Authors: Carmella Jones
“My wings are torn. It’ll take a little while for them to heal, but if they get better then I’ll be able to.” Kayzer replied, as he knew they could get better. Some herbs might help as well, internally and externally.
“Oh, wow, that must really hurt,” Ralph asked, unconsciously running his hand over his shoulder and rubbing it, as if he felt the pain himself. He couldn’t believe that anyone would put another creature through this sort of torment, but he was determined to put an end to it. The problem was just how he might be able to put an end to it. If Kayzer couldn’t fly, it wouldn’t be the safest thing to try and break him out. After all, a dragon, however stealthy he was in the dragon world, would stick out like a sore thumb trying to weave its way out of a heavily populated area such as a carnival tent.
“Yeah. It does,” Kayzer replied softly. It certainly didn’t help that his wings were tied together. He couldn’t even stretch them or spread them out. The holes were still there, but there wasn’t anything he could do to make them better. He just wanted to be free again, this was no life for any creature.
Ralph really felt his heart go out to Kayzer, but he didn’t know what he could do to help him. The fact that something must be done was self evident, though, so Ralph pulled his pocket knife out. He could cut through the ropes binding Kayzer’s wings, at least. That wasn’t much, but it was a start to help the dragon out.
“Turn around and get your wings as close to the bars as you can. I’m going to try and cut those ropes off, and then we can go from there,” Ralph said. That seemed almost impossible to Kayzer, or maybe it was just too good to be true. So, he managed to get himself turned around, then leaned back pressing his injured wings up against the bars, trying to angle himself so Ralph could get access to his ropes.
“Can you reach it?” Kayzer asked, as he needed to know how far away Ralph was, and what he had to do to get freed.
“Yeah, just hold still,” Ralph said as he set his knife to the task of carefully sawing through the thick ropes, being cautious not to cut Kayzer. The last thing he wanted was for Kayzer to think that this whole thing was just one elaborate put on. Eventually, he did get the ropes cut, and they fell to the bottom of the metal cage with a heavy thud.
“There. Now I just need to think of a way to get you out of there, and safely,” Ralph mused softly. It wouldn’t be an easy task, but they had to do it.
“They have keys near the tiger’s cage I think,” Kayzer said, spreading out his wings a little, then retracting them again so they wouldn’t make too much noise against the steel bars. The last thing they needed was for the staff to poke their heads in before they escaped.
At that, Ralph turned towards the tigers cage. The animal growled as he approached, seeing as he was a stranger. As he reached for the keys, the tiger violently swatted at the cage, but despite being startled, Ralph was fine. He quickly grabbed the keys and made his way back to Kayzer’s cage. Just as he was ready to put the key through the lock, he heard someone behind him talking.
“Damn tiger acting up again,” the voice grumbled. Ralph quickly ducked down, holding the key to his chest and concealing himself behind some bags of feed.
He was not hidden a moment too soon before the light of a lantern pierced the gentle gloom of the predator's den. The circus worker moved forward towards the tiger. All the while, the best continued to growl and snarl and bat his huge, clawed paws towards Ralph. The carnival worker, however, turned only to see Kayzer.
“You would think after all this time you would get used to that worthless reptile,” the man grunted, taking a spare stick and knocking the tiger on the head with it to get the animal to shut up, then he left the room grumbling.
The whole while, Ralph hardly ventured to even breath. Kayzer kept himself low to the ground with his wings locked in, making sure to look as innocent as possible as the guard left. He didn’t want any suspicions to be raised now. He still had a restricted muzzle, so he couldn’t even use his fire to break free. They had to be careful.
Ralph waited for about fifteen minutes after the the carnival worker left before he spoke up. “Okay. I just started to wonder if maybe we might need an escape plan for after I unlock your cage?” he asked softly.
“Well, maybe fire might distract them while we make our escape?” Kayzer suggested, as it seemed like the most obvious plan to him. It was one of his basic defensive techniques after all, and he was pretty fireproof himself.
“Like, just set the tent on fire? Is that what you’re suggesting?” Ralph asked, feeling a bit uneasy about that suggestion. He’d be roasted alive!
“Sure. You can ride out on my back. If you shelter in my wings you won’t feel the fire.” Kayzer replied, as he was sure he could keep Ralph safe. They just had to blaze the place, and charge out. All Ralph had to do was take off his restrictive muzzle so he could torch the tent down.
“Okay. Okay, we can do this,” Ralph said, trying to pump himself up, then he got out of his hiding place, unlocked Kayzer’s cage, and took his pocket knife to the muzzle that Kayzer was wearing. Once he dropped that to the ground, he waited for Kayzer to do his thing, albeit a bit nervously.
