THE GATEKEEPER

Chapter 9

This dragon was also red in color, but it was more of a blood-red than crimson. Its head greatly resembled that of the Chinese dragons, and two long red whiskers grew from its snout like a mustache. A mane of black hair extended from behind the pair of horns protruding from its forehead, and a pair of spectacles rested on the top of his snout. It also had a short, black beard. Like Drake, its eyes were also an unusual combination of colors; instead of white, its sclerae were a shade of red darker than its skin, and its pupils were bright green. The skin covering the dragon’s body was taut from the muscular form it possessed. There was a cross-shaped scar right where the heart should be located. Its underbelly and the skin between its wing spines were a dull shade of pink, and small black fins sprouted from the back of his neck down to the tip of its tail. As Drake continued to watch it, the wings on the dragon began to shift and squirm. After a moment, they began to retract into the dragon’s back until they disappeared completely.

The dragon behind the king on the left was covered in what appeared to be craggy scales in various shades of blue. Its eyes were completely yellow, with no Alicees or pupils, and its shoulders and chest were covered in a set of sapphire blue ice armor. Its underbelly and tail were just a shade lighter in blue. The rest of its body was colored a light sky blue. Its talons and claws were white, as well as the skin between his wing spines. The most distinguishing feature about this dragon was its left arm and wing; the skin on the left wing appeared to have been mostly shredded off, and its arm appeared to be made completely out of ice. Upon closer inspection, Drake noticed that it was constantly giving off a cool mist that fell and settled at the dragon’s feet until it dispersed, just like dry ice.

The king suddenly looked out over the crowd of gathered dragons. The dragons all fell silent once more as they looked up at him in respect.

“It’s time we got started on this,” the king boomed in a rich, deep voice. “Draco, is everything prepared so we may begin?”

The dark grey dragon behind Drake, apparently called Draco, bowed deeply. “Yes, King Bastian,” Draco responded. “All preparations have been made. We can start the trial whenever you’re ready.”

King Bastian nodded. “Very well. Let’s begin now.”

“Understood, sir.” Drake looked back at Draco just in time to see the dragon raise his right hand to about shoulder height. The thumb, index finger, and middle finger fully extended while the remaining two were left curled into his palm. A faint light surrounded his hand for a moment.

The ground beneath Drake’ feet began to tremble slightly. Alarmed, Drake looked around the room frantically, trying to find the source. He then noticed that the rock floor near King Bastian’s feet had taken a muddy form and was rising from the ground. As it rose higher, it began to take shape and solidify, until it stopped shifting a few seconds after it started. A large throne made of steel and rock of different shades of grey and a tall back stood where nothing had been mere moments before. The king proceeded to sit on the throne, folding one of his legs over the other, placed an elbow on the armrest, and let his massive headrest on his fist as he lounged on the throne, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Bastian’s eyes appeared to be closed, but even though the king and Drake were about two hundred yards apart, Drake could see that one eye was slightly open as it continued to observe Drake. A shiver ran down Drake’ spine.

“First of all, let’s start with the basics,” the king started. “What’s your name, human?”

Drake could only guess that the king was referring to him. He hesitated for a moment before responding. “It’s Drake.”

Murmurs and hisses were exchanged between those in the crowd at this point. Bastian opened his one eye about halfway upon hearing this.

“Drake, was it?” he said, half to himself. “That’s an odd name for a human, is it not?”

“It may be odd, but it’s the only name I’ve ever had,” Drake told him, a nervous smile on his face.

Draco lightly tapped Drake’ shoulder with his tail tip. “Be respectful when talking to the king,” Draco muttered under his breath. “Doing so will increase your odds of survival.”

Drake nodded in silence as a response before returning his attention to the king. But despite Draco’s warning, Drake could not entirely let go of his anger and allowed it to get the best of him. “Excuse me for being casual with you, King Bastian,” Drake apologized in a mocking tone. “I’d bow as I give you this apology, but these chains that bind me prevent me from doing so, I’m afraid that I can’t.”

A shocked silence fell over the grotto upon them hearing Drake’ words. A few growls and hisses rose from the audience as the dragons displayed their displeasure. Draco groaned and hid his face behind his hand once more. However, the king and his two companions had very different responses to Drake’ statement. The king visibly smiled while the icy dragon faked a cough to hide a chuckle. The blood-red dragon even let out a loud whistle.

“Damn, this kid’s got spunk,” he laughed. “What’s your first impression of him, Bastian?”

“Andromon, my opinion of him does not matter right now, so please keep your comments to yourself for the time being,” the king ordered, looking over his shoulder at his companions. “And Prismo, stop snickering. Neither one of you are acting professional right now.”

Andromon and Prismo instantly corrected their behavior and stood at attention. The king returned his attention to Drake, who was glaring at him.

Interesting. The boy’s clearly hostile and angry, but I don’t sense any malice or evil coming off him. If I were to rely on my gut, I’d say the boy’s probably innocent. But still. . .

“Are you aware of why you’re on trial?” Bastian questioned.

Drake shrugged. “More or less,” he answered. “I’m apparently a suspect in the theft of some orb, but I haven’t got a clue as to what that is.”

“What is your story, then?”

Drake’ face darkened for a moment as he thought about the attack on Atlantis City, but shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked the king in the eye. “All I can say is that I was minding my own business in the city I came from when it was suddenly bombed. As far as I could tell, I was the only one that survived that. After that, I fell down a shaft, hit my head as I fell and passed out. Next thing I knew, I was here in chains. I would prefer to keep things at that; I really don’t want to talk about my past now. I just lost everything.”

More murmurs and hisses filled the grotto as the onlookers debated on what they heard.

“I’m assuming that by ‘bombed’ you mean that your city was attacked, correct?” the king asked, cutting off the muttering of the crowd.

“Completely leveled,” Drake responded shortly. Bastian tapped the throne arm with a talon a few times as he thought in silence. He then straightened up and spoke in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“If this decision was easier to make, I would easily be able to say you’re not guilty of anything,” Bastian stated. Andromon and Prismo exchanged a quick glance with one another, a trace of surprise evident on their faces, while the crowd exploded into a frenzied uproar. “But,” he continued, immediately making the grotto silent once again, “I’m afraid I can’t just let you off the hook, after your involvement with the actual thief’s escape.”

“What?” Drake almost snarled, shocked. “What did I do to help that damned thief get away? I’ve been unconscious ever since I got to this place!”

“Unconscious or not, you still ended up interfering with the criminal’s capture. There’s even a witness to that event; Draco, would you care to tell us what exactly happened last night?”

Drake turned his head to stare at Draco, who slightly bowed at Bastian’s request. “Yes, sir. Last night, after everyone had begun to spread out in the search for the Orb, I was searching the ground outside the castle’s northwestern walls when I spotted a figure running away from the castle. The figure would not listen to my demands to stop, and when I was about to catch him, this fellow fell out of the sky like a blue meteorite and almost knocked me out of the air.” Draco tapped Drake on the shoulder with his tail at the end of his statement

Like a blue meteorite? Now that Drake thought about it, the pain covering his whole body hadn’t dissipated yet. He gave himself a more thorough examination and noticed he was covered head to toe with burn marks. ​No wonder I’m in pain. These frickin’ burns hurt! I guess I really was on fire, at least.

“As I said before, you inadvertently interfered with the capture of the one suspect we had in the case,” Bastian boomed, interrupting Drake’ thoughts. “Therefore, I’m left with no choice but to have you detained in prison until further evidence discovered can prove otherwise.”