Year 3134 of the Troll

"Are sure his arm is fine? I mean, it was in a pretty awkward position before." Eldon stared at Joseph with his lip twitched up as if the unconscious and bloodied man was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen.

"Don't you trust me, Eldon?! I healed the damn thing! Look," Hazel grabbed Josephs's arm and moved it around in all directions showing it was perfectly fine. "Joseph is fine. He just needs to wake up. I know my healing magic, you dimwit."

"Fine. If you say so. Maybe we should move him to his room or the infirmary to rest... He did make quite a fall." Eldon nudged the lifeless body of Joseph with his foot and looked up at his Dragon. Anything to avoid eye contact with Hazel.

"And with we, you mean me right? For some reason, I have this feeling you won't be touching him aside from that foot just now. How in Rocknuts name are you ever going to be able to survive a real battle?!" Hazel sneered at him and pushed Eldon to the side.

The Golden Dragon raised his head and bared his teeth at Hazel as she reached down to grab Joseph's ankles. She stared the dragon straight in the eye and flared her nostrils as she lifted the man's feet off the ground.

"Goldie, back down. I'm just helping him but because your rider won't help me, I have no other way to get Joseph to the infirmary so don't you start with me now! Instead of threatening me, command your coward rider to help me at least!" She didn't wait to see what the Dragon or Eldon would do. Instead, she started tugging at Joseph's feet with all her might and managed to drag him a bit across the dirt-covered floor. They could bath and clean him at the infirmary later.

"Stop..." Eldon's voice made her stop as she had dragged Joseph halfway from the stable to the door. 

He sighed and made his way over and without another word grabbed hold of Joseph's shoulder and lifted him up. Hazel chuckled as she watched him do everything it took to not look at Joseph. Joseph had blood on his face and part of his face was bruised and swollen badly. She had healed his arm, but there was not much she could do about the swelling. It would heal faster than normal but it would take up for a day for everything to be fully gone. All and all, Joseph did not look so pretty right now. In his defense, nobody would look pretty after headbutting the floor and breaking an arm because he fell off a dragon. 

Eldon groaned and huffed as he managed to open the door without dropping the heavy deadweight body. Hazel rolled her eyes at him every time he pretended to have a hard time carrying Joseph. When he accidentally bumped Joseph against the doorpost, the seemingly knocked out man groaned in response making Eldon shriek and lose his grip.

"Eldon!" Hazel yelled out, her voice lined with a hint of anger. "How on earth are you ever going to survive on the battlefield if this already throws you off! You might be an excellent fighter but this is nothing compared to what will happen on the battlefield! There are going to be dead bodies, wounded, lots of blood and it's going to be hell on earth! If Joseph already freaks you out like this how are you going to ever free our Country?!"

Eldon winced visibly as she called him out. He avoided her hazel colored eyes as he tried to regain his composure. Every time he nearly had it, his eyes darted past Joseph and he felt the confidence slip away like a snake. He wavered, stumbled as he felt his facade crumble in front of Hazel. To add to the confusion, his dragon did nothing to support him. He remained silent in Eldon's head while he watched the entire thing probably enjoying himself tremendously. 

"I..." Eldon hesitantly began. "I've been called to battle by the court. There is no way for me to get out of this one... I've managed to not be sent away earlier as they wanted me too but now... I--" He choked on his own words. Not being able to find the right way to tell what was going on. "It's why Joseph's dad is coming. To discuss the plans. They all expect things from me. Expect me to fix everything! Everyone looks at me like I will fly in, swipe my sword and the enemy falls. How can I live up to that expectation?!"

Hazel stared at him for a while. Her expression changed from a cold hard stare into a softer and gentler one.

"Don't worry. We'll be by your side." She nudged Joseph with her foot and he groaned again in response. "I've seen men change on the battlefield. Just have a little faith." 

Joseph's eyes fluttered open. He stared up at the ceiling as both Hazel and Eldon leaned over. Hazel smiled at him and grabbed his wrist to feel his pulse. 

"Welcome back to the land of the living, Joseph." 

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Joseph's arm still felt a little sore after two days but he had to admit Hazel had done an amazing job at healing it if it truly had been so bad as Eldon had made it out to be. There were other, bigger issues on his mind now though as he paced along the door which led to the one room he had once dreamt about of sitting in. Now that he was finally there, he had no idea if he was to rejoice it or dread it. Was he truly there for a reason, or just because of Eldon wanting to help him out? And why was he helping him out? Why the sudden interest of Eldon in him?!

