Friends and Harmony

Chapter 15

Escape

Tobias had tried to climb up the deep crater for about the sixteenth time, but still to no avail. When he slid back down to the ground, he pounded his fist into the loose dirt.

"We have to get out of here." He said, looking up at the edge of the crater. "We have to save Henry."

"But how?" Violet asked, while rubbing her bare arms, clearly uneasy.

Cosette came to the den walls. "It's too steep to climb out."

Tobias stood up and dusted off his flight suit. "That could been good to know about six minutes ago." He grumbled.

The huntress ignored him. "And it's about 15 feet from down here."

"So, in other words, we're stuck here?" Felix asked, crossing his arms.

"I don't want to lose hope yet." Cosette answered.

Ritchie saw his lasso hanging from his waist. He remembered that his lasso was about 20 feet long. He grabbed it and began to twirl it around as he searched for a target. Up above the edge, there was a stone outcropping that was 19 feet above him.

"Have we tried this?" He asked as he threw the lasso up with all his might. The loop zoomed through the air and landed on the outcropping. Ritchie tightened it to make it secure. "Who's up first?"

"You're a genius, Ritchie!" Cosette exclaimed as she gave the cowboy a quick hug, then started to climb up the wall, not noticing that Ritchie was frozen in shock and had a bright pink blush blooming across his cheeks.

The others smirked at the smitten Iverson boy, and Tobias lightly punched him in the shoulder.

"Come on, lover boy." He teased, finally snapping him out of his daze.

"Put an apple in it, Toothless." Ritchie growled as he followed Cosette up the wall. Tobias only gave him a mischievous grin before following suit, along with Felix and Violet.

Soon, all of them reached the top of the den crater, and Ritchie pulled his lasso back down to him. "So, anybody have an idea on how to get back to Berkton?" He asked while coiling his lasso and putting it back on his waist. "Odds are, that's where Alvin took Henry, since he wants to plan his "reunion" with the King and Queen."

"It will take too long to walk back." Cosette pointed out.

"And we don't have the time to do so." Felix added. "Who knows what's going to happen to Henry and his parents if we don't get there in time."

"I wouldn't want to think of the worst." Violet shuddered.

Tobias slightly tapped his finger against his face, deep in thought. "If only we had some sort of transport; like a tram car or a plane. Then we would ride or fly over back to town."

Suddenly, the young pilot began glowing bright green, shocking everyone.

"What the heck?" Ritchie shouted.

"What is happening?" Tobias asked, sounding a little freaked out.

In a blast of green light, his Guardian Dragon burst out of the young pilot's form and roared, spreading out its majestic bat-like wings.

The ethereal dragon spirit landed on the ground, next to Tobias. It nudged him gently, feeling as real as can be, and gestured to its back with its head. It seemed to ask him to climb on.

The pilot pointed to himself, asking if it meant him. The dragon nodded as it stared at him with its piercing black eyes. Tobias saw his reflection clearly in the onyx black orbs, as if they were polished river stones with a light shining in them. He then nodded slowly and climbed onto its neck.

Everyone else was in awe. "How did you do that?" Violet asked him.

"I don't know." Tobias answered. "I just thought of flying, then the Guardian Dragon appeared." An idea then popped into his head. "Guys, think of flight, and if I'm right, we're going to see some serious fireworks."

"I thought fireworks were my thing." Felix said, trying to make a small joke.

The big shot pilot just glared at his daredevil friend. "Just do it." He said.

The others all raised a curious eyebrow, but then just shrugged, seeing that it was worth a shot. After all, they all would try anything to save their friend. They shut their eyes and imagined the joy of flight; the wind blowing through their hair and whipping past their ears.

After a few seconds, they all began to glow their Guardian Dragons' respective colors; Ritchie orange, Cosette yellow, Felix blue, and Violet the color that is her namesake. In a pillar of their glowing color, the other four Guardian Dragons appeared, just as majestic and spiritual as before, but feeling real to the touch.

The gang all looked at each other in awe, but then Tobias smiled and gestured to the others to climb aboard the dragons. They looked at the dragons, who simply nodded in response. One by one, they each swung over their dragon's neck and made themselves comfortable.

Suddenly, one at a time, each Guardian Dragon flapped their wings and swooped up into the sky through the open ceiling, leaving a trail of colored dust.

Back in the Berkton library, Astrid peeked out of the curtains. Still, the whole town was deathly quiet. Something was bound to happen any second. She just knew it.

