The Continuing Adventures of Draco Moonbeam

Well, it didn’t happen as Draco Moonbeam had expected.

The werewolves and vampires actually did nothing that night.

Draco and Brother Wenton had fully anticipated some kind of attack. Draco had set up some defenses. He had even tried to formulate a plan where he would attack them instead, but there were too many unknown variables. The only thing he could think of was to force action in the daylight outdoors to minimize the enemies’ abilities.

So they passed the overnight hours into early morning on high alert. But the inactivity lulled them into fighting sleep instead.

And as the dawn broke, and the sunlight spilled through the town that crisp fall morning, Draco realized they were momentarily safe, and he sent the old man to sleep for a few hours. Then he, too, retired and fell asleep.

But he didn’t rest long.

There was a lot of noise by the front of the church. Shouting and yelling, it sounded like a mob. And they were angry.

Draco and the priest went to the front of the church. Opening the doors, they saw a group of about 40 people who brandished pitchforks and clubs. The Sheriff and some of his men were with them.

“You are under arrest!” shouted Sheriff Pautch. He pointed right at Draco. The people yelled and added shouts of “kill him” and “hang him high” as well as “for our kids”.

“What charges have you? I’ve done nothing!”

The Sheriff replied, “for stealing the children of this town! You’ve taken 23 of the children already and yesterday came back for another! Tell us what you’ve done to the girl!”

Draco was shocked. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“What girl?” was all he could say.

“Serapha Hunter! You danced with her last night, and now she’s missing! What have you done with her?”

A voice from the crowd yelled, “it’s true! I saw him looking at her at the Lady’s party, then he danced with her!”

The crowd started cursing again and began approaching Draco.

Brother Wenton shouted, “you’ve got it all wrong! This man’s innocent! It’s the werewolves! The Sheriff here is one of them, and the Lord is a vampire!”

The people laughed the old man to scorn.

“You’re daft!” they shouted.

“You’re senile!”

“Arrest him, too!”

But Sheriff Pautch didn’t seem at all interested in the priest.

Draco didn’t want to hurt them. Surely the townsfolk were innocent. So he didn’t fight back even as they grabbed him.

They piled on top of him and held him down as the Sheriff put a gag in the his mouth and chained his hands behind his back.

One older, balding, bearded wizard in custody. It was a spectacle.

The priest seemed quite distraught, but Draco couldn’t see him. Then suddenly he couldn’t see anything as a sack was placed over his head. The Sheriff picked him up and started marching him away.

Draco Moonbeam couldn’t tell where they were headed. But he guessed by the climb that they took him towards the Manor.

Once inside they marched him down a long series of stairs that turned every 20 steps. Draco thought they went down about 80 steps or so. They paused as they passed several doors. The smells became dustier and musty as if they were entering a cellar. There were only two guards plus the Sheriff at this point to the best of Draco’s knowledge. They didn’t speak much.

Eventually they arrived at the bottom. The Sheriff took the sack off Draco’s head and he could finally see where he was.

A dungeon.

A large cell with a sturdy door and plenty of wrought iron bars lined one side of the torchlit chamber.

“Welcome to your new home!” jeered the dark haired Sheriff. “You might as well get comfortable. You won’t get out alive!” He laughed as he walked away.

One of the guards threw Draco in a cell and shut the door tight. He turned the key in the door to lock him in. Then the guards left, too.

In the dim torchlight, Draco could see the other two occupants of the cell. One was Serapha. Her red dress was still on her although it was now quite dirty. She was weeping quietly.

The other was a petite young woman of approximately 20 years of age. She had dark brown hair, dark eyes, tan skin, and only underclothes. She seemed cold as she looked at Draco, trying to evaluate the newcomer.

Draco mumbled something but couldn’t make out anything with the gag.

The tan girl got the hint, and removed his gag.

“I’m Ava,” she said. “And you are…?”

“In a mess.” He half chuckled at his ill timed attempt at humor. “Sorry, my name is Draco Moonbeam. I was only passing through this town on my way to Voridia, when I got sidetracked.”

Serapha stopped crying. She seemed interested in who this man was.

He took off his shirt and gave it to Ava who seemed pleased to have something warm to wear. It covered her like a gown. He remained with an undershirt to cover his upper body.

Over the next couple of hours they each shared their stories.

Serapha was just a local girl. Her father was a merchant despite the Hunter surname. She was 13 and truly loved all the attention that the beautiful Lady Vara had bestowed upon her. The jewelry, the gifts, the music lessons, and the parties. But not long after she danced with Draco the previous night, the Sheriff took her aside. Once they were out of sight, the Sheriff dragged her down to this dungeon. He never said anything. Not an explanation. Nothing. She had cried to see her parents or the Lady. The guards only laughed at her.

