The Mysterious Dragonman (Chapter XXI)

The not-so-great Escape

"Oh, really, you found a way to escape ?" Rue exclaimed.
Her and Bargy where now looking at Mei, who still was grinning.
"I think so. I can make things lift, right ? Then I should be able to get those keys without moving from here !" the blue dragoness explained.
"Oh, this... I wonder why we didn't thought about it sooner." Bargy nodded.
Mei grumped a bit. "That's right that thinking about it, the solution was a bit obvious..."
"I just don't care as long as we got one solution to get out of here !" Rue exclaimed. "Go on and grab that key !"
Bargy frowned a bit. "One moment, that Dragonman clearly saw we weren't agreeing at all with him. And it wouldn't surprise me the dragons that were here before us decided to escape right after he explained them his plan."
"What are you meaning ?" Mei asked, not exactly seeing where the reasoning was going.
"Well, this means the Dragonman knows that now is the most probable moment for us to try to escape. It wouldn't surprise me that he's ready to interfere at the first odd sound."
"You're meaning he's maybe right behind the door ?" Rue cocked her head.
"Maybe, he or one of his tigers." the Furdragon replied.
"Hmm I see. Then we'll do it later in the night, once we'll be sure they'll all be sleeping." Mei proposed.
Rue grumbled a bit. "Later in the night... That implies we'll have to stay longer in those damn uncomfortable cages."
Bargy nodded. "Yeah. But I guess that's not such a high price to make sure our escape will work, eh ?"
"I guess so. But waiting is already horrible, in those cage's it'll seem even longer." the red dragoness sighed.
Mei sighed as well. "It doesn't really pleases me as well, don't worry."
"Eh speak for yourself, you can cheat by hovering !" Bargy exclaimed, smiling a bit.
This made Mei slightly chuckle as well, but she soon stopped.
"In fact I don't think I should hover now." she declared.
"Uh, why that ?" Rue asked.
"Well, I don't know if I can practice magic whenever I want. Maybe I only can do it a limited number of times per day, a bit like in those roleplays..." she explained.
Rue nodded, understanding. "Got it. We'll have to test that once we'll be free !"
"Yeah we'll have to. So for now I'll share the uncomfort with you." Mei chuckled.
But soon she stopped chuckling and an uncomfortable silence began.
"... I guess the waiting has begun ?" Bargy concluded.


"Damn, if we continue to eat like that we'll all get fat !" Solaria exclaimed, licking her lips.
The four dragons were at the entrance of their cave, the carcass of a boar at the middle - or more precisely, what was left of the carcass. They all were lying on their side, starting to digest their meal.
"I'm not exactly sure." Lông commented. "I feel like de're burning those extra-calories rather well with all what's happening..."
Calemvir nodded. "Yup, I really was starving after hiding from those damn tigers !"
"For sure it was tiring. But I've to say I never enjoyed eating like that when I was human..." Sita smiled.
"And sleeping as well !" Solaria said. "Sometimes I just feel like we're a bunch of lazy gourmand lizards..."
This made Lông chuckle. "I don't exactly mind being that, as long as I can enjoy it."
"And you don't get fat." Calemvir added.
"Yeah, yeah, of course." the red dragon agreed.
Solaria suddenly yawned. "I don't know for you, guys, but I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep like a rock."
Lông nodded. "I'm not exactly exhausted, but I really could use some sleep as well. And my back still hurts from the position I had to take, lying down would really make me feel better."
Sita cocked her head. "It's anyway starting to be late, I don't really have any other reason not to get to sleep with you guys."
Calemvir smiled, standing up. "Well, there's no point in staying awoken alone, so I guess we're all going to get that sleep we all deserve., eh ?"
Solaria tiredly nodded. "For sure we deserve it."
The four dragons headed inside the cave, each one going in their preferred place before making themselves comfortable, soon drifting into sleep.


