Hello, readers!  Today was my first school day after finishing math for the year, making today a very, very good day!  In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m feeling unusually chipper. 🙂  Can you blame me?  I’m done with math, I’m listening to songs from The Lord of the Rings, and I’m posting the beginning of the happy ending to my first “long” story.  A good day in my book. 😉

Anyway, story:

 ~The Sacrifice~ 

 

Part Twenty-fourth: Rescued

Penelope sat leaning against the wall, hugging her knees. Wishing the sounds outside were soft enough that she could drown them out by covering her ears—though at the same time straining for any hint of what was happening.

When the noise finally subsided, the Princess got up and peered into the passageway. She could barely hear a gentle murmur of voices. Could it mean. . . but how could it? A gentle breeze brushed her face, at the same time stirring the dying embers of the kindled leaves, blowing ashes off deeper into the dragon’s lair.

After what seemed hours, footsteps sounded—echoing loudly, but still softer than any dragon’s could be. Penelope stepped back as a strange man came into view. They stood for a moment, staring at one another, the Princess trying to determine if he could be from the City.

“Princess Penelope?” he asked finally.

She nodded, too puzzled to speak.

“My name is Richard,” he continued. “We came to find you. The dragon is dead.”

To find you. . . the dragon. . . is dead. . . the words seemed to echo through her mind like a giant’s footsteps on stone. It was impossible. . .

Another man came up at that moment. She did not recognize him, but he was undoubtedly one of the Shepherds. He sighed in relief as soon as he caught sight of her. “I was afraid he would have killed you by now.”

“Not yet,” Penelope answered ruefully.

“Help me get her out,” the first man requested, grabbing the heavy latch. The two men lifted it up with some effort and pulled the gate open with a great creaking and scraping. They were so much slower and clumsier than the dragon! It made the Princess realize how strong the beast must have been. But the first man—the foreigner—used only one arm. She wondered if he was wounded. She started to ask, but then realized that they were holding the gate open for her. She stepped slowly out, winded by the realization that she was free.

The three of them walked out of the cave, into the twilight of the fading day. A dappled horse stood outside on the ledge, drinking from the stream with a noisy splashing and licking. Some rather mangled and bloody armor and a torn cloak sat in a heap beside it; and a large German Shepherd lay near the mouth of the lair, resting its head on its paws. Penelope saw its black eyes tracking their movements, but it looked too tired to move. The dragon lay just beyond the dog, wounded, bleeding and motionless, with one great wing crumpled underneath it. The Princess turned her eyes quickly away. Dead. It was really dead. She was free. Nothing between herself and home. She could almost have run off down the path to the Valley without another word.

She knelt to drink from the small rill (up-stream from the horse) and the water felt heavenly on her dry throat. The dragon had thrown nuts, berries, and whatever else he found on the mountain-side in to her often enough but she had only gotten water when he had let her out on the ledge.

The three of them sat with their backs to the cliff-face, as far from the dragon’s carcass as they could, and ate bread and dried fruit the men had brought with them; and the two explained to the Princess who they were, and about Sir Richard’s sword, and what had happened in the Valley. When they had finished, they started down the mountain, going by Gimel’s path. It was quite dark when they reached the foothills, where Velvet stood tied to a tree.

“We cannot reach the City tonight,” Sir Richard said. “We’ll camp in the hills.”

They walked at an easy pace, leading the horses, with Cyrus coming behind them, only limping slightly. Penelope began to feel less tired and overwhelmed with the cool, pine-scented air blowing in her face. She wished they could go all the way home at once, but knew the men needed rest. They had just fought and killed one of the most powerful creatures in the world, after all.