Felix pulled Olympia into an alley as a group of invaders passed. He glanced around the corner then continued towards the gate. He didn’t say anything to her, and saw no need to at the moment. When they reached the next street, they found it flooded with invaders.
Felix pulled the human out of sight before they were spotted. “There’s no way we’re going to make it to the gate.” He muttered. “My exit might be easier to reach, but I’m not sure.”
“We could try.” She answered him. Felix nodded in response and started heading to the southern portion of the wall. They had to fight through a few groups of invaders, but they managed to reach the alley.
To Olympia, it looked like a normal alley. Felix moved to the back of it and crouched, sheathing his dagger. It was a bit unnerving seeing his joints bend the opposite way they should have. He set his dagger down and pushed the bricks out of the wall to reveal the hidden hole in the wall. It was just big enough for them to crawl through.
“You can go through first.” Felix said, standing with his dagger now in hand and walking to the entrance of the alley. Olympia gave him a nod and crouched down to get through the hole. She carefully crawled, making her way towards the other side.
The sky was clearer beyond the wall, and the moon lit the fields with dim light. There was a forest near the entrance of the city that stretched out on either side.
Felix crawled through after her, and moved along the edge of the wall, not bothering to cover the hole like he normally did. He didn’t care if anyone found it at the moment.
He headed out towards the fields once they reached the north side of the wall. He didn’t seem bothered by the random sounds that came from the woods or the fact that they could barely see.
Olympia followed behind him, flinching at every random sound she heard. She tried to keep up since it was getting dark.
“Don’t you have to find your family or whatever?” Felix asked as he jumped onto the fence. Fella climbed out of the hidden pocket in his cloak and sat on his shoulder.
She stopped in her tracks and looked back into town. “I would find nothing if I go back.” Olympia stated. Felix shrugged. “Okay, but my home isn’t exactly a mansion. Far from it.” He replied.
A gust of wind hit them and Fella spread her wings. Felix reached up and scratched her under her chin. She made a purr-like sound, and leaned against Felix’s fur.
“Have you two always been together?” Olympia asked, seeing how the small dragon rub against his fur.
“She’s known me her whole life, but I’ve only had her with me for about a year.” Felix replied. The small dragon made a tiny roar in reply. It was nowhere near fearsome, but it was adorable.
“She’s really beautiful. I have never seen one of her kind before.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“You’ve never seen a dragon? They’re almost around the valley. How have you not seen one?” Felix asked, glancing back at her.
Olympia shook her head at him. “I’ve never left the castle before so I wouldn’t know.” She said, a bit embarrassed. “Castle?” Felix asked, glancing back at her, slightly confused.
“I tend to forget that people don’t know about me.” She looked up at him. “Sorry from the late introduction, I am Olympia the youngest child of the king and queen of Thovell.” She said, giving him a smile.
“Of course you are.” Felix sighed. He didn’t seem entirely thrilled about that, which was surprising because who wouldn’t be thrilled about meeting royalty.
“You don’t sound convinced.” She stated. “No, I believe you.” Felix replied. He jumped down from the fence and started moving away from it. Olympia could see an old barn a little ways away.
“How come you don’t live in town with everyone else?” she asked, walking beside him. “I’m broke, and I hate being in town.” Felix replied. He seemed to be heading for the old barn, but there was no way he lived there. There wasn’t even a door.
“I’m sorry for asking all these questions but your name is?” she asked. “Felix. I’ve got no family name because my only family is sitting on my shoulder.” Felix replied.
He walked into the barn. Yup, he lived in a barn. The wood on the outside had plenty of holes, and was weathered and gray. Olympia stood in the doorway looking around the barn “Does she have a name?” “Fella.” Felix replied, taking off his cloak and tossing it into the pile of clothing. He dropped the broach and sheathed the dagger into the backpack beside the pile.
Aside from the pile of clothing, there were splintered pieces of wood where the walls for stalls would have been. The leader up to the loft was missing several rungs. A pile of hay was all that was in the loft. There were holes in the ceiling, and Olympia could have sworn she saw something move in the shadow of one of the corners.
