Dragon King's Abused

Episode 7

Years ago~~~

"Hey!! wake up. What happened to you?" A sweet and innocent voice of a young girl kept asking the boy who was lying on the grassy land, in the middle of the forest, without any consciousness.

The little girl was really concerned about him, finding the boy all alone in such a state when no one was around to help him out. Cautiously, she lifted up her hand only to check if he was still alive or not, but just when her little and soft hand came into contact with his skin, the girl moved her hand right away with absolute worry.

The boy was all covered in cold mud but still, his body was like burning with a high fever.

Even when the girl was indeed much young, she knew exactly what was happening. It did not take much time for her to realise that the boy in front of her became senseless due to the high fever and he was indeed becoming even worse and sick as he kept on lying on the ground without anyone's care.

Without being able to think properly about what exactly she should do to get him well and out of danger, the girl stood up and kept circling around the place where the boy was lying, only to find a way out.

But she was young enough to take the decision, yet her heart was all pure and full of concern for the sick boy. So, the girl was absolutely reluctant to leave him alone while it was clear to her that he desperately needed someone to care and help him at such a moment.

Finding that there was no one else, she had to make a decision on her own fast, as she had not much time to waste when the boy was already quivering in a fever for how long she did not know either.

Under the bright and blazing sunlight, the surrounding was certainly hot and humid, which was not at all a favourable place to stay as a sick person.

Seeing no other choice, the girl determined her mind to take the boy somewhere cooler, like under the shade of trees or some opening of a cave or anywhere away from such a hot atmosphere.

"Hey!!! Can you listen to me? Can you help me a little bit? I want you to take somewhere better, so could you lean on me a bit and try to walk?" The girl kept saying helplessly, while she got not a single answer from the boy who was still lying unconscious.

Even if he was not absolutely senseless right at the moment, he kept passing out due to his fever and whenever he was waking up, he was in no state to listen to the girl who was trying to help him right at that moment.

Putting one of his arms over her shoulder, the girl tried to pull him up from the ground with all her strength but she was not at all strong to do so.

She was just twelve years old while the boy was about fifteen or something.

But, fortunately, the boy came back to his senses again for some time, and helped her for a bit to walk along with her with his terribly weak body.

The boy held the little girl as support and kept walking with her until she found a rock shelter, which was indeed a good place to stay. So, she brought him there and helped him settle under the cool shade, while the boy could not endure more and became unconscious once again, as soon as they reached there.

The little girl, who was absolutely unaware of who exactly the boy was, was dying to see him recovered from the fever, and for that, she was ready to do anything, even beyond her ability.

Somehow, or something might be telling her that she must not let him alone to die. And she knew how to listen to her instincts.

Seeing that the boy was covered in mud that was no dried up on his skin, the first thing she thought of doing was to rush out in order to find some water to clean him out of the dirt.

"You stay here, okay? I will be coming over soon. Do not worry. I got you." Without bothering about the fact whether the boy could hear her or not, she chose to say those words, thinking that in case he gets up and gets afraid seeing no one around.

She was indeed a naive little girl.

Even when the girl was not familiar with this forest as well, she was well aware of how to use her senses. And after running here and there for some while she heard the soft sound of water falling, from a far distance.

So, without waiting for any further time, she ran with her little steps, following the sounds of ripples. As the sound of the waterfall kept increasing, she was getting happier thinking that finally, she would be able to heal the boy she found out today, all of the sudden, with the least of her expectation.

Anyway,

She somehow managed to get close to the water side and became completely astonished to see such a beautiful lake inside of this ambiguous forest area.

Waters were falling from the cliff which was at a great height, while there was the most beautiful lake underneath. The place was surrounded by soft grasses and green trees, turning the entire area into a real heaven on the surface of the earth, without much of anyone's knowledge. The stream of the lake was so clear and blue, while the sun rays were seldom coming through the ceiling of the rocky cliff, making the entire place look absolutely divine. Under the little bit of light that were sneaking their way into the place, the streams were glistening ever so gently, creating a truly enchanting sight, which anyone would love to watch for the rest of their lives. The wind was also pleasant there as the soft and soothing breeze was coming from somewhere outside, strangely.

But somehow, this place felt entirely barren today, irrespective of the fact that this kind of place naturally attracts more and more animals to reside as the climate was so very favourable.

Or was it acting all quiet and lifeless for today only?

But why?

The little girl, looked around for some time to stay aware of any kind of danger at such mysterious places, and soon something strange caught into his eyes.

At first, she could not understand what was that thing actually, as she easily mistook it with a huge boulder of rock, cause such kind of rocks is easy to see at such places like this one.

But the nearer she started to get to that thing, the more she started to realise that it was not any rock but it was indeed something full of life as she could clearly see the movements of its breathings.

"Hello!!!" Even when she was not at all sure about what kind of creature was she going to deal with, she dared to voice out, hoping that the creature might respond to her call. But nothing like such happened, as nothing moved at all and stayed the same.

The girl had no more doubts left about the fact that why a place like this was left absolutely deserted today, as if it holds not a single trace of life, except the one before her eyes. Because, no wonder why any kind of animals would like to avoid such a terrifying existence of some foreign creature, who was indeed huge in size and was covered with silvery black scales all over its body.

Without knowing, what exactly was that creature, the little girl approached towards the enormous presence carefully, with a lot of courage in her heart. Cause even when she was afraid, she was more curious than ever to find out what was happening right then.

