"This really sucks," muttered Connery.
"Will you stop whining," sighed Alleia. "We're on an adventure!" She started to hop up and down on the thief's shoulder. "And I'm going to get to claim my aura!"
Connery rolled his eyes. "You've definitely never been on one of these little excursions. Do you have any idea how far away the Northern Iceberg is?"
The White Dragon shrugged her furry shoulders. "I dunno. A couple of days?" Connery didn't even bother to answer her. He tapped his horse's flanks lightly with his boots and the animal increased its speed.
He and Alleia had left Vane earlier that morning for Nota. Their destination, the Northern Iceberg, was in the opposite direction to the northwest. Connery, however, chose to go by a more roundabout, but safer, way.
"Why are we going to Nota again, Connery?" asked Alleia. "Wouldn't it just be easier to get to the Iceberg from the coast off of Katarina?"
"I told you," said Connery. "We can't go through the Silver Sea because the Hades Army controls those waters. We are going to go to Nota and get a ship and sail down the Minea Sea to Raculi. Once there we'll move west across the edge of Stamaria towards Zaback. From there its just a matter of heading north towards the Iceberg."
"Uh huh," she muttered. The baby White started to play with the green ribbon around her head. "So how long will this take?"
"I can't be sure," said the thief to the furry creature on his shoulder.
"More than two days?" she asked with wide blue eyes.
Connery chuckled lightly. "Way more, kid."
Alleia snorted. "I bet I could teleport to the Iceberg in a second." A big smile spread across her face. "Mom taught me how," she said with pride.
Connery nodded. "And what would you do when you got there?" No answer came from the Dragon. "Do you even know where the Cave of the White Dragon is?"
"No," she said after a minute. "But I'm sure I could find it."
"Okay. I'll give you that one," said Connery. "But what about the monsters? How would you deal with them?"
"Well I could..." Her voice trailed off. "All right, you win. Maybe teleporting myself there wouldn't be such a good idea. I'm glad you're here, Connery. I don't think I would be able to do this without you." She nuzzled up against his cheek.
He scratched her head with his left hand. "Thanks, kid. Since I'm in charge now, I have to be the mature one and make sensible decisions like Carla and Cole." He straightened in his saddle and lifted his chin. "When you're the leader, you have to be able to do things like make big decisions." A toothy grin appeared on his face. The thief and the young White continued to chatter at each other until they stopped for the night.
The next couple of days were somewhat uneventful. On the fourth day out of Vane, Connery noticed something in the distance. He began to rummage around in his pack for his telescope. "What's going on?" asked a bleary-eyed Alleia from his shoulder. "All this shaking woke me up."
"I see something in the distance." He finally found the telescope and raised it to his eye. "It's a column of Stamarian troops!" he cried. He shoved the telescope back into the pack and spurred the horse forward.
Alleia dug her tiny claws into his shoulder as she held on for dear life. "Connery! Slow down! I'm gonna fall off!"
"Sorry, kid!" he said. "But we gotta catch them before the get too far away. With any luck, they can give us an escort to Nota."
Connery drove his mount hard for the next half an hour until they finally came upon the Stamarians. "Ho there!" shouted the thief.
The nearest soldier noticed Connery and waved back. The soldier called up to his commanding officer and the column slowed. As Connery neared he could tell the officer by his red cape. The thief pulled up ten feet short of the Stamarian officer and started to speak. "Boy am I glad you guys stopped."
He was about to tell them of his need to get to Nota, when the officer's eyes went wide. "You!" he cried. His sword leapt from its sheath and was pointing at a confused Connery. "Seize him, men! This is the man wanted for the murder of the Chief Minister of Nota!"
Several dozen Stamarians drew their weapons and lunged at Connery. Suddenly realizing the trouble he was in, Connery spun his horse around and galloped away at full speed. "Alleia! Get out of here!" he screamed to the Dragon.
"I can't leave you like this!" cried the Dragon Kid from his shoulder. "They'll kill you!"
"And what do you think that they'll do to you!?" he answered. "You have to get to the Cave of the White Dragon at all costs!" He shook his right shoulder vigorously. "Now fly!"
Reluctantly, she detached her self from the thief's shoulder and flew off towards a nearby patch of forest. Once she was out of sight, Connery turned his steed around and watched the Stamarian troops charging after him. "Now that the kid's safe, let's have some fun," he said in a low voice.