Felix didn’t seem bothered by his gross surroundings and set Fella on the pile of hay. Olympia put the small blade into one of her boots. She sat down beside the pile of hay that Fella was on. “Is it ok if I touch her?” She asked him. Felix shrugged and sat down on the hay beside Fella.
“She’s never met another person before. I won’t stop you.” He replied. Fella looked at Olympia the Felix. She made a chirping sound. “She’s not gonna hurt you.” Felix said. Fella looked back at Olympia and took a hesitant step towards her.
Olympia extended her hand just a bit. “I won’t hurt you.” She said, giving her a smile to reassure her. Fella sniffed her hand, and walked around to look at Olympia. Her eyes were mostly purple, but there was a bit of blue in the middle.
“You have very beautiful eyes.” She said to Fella. This was the first time she had seen such colored eyes. The small dragon chirped in response. Felix smiled slightly. Olympia gently scratched under her chin. She ran her fingers along her scales liking the feeling. Fella lifted her head to Olympia’s finger. After a moment, she turned and walked back to Felix. She curled up beside him, and looked up at them.
“She’s ready for bed.” Felix said, then fell onto his back beside her. “I am too. I wouldn't recommend sleeping on the ground floor in case something decides to come in and sniff around.” He added.
“It’s fine. I probably won’t sleep anyways.” She said, leaning her head against the wall. “Alright, just don’t keep me up.” Felix replied. He rolled on to his side, and was asleep in minutes.
Olympia sat there feeling the tears fall down her face. She covered her mouth not wanting to make a single sound. Thoughts about her family came rushing into her mind, wondering how they were. She got up and walked out of the barn, feeling the cold breeze against her skin.
She looked back at Felix and Fella who were asleep. The idea of leaving came into her mind. She didn’t want to put them in danger if someone was looking for her. Olympia went back inside the barn and sat down. She her head back against the wall.
Felix woke up the next morning to Fella jumping on his chest. Helix groaned and sat up, the little dragon fell off of him and onto the hay. He looked over at Olympia. She had fallen asleep leaning on the pile of hay.
“Come on, let’s not wake her up.” Felix whispered. She picked up Fella and walked to the other side of the loft. He put Fella on his shoulder and pushed a few loose boards off to create a hole up to the roof. Felix climbed up and sat on the top of the roof, watching the valley.
He could see the distant shape of the town to the south. He didn’t want to look to see what it had become. He could see the distant shape of something soaring around one of the mountains. Felix was pretty sure it was a dragon, but it was hard to tell from here.
“Where are we going to get food now? We can’t go back to town, and there isn’t another one for miles around.” Felix said. Fella rumbled in response. “We’ll worry about it when the human- when Olympia wakes up.” Felix said. He didn’t want to spoil the beautiful morning. He heard a bird chirp somewhere in the forest and began to hum. After a moment, he added words to the tune.
Olympia woke up to someone singing quietly from the roof. She stretched letting out a yawn. She looked around to find Felix and Fella nowhere in sight. There was a hole in the roof now.
Noticing the hole in the roof, she made her way up there. Once she got up there, she saw Felix singing. He had his back to her, and didn’t seem to realize she was there. He stared out at the valley as he sang, Fella swaying to the melody on his shoulder. He did actually have a pretty beautiful voice.
Olympia swayed to the melody. She liked the melody and how Felix's voice sounded. The song went on for another minute or so before Felix ended it. He sighed contently, and his ears licked towards the bird calls around them.
“You have a really nice voice.” Olympia smiled. Felix turned around, shocked. “I thought you were asleep!” He exclaimed. If h had’t had fur, he might have been blushing from embarrassment.
“I was but I woke up to someone singing.” She said. Felix glanced at Fella, then looked back at Olympia. “Well, we’d better get going. Gotta find something to eat!” He said a little too loudly.
“Are you thinking about going into town?” She asked. “Definitely not. That’s a stupid idea.” Felix replied, edging down to where Olympia was standing through the hole.
“Sorry. What were you thinking then?” She said to him. “Nearest town isn’t for miles, so either we leave, or we hunt.” Felix said, jumping back into the barn.
