Chapter 6

Clay's laughter echoed through the dungeon, and Jenna rolled her eyes, “I promise you. I’m not kidding; I was brought here by a crazy old-time clock wizard.”

Clay looked at her, interested, “The clock wizard that gave the queen her power?”

Jenna nodded, “But according to him, she had no power. She just placed herself in the king’s path to gain status.”

Clay looked at Jenna with wonder; "So you are from somewhere else?”

Jenna nodded, “I swear to you I am, and in my timeline, no dragons, witches, werewolves, or vampires exist. At least not in the open.” 

Clay put his head down, “So that means we lose.”

Jenna sighed, “I don’t know what that means. What I do know is that this isn’t possible; I shouldn't be sitting here talking to a dragon. DRAGONS DON’T EXIST!” 

Clay sighed, “We do. Well, now, at least. I’m wondering if we're extinct in the future.”

Jenna nodded, “Honestly, I'm not sure. In my future, this castle is a museum.” 

Clay looked at Jenna with confusion, “What’s a museum?”

Jenna laughed, “It’s a place that holds things of the past, a way to look at history.”

Clay nods, “So there is not even a queen or king in the future.” 

Jenna laughed faintly, “No, actually, a president.”

Clay sighed, “I don’t know if I can believe you.” 

Jenna nodded, “that’s exactly how I feel about you being a dragon.” Clay laughed as he looked at her. She could make out some of his facial features but nothing distinctive in the gloom. Besides his glowing green eyes, she had no reason to believe he wasn’t crazy and not an actual dragon.

"Either way, I’m escaping. Do you want to come with me?” asked Clay.

Jenna looked into Clay's glowing green eyes, “Escaping how?”

Clay smiled, “My best friend is working on that now. He should be breaking through that wall any time now.”

Jenna looked at the wall he pointed at, “That wall is made of stone. How is he breaking through? Dynamite?”

Clay laughed. "What is Dynamite? Dragons are strong!” Jenna nodded. The only thing she knew about dragons was what she had read in books. She was still contemplating the existence of dragons when the wall began to shake. “Here he comes,” exclaimed Clay excitedly. Thunderous blows hit the wall until it split, revealing a man who walked through the hole he had made. Light immediately flooded the dungeon, “Yale, you big brute! Took you long enough!”

Clay had called the newcomer Yale; from what she could make out in the blinding light, he was tall and thin as her eyes adjusted to the newfound light source. Jenna turned to the cell that Clay was in, watching Yale as he walked to the cell and broke it open. Clay stepped out and pointed to Jenna's cell, "Ppen hers too. She's coming with.” 

Yale looked at Clay in confusion, “She's a human. She can't come with us.”

Clay shook his head, “It’s a long story. Now grab her, and let's go.” Yale rolled his eyes but did as he was told. He smashed open Jenna’s cell and reached for her; Jenna hesitated. "Come on, girl! Let's go!” said Clay. “You can stay here if you want and perhaps be put to death or escape with us.” Jenna sighed; escape sounded much better than death. She reached for Yale’s hand, and he grabbed her, pulling her along. 

As they stepped into the light, Jenna took in the surroundings. The castle looked so different; the stone was the same, but it was in a forest with an actual draw bridge. “Get down!” yelled Clay as arrows raced past their heads from above them on the walls. The king's guards were sounding the alarm and drawing more of their number. Finally, several guards left the nearby sally port in the wall to come after them on the same level.

“What now!” Jenna shouted. Clay smiled at Jenna, not even acknowledging the guards as his body began to change. He transformed into a beautiful green dragon. His scales gleamed in the sunlight, which passed through his opaque wings; he was beautiful. He used his tail and picked up Jenna and placed her on his back, giving her a reassuring look. Jenna gulped as she felt him start running to gain speed and lifted off the ground.

Jenna looked back behind her as they took to flight and saw Yale taking to the skies a moment behind them. Arrows bounced off of his scales. Yale was just as magnificent as Clay; his blue wings beat powerfully as he gained altitude. Arrows continued to chase both Clay and Yale high into the air.

Soon the arrows could no longer reach them, and she marveled at the world below them. The town of Pleasantville wasn’t a town; it was a village. She could see the people below her, and they screamed as the dragons flew over. As they flew, Yale and Clay swooped in and over clouds playfully. This was incredible, Jenna thought. She had never been on an airplane, and now she was flying through the sky on a dragon! This was completely crazy! She watched the world below turn into nothing, no towns, no people, just wilderness. 

Jenna looked up from the view below and saw they were headed to the mountains. The wind started to pick up, and the temperature dropped rapidly; she shivered against the wind as it kissed her skin. The mountains had snow on their peaks. They had gone from sunshine to a land of ice and snow. She sighed as the two dragons landed close to a peak. 

She got off of Clay, and both men shifted back into their human forms again. She embarrassingly covered her eyes; both men were naked. Clay laughed, “you’ve never seen a naked man before?” 

Jenna blushed, keeping her eyes covered, “Can't say that I have.”

Yale grinned, “Seems you picked up an innocent human."  Both men walked into a cave that was just below the peak, and Clay motioned for Jenna to follow. She followed them with her eyes to the ground to not see their nudity. Once they reached the inside of the cave, both men grabbed clothes and got dressed while Jenna looked around. This was incredible; this was a whole home inside of a mountain. There was furniture, clothing, a kitchen, the works.

“Wow,” she gasped. Clay nodded as he handed her a blanket and started a fire. 

“We will get this started to warm you up. Dragons run a lot hotter than humans," stated Clay. Jenna nodded as she shivered. and Clay motioned for her to sit down.

“So why is she here?” asked Yale, glancing at Jenna. 

Clay smiled, “Well... it is a pretty interesting story.”