Chapter Text
Danny hated court. For starters, he had to wear his official garb and not his usual clothes. They were heavy and stiff with several different layers. The trousers made it difficult to sit comfortably, the doublet made it hard to move his torso, and the shoes were not the most comfortable. The cloak wouldn’t be that bad, if Danny didn’t have to have it draped a certain way so his crest was visible.
The crown was the worst part. It was heavy and uncomfortable. Plus it left a dent in his hair after he’d been wearing it.
But it was whatever. Danny could deal with it. One day he would be king and he could decide what he wanted to wear. And he wanted to be able to actually move and be comfortable. He didn’t care as much about posturing as his uncle did.
Danny looked out at the court assembled before him. He was mostly just there to learn, sitting in his seat to his uncle’s left. Truthfully, he was only half paying attention to what his Uncle Dark was saying as he held court. Most of what he was talking about was taxes or crop yield or a squabble between a couple nobles over some shitty piece of land. Boring stuff that Danny didn’t really care about. Yes, it would be his problem when he took over as King, but that wouldn’t be any time soon.
He hoped.
Suddenly, Danny caught a snippet of conversation that caused him to tune fully back in, a sense of dread sinking into his chest.
“-dragon by the western border. Several farmers have reported missing livestock. People are worried about losing their herds and several worry the dragon will start going after people soon.”
Danny swallowed hard, trying not to make his anxiety too obvious. Dorathea’s clan lived past the western border. They had fought a lot in the past, but much less since Dorathea had taken over as clan leader over Aragon. If the dragon was from her clan then something had to be wrong.
His eyes darted over to where Clockwork was standing off to the side. It took a moment for Danny to catch his mentor’s eye. When he did, he got a tiny nod. This was something he would have to deal with.
Danny took a deep breath, looking back at the person who had shared the news. Next to him, his uncle shifted slightly in his seat.
“This is an issue which will not be permitted to continue. Skulker!”
Danny gulped nervously as the large man stepped forward from where he stood off to the side amongst the other council members.
“My hunters and I will take care of the problem. Don’t worry, your Majesty.”
King Dark nodded. “Very good. Do not disappoint me.”
“Of course not, your Majesty. It will be done.” Skulker bowed before retaking his place along the wall.
“Oh boy,” Danny muttered to himself. Apparently, he said it loud enough for his uncle to hear as the King’s gaze turned to him.
“You have thoughts on the matter?”
“What? Oh, no. Just wondering if it really is a dragon that caused the missing livestock. I mean, we haven’t had a dragon problem in over a year.” He smiled, hoping his uncle wouldn’t look deeper into his reasoning.
“All the more reason to take a proactive approach.” He settled back into his throne. “If we give those monsters even an inch, they will take more and more and lead to the ruin of this kingdom. That will not be allowed to happen. One day you will understand this.”
“Yes, Uncle,” Danny said dutifully.
He knew all too well the conflict between magical creatures and humans. He’d seen it. Hell, Danny had felt it personally. His eyes drifted to the enchanted greatsword hanging from the Skulker’s side. He didn’t need to see the blade itself to know the runic inscriptions running along the fuller. Danny had watched his parents make it.
He took a deep breath, trying not to think too hard about what Skulker might do when he went after the dragon. Nothing good, that was for certain. Danny just needed to get there first. Easy enough. As soon as court was over he would head back to his room and get out of these ridiculous clothes so he could make his way out to fix this.
He just needed to sit through at least another hour of talk about corn and roads. Great.
-🜍☿🜍-
“Do we know where along the western border the dragon attacks are happening?” Sam asked from where she was lounging in one of Danny’s chairs.
“I’ve got a guess,” Danny said, shifting as Tucker helped him out of his doublet. He immediately felt lighter. “I’ll just head towards Dorathea and start searching there.”
“It would be easier if you’d actually been paying attention and got a village name or some landmark,” Sam huffed.
