“Not necessarily. Dragons have been known to accept a trade.” Manuel responded thoughtfully.
“A trade? What do you mean by “trade”?” Magella asked suspiciously, suddenly remembering why she typically avoided the vampire.
“To make an exchange of one thing for another; trade. Shall I use it in a sentence again?”
“I know what ‘trade’ means, thank you very much. I don’t know what you mean!”
“I mean to offer something in exchange for Rapunzel. Something the dragon will treasure, for something I treasure.”
So simple. And yet, so powerful. Rapunzel’s large, dark eyes met and held Manuel’s equally dark eyes. No one, not a single soul, not even the awe inspiring dragon said a word for a full minute.
Rapunzel finally broke the spell.
“So what you are saying Manuel, is that I am the treasure that the dragon is reluctant to part with?” Rapunzel asked sweetly, a frown of confusion marring her brow.
“Of course, the dragon has grown fond of your voice, and your scent since your imprisonment here. She counts you as one of her own; occasionally, they do form attachments to humans or other such beings, although it is very rare. It is doubtful that she would hurt you. I make no such promises for the rest of us.”
“Perhaps something of mine in exchange?”
They all turned to look at the beautiful teen in confusion. What could she possibly mean, she had no possessions with her and she wore no jewellery besides the red sun elixir, carefully hidden in her bodice.
Standing in the half light, looking more like a fragile, ethereal princess than a frightened teen, Rapunzel slowly fingered her magnificent hair silvery gold hair. It poured down over her shoulders and trailed several feet behind her; it was majestically beautiful. It could very well be mistaken for treasure, again she met Manuel’s eyes, this time with a question.
“No.” Manuel said with a shake of his elegant head. “Not your hair.”
“It is something of me, and it is mine to give.” Rapunzel spoke with determination.
“Rapunzel, it is more than any of us has the right to ask of you. We will find another way.”
“I have been imprisoned my whole life. I have never been free.” She held up a chunk of her satiny, silver blonde tresses. “This isn’t hair; each strand is another chain to bind me. I can barely move, I could never run. I would be glad to be rid of it and all that it represents; the dragon would be glad to receive it...hopefully. Do it.”
Manuel stared at her in silence before shaking his head again. “I can’t.” He said simply. “I will find another way.”
Rapunzel shook her head and laid a soft hand on the vampire’s shoulder. “Do it. I want you to do it, I need you to do it. Release me.” She sounded desperate, as she whispered her plea to the conflicted vampire. “Please.”
Leo looked at Manuel and silently handed him his jewel encrusted royal knife. They all had been touched by the desperation in Rapunzel’s tormented voice, yet none of them envied Manuel for the task he now had to carry out. No one dared to breathe, as Manuel bent down and reached for the satin sheaths that flowed down her shoulders and across the floor. He took a deep breath, and with a heavy heart he reluctantly began to cut through the first handful of her silken tresses.
Everyone, including the dragon looked on solemnly. It was unimaginable that Rapunzel would lose her extravagantly long and lovely hair. Forever passed before the silent and subdued vampire finished carefully cutting through Rapunzel’s magnificent hair. Gathering the hair together in his hands, Manuel stepped back to observe his handiwork.
Not a dry eye was to be seen, except, of course for Rapunzel; she lifted her head high and a smile of surprised joy spread across her face. She shook her head back and forth, and her eyes widened as she revelled in the easy movement. She reached out and touched the freshly cut ends that curled surprisingly upwards; holding them up for a closer inspection, she laughed as she let them fall back down in rippling waves that danced like sunbeams around her.
“It’s so light!” She exclaimed as she twirled around again, her eyes glowing. “I feel like a feather.” She twirled again and again.
Her hair, once a long heavy train behind her, now fell to her knees in graceful waves. Like waves of silk it fanned out around her, swirling and twirling as she moved. The obvious joy in Rapunzel’s movements forced a small smile from the uneasy vampire.
Mercury reached down to take the hair from Manuel, but the vampire only glowered back at him in response, clutching the hair closer to his body protectively.