The sun started to set on the Dragonman's castle, so that the three dragons locked there soon started to lack of light. This only added on the already heavy silence that had set in the room since they started to wait.
Hopefully it was the middle of the summer, so that none of them was feeling cold. That was however their only relief.
"Only some hours more." Rue mumbled.
"That's still a lot." Mei sighed, her body curled as her cage was smaller than her serpentine body's length.
"And maybe too much. Do we really have to wait for that long ?" Bargy questioned.
"I agree, it already has been hours we've been waiting !" Rue added.
Mei sighed again. "I wonder as well, it's such a pain to wait for so long... and literally." she replied, massaging the part of her body that had been on the rough floor.
The blue Furdragon slightly chuckled. "Yeah, literally ! Anyway, do you really think that Dragonman could wait for so long in the eventuality we escape ?"
Rue puffed some smoke, amused to see the result.
"I don't think so. At that point if he really wanted to watch us he would have set cameras and micros. And I feel like he didn't." she said.
"How can you be sure he didn't ?" Bargy asked.
The red dragoness smiled. "Well, have you seen how rudimentary is this place ? There's not even a light in this room, the window... well there's none right now, the door looks like an old medieval door with no sort of modern lock, and I'm sure it's freezing in there at winter. That's to wonder if there's even got electricity in this castle !"
Mei looked around her, noticing that indeed there should have been newer equipments. Even the locks were rudimentary.
"I think you're right, it would be really surprising to have cameras here." she agreed.
"Then, let's escape now !" Bargy smiled. "Freedom never has been this close !"
Mei frowned a bit. "No, maybe not now. We've said it was unlikely, but being transformed as a dragon also was highly unlikely... Let's just wait one hour."
Bargy sighed a bit. "I guess you're right. Waiting a bit can't hurt..."
"We're in one of those few situations where it actually does !" Rue commented, flipping on her other side and massaging the one on which she just was.
This made the three dragons laugh briefly, before sighing again.
"This will be the longest hour in my existence." Bargy concluded.
The others just nodded, lying again on the hard floor.

Rue widely yawned, her head on her front paws, before sighing. That last waiting really was unbearable. In the room there was no other sound than the wind rushing trough the broken window. That slight breeze that resulted in the room probably was the only enjoyable thing in their situation. And the worse was that there wasn't any way to keep track on the time ! How long has it been since their last discussion ? An hour ? Ten minutes ? Rue couldn't even say.
Bargy rolled on his other side, drawing her attention for a second.
"That probably was the most interesting thing I saw since quite a moment now." she mumbled.
The blue Furdragon slightly chuckled. "I fear so." he replied. "Though I've to say Mei offers quite a show as well."
Indeed, the blue Eastern was in a rather strange position. Since her serpentine body was far too long for the cage, she was curled on herself, having her head resting on her back and her tail nearly touching her muzzle. Mei opened an eye as she heard her name, looking at Bargy and Rue.
"I'd like to see what you would do with such a long body." she grumbled.
Bargy cocked his head as he tried to imagine the situation. "I don't really know in fact." he finally replied.
"Anyway, what about we do it now ? I'm really getting tired of all that probably useless waiting !" Rue finally snapped.
Needless to say, she was expressing out loud what they all were thinking.
"I guess you're right. It doesn't make any sense to wait any longer." Mei sighed.
Bargy raised an eyebrow, starting to smile. "So there we are !" he exclaimed.
Rue smirked. "That's not a reason to speak that loud !" she told him.
"Oh, sorry." Bargy apologized.
This made Mei chuckle a bit. "Considering how this room looks like, I'm pretty sure that one barely hears something at the other end of that door." she said.
Bargy nodded. "Yeah, since we don't speak that loud there's no way this Dragonman could hear what we've said."
"It's not like that we're going to get out of those damn cages ! Mei, go ahead and catch those keys !" Rue replied, starting to get really impatient.
The blue dragoness grinned. "It's about time to do so, yes. So, like Bargy announced... the escape begins now !"

Mei curled her body in a comfortable position before attentively looking at the keys. The last thing she wanted was to lost the focus on what she was doing because of an uncomfortable position, considering how hard it had been to lift Bargy and Rue she definitively would need her whole concentration to grab these keys.
The keys were at the other end of the room, on their keyring. They all looked very old, and were rather big. Who ever needed keys like this today ? They looked like those keys one could find centuries ago ! The problem was they looked really heavy as well. If she ever failed and let them fall on the ground, it would make a hell of a noise...
The blue Eastern closed her eyes and concentrated for a dozen of seconds. She still was a total beginner with her magic, so that she needed this time to find the power she had been using. She smiled, satisfied, as she felt the power invading her body. Mei didn't really know why, but a very soft breeze emanated from her, slightly messing with her fur and whiskers. She slightly frowned at that feeling.
"Meh, that's a bit overdone. I seriously feel like in those films when the mages prepare powerful spells and start building power... Like I'm that great..." she grumbled.
Bargy nervously chuckled. "Who knows, maybe you could blow up these cages if you wanted to !" he commented.
"Even if I could, I'd better not try. Now let me concentrate, I'll surely need it." Mei snapped.

