Morning Run

“...Clair! Miss Clair, wake up!”

Clair slowly opened her eyes to Mumps' small green face as he gently started shaking her awake. “I-I'm up...” She slowly got up, rubbing her eyes before looking around. Her stomach knotted from the anticipation and stress, knowing what today was. “Where's Measles?”

Mumps hopped up to his feet. “She's downstairs, packing away the hard breads, eggs, and dried vegetables, miss,” he informed her as she noticed the first magic bag missing from where it was last night, only the bag of her books sitting where it was left.

“Good, good... Sun's just starting to come up it seems? How has the dragon been this morning?”

“Quiet; I think it's resting... bidding its time and saving energy...” Mumps mumbled, feeding into Clair's already strained psyche. “We have less than half an hour until the sunlight reaches through the main doors, if it's not already aware. I know it was the only place we were able to trap it, but it does mean we'll have to walk right by it... sleepless froukle beast...” he cursed under his breath in Goblin. Clair would have chuckled at his usual antics if he wasn't so right to be apprehensive about this case.

“It's secure, Mumps,” she told him, her voice betraying that those words were just as much for her ears as his. “Those pillars were drawn from the stone underneath, they're as solid as should be.” She nodded resolutely, shaking away the doubt weighing on her.

“Well then, I have been working on something; finished them last week.” He scurried around the corner and down the stairs, hopping with each step. Clair tilted her head in confusion but waited quietly, knowing that he would have said if he wanted her to follow him.

A moment later, a familiar green ear peaked around the corner. “Got the food stashed, Clair,” Measles informed her as she came in with the first bag slung over her shoulder. The few barrels' worth of food was now packed away and no bigger than her head. “Hmm? What's wrong?” she asked as she saw Clair visible deflate at the return of the wrong twin.

“Oh, nothing, nothing... Mumps just has some-”

“Here!” the final member skipped in, carrying some kind of clothes stack. He quickly set the first one on the floor, shoved the second into Measles' free arm with a small “oof” from his sister, and held the third and largest up for Clair. He securely gripped the edge and let it unfurl, the end hitting the floor as he showed off the light green cloak. “Made these from the curtains that were left here before; best cloth in the tower. Hooded, lightweight, breathable, and of course,” he flipped open the inside of the front, “...plenty of pockets. There's one for each of us,” he smiled as he handed her the largest one and then picked his own off of the floor. “They might be a little stiff; I treated them with a bit more wax the other night so they're more water resistant... figured we wouldn't need all the candles left behind here.” He enveloped himself with his cloak in a sweeping flourish, lining up the hole with the two buttons opposite it. He pushed the outer button through the hole, leaving the cloak a little loose as it hung off him securely. “Gingle,” he hummed as his own fit him perfectly, flowing down to his ankles and the overlapping layers opening comfortably for his arms before falling back into place as he tucked them in.

“Two buttons?” Measles asked simply with a raised eyebrow as she set the food bag down and donned her own cloak, equally as nice as the other two, hers and her brother's appearing identical.

“So you can make it tighter, or in case one is lost; I have extras still,” he grinned, patting the outside of one of the front pockets, prepared as ever. Measles couldn't help but chuckle, the mood slightly lifted by his proud demeanour.

“Uh, miss Clair? Are you going to put it on?” Mumps asked as he turned toward her, noticing her just staring at it, flowing to the ground in her hands.

“I, uh, yes; yes, of course,” she let out a half smile as she brought it around and buttoned it in place. “I just, this may be the last thing you ever make for me, Mumps.”

“Y-Yes...” he blushed slightly at her sincere admiration. “...and all the better for it, with my shoddy work and all,” he quickly added, though his finely made outfit and years of other clothes for the others clearly told otherwise.

“Oh, take the implied compliment, moron.” Measles rolled her eyes and lightly hit him on the back of the head. Clair failed to suppress her laughter that time.

We... we could stay like this, together; it's not so bad, she thought, feeling so happy in the moment with them both. Here, safe, trapped... but happy.

But no, I can't stay here forever, and they should get to leave, too, she decided. She grabbed the two bags, her clothes quickly packed into the bag with her books. She looked herself up and down in the mirror. Her cloak, bags, best pants, and nervous expression looked back. She nodded, smoothing out the cloak and taking a deep breath.

“Alright, let's leave this place.”

The three of them crept down the stairs slowly, not that the stone steps made any noise, but they did not even want to risk their feet alerting the dragon that was waiting for them. The rounded the corner at the bottom and stopped, the large front doors right ahead of them; and to the right of them, the caged dragon. Four massive, thick columns of stone, both raw and carved, stabbed out of the four runes painstakingly carved into the floor, crossing and piercing into the archway above, sealing in their warden.