“I just want to fasten it together with the pearls. That’s all. ” The wolf explained as he backed away from the instantly menacing Vampire.
“And braid it, it will hold together better if we braid it.” Magella added.
Manuel looked on sceptically, still reluctant to part with a single strand of his beloved Rapunzel’s hair.
“I am somewhat of an expert on the braiding of hair.” Leo, the ever gallant prince, offered up trying to be helpful as well.
“How on earth would you acquire such a skill? And perhaps more importantly; why?” Manuel asked, one eyebrow raised as he scrutinized the prince.
“My War Horse of course, how did you expect I would practise?” Leo responded sounding understandably insulted.
The dragon began to growl again, snapping everyone back to attention, and reminding them of why they were offering the hair in the first place. Manuel held the hair out to Mercury, placed the knife carefully down in front of himself, and turned his attention back to the huge dragon’s head.
As Mercury, Leo and the girls carefully wound the necklace through the end and braided the length; Manuel eased forward and began to croon softly to the impatient dragon in a gentle velvety voice, and in a language none of them had ever heard. An old, ancient, nearly forgotten language, that sounded as powerful as it did beautiful. Although still on guard, the dragon did appear to relax somewhat.
Mercury looked up with soft, wistful smile on his ruggedly handsome face. “Nyorossa. I hadn’t known anyone was fluent in that any longer.”
“I’m not, I only know a few lullabies, and the rudimentary basics.” Manuel hissed. The dragon rumbled deep in her chest.
“Well, by all means continue!” Magella snapped.
At last the hair had been braided together, and the finished product was easily seven feet of shining, silvery blonde braid. Rapunzel gathered the braid up in her arms, since it was hers and hers alone to give, and slowly advanced towards the dragon. Manuel, one hand on the small of her back stepped with her; he was not going to let her face this danger alone. They stopped just in front of the curious dragon.
The beautiful dragon slowly blinked both of her luminescent eyes.
“Now gently place the braid in front of you, and step back carefully with your arms open wide, so she can see we have nothing to hide.” Manuel whispered his instructions in to the wide eyed Rapunzel’s ear. “We must show her that we mean no trickery. Dragons have grown wary of Humans.” They both did as he suggested.
The dragon lowered her huge purple, gold and green head to examine the offering, her eyes flickering with interest. With one long fingered and heavily clawed hand, she picked the braid up and brought it closer to her face. Turning her eyes over to the vampire and the beauty again, she began to stroke the braid against her softly, scaled cheek. In the flickering half light of the cave, the braid looked every bit the treasure it was supposed to be, and the dragon seemed pleased.
She stopped stroking the braid and lowered her huge face until it was directly in front of Rapunzel’s. The dragon’s eye nearly the size of her head; Rapunzel went stiff with fear. Manuel reached out for her hand, and stared intently at the dragon as he began making gentle soothing noises, a Nyorossian lullaby.
Rapunzel began to visibly tremble as the dragon held her face approximately a foot in front of the terrified girl and blinked her long lidded, luminous eyes.
“I believe she is thanking you.” Manuel whispered in astonishment. “We just might survive this yet.”
Hearing that, Rapunzel smiled; tentatively she reached out her hand until she was able to lay it on the dragon’s soft, cool nose. Running her hand across the wide expanse, she marvelled at how soft and silky it felt, despite the appearance of scales. It was like stroking the softest, most beautiful silk, in the most beautiful of patterns. She looked up at Manuel, who appeared just as surprised as she, at how the dragon seemed to be allowing the physical contact. Never in his long life had he ever seen someone ‘pet’ a dragon. She continued to stroke the dragon’s nose.
“You really are quite beautiful. I will never forget you, and as long as you have my hair; you will never forget me, I think.” She murmured to the tremendous dragon. “We are friends now.”
Leo, Mercury and Magella stood behind, looking on at the scene before them with disbelieving eyes. It was completely unheard of for a human to pet a dragon. Yet here was Rapunzel...stroking a massive dragon’s nose, with the dragon gently submitting to the contact.