“I don’t know how to hunt. So what do you think is best?” she stated. “If we head for another town, it will be at least a day’s walk. Probably more. Hunting, we don’t have a guarantee of finding anything.” Felix replied, climbing down the ladder. He pulled the same cloak out of the pile of clothes, and pinned it into place.
“A day without eating is better than not finding anything right!?” She said. “Yeah. I’ve done both, and neither are fun. Think you can survive a day without food, princess?” Felix said as he bucked his belt around his waist with his sheathed dagger attached.
“I think I can plus I hardly consider myself a princess.” She stated. “Well; grab whatever you want to bring because we’re not coming back.” Felix replied. Olympia grabbed the sword that she had taken from an invader.
Felix unsheathed his dagger. It still had dried blood on it from last night. “We’ll need to find a river to wash off our weapons on the way.” Felix commented. Olympia gave him a nod.
Felix paused when they got outside. “Are you absolutely certain you have everything you want?” He checked. “There was something I left behind, but it’s too late now.” She said. “Alright then.” Felix replied.
He held Fella in one hand and walked to one of the corners of the barn. “Light it up.” He said. Fella breathed out a small bit of flame, but that was lol that was needed to catch the old dry wood of the barn. He move to another corner, and Fella lit that one too.
Felix stepped back to watch the fire spread for a moment then grabbed three large rocks he found, and set them in a line in front of the burning door frame. He turned and began walking in the opposite direction of the city, Fella’s multicolored flames stabbing at the sky.
“You have really pretty flames Fella.” Olympia said to her. Fella roared happily from Felix’s shoulder. “Shall we leave then.” She suggested. Felix nodded and walked in the opposite direction of the city.
Olympia looked back at what used to be her home. She turned around and followed behind Felix. They walked in silence for several minutes, admiring the scenery
Felix looked up towards me movement among the distant shape from the mountains. He paused. It looked like a bird was flying from another side of the valley. It seemed to fly a little different than a bird normally would though.
“Do you alway travel from town to town?” Olympia asked, a bit curious. “Yeah, I’ve been all over the valley.” Felix said, still focused on the bird thing. He narrowed his eyes. It seemed to be getting bigger, but it was just getting closer. It was just perspective.
“Is something wrong?” Olympia asked. “I’m not sure…’ Felix trailed off. The bird seemed a lot bigger now. It should have reached them by now. “Run for the trees!” Felix shouted suddenly. He grabbed Olympia’s hand and bolted without waiting for a response.
He stopped when they were hidden in the shade of the pines and peeked around one of the trunks. “Okay, I’m stupid.” He whispered. A sudden gust of air shook all the trees. A loud thud sounded by the burning barn.
Felix flattened himself against the tree, his claws digging into the wood as Fella hid in his cape. Olympia looked around the tree to see what was going on.
A huge red dragon had landed beside the burning barn and was sniffing at the rocks Felix had placed. It looked sharply over at where Olympia and Felix were hiding, It’s spiked tail twitching as it’s sharp grey eyes bored into the forest. Felix yanked Olympia out of sight.
“Quick question, Does this always happen?” She asked Felix. “If you mean a dragon showing up when I burn down my house? No.” Felix whispered. The dragon sniffed at the air and began to move towards where they were hiding. Felix’s claws dug into the wood of the tree, and his ears went back in fear.
Olympia looked around to find a better place to hide. All that she saw was just a bunch of trees. “Should we make a run for it?” She asked Felix. The dragon was at the edge of the woods now.
Felix grabbed Olympia’s hand and began to move deeper into the forest. His steps were silent, but Olympia almost immediately stepped on a twig that was very obnoxious when it broke. Felix winced and looked over his shoulder. The dragon shoved a younger tree to the ground, the Lund of splintering wood filled the forest. It’s eyes locked on to them and narrowed before it roared.
Felix put his hands over his ears, then grabbed Olympia’s hand and bolted. He dodged between trees and shrubs with ease, but it was much more difficult for Olympia, who had never been in the woods before.
A gust of wind shook the trees as the dragon took to the sky. It circled the forest, and spotted them. Felix clanged up as it’s shadow passed over them. He stopped suddenly. The dragon released a jet of crimson flames. Felix turned to lead Olympia the other way, but it set fire to the trees behind them. They were trapped.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