“Hey, it’s not my fault court is boring!” Danny retorted, heading behind the divider to wiggle the rest of the way out of his court clothes. “I do try to listen but everyone keeps droning on and on and on about stuff I don’t care about. Like roads and taxes and whatever it is Vlad was droning on about.”
“You know, you’re going to have to pay attention to that one day when you’re king,” Tucker reminded him.
Danny let out a loud groan. “I know! But I’m not king so can’t it wait? Besides, I have more pressing matters that I want to take care of when I’m king. Not getting hunted down by my own court being the first.”
“You never know Danny, you could become king sooner than you realize.”
“Don’t say that,” Danny whined. “You’re going to jinx me.”
He could hear Sam's shrug from the way the fabric of her dress rustled. Danny sighed, tugging his much more comfortable shirt on.
“Look, I get it. I'm next in line of succession. I need to be prepared for when I inevitably take over. But I never wanted to be King. I don’t know why my Uncle wants me to rule. Jazz would be the better option.”
“You better not be trying to lump your responsibilities on me!”
Danny jumped and definitely did not let out a yelp as his sister's voice entered the room. He cautiously peeked his head out to see Jazz walking in looking as regal as usual. She turned towards him, frowning disapprovingly.
“No, of course not. I just think you're the better choice. You're more responsible and determined and smarter. Besides, it should have gone to you anyways as you're older.”
“Well, you're the one Uncle Dark named as his successor so you better start taking it seriously. Or else you're going to have a lot more to worry about than magic hunters. For instance, a full on peasant revolt. Is that what you want?”
“No…” Danny admitted.
“Then I suggest you start taking this seriously.” Jazz narrowed her eyes at how Danny was leaning around the partition and let out a heavy sigh. “And put your pants on for Pete's sake.”
A blush rose swiftly in Danny's cheeks as he ducked back behind to put his pants on. He came out a few moments later, everything in place and looking presentable.
“Look, I am trying to take my role as heir seriously. I don’t like it but I want to be a good king when the time comes, which should be years and years from now. And one of the ways I'm going to do that is by trying to keep people and magical creatures safe from each other. Killing isn't how that happens because then it's a vicious cycle of revenge. You can lecture me on politics or whatever after I make sure I get to this dragon before Skulker does.”
Jazz looked at him for a long, hard moment before her gaze eventually softened. “I know. Just… be careful.”
Danny grinned, rings flashing over him as he changed forms. “I always am.”
“Changing in the castle would indicate otherwise,” Tucker quipped.
Danny rolled his eyes before turning invisible and flying off towards the west.
-🜍☿🜍-
It took about two hours for Danny to near the western border. He knew Skulker would likely have left the castle by that point, and he would have at least a day before he arrived. It gave Danny some time to try and solve this, but he knew from experience that the window of freedom could close very quickly. Especially as, knowing Skulker, he would try and get there as fast as he could. More than once he’d shown up hours before Danny was expecting him to. Danny just needed to make the most of the time he had and hopefully get this resolved quickly.
The main problem was that, as Sam had so graciously pointed out, he didn’t know where along the western border the dragon might be. The western border was large. Even with his flight powers, it could take Danny days to search the entire length. That was time he didn’t have as Skulker had likely gotten more detailed information in a private meeting with King Dark after court ended.
Danny wasn’t allowed into the after-court meetings yet.
He slowed down, searching the area. He knew that somewhere west of him, several leagues across the border, was the edge of Dorathea’s territory. If there was a dragon attack, and if it was one of Dorathea’s people, then this is about where it would be.
Probably.
Unfortunately, the forests and pastures below him seemed calm. Well, maybe saying the calm was unfortunate made him sound like he wanted a dragon attack. Danny preferred when things were calm, but things being calm right now meant that the dragon wasn’t here.
Danny took a deep breath, looking around. “North or south. If I were a dragon, which way would I go?”
He turned, looking in both directions. Things looked normal. There weren’t any signs of a dragon flying around or carting off livestock. If Danny couldn’t find a clue, he’d have to pick a direction and hope he was right.