Okay, now was the moment. Mei attentively watched the keys, evaluating the distance she had to carry them. The thing was she had no idea of how difficult bringing the keys near her cage would be.
Just to test, she tried to make a strong and very localized wind. She got satisfied as she saw the result. Wait a minute, how could she see the result ? It only was wind, and yet she saw it ! Though see wasn't exactly the right word. She knew there was a strong wind at a precise place. Anyway, now wasn't the moment to care about that. She would have the time to study the phenomena when they all would be outside.
So, the keys. Mei created another strong and localized wind but that time right under the key. She really was precise with her winds ! Though the keys seemed heavier than she thought as the wind didn't even lifted them up. She needed a stronger wind...
The keys started to hover in the air, producing quite a sound as the wind was making them collide. The blue dragoness gritted her teeth a bit at this. She wasn't expecting them to make such a noise only by being lifted ! All she could hope was that the Dragonman could 't hear it.
Mei continued to lift the keys until the ring stopped hanging on its support on the wall. There, perfect... But now was the delicate phase. Now she had to bring them back to her by slightly angling the wind she was making. She tried to slowly do so, but the keys didn't seem to want to move an inch. That's when she realized she couldn't angle a wind she had created. The only way was to create another wind and cut the old one. Damn it, that was getting tricky !
Bargy and Rue looked at each other when they saw the key stuck in its position. Both of them had the feeling things were starting to get hard.
Hopefully Mei didn't see them, otherwise the added pressure would have made her fail. The blue dragoness concentrated some seconds and suddenly stopped the first air flow, immediately starting a second one but angled. For a second the keys continued to hover, but they started to gain speed toward her. Perfect, for now it was perfect.
As soon as the keys threatened to get out of the air flow she created, she stopped it and created another one. The transition again got really smoothly, reassuring her. Finally it wasn't that hard !
Though, she had thought too fast. As the keys arrived at the edge of the second air current, Mei created a third but slightly failed with it. That next air current was far too angled toward her, and the blue dragoness realized her mistake when the keys suddenly accelerated without regaining height. She quickly reacted by creating a strong flow angling toward the other side, too strong. The keys darted upward and toward the opposite direction, making Mei curse. The blue dragoness managed in extremis to catch the keys with another flow, the keys ending up simply levitating in the air. Phew, that was close from a disaster...
... and suddenly, the keys started falling toward the ground. Mei reacted a moment too late, not exactly realizing what happened. The keys were so on the edge of the current she had created that they fell ! As she created another air current to catch them, the keys just went through it as it wasn't strong enough to compensate with the speed they had been gaining during the fall.
The old keys heavily crashed on the ground, making a hell of a noise. The three dragons froze for some seconds, starting to fear for what was going to happen. The noise it made was far beyond their fears ! There wasn't any way the Dragonman couldn't hear it !
The blue dragoness loudly cursed.
"Damn it ! They're so heavy, that inertia is impossible to handle !" she pestered.
"Mei, grab those keys now ! The Dragonman can come at any second !" Bargy exclaimed.
The Eastern dragon nodded, and screwing the discretion she created a strong horizontal air flow that made the keys slide toward her. Finally the keys were in her paw !
"Yeah, good job Mei !" Rue cheered up. "Now just open those locks and we're free !"
But Mei already was trying to do so when Rue said it. At first she didn't even thought about that problem, but her new dragon paws weren't that great to manipulate objects. And she was an Eastern, so it probably would have been even worse for Bargy and Rue ! Hopefully these keys were so big that it only took her a few tries to get the biggest one in the lock. And, what a luck, the first one was the good one !
Mei exulted as, with a swift motion of her paw, she unlocked the lock and pushed the door of her cage open. At last, she was free ! The blue dragoness quickly pulled the key from the lock and headed toward the other cages.
Unlocking the cages didn't took long, but knowing that the Dragonman and his tigers could come at any second, these were the longest minutes of their existence. Bargy and Rue happily pushed the door of their cages and went out of them, stretching their wings and paws as for the first time their movements weren't hindered.
"Finally free !" Rue excitedly said.
Bargy nodded, smiling. "Yes, that's really nice. Now let's -"
The door of the room suddenly opened, slamming against the wall as the three dragons turned their heads to see the Dragonman and his twin tigers looking at them.
"Oh crap." Mei concluded.


Mei gulped as the Dragonman angrily stared at them. Somehow she could tell that if he ever managed to put them back in the cages they would all have a very bad time. For some seconds there was an uncomfortable silence as both groups waited the other to make the first move.
"Everyone at the window... NOW !" Rue suddenly exclaimed, rushing at the opening.
That was the signal everyone seemed to wait. Mei and Bargy suddenly darted away as the two tigers lunged in the room, closely followed by the Dragonman. However, the three dragons hesitated a bit as they arrived at the window.
"This is... high..." Bargy gulped as he watched the ground below.
"There's no time to wonder !" Mei exclaimed. "Jump, now !"
The tigers already had covered half the distance that were separating them, and there wasn't any doubt the dragons couldn't all escape before they got at melee. If they wanted their freedom... They would fight for it !
Mei started to hover in the air as she felt her magic invading her body. Bargy also seemed to understand the problem as he crouched and started growling at the tigers.
"Rue, jump ! We'll follow you !" he ordered.

