Free Whistlestop by Karl J. Morgan

“If only you
could be as safely hidden among the elves, Jerry.”
    Jerry felt a hand on his shoulder. He
turned to see his cousin smiling at him. “Let’s dance, Cousin,” she
said. She pulled him to his feet and led him toward the bonfire.
Soon, the two were dancing with a large crowd. The dance seemed
quite random, as everyone was a bit inebriated. Jerry was laughing
and flying around the bonfire without a care in the world. Lydia
was beautiful, but she was also family. She was clearly drunk and
had lost all inhibition. The mass of humanity seemed almost alike a
moving orgy until the fire suddenly went out. It became deathly
quiet in the frigid night air without a single light.
    He felt Lydia’s body pressing against
him. “We have to escape while we can,” she said in his ear. There
was a loud whooshing sound and the crowd began to panic.
    “ Stay calm, my children,”
the abbot said. “Please head back to your homes
quietly.”
    Suddenly, there was an explosion of
light, as a giant flying beast landed in the center of the room on
top of the remains of the bonfire, scattering a cloud of embers. It
was at least a hundred feet from head to the tip of the tail. It
had large leathery wings, and a face that seemed half reptile, half
dog. Before Jerry could think, the abbot was standing between him
and the dragon. “Back off, devil beast!” the abbot shouted. The
creature smiled at him, baring its long fangs. “Why aren’t you
freezing to death, demonseed beast?” The dragon stretched its long
neck upward and pointed its mouth to the sky. A searing plume of
fire and smoke shot upward into the blackness of night. The
revelers had begun to move backward and those on the edge of the
group had escaped into the night. The dragon lowered its head to
the ground just a few feet from the abbot and closed its eyes. The
left eye opened, but instead of the bright green iris and black
pupil, the image of the Emperor of the Universe glared back at
them.
    “ Surrender the Knight of
Winterpast to me, Abbot!” Karl shouted.
    “ Why are you torturing this
poor beast, Karl?” the abbot asked. “The embers may keep it alive
overnight, but the rising suns will blind it most
certainly.”
    “ The dragon is not
important, only the knight matters now. If you do not surrender
him, this dragon will destroy your damned temple and kill everyone.
Is one man’s life worth that much?”
    “ Did you hear his words,
Abbot?” Lydia whispered in Rick’s ear.
    He nodded and turned to Jerry. “What
do you say, Jerry?”
    “ I can’t let that dragon
kill everyone here for me. Do you think the dragon will harm
me?”
    Rick leaned toward Jerry’s ear and
whispered, “If that was what he wanted, we would already be
dead.”
    “ Abbot, no!” Lydia
exclaimed. “Jerry hasn’t had time to learn anything yet. He will be
helpless in the hands of the emperor.”
    “ Your cousin is correct,
Jerry, and I will not order you to go. That is a decision you need
to make alone.”
    Jerry put his hand on the abbot’s
shoulder and said, “Tell Jeremiah everything. He will know what to
do.” He turned to Lydia who immediately threw her arms around him
and pressed her face against his neck. “It will okay,
Cousin.”
    She kissed both of his cheeks and then
pushed him away. “You are very brave, Knight of Winterpast. I pray
we will see each other again.”
    Jerry turned and walked toward the
dragon, which had pressed its neck flat against the floor so that
he could climb up on it. Jerry pulled himself onto the creature and
moved back to the point where its neck met its shoulders, turned
and sat down. He smiled and waved at the dwindling crowd. The
dragon rose from the embers, and jumped up into the air, flapping
its wings until the two had disappeared into the night.
    The dragon flew on through the
bitterly cold night. Jerry was shivering from the cold, rubbing his
hands together to keep the blood circulating. Suddenly, he felt
warmth under his legs