Ava had been in the dungeon about three weeks although she was unsure how many days had passed. But judging from the meals which came twice a day, she estimated that she had already spent 23 days down here.

Ava was traveling with her family from Cloudgate City towards Voridia. They had a small caravan of wagons loaded with wares, and they went from city to city to trade goods. However a group of wolves attacked them one night. The savage beasts killed her family. She had pretended to be dead so they would leave her alone, but then she suddenly heard mens’ voices. One of them was the Sheriff. At first she thought she was rescued so she started to get up. The Sheriff, once he saw that she was actually alive, told his men that they would take her back with them alive. That the Lord would dine well. They put her in the cell and then mostly forgot about her.

Draco explained that he was also attacked by wolves while traveling. And that when he arrived at High Church they attacked again. He explained the priest’s concerns about the missing children and how he went to the party to see the Lord and Lady for himself. He then explained how he saw the twin bite marks on Serapha’s wrist which made him believe that the Lord was a vampire.

Serapha seemed surprised. “But Lady Vara said she loved me! She once kissed me on the wrist. I didn’t know that she bit me. It actually felt good. I thought that was normal! And I almost became food for her! For a vampire!” She started sobbing again.

Draco said, “We might all still be vampire dinners if we don’t get out. I might possibly be able to do something but not with my hands literally tied.”

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Ava hushed Serapha. They quickly stopped talking.

The dungeon’s door opened and Sheriff Pautch entered with the two guards again. They went to the cell door and unlocked it.

One stout guard stood outside the cell door while the Sheriff and the other guard entered.

“I’ve been commanded to make sure you can’t escape.” The guard grabbed Draco and held him in a tight arm bar. Draco was lifted upwards. “And seeing how your tongue is a weapon, we’ll just have to relieve you of it!”

The Sheriff pulled out a knife with one hand and forced Draco’s mouth open. With a quick move he cut out Draco’s tongue and laughed.

“Doesn’t look like you have any magic left in you now!” He threw the severed tongue into the corner.

The guard dropped Draco to the floor. The Sheriff and the guard locked the cell behind them again. They left a large bowl of slop in the cell. Then they left the dungeon and ascended the stairs.

Draco’s mouth burned, and blood filled his mouth constantly from the wound. Serapha started crying again. Ava came over to Draco and put her arm around him to comfort him.

After a while, Ava asked Draco about the hands. “Do you want to take these things off?”

Draco tried to speak, but his words sounded like babbling and grunts. He couldn’t say yes, so he nodded.

“If I had some tools, I could unlock these for you,” she said.

Draco looked up at her with raised eyebrows.

“I have certain skills,” she said. “But I have absolutely nothing available.”

Serapha interrupted. “What tools?”

“A lock pick would be great.”

“Oh,” said the younger girl. “I probably can’t help. What does a lock pick look like?”

“It’s a pin. Something shaped like a long hook.”

“A pin? I might have something,” said Serapha eagerly.

Serapha reached into the bust of her dress. She pulled out padding from the area of her breasts. Then she pulled out two needle like pins.

“I wanted to look bigger. These kept the padding in place.”

Ava clapped. Serapha handed her the pins, grateful to be of assistance.

Draco looked at the girls. Although he couldn’t speak, he communicated that he was impressed.

Ava sat and bent over the pins. She took one and bit hard into the end of it to bend it down. It formed a tiny hook.

She sat down behind Draco. Using the newly minted pick, she began working it inside the lock mechanism of his shackles. After a few minutes of prying back and forth and exploring the keyhole, she managed to get the lock to open. The chains fell off his hands with a clatter. They stopped for a moment and listened for a response from the guards. Hearing none, Draco turned and gave Ava a hug.

“Well, you’re hands are free, even if you’re not.” She handed him the bowl of slop. “Eat and get some strength back.”

But Draco shook his head and handed it instead to Serapha. She looked disapprovingly at the gruel. Dipping a finger in it, she tasted it, then began to eat slowly. After a few minutes she handed the bowl off to Ava.

“You’ll get used to it,” said Ava.

Serapha spoke. “Did the Sheriff say that you know magic?” She looked at Draco hopefully.

He nodded. But then he pointed to his mouth.

“You can’t speak. Do you need to speak to use magic?”

Draco nodded again.

“We’ll that’s a full load of hopelessness,” said the young girl.

“Perhaps not,” replied Ava. “I think we can figure a way out.”