I fought many dragons before for someone of my age. Yet now is not the time to discuss this here. I must escort you to safety before the dragon comes back. “She looks hesitant at him still, but nods slightly to come along “As if I have choice, its better being stuck here.” Parker then replies “But first...” Right when he reaches down to grab one of the jewels in the gold pile. The maiden shouts out abruptly “Stop! What are you doing!?!?” He looks up hearing her call out, and replies “I’m just taking one to bring back to the village. I can’t go back empty handed; besides this treasure was stolen from the dragon anyway.” She glares at his hand trying to convince him not to do so “The treasure could be cursed, or what if the dragon finds out and, well, comes after you!” He puts the jewel in his satchel patting it securely with the flap over, “That’s exactly what I hope it will do.” Her stare turning pierce like daggers when he looks down to grab the jewel but then walks past him with a pissed off expression “Fine! If you want to be a bonehead reckless fool then go ahead and take it. I want nothing to do with it!” He blinks watching her storm out of the entrance confused from her change of behavior. “Why does this trouble you? You’ll be safe before the dragon finds out and away from here.” She turns angrily to face him “Yet it is still stealing even if it’s just from a dragon!” His eyes widen hearing from such a remark.” What nonsense do you speak? Dragons are the most evil of creatures! They burn, devour and steal whatever they deem to their desire! “All of a sudden a giant roar echoes through the entire mineshaft with a huge gust of wind flowing inside. Parker grabs his sword looking up and wondered if the dragon had return. The elf maiden then shrieks and clings on to Parker scared from the roar. Parker jumps from the swift embrace “ACK! Malady, what are you??” He feels her arms wrapped around him tightly, frozen with her body pressed against his, only to have ever felt his mother gave him such a warming embrace. His virgin virtues and his loyalty to his duty as a dragon slayer never lead him to any form of comforts from a beautiful woman. Even if it was under such circumstances he keeps his composure firm from his thoughts. While all of this flows through his mind, she screams out in terror “Save me, Sir Parker! It’s the dragon! It’s come back for me!” He looks up blushed a bit and courageously faces away “The Dragon? Y...Yes, of course! We must leave now!” He takes her by the hand and leads her through the mineshaft, running past the torch he set into the cracks of the wall. The flames turn brighter when they rushed past it. They rush for the exit seeing the light up ahead.
Meanwhile, a few moments ago, two filthy bandits travel near the passage way. They sneak around the bushes not far from the abandon mineshaft talking to each other. The skinny face bandit blabbers and complains “Hey bro, why the bloody hell, do we have to come here? “ The fat bandit squatting in the bush leaning closer to the other bandit’s large ears and wails in it “You idiot, because Twin Axe told us to do so! You wanna question the boss’s orders?” The skinny bandit looks dumbfounded for a moment and simply replies “ Uuuhh, nope. I still don’t know why WE have to follow that Sir Gerald fella.” The fat little bandit grunts “Because it was your big ears who heard about it! Now shud your trapper and just keep watch.” The skinny bandit still looking over at the opening and turns to his partner “You really think this is where he went?” The fat bandit grunts while getting frustrated from the dumb sounds coming from his brother and points over near a tree “Of course, you see that horse over there!” The skinny bandit looks over as he spots Mirabelle, Parker’s trusty steed, tied to a tree while it eats a bag full of grains. He then turns speaks “Uh Yep, I see the horsey… What about it?” The fat bandit slaps his own face and slowly explains “That’s Sir Gerald’s horse! It’s got the flashy symbol and everything. See!” The skinny bandit stares trying to get a good view “Oh yeah….so where is he?” The fat bandit sits down and grabs a stick making horrible drawings on the ground to explain better to the skinny bandit. “Alright look, the guy is in the cave. While we wait here, and he goes to kills the dragon. When he be tired or half dead, we go in, stab the bugger in the back and take the dragon’s treasure.” The skinny bandit thinks for a moment, when he states a pretty good question “But, what happens when the dragon eats him? What then?” The fat bandit then smacks the other bandit on the back of the head. “You idiot, this is Sir Gerald one of the top dogs of the order. Heck, rumor has it he killed an elder dragon with his bare hands! “The skinny bandit thinks about it for a moment. “ OOoohh, wait he’s got bear hands?” The fat bandit grunts louder in a mumbling accent “Not BEAR like the big fuzzy things, I said BARE” showing his hands. The skinny bandit looks back at the cave still confused “Kay’ but, that still doesn’t explain what happens if the dragon still eat him. Like how Jeffery got eaten two weeks ago.” The fat bandit sighs frustrated “Cuz the bloody idiot thought it be funny to dress up like a cow to sneak in and got burnt to ash and chomped up. Besides, if the dragon slayer fella kicks the bucket before the job is done. We go and tell the boss that the guy be dead. Then we wait for someone else to kill the dragon.” The skinny bandit nods finally getting the full picture of the plan and muttering “Yea’ kay. I got it. ” They both then sit in the bushes waiting until the skinny bandit starts to squirm a few seconds later, and whispers to the other. “Psss, Uhm hey bro?” The fat bandit looks at him “What now?” The skinny bandit looks down squirming around more. “I have to go.” The fat bandit replies “What do you mean you have to go? We have to keep watch. You just can’t leave” The skinny bandit bites his lip looking around “No, I have to go, really bad!” The fat bandit finally realizing what he meant “What? Oh! Oh for Pete sake! You couldn’t have gone before we got here. What if he comes out?” All of a sudden a giant roar from the mineshaft tunnel, echoing to the outside alerting the other bandits and startling Mirabelle. They quickly duck their heads in the bushes and slowly rise up to see if the dragon had come out. The skinny bandit looks down and shyly answer “Never mind. I don’t have to go anymore.” The fat bandit smacking his forehead and groaning to himself, “Ugh and this is why ma always told me to watch over your dumb arse.”