“Maybe... it's actually asleep?” Measles slowly whispered as they all stood just out of potential eyesight.

“Thing hasn't slept a day in its life; why would in start now?” Mumps grumbled back.

“Just... walk forward slowly,” Clair said, and the others followed. She kept her eyes facing in front, glued to the door, barely reaching the first pillar before she slowly turned, unable to resist looking.

The dragon just stared at them. Its dark, glassy eyes were wide, stony face staring forward at them. The stone-like red scales, a cluster of dull crimsons and vermilions that looked like the sky in a clouded early dawn, lay still and unmoving. The almost-white horns and four sets of claws that crowned and adorned its tired, faded glory stood out as only a little brighter than the light grey stone brick floor they laid on, each still sharp enough to carve new grooves into the brickwork. The unchained, thick iron collar covered its neck, as always, a strong silver in the mix of pale reds and off-whites of the old beast.

“Ok... just take it slow...” Clair more so told herself as she took another step forward. Small step by small step, getting closer and closer until they were nearly halfway past the arch.

The dragon's head raised and it snorted, suddenly standing up and raising its towering body.

“Froukle! I knew it was awake!” Mumps whisper-shouted grimly.

“It-it's okay, it's trapped there,” Clair shakily said. “Measles, go open the doors, give us a running start...” she ordered the other goblin who silently nodded and slowly walked ahead. Reaching the doors, she pulled them open, the near frictionless hinges allowing them to slide open easily under her little strength. She was well practised though, although she usually only opened one of them halfway, but this time opened both almost fully.

Clair glanced back at the dragon, then at the door, then the dragon again. “Mumps... on my count...” she whispered, seeing him nod grimly. “...three...two...one.......” she hesitated, long enough that the goblin turned and looked up at her questioningly. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“RUN!” she screamed and started sprinting, both bags in one hand as the other pumped viscously. Her legs screamed at her in protest and she nearly lost her footing but ran with all her potential toward the beckoning Measles. Mumps was right behind her, fours sets of claws scrapping the ground as he used his proportionally longer arms to gain distance.

SLAM! SLAM!

The dragon roared ferociously as it rammed into the pillars and the arch, throwing its entire body at it and rocking the stone bricks more than the night before. It thrashed and roared in wild protest to its captives' departure.

Clair ran, not daring to look at it, getting closer to the door. The sunlight hit her, freedom pressing in. She nearly stumbled over the threshold but leaped into the outside world.

I... I made it! I'm free! she thought excitedly as she almost slowed down. The sun seemed to assault her with its bright light, unhindered by walls or roof, the sky filling her vision in a way that sticking her head at the edge of the window could never fulfill.

“Come on! Run!” Measles' shouts barely made it through to Clair as Mumps pushed her from behind; clearly her slowing steps had been noticeable. “We have to go! Your magic stone pillars were nice and all but we really should run!”

Clair cleared her head and nodded, saving her breath as they sprinted through the growing wheat field, the stalks not quite to her knees. She glanced back, seeing the tower from this point of view for the first time. It was the last time it would look quite like that though as the front doors burst the rest of the way open, smashing away the stone bricks of the arch, the dragon not bothering to duck as per usual when stepping out. Clair's eyes widened as she turned back, facing away from it and toward the forest at the other side of the small wheat field.

“That way! Like we planned!” she shouted and pointed to where the wheat field met the forest. The dragon leapt, flapping its massive now-unfurled wings, the air beating down on the three as it went over them, touching down on the other side. The young wheat stalks crunched under its massive stony claws as it blocked their path, putting itself between the three and the forest. Clair's arms shot out as she stopped the twins from running ahead, grabbing Measles and stopping Mumps. The dragon whirled, letting out a massive roar, sending a chill up Clair's spine as it opened its wings to cut them off and force them back to their prison.

The dragon stared, mouth silently opening and closing as it lowered to its haunches, slowly crawling closer and closer.

§

A month and a half ago

“Okay, so it's decided,” Clair nodded to the other two as they sat around the ridiculously long dining table. “In about forty days, I should be able to complete this magic bag design I've been researching. Then we should be able to have all of the provisions prepared and finally lea-”

THUD!

She suddenly shut up as the dragon walked by the room, prowling as usual. It had never spoken, never communicated, but the three of them had long since given up trying to figure out if it could understand them or not, deciding to play it safe and not speak secrets around it, especially any that would be against its apparent raison d'être; not when they were so close to attempting their escape.

They waited, eating the rabbit that Measles had caught in silence, until the lumbering beast was heard a good distance down the hall.

“...now, hypothetically, and I don't mean to doubt your ability, miss Clair... but what if your... containment idea doesn't hold it long enough?” Mumps spoke up. “I mean, last tim-”

“What my brother is saying is, 'is there a backup plan?',” Measles cut him off, giving him a shaky, weary look that Clair missed as she reached for a paper she had hidden.