The thief deftly unsheathed the White Dragon's Spear from the side of the horse's saddle. He drove his heels into the horse's sides and was suddenly charging towards the mass of soldiers. The Stamarians were within fifty yards. Connery began to twirl the Spear above his head with his right hand. When they were within twenty feet, he released the Spear in their direction. The Dragon Weapon was spinning so fast that it became a flying white disc. The spinning Spear colliding with the charging men and succeeded in dislodging at least five Stamarians from their saddles. Connery turned his mount a ninety degree angle to the left and rode at top speed from the soldiers.
There was a swishing noise above his head, and Connery looked up to see his Spear. He reached up and snatched the Spear with his right hand. Then he stopped short and turned back towards the Stamarians. Ten of the troops were not that far behind and quickly came upon the thief. Connery made a quick thrust with the Spear and dropped one of the soldiers, being careful not to kill him. One of the men had a crossbow and decided to use it not on Connery, but on the horse. The animal whinnied as the shafts struck its side. Connery cursed and jumped from the saddle.
Connery landed on his feet and dropped into a defensive stance. He quickly debated about activating the magic of the Dragon Crest but decided against it. More of the Stamarians were arriving. At least ten men on horseback were surrounding the thief now. I can't kill them , thought Connery. We'll need every good soldier before this war is over.
Seeing no other way out except death, Connery eased his stance and dropped his Spear. He slowly raised his hands to show his surrender. "I give up!" he shouted.
The Stamarian soldiers quickly threw him in irons. The officer arrived eventually and formally charged the thief. "I hereby place you under arrest for the murder of Huradac Gyar, Chief Minister of Nota."
Alleia perched herself on a limb of a tree and watched as the Stamarians slapped Connery in chains and pulled him away in the direction of Nota. "This is definitely not they way things were supposed to go," she muttered. "Guess I'd better follow."
The young White Dragon followed the soldiers for several days until they finally reached Nota. Mumbling to herself, Alleia glided into the city unnoticed by the guards. "After almost a week of eating nothing but nuts and berries, I'm never eating anything but meat again!"
Alleia stopped her grumbling and remembered why she had come to Nota in the first place. She landed in an alley and folded her wings to her side. "I could morph into my human form as a small girl, but people would less likely notice a little kitten." With that said, she did her best to keep her wings folded and walked out into the streets of Nota.
Nota was a fair sized city. It was the largest port city on the Minea Sea, so it attracted a fair amount of people. Alleia walked along side red stone buildings with shop signs dangling in front. Smaller vendors had set up shop beside the bigger businesses. It took all of the little Dragon's will power not to fly up and snatch a tasty looking bass away from a fish stand. Mumbling to herself about food again, Alleia continued to walked down the white stone street.
Eventually, she came to the center of the city and found what she was looking for. Staying true to human nature's urge to show off, the Stamarian soldiers had erected a stage in the center of the city for Connery's sentencing. A distinguished, old soldier was standing on the stage already. The officer who had captured Connery dropped the thief before his commander. Connery, looking worse for wear, couldn't even rise. His clothes were torn, he had bruises all over his face, and he looked as if he had eaten less than Alleia in the past few days. When it became apparent that he wasn't able to rise under his own power, two soldiers hoisted the thief roughly up by the shoulders.
The old soldier withdrew a parchment from his cloak, opened it, and began to read. "Connery of Meribia, you have been charged with numerous acts of theft over the past eight years!" Alleia was not surprised to find out that this would not have been the thief's first trip to Nota. "On top of these petty charges, you are now found guilty of murdering the Chief Minister of Nota, Huradac Gyar! For this crime alone, you are to be beheaded at sunrise tomorrow morning!" The crowd who had gathered around the stage erupted with cheers. Alleia had trouble finding a breath.
The sentencing was complete, and Connery was dragged away to the city dungeon. The thief had been coherent enough to hear the final charge and sentencing. He had found just enough energy to thrash in the grip of his captors. "I didn't kill him!" he shouted.
The old commander huffed at the thief. "We have witnesses, boy. They saw you cut the Chief Minister down in cold blood. Take this scum from my sight!" He made a stiff gesture and walked away.
Connery tried to break free again, but a soldier silenced him with a swift kick to the stomach. Alleia could only watch as the Stamarians dragged her friend away.