“Get on my back, things are gonna get hot,” Kayzer said, spreading his torn wings so Ralph could hop on. Things were going to get hot very fast, and Kayzer would have to make sure the other animals would be safe too, so they needed to be careful and quick, free these caged beasts and set the place alight.
Ralph did as he was instructed, surprised to see the tattered state of Kayzer’s wings. The poor thing must have been in utter agony, but there was no time for solemn reflection on that count. Not at the moment, anyways. He had to focus on the task before him and let Kayzer take care of their only chance at getting away.
With Ralph on his back, Kayzer got to work. He charged to the door of the elephant’s pen, and with his powerful jaw, ripped it off his hinges. The large mammals ran free, bellowing loudly and raised their trunks as they made their escape. After that, Kayzer released the horses, then the seals and lastly, the tigers. The animals made quite a chaos of noise and damage, soon grabbing the attention of the circus staff, but they were a little too late. The animals were already running through the hole the elephants made at the side of the tent, and it would soon be Kayzer’s turn, but not just yet.
As the staff tried to grab their weapons and ropes to recapture the dragon, Kayzer rose onto his hind legs and shot a whirlwind of fire towards the ceiling. It only took seconds for the materials to become engulfed in flames. Now it was time to move. Kayzer withdrew his wings, sheltering Ralph underneath them as he turned and leapt towards the edge of the tent. He ran as fast as his feeble legs could carry him before bursting through the tent wall and trying to flee to safety.
“Where should we go?” Kayzer asked, just continuing to run as the flames began to eat away at the circus tent.
“Head south. There’s some woods there that we could hide in. I don’t think Ma would much appreciate me bringing home a dragon,” Ralph replied, clinging to Kayzer for dear life.
“To the south it is,” Kayzer repeated, then headed south for as long as his tired limbs would carry him. He galloped away from the town and into the woods until he found a little sanctuary in the woods. A nice, cozy clearing with plenty of shade from the trees and a little stream flowing through. Kayzer opened his wings here and let Ralph jump off his back, then headed to the stream, dipping his muzzle in for a well needed drink.
Once they were in the little clearing, Ralph hopped off of Kayzer’s back and flopped the the ground. He didn’t know what to do at this point, but he couldn’t very well leave Kayzer to fend for himself when the poor thing was battered and bruised. Still, he didn’t know what to do, or where even to start. Kayzer certainly wouldn’t survive if he couldn’t fly. He’d easily become a victim of the predators that stalked the wild, including other dragons from other clans.
For the moment, though, Kayzer seemed rather content. He was just glad to be free from the chains and the cages. It was nice to smell the woods again, feel the calm breeze brushing up against his scales. This was paradise compared to the circus, though, probably not much safer.
“So, where are you going to go from here, Kayzer? Do you remember where your home is? Or do you know somewhere safe you can go?” Ralph asked. They couldn’t very well stay in the woods indefinitely. Especially considering there would be search parties coming after them soon. So they would have to get going.
“I suppose I need to head towards the mountains, see if I can find any of my kind. I don’t recognise these places though. I’ve been moved around quite a lot, but I’m sure it won’t be too hard to find,” Kayzer replied, trying to be hopeful. He really didn’t know what to do, but he knew he couldn’t strain himself too much until his wings had healed. He was useless until then, just another ground bound lizard.
“Mountains, huh? Well, there are some mountains to the south, but it would be a couple day’s journey. I would have to get some supplies from home, because I couldn’t make it on my own. Then we should get moving so no one from town can catch up to up and try and take you back,” Ralph said.
“You’re coming with me?” Kayzer asked, a little surprised at that. Did this human not have a home? A life here? That’s what Kayzer assumed. That, or maybe he was just an angel who had come to rescue him. Kayzer quite liked the latter option if he was honest with himself.
“Well, yeah, I guess. I let you out of the cage, and I think I should see things through to the end. Especially since your wings are all tattered,” Ralph replied. “I mean, no offense but I kind of doubt you’d even be able to make it home by yourself.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Kayzer sighed and just laid himself down by the stream, giving his tired limbs a good rest. The chances of him surviving on his own are pretty slim, he knew that, so it was best that he stayed with someone who knew what they were doing. He’d get himself cleaned up while Ralph was away, at least that would keep him occupied as he didn’t know how long Ralph would be, and a bath certainly sounded nice right now.
“I’m going to head home, make sure my ma and pa know I’ll be back in a week or two, grab some supplies, then we’ll get going,” Ralph said. He just hoped he could get to his little farm house without anyone from town seeing him, because that could mean trouble. Surely everyone was looking for him, so he would have to exercise the utmost caution.
“Alright, I’ll see you soon,” Kayzer replied, wishing Ralph goodbye. He would have accompanied him, but he was too tired, and it was far too dangerous for them to be seen together. So, he would wait here, rest up, find somewhere close by to make a camp for the night.
