Prince Danny's Arc

Chapter 2 of 11

The dragon's roar rolled across the field, shaking dust from the stones at Danny's feet. He dropped low and ran for the moat. If the beast caught his scent in the open, he was finished. Near the drawbridge, half-sunk in murky water, he spotted a huge alligator skeleton framing a dark gap in the wall. The forgotten entrance. He drew the silver sword strapped to his back and slipped inside. The tunnel smelled of wet earth and old stone. Water pooled to his knees. A rotted wooden beam leaned across the passage, split with deep cracks and bristling with pale mushrooms. Danny ducked under it and pressed deeper. The dragon's roar faded above. Something else took its place — small, wet footsteps. A green elf sprang from the dark, teeth bared, a rusted knife in its fist. Danny swung. The blade flashed and the creature dropped. Two more rushed from a side crack, snarling and quick. He turned, slashed, and kicked one into the water. The other lunged for his leg. He drove the sword down and the tunnel went quiet again. He stood panting over the bodies. His arms shook. But the path ahead opened into a stone stair climbing up — into the castle itself. The west wing. His family was somewhere above. Danny wiped the blade clean and started up the steps. He was inside.