Eventually, Rapunzel withdrew her hand and the dragon slowly raised her head and backed away, taking the long silky braid with her. Rapunzel sighed as she watched the her dragon retreat; this had been a magical moment, she knew she would see her dragon again. Slowly Manuel led her back to the others.
“I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it. Perhaps you were right Manuel. Perhaps you were right.” Leo commented softly, shaking his light brown waves as he gazed at the spot the dragon had so recently occupied.
“The dragon may have accepted our gift, but she will not allow the rest of us back through her nest. We will have to leave the cave the same way we entered.” Manuel did not sound pleased at the idea, in fact none of them were. The way they entered, meant dealing with goblins and trolls. The way they entered, meant a ferocious battle.
Exchanging grim looks, they turned and began heading back the way they came.
~~*~~
Making their way through the beautiful “chess game” of majestic stalagmites, they eventually came to the entrance of the cave. The goblin they had knocked unconscious lay asleep, still bound at the hands and feet thankfully.
Manuel and Mercury peered out from around a particularly wide stalagmite. The goblins and trolls sentry at the mouth of the cave exactly as they had earlier, if any of them were curious as to their missing comrade’s whereabouts they gave no indication. But that wasn’t uncommon among goblins; they most likely assumed he defected, goblins were notoriously self-serving. Fighting to escape appeared inevitable.
Unfortunately.
Only Manuel and Mercury could truly understand the opposition they were up against, and the odds that continued to stack against them.
“This is a fight we cannot win by engaging in one on one combat. We use trickery, guile and speed. Trolls are very strong, very aggressive, but not quick.” Manuel tapped his forehead. “They can be confused, and they have no tracking abilities.”
“Goblins aren’t exceptional swordfighters, but they fight dirty. Think hair pulling and groin shots.” Mercury added. “So be prepared. Oh, and they do have tracking abilities, so we need to beat them well. They need to be afraid to come after us.”
Leo nodded with a grimace; he’d heard as much before from the great tales of battle his Grandfather used to tell on occasion. He had savoured and revered those tales since childhood, he had never expected to be living one out. He had never expected to fight alongside a werewolf or a vampire either, he idly wondered if any Royal ever had. If only his courageous Grandfather were here now...
“When you see an opening, lead Rapunzel through and take shelter in the depths of the forest.” Manuel directed Magella, a severe look across his face. “Do not take any unnecessary chances.”
“Are you saying I don’t have as many trickery, guile or speed skills as you boys? So I get stuck with babysitting, while you clear the way for the ‘womenfolk’?” Magella snapped. Although she wasn’t exactly itching to fight, she fiercely resented any special treatment based on her sex. She knew she could, and had in fact, taken down many foes twice her size.
Manuel looked up surprised. “You possess more than sufficient skills, which is why I am leaving it to you to lead Rapunzel safely out of the cave and through the fighting. Were you any less skilled I would delegate another to protect her.”
“So, six goblins and four trolls, that’s two goblins and one and one third of a troll for each of us...that’s some odds.” Leo apprehensively commented, sucking in his breath, his hand unconsciously slid to his sword.
“Piece of cake.” Mercury laughed with a shake of his thick brown hair. “Aw come on we’ll be fine, Manuel is always complaining about how hungry he is; this is his big chance.” Mercury teased as he nodded towards the vampire.
Manuel threw him a completely horrified look...goblins and trolls were extremely unappetizing to the discriminating vampire.
“Of course you don’t have to eat them. We would never have meant...no one thinks...” Leo assured him, trying to smooth over anything that might have been taken as racially biased.
“I do prefer not to kill what I don’t plan on eating...mostly.” The vampire agreed with a wide smile, before turning back to assess the enemy.
“That still leaves a lengthy list of things Manuel is quite comfortable with, trust me.” Magella cringed slightly.
Manuel took both of Rapunzel’s hands in his own before placing the softest of kisses on her forehead. “Stay close to the Elf; she has uncanny self protection skills. She will lead you to safety. We will create a safe passage way, and you will be free. This I promise.”
