Chapter 2Brother Dragon
As day broke, I awoke in the demolished, but peaceful inn. I looked around and not a soul was in sight.
I gathered my things and made for the door, when I noticed a note on the front desk. I picked up the note. It was from Brynn.
Ryu,
I have gathered provisions and fighters. Lance
left with me this morning; there is no need to
worry. Meet me at the Crusty Loafer when
you are ready to leave.
,Brynnwal
I looked down at the note. One thing stuck out at me. “The Crusty Loafer” I’ve never heard of this place before.
Suddenly I heard Hans’ voice ring through my head. “I’m the finest chef in all the land.”
“It must mean Hans’ bread shoppe.” I said to myself.
I grabbed up the note and made my exit. The smell of delicious bread did not fill the air like it did yesterday. Instead it smelled of manure and paint.
I headed down the street to the Crusty Loafer, but when I arrived I was astonished to find that the place was lock. So I knocked on the door.
There was a tiny sliding door built into the door itself at about eye level. It opened and behind the sliding door was a man, but I could only see one of his eyes and nothing else. The eye examined me from head to toe.
The man began to speak, “What’s the password?”
“Password?” I asked, “What password?”
“No password, no admittance.” The man’s eye disappeared as the tiny door slammed shut.
“No admittance… Guess this isn’t the place.” I said to myself.
At that moment, Brynn’s voice shot through my mind. “Keep your promises. Free admittance for life.” The words, now burnt into my mind, I go back up to the door and give a firm knock.
The tiny door opened up again. The man behind the door began to speak, “Password?”
“Keep your promises!” I shouted with much enthusiasm.
There was a pause before the man spoke again. “Come on in.” He began unlocking the door. Behind the door was a man of about my height, with caramel skin and dark flowing hair. He had on purple armor and a long flowing black cape. “You must be Ryu. I’m Sain. I’m the new scout. Come with me I’ll take you to the others.”
I followed the man through the deserted bread shoppe into the kitchen.
When we stepped into the kitchen, I noticed that the counters were covered in food supplies. Pig, deer, lamb, cow, grapes, mustard, cream, you name it, it was on the counters.
“Follow me through here.” Sain gestured to a door covered in thick ivy in the back of the kitchen. I could see bright sunlight shining through the planks that made up the old door.
Sain opened the door and I was nearly blinded by the intense sunlight. The sun here was brighter than any place else in town. And the air smelled of the sea.
When my eyes adjusted to the light I could see a dock and ocean as far as the eye could see. At the end of the dock was a huge wooden ship that looked likeone that could defend many kingdoms with ease. In front of the ship was a crowd of about forty men. I could recognize some of their faces, like Brynn, Hans, Lance and Mathis, but the other people didn’t look familiar to me. The ship was as big as twelve schoolhouses; it looked mighty, with sails as white as pearls. There was a huge wooden dragon at the ship’s prow.
“Whoa! What is that?!” I exclaimed in wonder.
“That? That’s the Brother Dragon, the fastest ship in the Cornelian fleet. Which just so happens to be owned my Captain Brynn.” Sain replied.
I tried to shake off the bewilderment that came from my seeing the mighty ship, but I couldn’t.
I walked up to Brynn and Lance. Lance strangely stayed quiet but immediately Brynn smiled and said, “Ryu! I’m delighted to see you. It’s good to see you solved my puzzle.”
“Puzzle?” I asked.
“You ARE the great, ‘Ryu Nasake’ aren’t you? The one famed for solving the mystery of the ‘Puzzler’?” Brynn seemed to know more than I did at this point.
“No way!” Mathis shouted. “He’s THE PuzzleMaster?”
“I don’t see it,” Hans argued, “although he DID solve Brynn’s puzzle with ease.”
A woman with brown hair, wearing purple and white garbs came from inside the crowd. She seemed to know who I was, because when she saw me she quickly ran to embrace me.
“Ryu!” The woman sighed, still holding me tight.
I awkwardly hugged her back. “Do I… know you?” I asked.
She began to cry, “You don’t remember me? I’m Sari. We used to solve all sorts of puzzles together.”
“Don’t be sorry, it’s my fault I don’t remember.” I replied.
“Nonono!” She protested. “My name is Sari.”
I felt another flashback coming on. No matter how hard I tried couldn’t keep it away.
***
It was pitch black.
“Man, I can’t see a thing.” I said in disgust.
“Hold on, I think I feel a switch here on the floor.” Sari said as she felt around with her foot.
She pushed the pressure plate and instantly a soft light filled the room. I looked at Sari’s face. She looked so beautiful against the soft light. Her beautiful eyes reflected the soft flames around us. At that moment, I knew we were safe again…
***
I came back to reality and I noticed she was still in my arms.
I held her tighter and said, “Usaria Leo… I missed you.”
She looked up at me and smiled. “I missed you too Ryu.”
“Ryu!” another voice cried out from the crowd. “Ryu! Is that you?”
A familiar face stepped out of the crowd. His slicked back gray hair complemented his long tattered black overcoat. I knew his face, I’d seen his face before, but I couldn’t place his name… Then… It all came flooding back to me. Like a blow to the face, suddenly I remembered everything about this man. Quinn, Sari, and I, along with Quinn’s younger brother toast, used to solve multitudes of puzzles. Although remembering this told me a lot, it didn’t tell me much about my past.
“Quinn? Is that you?” I asked. “Where’s Toast?”
At that moment there was a large commotion over the crowd as I heard a youthful, and slightly annoying voice heading this way. “Sorry, oops sorry. Excuse me sir. Pardon me. OOPS! Sorry ma’am.”
A youth jumped out of the crowd and greeted me with the most high pitch squeal I have ever heard a man yield. “RYU!!!!!! Oh I missed you so much! How have you been?” He ran to me and squeezed my torso so tight that I couldn’t breath. The pain was familiar to me. I could never forget such an embrace. This was definitely Quinn’s younger brother, Toast.
“T-Toast… can you… please… let go?” I pleaded, gasping for air, and at the same time trying to push him away.
As he backed away from me I noticed how much older he looked than what I actually did remember from him. He had shaggy blonde hair and eyes as blue as the sea. He had on a blue tunic with black leggings. His calm exterior was overruled by his eccentric behavior. He jumped up and down with excitement until Quinn’s gaze calmed him down.
“Sorry Quinn.” He said, acting the same as if he were an ashamed dog.
“Enough of this,” Brynn interjected,”we can all get acquainted later. Now we must all climb aboard the Brother Dragon, if we’re to stop Lady Rose, we’ll have to leave before tomorrow.” He turned to Hans.”Hans, I need you to get all of the provisions on the ship.”
“Yes Sir.” He replied as he ran back into the kitchen.
“Mathis, Sain, go help him.” Brynn released them to their duties and finally turned to me. “Ryu, come aboard the Dragon and meet me in my quarters. We must talk.” And with that Brynn boarded the Brother Dragon, and I followed him onto it. The other crew members and what were currently my friends, crowded aboard the Dragon behind us. The sounds and smells of the sea comforted me, and I felt like I was home again.