Chapter 7 – Are you ready for this!

Immediately after Thomas left the prison, a tall and masculine figure dressed in a pair of leather clothing. Leo was however dumbstruck after seeing the man who happened to be no other than Bel.

“Hello, Leo!” He mustered a word even before Leo could react to his sudden appearance. A smile appeared on his face after a long minute of silent and then proceeded to go on with his words.

“Why are you in here? Did the villagers, or your brother reject you?”

Leo looked down casted and bent his head to the stone ground, vividly embarrassed by his predicament.

“Anyways, there no need for a reply. So… what’s your next goal?”

After Bel’s words, the area once again returned to its creeping silence. Leo on the other, immediately began to brainstorm the question with a reasonable answer.

“No idea!” Bel asked after a moment of silence with a despicable smile that even the strongest man will shiver to, “What about claiming the right as an elder by force!”

The room turned silent once again, and Leo answered after a few minutes, “To be sincere… my back really hurts, and I can’t answer any difficult question now. Is there anyway you can help, please!”

Bel turned his face to take a glance at the stiff guards who stood in front of the thick metallic door that was far behind him.

“I actually came here to rescue you from this place.” He muttered, and his right arm slowly transformed into a huge, but unnoticed wings.

“What are you doing?” Leo retorted immediately after seeing the careless action and tried to stand up from the ground, but unfortunately his condition remained adamant.

Bel in the other hand ignored him and began to scratch on the metallic rod with his spiky claws.

“This is made out of Verrulum.” He subconsciously whispered his claws gently scratched the metal that strangely didn’t give the slightest scratch.

Verrulum however, also known as magical-enforced-metal is a natural occurring material that is only popular within dungeon for criminals and extremely dangerous beasts, and the most time for merchants who use them as means of a vault. Bel stood confused as he stared at the Verrulum-metal that unfortunately, meant that any action against it will only reveal his identity and at the same time, he a waste of time.

“Leo! Unfortunately, I’ll have to leave you locked in here until the day you’ll be taken out for public execution.”

“No, that’s impossible, I can’t stay in here for two days, and by the way, a public execution is too hard to interrupt.”

“Do not bother, I’ll rescue you. But you have to stay here as your penalty for thinking that the village would treat you better than I do.” Leo cried in absolute agony as he forced his eyes to look directly into that’s of Bel who looked emotional all of a sudden.

“Unfortunately, there is nothing I can do. I can only assure you that your execution is impossible.”

Immediately after Bel walked out of the prison room, Leo’s eyes turned sore and he began to cry not even some minutes later. He wasn’t crying for the fact that he might be executed, but because his brother wished for his complete downfall.

****

The next couple of days, Leo cried continuously like an abandoned baby calling for his mom’s breastmilk.

“Are you ready for this, criminal!” Two well-armored guards, each holding a glowing red long-sword appeared in front of him. Leo still laid on the ground, weeping in sorrow as he refused to move from his position since day one, although his former back pain was now absent he was still too weak of hunger to stand up from the ground.

The two guards who had patiently being waiting for Leo to voluntarily give himself in began to grumble in anger and abruptly picked him from the floor before disappearing out of sight.

****

The guards appeared on a gallows that stood before a crowd, and pushed Leo’s weak body to the ground.

“Nobles, merchants, commoners, and all others, this is the man who claims…to be my deceased brother. For today, he shall die a shameful death by hanging due to an attempt to impersonate an innocent and high status latter who lays six feet under the ground.” A loud vibrant voice, vividly that’s of Thomas spread through the crowd like a magical echo that made all the villagers no matter their status cheer in excitement.

“The late Leo Raynard was peaceful in his grave, but this abomination of a man want to ruin him and for this I repeat, he shall die by hanging.”

Leo finally raised his head to view the thick noose-rope that was hanging from the upper wooden platform.

‘Where is Bel? You need to save me!’ He immediately began to panic as a hefty man dragged his head into the noosed-rope that was immediately tightened into his neck.

Thomas moved towards the lever in the forefront of the gallows with a dangerous smile that swept the crowd of villagers as silent as a graveyard.

“And I will move this lever in to counting of 3…. 2…. 1” The lever was immediately swiped downward and the surface underneath Leo’s legs opened, allowing his body to drop downward as he slowly struggled for the little life within him.

Slowly, his organs began to slowly down as his legs kept on vibrating and struggling to releasing the suspension on its neck. Just when that last minute of living was about to elapsed, a wide and dark shadow covered the area, and following after was a swift movement of a razor-sharp claw that effortlessly cut through the rope, leaving Leo’s almost limp body to drop on the ground.

“What am I seeing, is this a dragon, my parents said they are extinct?”

“Heaven’s flame, it’s really is a damned black dragon. They are mythical for heaven’s sake!”

With the appearance of a great black and fiery dragon, the crowd not excluding Thomas and his guards ran from the scene in fright with different utterances as they believed dragons were legendary creature, yet extremely deadly. A cone of flames quickly clothed the whole surrounding with some huts and cottages already lit with fire.

He immediately headed towards Leo’s limp body and picked it up from the ground with his wide claws. Bel evacuated from the surrounding immediately after he got hold of Leo, not minding the chaos in the surrounding but only of one thing. The village now knew that dragons weren’t extinct, and there’s one within their village.