He turned to his companions with one last request.
“Only kill if necessary; we fight for escape tonight, not glory.” Manuel dashed out of the cave and began engaging three of the closest goblins in a very physical fight, evading their swords admirably; he was very, very fast. The nearest trolls lumbered over attempting to smash him with their clubs as he expertly weaved in and out looking for an opening.
“Isn’t that going to make this a little harder?” Mercury as he began to comprehend what Manuel had actually instructed that they do. He wasn’t a killer at heart, but the idea of simply incapacitating an enemy seemed so much harder, especially when faced with these odds.
“Much.” Leo agreed as he unsheathed his gleaming royal sword. “What a story this will make.” He decided with a dashing grin, jumping in to the battle, his blue eyes shining.
Mercury laughed out loud before unsheathing his own sword, and jumping in as well. “They’re going to get themselves killed.”
Although nowhere near as fast as Manuel or Mercury, Leo seemed to hold his own quite admirably, dodging stone clubs and returning sword blows with a strength and determination that would have made his Grandfather proud.
One goblin lay on the ground, knocked unconscious by a gleeful Manuel who had managed to connect the boulder in his arms with the goblin’s head...hard.
It was then that Leo realised, Manuel didn’t own a sword.
Mercury caught the scent of blood, and he fought the against the bloodlust that rose in his head. It tickled at his brain and combined with the high emotion of combat, threatened to unleash the beast. Spinning around, he caught Manuel’s dark eye. The vampire spared him a dark, penetrating look before slamming his fist up in to the rounded stomach of a drooling goblin. Biting his lip, Mercury decided to breathe through his mouth, losing control now, after all his people had done to shed the age old image of werewolves would be disastrous. But surly destroying a few undesirable trolls and equally disgusting goblins couldn’t, wouldn’t be counted as evil. Would it? Everyone hated trolls and goblins, didn’t they? Damn Manuel.
He turned his mind back to the deep breathing technique his mother had taught him. It was essential that all werewolves learn the basic breathing techniques used to calm the bloodlust; an untrained wolf was a menace
to the entire Kingdom. An out of control werewolf was the stuff of fables, the truth behind the rumours, the reason his people were viewed with suspicion. An out of control werewolf could never be with Red.
He would keep control of himself; he had to.
~~*~~
Darting in and out from a nearby rock, Leo was intent on driving two of the towering trolls mad. And he was succeeding. Every time they brought their clubs down, certain they had him smashed beneath the weight of those huge stone clubs they wielded, he somehow managed to skedaddle just out of reach. They were furious. Laughing and pointing, he teased and taunted them in a very un-prince like way. Anger made them even clumsier and the trolls struck out at the wily Prince, catching each other neatly on the temple. With a crash, their eyes rolled upward and they fell to the ground; Leo beamed with pride. Taunting two trolls, each equipped with huge, stone clubs capable of mashing a man like a potato, was not something that had ever been touched on, much less advocated in any of Prince Leonardo’s combat training. The tactics he had employed that night, were definitely not taught at the Royal Academy back in Crystallise. He owed his inspiration to the ogrenots, although nowhere near as irritating as they had been, he had copied their act quite well.
The rotting scent in the air intensified, and Leo’s stomach lurched, a chill running down his spine.
Leo looked up with dread as a dozen new, well rested and anxious goblins joined the fight. Suddenly, the joy he had felt at eliminating two giant trolls dissipated as he realised that they now faced fourteen goblins and two trolls. He wiped blood and sweat off his brow, and turned to share a look with Mercury. They were exhausted and outnumbered; they were never getting out of this alive. The situation that had seemed insurmountable, now seemed impossible; they hadn’t even gotten Rapunzel out of the cave yet.
A scent and a sound.
Leo’s head shot up and the goblins must have sensed something as well as they all turned their greasy, greyish heads, as seven gypsy riders came to a stop before them. With a loud and exuberant battle cry, the brave gypsies jumped off their horses and joined the fight, swords swinging with might.