Chapter 2
Ralph made the journey home as quickly as his legs could carry him, but he was getting very tired. When he did get home, his mother was sitting up in the kitchen by candle light, and she stood up as soon as she saw him. “Ralphie! The carnival’s tent burned down! I was afraid that you were hurt! Why didn’t you come straight home?” she demanded as she went over and gave her son a hug. Ralph hugged her back, then gave her a kiss on the forehead.
“Sorry, Ma. It’s kinda a long story,” Ralph replied feebly.
“Well, you’re home now. That’s all that matters,” she said, giving him a kiss and then a pat on the back. “Next time, though, rather than have your mother worry herself into an early grave, come back home right away!”
“About that, Ma,” Ralph said, taking his mother’s hand. “I’ve got somethin’ to tell ya. Okay?” he said, and his mother looked at him curiously. “When I was at the carnival, I saw some of the guys that worked there treating this . . .” Ralph hesitated. He was going to just be honest with his mother, as she had beat it into him that lying was no good for anything but hurting people. This was one thing that he didn’t feel like he could tell the truth about. “This kid. They beat him and whipped him, and kept him in a cage.” His mother gasped at this, and he went on. “I’m going to take him up to the mountains, because the people there are known for their hospitality. Someone would adopt him, and he’d be safer there than in an orphanage,” Ralph explained.
“I see,” his mother said softly, then nodded. “Well, it can’t be helped. I was sorry for Old Barnabus when I heard that his tent burned down, but if he’s treating his performers like slaves, then it serves him right! Let’s get you some supplies together,” his mother said, then the two of them set to packing a backpack. Once Ralph had all the provisions he could carry, he left his mom after giving her a kiss and headed back to the forest clearing where he had left Kayzer.
Kayzer had certainly kept himself busy while Ralph was away. He found a nice cave not too far from the stream that looked perfect to spend the night in. He checked it was empty before going back to the clearing, as he knew Ralph would meet him there. Still, Ralph wasn’t going to be here for awhile, and Kayzer needed to let his dragon body heal.
So, Kayzer morphed into his human form, to which looked like a twenty one year old man. He was tall, about six foot one, with a toned slender body and long brown hair that came down to his belly button. It was rather wavy and messy, but he didn’t mind. He was more interested in taking a bath and getting cleaned up. He stepped into the stream, shivering as the cold water glided against his body, then started to wash up, glad to feel himself being cleansed in the clean water. When Ralph had arrived, he was still there.
“Did you get everything you needed, Ralph?” Kayzer asked as he cleaned his arms.
When Ralph saw a human in the clearing where he had left Kayzer, he was quite confused. He even was concerned that possibly the carnival workers found Kayzer and took him back, which very well could have meant Kayzer’s death. Yet, the man spoke with Kayzer’s voice.
“Who are you?” Ralph asked, ignoring the man’s question and posing one of his own. Kayzer looked confused for a moment. He brushed his hair to the side for a moment and looked at Ralph with a rather bewildered expression, but it soon clicked to him why Ralph was acting so strange.
“Oh, it’s me. Kayzer. I didn’t tell you I had a human form, did I?”
“No . . .” Ralph replied hesitantly, not really knowing how to take that. The man just said it so matter of factly, too! As if it were obvious that dragons had human forms! Ralph had no idea. “Well, then, to answer your question, I did get everything. I only brought one sleeping bag, though, because I figured you wouldn’t need it.”
“Oh, well, don’t worry about me. I should be fine. I can make a fire, and it’s not that cold this time of year. I found a nice cave not too far off we can spend the night in. I’ve even put firewood in there ready to go,” Kayzer said, then got out of the water, revealing pretty much everything to Ralph. As he had just changed from his dragon form to his human form, he didn’t have any clothes to wear or change into, so he was completely naked from head to toe, and he didn’t seem to mind at all. “Shall we get going?”
Seeing Kayzer in all his glory gave Ralph pause for a moment. He was just letting it all hang out, quite literally. Ralph wasn’t expecting that, and his eyes were glued to Kayzer’s body for a moment before he regained control of himself and nodded. “Yeah, we can go,” he said, then followed Kayzer’s lead to the cave. He was having a hard time not staring though.
Kayzer happily lead the way, taking the short walk from the clearing to the nice secluded cave, which only took about five minutes to get too. He hadn’t even noticed Ralph staring at him. If Kayzer was honest with himself, he wouldn’t have thought it was a big deal being naked near another male, it’s not like it was something they hadn’t really seen before, as far as he was concerned anyway. So, there were certainly no awkward feelings from his side, and when he got to the cave he happily sat down by the firewood, and started making a fire with some rocks, as he couldn’t be bothered changing back into his dragon form. It took far too much energy.