The pacing was not helping. That much was clear. with every step he took, he was more convinced he was just another puppet being used in a big scheme. Whether it was people having fun with him or something more serious he could no longer tell. The past week and a half had been one of the most satisfying, confusing and utterly strange weeks ever since he moved here. That was the one thing Joseph did know.

He turned around as light footsteps drew nearer. He had learned to recognize them ever since meeting her and Joseph couldn't help but smile as the lanky woman turned the corner and waved at him. She was wearing another white dress, her hair pulled together in what used to be a braid, but kind of resembled a bird's nest now. It still looked good on her though. She waved her signature cheerful wave and trodded over.

"I'm so ready to meet your dad!" Her voice was so light, beautiful and made the knot in his stomach ease up a little despite the words she actually said. 

Wait... What did she say? Joseph blinked a few times as the words dawned in on him. 

"Sorry... You what?!" His voice skipped over making him even more flustered by lack of control over his own voice.

Hazel laughed, her almond-shaped eyes lighting up with pleasure at the sight of him. "I'm just curious to see what the meeting is about. Eldon was getting quite worked up about it just like you. I want to see why it does with my own eyes." 

"You're not invited, Hazel." Eldon's cold authoritative voice. He rounded the same corner Hazel had appeared from only moments ago.

With one hand, Eldon brushed his hair out of his face and flashed Hazel a cocky smile. Joseph watched their little exchange with interest as Hazel scoffed at him but for once did not explode. The only emotion she was showing was contempt and she did not do anything to hide it. Joseph wanted to break the awkward silence that followed as Eldon and Hazel stared each other down but he was afraid that if he would make a single sound, both of them would turn on him and right now, that was the last thing he wanted.

"Well, Eldon." She sneered. "Don't you forget, you're gonna need me out there." Hazel spun around and gave Joseph a quick peck on his cheek before briskly walking away from them. 

Joseph felt himself freeze as her lips touched his skin fleetingly. He momentarily forgot to breathe, forgot how to move and his mind went blank. It seemed to last forever before he managed to snap himself out of it but it probably had only lasted for a fraction of a second Joseph hoped. Eldon snickered at him and punched Joseph in the painful shoulder making him wince.

"She's got you whipped already, hasn't she?! Best part, you have no clue!" Eldon laughed. Once he calmed down he continued with a more serious tone. "Let's go in, we're running late and I know your dad doesn't like that!" Eldon did not seem to notice Joseph grit his teeth together at the mention of his old man. He grabbed the brown hair boy by his healed arm, opened the door and dragged him in.

Five pairs of eyes stared at them as they entered. Joseph's breath hitched in shock as he saw the King himself sit at the head of the table. Five pairs of eyes burning through him and Joseph quickly averted his eyes to the table to avoid looking anyone in the eye. Eldon ushered him in and towards a chair, forcing Joseph to sit down as he kept his gaze downwards.

"I'm so sorry we're late. Joseph here was just explaining a new battle tactic I can use together with Hiran. He's been advising me about battle tactics with the Dragon and I really think it will work."

Joseph stared at the tabletop as Eldon's lie smoothly found its way to the ears of everyone present. Even the king! Eldon was straight up lying to the king! He felt the blood rush up to his cheeks as one pair of eyes, in particular, seemed to rest and burn into his soul. Joseph had never been a good liar. His father had always seen straight through them and had punished him severely when he got caught. The sting of the belt was one Joseph would not soon forget.

"So this is your son, Reginald? He's... Not what I had expected but Eldon speaks highly of him." Joseph glanced up at hearing his father's name to see the king himself address his father as if they were old friends.

The king was a bit younger than his father but he was graying on the sides and balding on the top. His nose was the most prominent feature of his face. A big, long sleek pointy nose with some redness on the tip. He was big, maybe a bit overweight but he wasn't necessarily bad to look at. His grey eyes held a youthful sparkle in them as if he was always ready for some boyish mischief.

"Yes," his father murmured back, his eyes never leaving Eldon. "I had also expected more. But after he got fated to a Wyvern things started to make sense. Don't get me wrong, Joseph did the right thing by rejecting the lizard, but he was never meant for greatness like Sorsha here."

Hearing his father talk like he wasn't there almost made Joseph want to stand up and shout at him. He felt so much anger rush into him but that anger fell apart as soon as his father mentioned Sorsha. Joseph's head shot up and met with the mesmerizing dark brown eyes of the girl he had shared his first kiss with five years ago. The same girl that bonded with the giant red dragon Joseph was so desperately trying to bond with.