Sir Parker and the elf maiden then rush out of the entrance. He leads her out and guides her to his horse “This way! Hurry! ” Right when they exit, she trips over from the sudden pace as her knees buckle down catching herself on a stone. He turns feeling her slip out of his hand and kneels to help her up? “Are you alright?” She looks up at him standing up a bit “Yes, I’m fine, just a bit light headed from the rush.” When her hand lifts from the stone, an arcane rune mark is placed on the surface and fades away. They head to Mirabelle next when she gain her footing. Parker comforts her “We’ll slow it just a bit, but we need to get you out of here.” The bandits watch them from the bushes. The skinny bandit points slightly at Sir Parker. “Hey, do you think that’s the guy?” The fat bandit stares to get a better look and questions in doubt “Nah, that fella be too young. He be wearing the armor but Sir Gerald is a grey hair fella.” The skinny bandit still confused “But you said it was his horse, and that’s not him?” The fat bandit turns and aggressively whispers to his brother bandit, “I know what I said, but that ain’t the guy! Now shud your trap and let me listen.” They gesture their ears out of the bush to hear Sir Parker and the elven woman speak. They walk over to Mirabelle as she neighs wildly, raising her hooves up in the air in a bit of a panic. Sir Parker tries to calm her down gently speaking “Whoa, Mirabelle, steady girl, it’s alright!” She still neighs loudly in a fit of panic until the elven maiden moves him aside lightly. She speaks “Here let me try.” She then reaches out; grabbing Mirabelle’s rein, pulling her close with a slight tug with a gentle stroke, and whispers something in her ear in a foreign tongue. However the words spoken in the tongue was not elfish but darker commanding. The elf spoke “If you do not behave beast. I will snap you in two and set the other half a blaze to cook with for dinner. Now cease.” Mirabelle then suddenly begins to behave standing still and well behaved as Parker blinks almost surprised to seeing Mirabelle behave for anyone just like that. He spoke in awe “How did you do that?” She smiles petting Mirabelle’s mane and sweetly speaking “I’m very empathetic with all animals. Isn’t that right horse?” The horse just calmly stands and bows her head down obediently to the question. Parker then realized something in his thoughts “So it’s true that elves are very keen to nature.” He then looks around to see if the dragon was flying nearby, and walks over to the elven maiden. “We mustn’t waste any more time, I have to get you away first. “ He climbs on top of Mirabelle’s saddle and reaches down to help her up, “Here, let me help you.” She blushes looking at his kind gesture to aid her again but refuses “I can handle myself with this, but thank you kindly.” While she tries to get on the saddle and sit behind Sir Parker; the bandits in the bushes watch carefully. They begin muttering to themselves as the skinny bandit speaks “Oi, so where did the dragon be? Did he kill it?” The fat bandit glares looking at them, yet his eyes stare at the young lovely elven maiden. He speaks with a grin “I don’t know but I can say he definitely found something in that cave. Check out the jewels on that pretty little elf wench.” The skinny bandit looks at her as well with a big smile letting his imagination focus on her supple figure. He bashfully speaks “Hehe, yeah, she got real nice pair and a fine arse for an elf.” The fat bandit smacks the skinny one on the back of the head again while whispering “Get your mind out of the gutta! I’m talking about those actual jewels around her neck! She must be noble or something with that many on her person; maybe worth a lot to some family for a nifty ransom.” The skinny bandit rubbing his head and turns upset from being hit again “Yeah right! You were looking at her bosom too! You just don’t want to admit I’m right for once.” The two bandits began to quietly bicker amongst themselves. Sir Parker and the elven maiden ride off through the path heading back to the village. The fat bandit stopped bickering while holding the skinny bandit’s mouth shut and started to think on what to do next after seeing them depart. “Hey, look! They be heading back, so be best we go tell the boss what occurred.” The skinny bandit turns and looks at the entrance and realizes something. “Hey bro, what if he killed the dragon already? That means the treasure is ours for the taking! Hehehe!” The skinny bandit jumps out of the bushes and dashes in joy for the mineshaft. The fat bandit reaches out shouting “Oi, get back here! We don’t know if!