Though surprised with Kayzer’s easiness in walking around in the nude, Ralph didn’t say anything to him. Once they got to the cave, Ralph rolled out his sleeping bag and put it on the ground. He felt bad thinking of Kayzer sleeping on the hard rock, though. That couldn’t be very comfortable.
“Hey, Kayzer, are you sure you want to sleep on the ground? It’s kinda hard,” Ralph said. Kayzer would probably wake up all stiff and sore, and Ralph didn’t want that. Of course, he didn’t know what the best solution was, but there had to be something.
“Well, there’s not much I can use for bedding. I would usually go out and hunt for something if I didn’t have any with me, but I’m not fit to hunt right now. So, the floor will do,” Kayzer replied, though didn’t seem too bothered by it. He’d had to do this before, so it wasn’t a huge hardship. It might be a bit cold but he would live with it. He had his fire now and that was warming him up nicely, he’d just be sure to keep it going.
“You know what? You can sleep in my sleeping bag with me. I don’t want you to have to sleep on the floor while I have a nice cosy place to sleep. It just doesn’t seem right,” Ralph replied, though he wasn’t sure he’d be able to sleep all that well with Kayzer’s naked body beside him. Still, his mother taught him better than to just leave someone to suffer if it was within his power to help, so help he would.
“Are you sure? Do you think i’d fit?” Kayzer asked, as he didn’t know how big sleeping bags would be, he’d never really used one before, he tended to just have a blanket, but he was happy to give it a shot.
“Yeah, you’ll fit,” Ralph replied, setting down his bag and unhooking the sleeping bag, then lying it out. Though it was meant for one person, as long as you didn’t mind being close, two people could fit inside rather easily. Ralph was just wondering how he would fair. Kayzer just watched, though he was unsure if he should approach. He had never slept so close to someone he had never known, but he knew he could trust Ralph. The man had saved his life, so he would go along with his wishes and give it a try.
So, Kayzer left the comfort of his fire and went over to the sleeping bag, taking little look at it and playing with the flap for a minute, then looked at his friend.
“Is it bedtime now? Or shall we stay up a bit longer?”
“I’m tired, so I’ll go to bed. If you’re not tired yet, you don’t have to,” Ralph answered. It probably would have been better if he could have gotten off to bed before Kayzer, so that he didn’t have to be right next to him while he was trying to get to sleep. That would be much easier, but probably wouldn’t happen.
“Well, I have nothing to stay up for. It’s probably best for an early night, we can leave at dawn and get a good start at getting to the mountains,” Kayzer suggested, and waited for Ralph to get into the sleeping bag so he could join. He didn’t realise how awkward Ralph felt like that, as Kayzer didn’t even think there was anything too wrong with this, nothing to feel embarrassed about anyway.
“All right, that sounds good,” Ralph said a bit uneasily, then climbed into the sleeping bag and made himself comfortable. This wasn’t the most ideal situation, granted, but he wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing Kayzer was trying to get through the night lying on the cold, hard floor of the cave. Kayzer soon joined Ralph inside, managing to squeeze himself in and settle down inside the sleeping bag.
“Well, this is a tight squeeze,” Kayzer chuckled, as there really wasn’t much room to wiggle here.
“Yeah, it is a bit tight. Better than you being cold and sleeping on the ground, though,” Ralph said, trying to distract himself now, because he was more than a little uncomfortable right now. He was even starting to get an erection, which was just about the worst thing that could happen while he was in such close quarters with Kayzer.
“Much better,” Kayzer chuckled, as it was much warmer in here than on the cold floor, though, he could feel something poking into him, and he wasn’t too sure what it was, it was strange though. “Umm… I think something is poking me… I don’t quite know what it is though. Can you feel it?”
Ralph immediately felt his face flush. Great. Now he was really at a loss for words, and he was sure that Kayzer would run away or something if he found out what really was poking him. “U-um, no. No, I don’t feel anything. We had better head off to sleep. No sense staying up all night,” Ralph replied, and turned over on his side so he was facing away from Kayzer.
“Alright,” Kayzer yawned, getting himself as snuggled up as he could before he closed his eyes and tried to get himself to sleep. Sure, it was indeed quite a tight squeeze for them both, but this was much better than a hard floor or a cage, so it really didn’t take long for Kayzer to drift soundly to sleep.
Ralph was not so lucky. He could hardly sleep, because he couldn’t stop thinking about having Kayzer’s naked body lying right there next to him. He was gorgeous no less! Ralph couldn’t very well take advantage of him, though. No, that would be wrong. Completely and totally wrong. Yet, he wanted to at least try. He couldn’t find the words though, so in the end he just didn’t.