Just as he was about to arbitrarily choose south (somehow going south felt like going downhill, even when flying, especially when flying) he spotted something. A rustling in the trees. Specifically, the shaking of tree tops. It was too big to be any animal, though it could just be woodsmen working on felling timber. But there were several trees swaying, not one, and they were farther in than a woodsman would likely go.
It might be nothing, but it could be a start. Danny swooped through the air, heading for the small cluster of shaking trees.
As he approached, he started to hear things. Large, heavy footsteps and deep breathing broken up by low rumbles and snorts. As he got closer, the smell of brimstone hit his nose.
Dragon.
Danny quickly dropped below the canopy. It didn’t take long to spot the dragon once his eyes adjusted to the dim light of the forest.
It wasn’t a dragon Danny knew personally. Her scales were a light crimson hue, wings tinted towards a deep purple folded tightly against her body as she pushed her way between the trees. Her large head swung from side to side, sniffing intently between the trees. Smoke curled from her nostrils as she went.
She didn’t seem threatening. At least, not actively. She was still a dragon and Danny knew from personal experience that fighting a dragon was no laughing matter.
He carefully drifted down through the trees, making his way towards the dragon, trying to figure out how best to get her attention without leveling half the forest. He decided to go with the age-old tactic of clearing his throat.
“Hi there.” He tried to sound as cheerful and friendly as possible.
It certainly got the dragon’s attention as her head whipped around to face him, causing a sapling to bend and snap violently back upright. Her dark irises narrowed into slits, boring into him. Smoke rose more heavily from her nostrils as a warning rumble grew in her throat.
“I am warning you, do not get in my way.” Her words hissed out like hot coals rolling over each other.
Danny quickly held up his hands. “Not trying to get in your way. I’m actually here to help!”
Her eyes narrowed even more, if that was possible. Clearly, he was not convincing enough.
“No man would help a dragon,” she hissed.
“Luckily for you, I’m a ghost. And I know that a lot of the people in this kingdom aren’t too fond of magical creatures. I wanted to see what brought you over here. Are you from Dorathea’s clan?”
Name-dropping Dorathea seemed to work, at least a little. The smoke at least had lessened, which was good. If Danny’s lungs were working currently, they would be burning from the soot and ash in the air.
“What do you know of our queen?”
“I’m a friend of hers. Helped her overthrow Aragon. Dorathea’s really nice, and the dragons from her tribe that I’ve met have all been wonderful. I don’t think you want to fight anyone, and neither do I. So, what brings you over here?”
The dragon looked at him, gauging him. By what metric, Danny didn’t know, but he appeared to pass as she let out a heavy sigh.
“It is my child. The only egg of my clutch. He wandered into these woods while I was hunting.”
Danny nodded in understanding. “Yeah, this isn’t a good place for a baby dragon, especially all on his own. I’ll help you find him. Do you have any clue where he might be?”
She nodded a little. “I was following his trail but then the humans attacked me.” She growled in anger, the words coming out like the rumble of a volcano. “By the time I returned to his path, it was muddied. And he can fit through the underbrush but I can’t.”
“I understand. I may not be able to pick up on his scent trail, but I know how to look for signs of creatures passing through the brush. And I’m a good deal smaller than you are. I’ll search the underbrush. If you pick up his trail, let me know, and I’ll tell you if I find anything. Sound like a plan?”
The dragon nodded, visibly relaxing as much as she could in the tight wood. “Yes. Thank you, young ghost.”
Danny flashed a smile. “I’m happy to help.”
With that, they were off. She continued back on the path she’d been following, weaving as best she could through the larger gaps in the trees and smelling for her son. Meanwhile, Danny darted off to the sides, searching for any signs of the young dragon passing through be that a broken branch, track, or scratch on a tree.
It was slow going, even with their combined skills. There was a lot of forest to cover. And there were a lot of other animals who may have passed through the woods that were roughly the same size as a baby dragon. A couple times Danny had asked her to smell a spot to see if it was her son that trampled through a bush or not. So far they had only found bear and deer tracks.