-“Right when then skinny bandit rushes right near the entrance; the stone with the arcane rune mark activates and grows bright. A sudden burst of light conceals the opening and the skinny bandit is then magically shocked being tossed back into the bushes. “AIIIIEEeeeee! “ The fat bandit seeing his brother burnt a bit with smoke coming out of his mouth and his hair sticking out. “Hey, speak to me!? Are you alright? “The skinny burnt bandit groans with a thumb up.” Ugh, ya idiot. I was gonna say it could be booby trapped by the slayer! Now come on we’ll leave it be. We got to report back to Twin Axe.” He drags his bandit brother leaving an ashy trail into the bushes while the skinny bandit snickers from the quote. “Hehe, boobies” The fat bandit sighs from the stupidity “ Just shud it already.”
While Sir Parker and the elven woman are yards away, he makes Mirabelle take a safe path through the woods avoiding any dangerous obstacles. The elven maiden wrapping her arms around his waist as she holds on tight. His mind trying to focus on getting away but can’t help feel her warm clinging embrace pressed against him from behind, calmly requesting “Ah, malady please you don’t have to squeeze so tight.” He then notices the light flash from behind from the reflection of his shield. He stops Mirabelle and questions himself out loud “Did you see something flash back there?” The elven maiden shrugs not knowing anything “Hmm? I have no idea what you speak of. I’ve had my eyes closed this entire time, can we please hurry away.” Parker faces back in his general direction continuing onward. ”Yes of course...uhm?” It soon came to be that he did not know her name at all this entire time. He politely asked her “By the way, what is your name miss? I didn’t get ask back in the dragon’s lair.” Her attention then comes to his question for a bit and replies annoyed “Now you ask me? Can’t that wait until we get a safe distance before? She begins to change the subject quickly “Does this horse go any faster?” He pulls Mirabelle’s rein to quicken her pace forward, yet he notice she’s not going as fast. Parker notices Mirabelle was beginning to show fatigue, possible from the extra weight. His gaze shifts to peek on the side as he starts to converse with the woman again. “This is as fast as I can make Mirabelle go. She’s not used to carrying this much weight.” The elf maiden flustered and clinging his sides more in a out lash reply “Are you saying I’m too heavy! I have you know I’m light as a feather!” He jumps a bit from the grip and tries to correct himself “Aah! NO! No, of course not! I’m just saying she’s usually able to carry one person at a time!” She turns her head in a cold gesture from his remark “Do all the squires of the Dragon Slayers treat the women they save with such rude suggestions. Honestly.” He turns back his gaze up ahead and wondering if all women under distress were sensitive as her. Parker yet softly apologize “I’m sorry. I’m doing my best to make sure you’re alright.” She looks up at him, seeing him concern over her feelings. She then starts feel guilty about it, and excuses him “Mm, no, forgive me. I’m just…” He interrupts her “It’s alright; I understand that you’ve been in turmoil since. Don’t worry though for I’ll protect you from the dragon no matter what.” Her eyes widen from his remark and she looks down avoiding his gaze. “Oh, right thank you.” The ride goes quiet for a minute before she utters a name “Julia”. Parker turns his head in notice to the name. “What?” She nods leaning on his back holding him close as she softly speaks of truth “Julia is what they call me.” He blushes a bit as he lets her rest on the back of his cape trying to focus on riding Mirabelle through the path. He speaks back shyly “It’s a beautiful name. It suits you honestly.” She looks at him in deep thought, but while he looks away. Her eyes turn narrow and gold of that like a dragon while she goes silent. Her gaze stares at his satchel where the jewel was stashed away. In her thoughts soon turn to a soft whisper he couldn’t comprehend “It’s a shame though, that someone so kind and sweet will have to pay for stealing from my hoard…”

TO BE CONTINUED!