Unseen Secrets

                  It felt like hours passed as Jonas waited for the dragons and battle dragons to disperse. They hated Yerik. Jonas figured he posed the greatest threat, so they beat him the most. Even after Yerik went unconscious, they still tried to beat him. Jonas couldn’t hear any of the dragons nearby. Slowly working up the courage to look around, he confirmed his belief. He had a moment alone, a moment for escape.

                  Jonas began cutting the ropes that held him tied. Noises of the dragons passing through would alert Jonas, and he would lie on top of the sword pretending to be unconscious until the noises went away. When they left, he continued cutting through his ropes. It took much longer than he hoped because of the poor condition of the stolen sword. Eventually, he set himself free.

                  Looking around the room for any signs of his captors watching him, Jonas determined he had a moment of safety. He gently crawled closer to Yerik. He whispered his name several times, but Yerik did not reply. Fear shot through Jonas. He whispered Yerik’s name several more times with no response. Then Jonas noticed Yerik still breathing. A sigh of relief fell over Jonas.

                  “They really did a number on you this time.”

                  Jonas realized he had a lot of work to do once observing the extent of Yerik’s bindings. Their captors finally learned their lesson and tied up Yerik’s legs. Jonas got to work. He figured freeing Yerik’s torso and legs should be first. Once he cut Yerik’s arms and hands free, his body would slump over, and it would be obvious he was free.

                  After cutting through several of the rope bindings, a cluster of dragons ran into the room. Jonas rolled on top of the blade, hoping they didn’t see his movement. Facing the ground, he could only hear their voices.

                  The dragons seemed very agitated. Some yelling at others in their strange dragon language. The dark dragons yelled orders to the others. Clusters of battle dragons would run into the room, the dark dragons screeched orders at them, and they would leave.

                  “C’mon, C’mon, just leave.” Jonas thought to himself.

                  Then one dragon scrambled in from the other side of the room. “Paha Attu! Paha Attu! Paha Attu!”

                  The intensity of the dragon caught the attention of Jonas. It continued to shout the name as a sudden silence fell over the other dragons. Jonas could hear the frantic dragon’s panicked breathing during the silence. Then the other dragons spoke in a serious tone. Again, Jonas heard the name Paha Attu several times by several of the other dragons. The dragons and the battle dragons seemed to be afraid of something.

                  Jonas did not know if he should be thankful, or if he should be afraid.

                  In either situation, it didn’t matter. He could only focus on the immediate task at hand, getting Yerik Free. Jonas could hear several dragons running back and forth, entering and exiting the room. As soon as the sound of silence returned, Jonas scoped his area and got back to work cutting the ropes.

                  Jonas heard a low growl behind him. He rolled over, hoping to find any explanation other than the obvious. But fate did not smile upon him. A large dragon warrior stood with weapon in hand, staring at Jonas.