Danny was trying not to let himself get disheartened. They needed to find the baby. They were going to find the baby. But he knew they were slowly running out of time. Danny knew that searching was not one of his best skill sets. He was built to fight or flee. Those were two things he, as a ghost, was good at.
Searching for baby dragons was neither of those things.
He dove into a shallow valley, going intangible to better navigate the brambles. He was about to leave, flying up the embankment, when a shine caught the corner of his eye. He froze, turning to look at where the light had caught his eyes. There wasn’t much, but if he moved his head just right, there was something glimmering through the thick briars.
“I may have found something!” he called, making his way forward. He could hear the rumbling footsteps of the mother dragon as she made her way towards the briar patch.
There was a spot Danny had overlooked. It appeared to be an old badger den. And there, curled up into a sleeping little ball inside, was a little blue dragon. A relieved smile spread across his face. He floated up above the brambles to see the mother looking at him worriedly.
“I found him. He fell asleep in an old badger den. About this big, blue scales,” he said, indicating the rough size of the curled-up dragon.
Relief flowed through her entire body. “Yes. That is him.”
“Good. Give me a moment to get him out and bring him up to you.” He waited until she nodded before disappearing back down into the briar.
He settled on the ground outside the den, looking at the little dragon. He carefully reached in, gently running a hand along his leg.
“Hey, little guy. Time to wake up. Your mother’s up above worried about you. Wake up, little one.”
Slowly, the little dragon’s eyes started to open. Danny pulled his hand back out of biting range as the baby yawned, stretching out chubby little legs in front of him and fluttering his little wings. It was so adorable. Danny could never get over how adorable baby dragons were. He waited until the baby was a bit more awake before speaking again.
“Hi there.”
The baby squeaked, jumping in surprise. He looked at Danny, eyes wide and wings out, clearly trying to make himself look big and intimidating. Danny suppressed a chuckle.
“It’s alright. I’m here with your mom. Why don’t you come on out and I’ll carry you up to her.”
He looked wary of Danny, which was understandable. Ghosts were not common (half-ghosts like Danny even less so but that didn’t really count here), so this was likely the first time he’d ever seen one.
“Azine, come out,” the mother dragon rumbled from above them.
That got the baby’s attention. He squeaked excitedly, flapping his wings.
He bounded towards the exit of the den. Danny quickly caught him before he could injure himself on the briars. The dragon squawked indignantly. This time, Danny couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. He stood up before flying them both intangibly through the thorn bushes, coming to land in front of the mother dragon.
The baby quickly became a frantically wiggling mass which was not easy to hold onto. Danny set him down as gently as he could, but it was quite like trying to set a cat down. Only the cat was about 30 pounds, covered in scales, and could breathe fire.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Azine bounded over to his mother. She pressed her nose against him, letting out a low, happy rumble. Danny smiled softly, watching them.
After a long moment, her eyes opened. “Thank you, young ghost. We will remember your kindness.”
Danny blushed a little. “I’m happy to help. And you can call me Phantom.”
“Phantom.” She bowed her head slightly in respect. “You may call me Eldrine.”
Danny bowed back. “I am glad to have been of service, Eldrine.” He straightened back up, looking at the two of them. “Now that you have found your son, I would recommend you return home. It will be much safer for both you and your son there.”
She nodded. “We will. Thank you again for your service.”
Danny bowed. “May we meet again in good health and good times.”
She smiled, at least the dragon equivalent of a smile, before turning back towards her son. She made a rumbling sound in the back of her throat that Danny didn’t understand. Then, with a small nudge to Azine’s flank, they began to walk back towards the border.
Danny watched them go for a minute before taking back off. He needed to head back to the castle. It would be getting dark soon and he had been gone for most of the day. Someone might start to wonder where the Prince had been all day.
He probably should have talked to Clockwork before he left, come up with an alibi. Maybe he’d stop back in Clockwork’s tower instead of his room when he returned to the castle. Assuming he didn’t have company.
With that, Danny made the long flight back home. Hopefully, he wouldn’t miss dinner.