And suddenly, the things took a very surprising turn. The Dragonman nearly fell while running, and when he stood up again he seemed like he barely could walk. The tigers immediately stopped their actions to support him as they headed toward the closest wall, on which the Dragonman lent. That man that was terrifying them a moment ago now was completely harmless, livid and nearly panting from leaning against the wall. The three dragons were so surprised they completely forgot about their willing to escape while watching him.
"Escape... while you can..." the Dragonman weakly said.
Mei blinked, while Bargy and Rue looked at each other, surprised. That was totally unexpected.
"At the west... A forest that will be... a good shelter for you all..." he continued to pant.
His voice was different from the one he had when he came earlier. Added to the advices he was giving them, the situation really was hard to believe.
Bargy and Rue slowly started to step back, having hard time believing he was going to let them out just like that. But at their surprise, the only one that violently reacted was Mei, who had stepped forward.
"Wait ! Were there other dragons before us here ?" she suddenly asked.
Even though they had been suspecting it since long now, the blue dragoness's heart had raced as she got the confirmation. If some where there before... Maybe...
"Mei ! We don't have the time for that !" Bargy shouted at her.
"But... I need to know !" she protested.
Rue frowned as she heard Mei's tone. She sounded... nearly desperate. Why having such an attitude right now ? But Bargy was right, they had to leave while the Dragonman seemed to let them do so.
"He's right, Mei ! Come now before it gets too late !" she called her.
However the Dragonman did reply. "The previous ones... Are there as well..."
Mei was going to ask something else, but Bargy and Rue were right. Whatever was happening they had to seize the occasion to flee. Mei reluctantly turned back and ran toward the window.
"Okay, let's get out now. Sorry." she sighed.
Both Nargy and Rue hesitated a bit, not exactly reassured at the idea to jump from the window while not knowing at all how to fly.
"I'll go first then." Mei declared as she saw them hesitating.
The blue dragoness leapt through the window, using her magic to levitate in front of the window. A powerful feeling of freedom invaded her as she twisted her body in the air. She could do anything she wanted ! Even gravity couldn't hold her ! The feeling made her forget her previous fears.
Bargy looked at her and gathered his courage, stepping forward.
"I'm second. Let's do this !" he exclaimed, more to reassure himself that anything.
The blue Furdragon leapt from the window, suddenly falling toward the ground. His instincts did the rest by themselves. Before he could understand he had unfurled his wings, he already was gliding toward the ground. He flapped his wings once to gain some height, feeling his body winning against the gravity. The feeling was so thrilling he just grinned and went higher, reaching Mei. Though unlike her he couldn't make stationary flight, so he just circled near the window.
"Woah ! Rue, come there ! It's just awesome !" he shouted.
The red dragoness looked back at the Dragonman. He seemed a bit less exhausted, but he just watched her.
"Go on, before I..." he began - but stopped himself.
Rue raised an eyebrow, but as the Dragonman didn't seem to continue she shrugged and leapt through the window. Like Bargy, her instincts just triggered and she found herself gliding. A cautious beat of her wings and she had regained some height.
"Oh yeah ! I'm flying !" she excitedly shouted.
Just for the fun of it, she roared as she caught up with Mei and Bargy.
"We did it guys !" Bargy announced. "We're free ! Totally free !"
Mei widely smiled and Rue nodded.
"Now, let's head to the west." she announced.
The two other dragons agreed, ready to fly... But for an awkward dozen of seconds, they just didn't really move, all watching at the stars.
"Erm, do you guys know where's west ?" Rue asked.
Bargy smirked. "Not really in fact. But that sky..."
Mei and Rue nodded, understanding what he was meaning. They probably were far from any town, so that no light was there to pollute the night sky. And the result just was incredible. There were so many stars shining in the sky ! The three dragons got fascinated by the view for some seconds before Mei triumphantly pointed at a star.
"That one ! I know that star ! So if I'm right, west is... There !" she exclaimed, pointing at a direction.
Bargy grinned at the blue dragoness. "Good job Mei ! Freedom, here we are !"
The three dragons flew toward the direction Mei indicated, their flight a bit erratic as it was their first flight - but flying nonetheless.

The Dragonman sat, still leaning against the wall. Once he heard the three dragons flying away, he smiled and started to chuckle.
"And again I won. Another batch free. Hehe..." he said, apparently speaking to himself.
The two tigers looked at him, seeming worried. The Dragonman just petted the two beasts on the top of the head.
"Don't worry you two, I'm fine. Those three will join the other, and who knows what will happen ? Ah, I wonder how he is going to react when his own creations will mess with his plans... They'll maybe even be able to counter them ? That would be so ironic." he smiled, sighing.
The tigers nodded, and the Dragonman continued to pet them.
"We only can hope so, my fellow friends. Continue like that, you two. You're making a good job."
The two tigers just purred and lied down at the Dragonman's side, simply enjoying the petting.
"Only the future will tell us who will eventually win." he concluded.