Chapter 4
Kudo's Questions
I paced on the opposite side of the fire as I told Kudo my story. It started from when I had first come to love unicorns and ended at our present time. Kudo stared at me with amazement, and when I had finished telling my tale, he clapped his scaly little hands and nodded.
"You are a most remarkable child," he complimented.
I smiled and thanked him.
Kudo continued,"As for that dragon over there," And he said this with a whisper,"What's he like?"
I shrugged my shoulders and whispered back,"I honestly don't know. He's not been very nice to me, and he's leader of the dragons. I've never really seen what he's like on the inside, so I guess I'll have to wait and see."
Kudo nodded back and glanced over at Clyte, sleeping in the left corner of the cave. I smiled, letting the firelight shine on my teeth. What a strange dimension I was in. All snowy with Dragonflys and strange reindeer animals.
"Hey Kudo, what are those hoofed animals with the long fur."
Kudo looked over to the remains of the animal Clyte had captured and said,"They're called Femnars. They're really quite gentle unless you get them mad. When they're angry, they use those awful horns on you. The Dragonflys and Femnars have been good friends for quite some time. The Dragonflys would dig the snow away so the Femnars could eat in exchange for burying themselves in the Femnars' fur. We used to love to do that, but the weather has become so severe that we can no longer dig through the snow. The Femnars won't let us live with them if we don't find them food, so we have to make do elsewhere." He sighed and shook his head. "Quite sad, really."
I nodded sadly and stared at Kudo with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry I can't be of some help, Kudo. But if we have to go out for some reason, I can take you in my fur. You don't have to repay me at all."
Kudo looked up at me with a sparkle in his eye and a smile on his face. "Really? You'd do that? Thank you sooooo much! That is so nice of you, my friend. By the way, what should I call you?"
I thought for a moment. Clyte didn't know my real name, and if he found out, I'd be dead meat. "My name is Wolfette," I told the creature.
Kudo nodded and said,"Alright. That's what I'll call you then." He spread his wings and stretched them out as far as they would go. Then, he stretched his legs, neck, tail, and fingers. Finally, he yawned and curled up into another ball.
I smiled and watched him drift off to sleep. Quickly, I turned human and walked over to the fire. How warm and homy it felt in the cave. With just the three of us, we wouldn't need much food. How wonderful this day was turning out. Hugging my knees up to my chest, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes. I fell asleep with time.
A month of living in a cave eventually passed. We only ventured out to eat snow or catch some food. Other than that, the weather was too severe to go out if it wasn't for necessities. I usually slept as a human, and when I woke up this particular morning, I woke to see Clyte hovering over me. I sat perfectly still, thinking something was wrong. He had big, worried eyes. I wanted to stretch, but I didn't know why Clyte was standing there. Until I found out, I decided to sit perfectly still. Clyte stared down at me for a moment, then looked away.
I raised an eyebrow and whispered,"Is it ok to move?"
Clyte nodded and continued staring into the fire. I stretched my arms and legs, neck and shoulders. Only after I'd scanned the room did I notice someone missing.
"Where's Kudo?" I asked Clyte.
He sighed and turned around. "Kudo said he didn't want to live here anymore, so he flew off. He said he'd never come back and to tell you goodbye."
I stared at Clyte and felt tears come to my eyes.
"His exact words were ‘Tell her I'm sorry. Tell ‘Sarah' I'll miss her."
I gasped and shook my head. Clyte glared down at me. I had dreamed one night and said my name in my dream. Kudo had heard me and when I had awakened, he had asked me why I had been saying ‘Sarah'. I told him it was my real name and not to tell Clyte. He must have forgotten! I backed up against the wall and tried to make myself disappear.
He'd heard Razor say my name before, but he thought it was an honest mistake. He knew that the Dragon Slayer's name would be Sarah. And he knew that he hated me, but now he hated me even more. Now that he knew that I was the Dragon Slayer, there would be no more mercy.
Clyte took two steps toward me and stopped. He glared down at me and said,"You almost froze every night you slept as a human. I saved you countless times by covering you with furs, building a bigger fire, or trying to keep you from frostbite by breathing on you. And this is the thanks I get! I find that you're my long awaited enemy! You're the Dragon Slayer!"
I could do nothing but nod. Clyte reached down and grabbed me by my neck. I couldn't breathe, and he knew it.
"So it was you all along! I never thought the prophecy would be fulfilled in my lifetime. Look at you. You're scrawny, young, and foolish. And yet, you managed to get past me all this time."
I tried to pry his fingers from around my neck, but nothing helped. Finally, Clyte set me on the floor and let me gasp for breath. I looked up fearfully, knowing he was stronger than me in any form. Clyte walked away from me and flew out of the cave. I couldn't believe I was stuck with him knowing who I was. I couldn't believe that Kudo had told him. I couldn't believe the key was gone! I rubbed my throat and looked around the cave. There was nothing to keep me from his anger. All I could do was get lucky.
After a half hour or so, Clyte came flying back into the cave. He stomped in and glared down at me. I felt so helpless in my human form.
"Go wolf," Clyte barked.
I jumped at his gruffness and changed to wolf. He grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and carried me out of the cave. Jumping into the icy wind, we flew off toward the place we had lost the key.
Clyte dropped me in the snow when we were five feet above the drift and yelled,"Get digging. Find the key!"
I whimpered as I dug. There was nothing I could do. My unicorn was too frozen and tired. My human form would do no good at all against a dragon. All my other forms were too beat up to do anything either. I dug and dug, knowing it was hopeless. Clyte hovered above me, watching, waiting. I was soon too tired to whimper and shivered instead. After an hour of digging, my paws began to itch.
"I'm getting frostbite. I can't dig if my paws won't work," I told Clyte.
He glared down at me, but he picked me up. Reluctantly, I might add. He flew me back to the cave and dropped me by the fire. I closed my eyes right where he'd dropped me and fell asleep.
Too exhausted to eat anything, I lay by the fire. Clyte grabbed me by my neck and carried me out of the cave. He flew me back to the drift, and I began to dig again. The wind had died away and the snow had stopped. There was a gray sky above me as I worked. I dug as quickly as I could. When three hours had passed, I reached the bottom. At the bottom, I found a glowing key. I saw the key and squeezed through the hole in the snow to grab it. Before I could get my teeth around it, I felt Clyte grab me by my tail and yank me out. I whimpered and whined at my hurting tail as he dropped me on the snow by my hole. He reached in with his long scaly hand and grabbed the key.
Holding it up in triumph, he said,"Now the decision. Should I leave you here or let my dragons have fun with you before you're killed." I shivered and whined as he glared down at me.
He smiled ruefully and said,"I think I'll leave you here."
Then he took the glowing key shape out of the key and formed it into a door. He waved goodbye to me and stepped through. That was when I lost all hope of ever getting home.
To read the next chapter of this story, please Click Here
Or go Back to the previous page.
Back Home