“There is, actually, and it'll be on you to put it in place,” Clair informed her, sliding the open paper over now that it was safe to share things.

“This is... Ah... I think I see,” Measles nodded slowly. “But... if it has to be this big, it'll take me a while. Sticks will do though?”

“Yes,” Clair confirmed. “Sticks, for the whole thing. They need to be connected and in this exact shape.” Clair nodded along to her own explanation as Measles followed, studying the design.

“...Consider it done,” she finally said, folding and tucking the detailed drawing into her pocket.

§

Present

“...steady...steady...” Clair whispered to all three of them as the dragon menacingly crawled closer, standing between them and freedom. Clair looked down, nodding as she counted her steps. “...be ready to split up...” she told the two as she gently pulled them back by their cloaks. “...easy now...closer...closer... SPLIT!”

The twins took off, running perpendicular to their original direction. The dragon shook its head, confused by the strategy, but turned back to the girl in front of him, now charging it with a loud yell. It roared back at her, diving to close the distance.

Clair dove for the ground, eyes fixed on the meticulously laid sticks and branches the dragon was leaping into the centre of. She slammed her hands on the gnarled branch that made the opening line of the rune, letting the dam break and every drop of power in her burst out in a furious rush. The stick smoked and burst into flames at the end as it linked to the next, then the next, and so on, the power flowing so strong that it leapt between any cracks and breaks in the crudely crafted rune.

The dragon touched down, bewildered by the sudden appearance of fire all around it, not that that was the desired effect. The ground suddenly sank beneath it, causing it to stumble. It flapped its wings frantically but was already off centre, slipping and falling to the side. The ground rose to meet it, mighty roots with dirt and rocks wrapping around and restraining its thrashing body.

Clair tried to stand, stumbling, only to feel four small hands lifting, pulling her to her feet. She scooped up the two bags and ran as the twins helped her recover, adrenaline pushing her forward. “Hurry! Hurry!” Measles yelled as they shuffled, Clair running faster until they heard a crunch and roar. The three whirled at the sound just in time to see the branches holding the dragon's neck snap. It roared, angry and bitter, as its very neck seemed to dislocate and spin unnaturally, snapping at them.

It missed two of them.

“GAH! Hel-RUN!!” Mumps screamed, voice raked with pain as the sharpened teeth dug into his leg, suddenly yanking him away. Measles faltered, stunned at the sight before she turned to rush at the dragon.

“N-NO!” Clair just yelled, at the dragon, at Measles, at the world. Her feet froze, legs becoming iron as she watched, feeling helpless. She almost fell, endurance giving way to fear, before she saw Measles starting to run. Another surge of adrenaline rushed through her and she roughly shoved one of the bags into Measles' chest, intentionally pushing the traumatized goblin to the ground.

She ran with the other bag as the dragon started to shake the screaming form dangling from its mouth. She grabbed the wretched beast by the snout, the fingers of her empty hand hooked into one of its nostrils as the dragon suddenly realized she was there too. It appeared to clench harder as Mumps screamed in pain.

“NO! HELKAIT! FOOL! RUN!” he yelled as she did no such thing, instead taking the bag in hand and shoving it in the narrow gap where his thigh stuck out, hastily shoving it into the dragon's maw. Rock-sharp teeth cut into her arm as she ran the bag past them, back and forth inside of its mouth. One of them managed to catch the thread on the bag, tearing the rune, the red grow encircling it suddenly dimming.

Clair yanked her arm out, leaving the bag inside, and wrapped her hands under Mumps' armpits as the dragon's mouth suddenly burst with barrels upon barrels worth of food exploding from the now unenchanted bag. The smaller creature came free, his leg a bloody mess. Clair scooped him up under her arm as the dragon screamed, stunned by the violent force to its face, its bottom jaw dangling uselessly as all manner of bread and vegetables and preserved meat poured out of it. Clair ran, sprinting, stumbling, to the crying Measles waiting for them where she stood, squeezing the remaining bag, face nearly blank as she saw her brother dangling in Clair's arm, no clear sign of consciousness there.

“Just-just run!” Clair yelled frantically as the she grabbed the smaller girl's hand in her free one, keeping the two of them on opposite sides as they ran into the forest, while the dragon laid there, unmoving.

§

The hunter sighed, hearing the commotion from his station just over the hill. He knew that final loud cry, the sound of a trapped animal, and figured that the both impossible and inevitable had finally happened. He notched loops of rope into his thick belt hooks, donned his wide brimmed hat, and hoisted his weighted net over his shoulder, heading out to catch his new prey.