She closed the curtain and went back to the main room, where King Stephen was pacing back and forth across the room, while Queen Valerie was trying to read a book. But her husband's pacing was starting to get to her.

"Stephen, settle down." She said to him, closing her book with a loud snap. "They will be all right."

Stephen finally stopped in his pacing steps, looking over to his wife. He sighed. "I'm not worried about them or their abilities. They must find the Guardian Dragons. But I am concerned about Henry."

"Why should you be worried about him?" Astrid asked. "I know him pretty well. He could take care of himself, and if he got in trouble, the others will be able to pull him out of it." She said confidently.

The King of Berk sighed, and for the first time, a sadness stole into his eyes like a cloud. "I just can't bear to lose him again."

Valerie shared his sorrow as she stood up from the table and gently grabbed his huge arm. But Astrid was confused. "Again? What do you mean, 'again'?" She asked.

The royals looked over at the young Hofferson girl. "There is something you should know." The Queen said.

But before she could speak, a blast of midnight blue magic broke apart the huge picture window, making glass shards fly everywhere. Stephen shielded Valerie and Astrid as a figure floated in, a wispy tentacle of magic trailing behind it.

"I'd figured ye would be hiding here." A voice said. The three turned to the broken window to see who it was.

"Alvin." Stephen growled. But Valerie and Astrid were focusing on the magic tentacle, or rather, who was tangled up in it.

"Henry!" They shouted, seeing that the tentacle was wrapped tightly around his waist as he struggled to break free.

"Let me go!" He shouted. Alvin merely chuckled.

"Really, lad?" He questioned. "I thought I was doing ya a favor. Reuniting you with your parents."

Astrid glanced at the king and queen, then back at Henry, pondering Alvin's words. Then, it struck her. If what the corrupted ex-advisor said was true, then Henry is the Lost Prince. But it seemed that he wasn't faring well with it, either.

Stephen narrowed his eyes sharply at Alvin. "Release him!" He bellowed. But the distressed sound of Henry's wavering voice made him freeze.

"Did you know?" He asked. The king and queen looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet his betrayed gaze. "Did you?!" He screamed this time.

The two only nodded. Henry felt tears starting to run down his cheeks. He then stared down at the marble floor that was a couple of feet below him. "How long have you known?" He quietly asked.

Valerie softly answered. "Since we first saw you in the orphanage."

They have known for five years. "Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, still looking at the floor, not wanting to see their sorrowful looks, Alvin's devious smirk, and Astrid looking at him just as shocked as he was. It seemed that she only knew that he was to defeat Alvin, not that he was the prince.

"We wanted to tell you when you were older. Actually, tomorrow, during the final festivity, we were going to announce your return to us." Stephen explained. "You were only ten years old when we brought you back to the castle, still a little too young to understand the responsibilities of a prince, so we thought that with time and subtle training, you would be able to at least handle some of them."

"Oh, bah!" Alvin scoffed. "Soon, he won't have any of that to be bothered with." He then began to make the tentacle of magic come closer to him. Henry was still eyeing all the details of the polished marble tiles. "Or ever."

Astrid grabbed a hidden knife from the pocket of her skirt. "You touch him, and I'll make you bleed, even if you have magic." She threatened, her steel blue eyes as hard as the metal.

Suddenly, Henry finally grabbed his dagger from his waist and amazingly sliced himself free of the midnight blue magic tentacle wrapped around him. Alvin shouted in pain as the tentacle dissipated into thin air.

Henry landed on the floor and on his feet. "Astrid, get..." He paused for a couple of seconds, either not knowing the right words, or if he couldn't believe the words he would say next. "...My parents, to a safer place." He breathed heavily, not sure if to believe that he actually said the words he hoped all his life to call two special people. Henry quickly regained his composure, seeing that Alvin was recovering. "I'll lead him away." He then dashed out of the library.

"Henry!" The other three people called out to him. But Alvin was already starting the chase.

"You can't hide forever, lad!" He shouted as he too zoomed out of the building and into the fading night to hunt him down.

Author's Note

A/N: All right! I think only two or three chapters left! I'm glad to everyone who has liked this story so far, and soon, it will be completely done.

And my tablet just crashed, so sadly, no updates on anything until I get it fixed.

I'll see y'all in Chapter 16! Please let me know about what you guys think.

Got to fly! ;)