And as soon as she came around to stand on the other side of the creature's back, she clearly saw the huge head which was also covered in smaller scales and horns. When she saw the animal, its eyes were still closed, only the heavy warm breathings were there to make the girl realise that it was still alive, but he was sick for sure.

Cause, it was natural for such kind of creature to sense someone else's presence way before, to react accordingly. But in this case, the animal did nothing. It did not even bother to open its eyes to see the girl who was now standing in front, with lots of wonder in her eyes.

In fact, irrespective of its huge body, the animal was curled into a huge ball and it seemed that it was trying to hide under his huge bat-like wings keeping his huge head and tail inside.

For the young girl, this experience was certainly something new, as she had never seen such a creature like this before.

Even so, she never saw any animal as enormous as this one, the girl could easily guess what kind of species was that, cause she was very familiar with the beasts from the mythical tales that she used to listen from her grandmother. It was just that she never thought that one day she would get to see one, before her eyes.

Yes, the girl knew very well that it was a dragon, but it was not that big as she imagined from the folklores that used to be popular in her village. The only thing she did not know, was that the dragon was young too, compared to the already grown-up ones.

But strangely, seeing such a dangerous creature who is usually known for its ruthlessness was lying quietly and helplessly, the girl did not at all find anything to be afraid of while being around that beast, instead, she really felt a bit worried about the dragon who was abandoned all on its own and was sick due to some reason.

Even though the little girl wanted to help, she remembered that she had someone else too to look after, right at this moment. So, she did not waste any more time and soaked all the clothes that she had got in her hands into the water and ran back to the boy, deciding that she will come back again, once she helps him out first.

When she returned to the boy, she found out that he was now sitting with his eyes closed, and was leaning against the cave walls.

He might have gained his senses back when the girl went away to fetch some water. So, she gently started to wipe out the mud with her damp clothes from his face and body, being careful enough not to wake him up.

His body was still burning though, but it seemed that he was getting better than before, as the girl was trying her best to bring down the fever.

And after some time, when the girl was almost done cleaning the filth out of his body, the beautiful pair of brown eyes opened once again only to look into the enchanting green eyes with a lot of gratitude.

"Who are you?" Hearing the voice, the little girl got scared a little bit and stopped her movement at once, realising that the boy was now all awake and was looking at her. Their eyes met for the first time, and the boy clearly saw how her beautiful eyes flickered between blue and green just when he asked out for her name.

She hesitated for some moment, and then said,

"My mother calls me Eli." Her sweet voice was like magic to the boy's ears as he had never heard such an enchanting voice before. In fact, he did not hear anyone talking to him in the last few years, as he was always wandering alone from place to place, only to survive.

"What is your name?" The girl carefully asked, and smiled at the boy with her innocent heart which moved the boy entirely, as no one showed such warmth to him in years, no matter how badly he wanted to have someone by his side to comfort her.

But irrespective of his identity, his fate was already written way before and he was indeed born to struggle from such a young age, with no one to look after him, even when he was not someone ordinary as he belonged to the blue blood indeed.

Even so, he was thrown out to live without any shelter, to sleep on the dirty land, to eat the least amount of food that he could manage to gather, and that too for what?

Only because he needed to survive?

Yes, life was always hard for him until now, and he had no one to complain.

"I am Draco." He replied and stayed quiet after that.

"I have brought some fruits for you as well. Do you like to have some now? It will help you to recover fast." Eli took out the fruits from her pocket and handed them all to Draco.

And Draco, without any complaints started to eat the fruits slowly, as he was really hungry because he could not manage to get any food for how many days he did not know either.

Draco kept looking at the pure and innocent face of Eli time to time while he was eating, as if he was absolutely reluctant to miss any more sight of the only one who cared to help him, without asking for any benefit in return.

Indeed, he did not want to forget her ever in his life, as from the first time when he saw her, her face was kind of engraved to his mind without much effort. Or was it his heart that had already started to beat for Eli, foolishly?

Yes, he was too young to understand what exactly was changed in him, but Draco was more than sure that he wanted to keep her by his side.

"Are you lost too?" Draco asked with his hoarse voice, while his breathings were still heavy, as the fever was making it hard for him to stay awake for a much longer time.

"No. I came here alone to play and I found you in the middle of the woods." Eli said with the heart warming smile.

"How is that possible? There is no village within a far and farther distance. How did you manage to cover such a long distance?" Draco asked again with a lot of wonder in his eyes.

"Yes, I am not from anywhere near this place, cause from where I have come, it is winter there and my village is entirely covered with beautiful soft white snow right now." Eli said mischievously and giggled a little bit, making Draco even more dragged to her, without much of his awareness.

"It is impossible." Draco gasped in shock.

"Yes, but not when you know magic." Eli whispered and giggled once more, seeing that Draco was absolutely shocked, hearing her words right at that moment.

"Okay, now you need to rest a bit more. And I will tell you more about me later. Alright? I am going to gather some more fruit, and I will come back even before you wake up." Saying that, Eli got up to go out once again.

And being sick and really exhausted, Draco did not bother to ask further as he laid down on the floor of the cave and dozed off to sleep in an instant, once again.

Now, after Eli was sure enough that Draco will be fine, she knows exactly where to go at this moment, as she started running towards the waterfall once again to get to the place, where she had found out the dragon before.