Penny and the Dragons #4
Episode four: Wingspan.
Penny stood watching the water. Perhaps it had all been a tide, for though the swirling did seem unusual, there seemed to be no evidence that there was anything under the boat but water. It was hard to tell for sure though, as it was getting darker by the minute, and had it not been for the full moon, she wouldn’t have been able to see much at all.
The deck felt like a rather scary place now, as not only had she been stuck outside on the way out to the island, but seeing that there was at least one criminal onboard, she was now too scared to leave the deck because she feared what she would find.
As it was that she didn’t know what else to do, she hid behind a large, solid metal box and waited. The metal seemed to radiate the cold night air, but Penny quickly realised that she didn’t have to worry if she made a sound, as she could hear something inside the box, and that would mask any sound from her.
“Hello?” whispered Penny towards the box.
Penny heard something sniff and whine slightly, but the creature sounded defeated, and quickly settled back down. Penny felt certain that it was a dragon, but there were not meant to be any dragons onboard the boat.
As there was a criminal steering the boat, and with the possibility of co-conspirators being onboard, Penny figured that they must have been smuggling a dragon off the island.
The boat rocked, and rocked, several times. It felt rather rough for how calm the water had appeared.
“Cabin secure,” yelled a man, clearly to let his co-conspirator know.
Penny looked out, and silently gasped. She knew the man. Surely this is how the prisoners escaped, as one of the staff was a traitor. Penny didn’t know his name, but she’d seen him around the island.
The man walked around the deck, checking various things that Penny knew nothing about, and he also seemed to be searching the deck for anyone that shouldn’t be there. She had nowhere to run to and was cornered. As the man scoured each corner of the deck, she knew it would only be a matter of time before he’d find her.
“There you are, Penny,” said the man as he grabbed her arm, “I knew you were here somewhere.”
“Can you please take me back to the island, please, I just want to go back to my uncle,” she begged.
“Penny, Penny, it’s much too late for that, you’ll just have to spend the rest of your life living on this boat… as in, the last few minutes of your life.
“You’re evil,” said Penny.
“No… just highly motivated. You’ll understand one day.”
“I’m sure that I won’t.”
“No… well, not with your current predicament.”
The boat rocked again. The man looked out to the water confused. “It’s meant to be a calm night.”
The boat rocked yet again, this time rolling rather far before levelling out. Once again, the boat rocked, then all of a sudden, it felt as if the boat hit a sand bank.
The thud threw Penny and the man a few metres apart, and they landed rather unceremoniously on the deck. Penny was not the only one that was confused.
As she looked up, she saw her, rising from the water, like the true majestic beast that she was, the Sheeking had come to rescue her, and Penny was now even more grateful for the unrelenting nature of this friend.
In one great flap, Coral shot upwards, and as her shoulders curled, her wings spread out. Her shimmering scales, that lit up in the light of the full moon, shed speckled light over the surface of the deck.
The traitor stood up and looked at Penny, he’d seen her too. His face looked as if he’d seen a ghost. As fear took him, Penny all but hoped that he would feel no pain, as she knew that Coral was moving towards him, and that it was not going to end well.
As her large form, drifted over the boat, Coral picked up the man by the head, tossed him in the air, and catching him again, swallowed him whole.
Penny screamed. She might have been a rather strong female in many ways, but growing up in a peaceful community did not prepare her for such horror.
She felt like fainting, but seemingly from nowhere, she mustered the strength to make her way down to the men below the deck, to see if she could free them.
Penny could hear someone banging on the door of the kitchen, which was locked from the outside, but thankfully, the man had left the key in the door. As Penny opened the door, she saw a grown man crying.
“The food was… poisoned,” he said. His name is Jovis, and Penny was relieved that he was not a traitor also.
The room stunk like vomit, and Jovis was rather covered in his own, which, though disgusting, was probably the only reason he was okay. As Penny looked into the room, she saw several men passed out at the table.
“Are they…?” started Penny, trying not to cry.
“They seem to be breathing… I think, but I need to get them back to Stellium as soon as possible. Thank you for rescuing us, Penny.”
“Please, don’t thank me, this is all my fault,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks, “If it wasn’t for Coral, we’d all be dead.”
“Your dragon came to rescue you?” he asked, “I’ve never heard of that happening.”
Penny and Jovis made their way up the stairs and peeked out. It seemed that it was only the two criminals that had come onboard.
“I think the prisoner is steering the boat,” said Penny, “I’m not sure if Shrimpy is okay.”
Jovis nodded. “There is a lock in the wheel house, surely, the man would have locked himself inside,” he said as he pulled an axe from a small cabinet next to the stairs. “Unfortunately, there are no proper weapons on board, to prevent anyone using them against the dragons. I think there is a taser… but come to think of it, it’s in the wheel house.”
“Axe it is,” said Penny, “Oh, and Coral ate that guy,” she said in a concerned tone.
“Thanks for the heads up,” said Jovis, which under normal circumstances, would have been funny.
They slowly and silently made there way to the wheel house. Coral seemed to be nowhere in sight.
“Quickly,” said Penny, “I don’t want Coral to think you’re a bad guy.”
“Stay here,” said Jovis, as he ran over to the wheel house, and begun swinging the axe at the door, to break through.
Penny could see the man inside, franticly searching for something to use as a weapon. The prisoner was a strong looking man, with a pot belly, and a blonde beard, so Jovis would be glad to have an axe, seeing that in stature, he was no match. Eventually Jovis broke through the door.
“Come out and face me,” yelled Jovis.
“No, bring that axe in here, where there isn’t enough space to swing it.”
Penny looked over at the metal box that she was sure, held a mid-sized dragon inside, and without thinking, she ran over to Jovis, grabbed the axe, and begun swinging the axe to break open the lock.
Once the lock was off, Penny slowly lifted the lid, and, with tears in her eyes, she said to the dragon that was inside, “Please help us.”
The dragon was iridescent, bright blue, and it had a thin white stripe that ran down the line of its pointy back and tail. At that moment, Penny had no idea that all of this had happened because that dragon was so special, and she wouldn’t find out why they wanted it so much for a bit longer.
The dragon peeked out and looked around. It seemed extremely peaceful despite how it had been treated. Though it moved rather slowly at first, to get out of the box, it sprung up and leapt over the edge. The dragon didn’t seem to be overly interested in Penny, but as it sniffed the air, its eyes seemed to fill with rage, and it begun running full pelt, over to the wheel house.
Penny looked over at Jovis, who had now collapsed on the deck. Clearly, the poison in his body had taken over.
As it was that she was too scared to watch, Penny crouched down near Jovis, and listened to the banging, crashing, and screams that came from the wheel house.
“Yunefftotrnthbtrnd,” said Jovis.
“What?”
“You… neef… a tn… d… bt… rnd,” he tried again.
“You need to turn the boat around?” asked Penny.
She was sure it must have been what he said, but he now seemed to be completely passed out. Penny was now alone with a criminal and a dragon… and a fuzzlepuff.
Penny took a deep breath to muster courage, then she walked towards the wheel house, which had now gone silent. As she approached, she saw the dragon dragging the man out. At the very least, he was unconscious.
“Okay… okay, don’t freak out,” she said as she kept going.
As she peered into the wheel house, her heart sunk. all the controls were damaged, and, it crossed her mind, that even if they weren’t, she still wouldn’t know how to steer the boat or get back to the island anyway.
“What have I done?” she screeched at the top of her lungs.
All in an instant, the back of the boat lowered considerably, with a thud. Penny looked over.
“Coral?” Penny screamed in relief.
Coral was perched, somewhat like a bird, on the back lip of the boat. Penny didn’t know it, but Coral had decided, that if Penny was not going to stay on the island, that she’d simply follow Penny wherever she was going. No, Coral did not understand that doing that, would be a bad idea for herself, but at least, on this occasion, her rash decision, saved Penny’s life.
Penny ran over, “Coral, please help us. If these men don’t get back soon, they are all going to die. I don’t know what to do,” Penny cried.
Coral flapped her wings to gain momentum, then she began flapping out of sync, to make the boat turn, and change course. The boat engines had still been running, but something wasn’t right. The boat was slowing down, so Coral let out a deafening scream, as she tried to move the boat along, all on her own.
A few minutes later, Penny could see Coral’s herd, who had heard the cry for help, and were now flying towards them.
As they approached, even though it was nighttime, Penny could see them in the light of the full moon. They glistened like something otherworldly, and Penny was filled with hope.
Once they got near enough, they spun, and spectacularly dove into the sea, with very little splash.
Moments later, the boat began moving in the direction of the island.
So many tears streamed down Penny’s face, that it was amazing she could see at all, and though it was a spectacular event, all that Penny was thinking, was that she hoped there was enough time to save the men… and Shrimpy, though Penny had no idea if he was even still on board.
As they moved towards the island, Penny sat on the deck with Jovis, who was too heavy for Penny to move, and she tried her best to brace herself for what her uncle would say.
Penny hated that she had disappointed Hugo, but this was much more than a simple inconvenience. She was heading back to an Island that she was sent away from, in a dragon propelled boat, full of dying men, and she knew that it was all her fault.
The blue dragon returned from wherever he dragged the man to, and for no reason that made sense to Penny, her new dragon friend walked over, and plonked itself down next to her.
All this time, the fuzzlepuff had slept quietly in Penny’s pocket, unfazed.
As the island came into view, Penny couldn’t help but have mixed feelings and fears about what would happen next.
Off in the distance, Penny could see a light. There stood Stellium holding a lamp. He knew something strange was happening, as he’d heard Coral scream. He was there waiting for the boat to dock, and beside him stood Hugo.
Penny stood up, and walked towards the front of the boat. Her new, blue dragon, walked with her.
Standing at the bow of the boat with her dragon, Penny yelled, “I’m sorry,” as loud as she could, towards the docks. She knew it wouldn’t change anything, but it helped her to manage a small amount of the guilt that she was feeling.
Moments felt like hours, as the boat approached the island. Coral and her herd, had not faltered once, and the boat was making record speed. Penny was on edge, and felt a hard lump in her throat from fear. ‘What if all the men die?’ thought Penny. ‘What if Shrimpy was thrown overboard?’
But as the boat was about to reach the dock, she couldn’t let fear overtake her. “Stellium,” she yelled, “All the men have been poisoned. Please, assemble a medical team.”
Stellium pulled a loud whistle from his pocket. It sounded out for all those that knew what it meant.
As Penny knew that she no longer had to be strong in that moment, she dropped to the deck, and cried.
The dragons silently slowed the boat down, and edged it towards the dock. This was not normal dragon behaviour, and nobody could deny that this was different.
“Oh Penny, what am I going to do with you?” asked Hugo, as he jumped on board, and then lifted Penny up into his arms.
“I’m so sorry,” she cried.
“You are freezing cold,” said Hugo, but Penny had not noticed.
Penny could see many men rushing onto the boat. She hoped with every single, little part of herself, that all of the men would be okay, and she tried desperately to prevent herself from fearing the worst.
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