Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Chapter 3: Not Quite Camelot

I gasped.

“Wink,” I whispered.

My hands shaking, I approached the curtain of ivy.

Estrid and Luna flew toward the back of the cave. I swallowed hard then edged carefully over the wet stones to the ledge. Shifting a little of the vines out of the way, I looked outside.

Flying just off the coast was a small airship. A light mounted to the side of the ship scanned the seawall. I gazed at the sky overhead. It was dark, the moon hidden by the clouds. I couldn’t see Wink. That was good news. If I couldn’t see her, then no one else could either.

I looked back at the airship. It wasn’t too far down the coast from me.

Lightning cracked.

When it did, I caught Wink’s silhouette on the skyline. She was hovering above the ship.

“Wink,” I whispered desperately.

The spotlight scanned down the seawall and into my cave. Bright light blasted into my eyes. The cave behind me was bathed in light. A sharp wind blew, shaking the ivy. Wincing, I looked away. The light glowed on the zoetrope, and the wind turned the delicate paper. Silhouettes of dragons flew along the walls as the zoetrope cast its shadows.

Once more, the strange machine sounded, echoing oddly, a mix of sounds like something metallic scraping, clicking, and beeping, paired with the trumpet of a horn. My stomach shook. I felt ill. My knees softened. In the back of the cave, Estrid and Luna chirped nervously.

I closed my eyes and prayed for the airship to pass, prayed for Wink to come back. I heard the sound of men’s voices. The light faded. I listened to the purring sound of the airship as it flew further down the coast and away from my cave.

Hands shaking, I went to the telescope. Through it, I watched as the airship flew toward the village, scanning the seawall as it went. I gazed down at the shoreline. The beach was completely covered with water. The storm had eroded any sign of safe passage to my cave. I was safe here. There was no way they would ever suspect anything or anyone was living in here. Everything was going to be okay. No one had seen Wink or me.

Blasted dragon.

Sitting down on the wet stones, I gathered all my hair and set it in my lap. I inhaled then exhaled deeply. I couldn’t hear the airship anymore. It was gone. It was safe now.

Closing my eyes, I bent my thoughts toward Wink, and then I sang:

From Avalon to Camelot

Sir Pellinore did ride

With Arthur there

Excalibur strapped along his side

The Questing Beast they hunted long

Searching night and day

But t’was the love of Gwenhwyfar

Whose call he could not fight

For Camelot

For Avalon

For these, I do implore

My sweet dear one

I call you now

Come back upon my shore

I exhaled deeply and opened my eyes. Spinning all around me was a torrent of shimmering blue light. Estrid and Luna, lulled by the song, perched on the back of the kitchen chairs and watched me. Dragon caller. That was what Mother had called me. That was why the dragons had awakened from their long slumber. They’d heard my song and woke.

A moment later, the air shimmered, and Wink appeared once more.

I sighed with relief then rose.

“Bad girl,” I chided her. “You could have been seen.”

Wink snorted a perturbed huff at me.

“Mother said we should not go out. That sound… You all felt it too, right?” I asked, looking at all three of them. Luna and Estrid watched me with curiosity. “It wasn’t safe. Mother warned me that we should stay inside.”

Ignoring me, Wink flew to the back of the cave.

Annoyed, I pinned up my long hair and followed her. Estrid and Luna followed me, curious to see the outcome of this battle.

“Wink! Wink, come back here,” I called, but the stubborn dragon flew on.

I wound through the caves, following behind Wink. Bending low, I shimmied into the narrow shaft through which Wink had gone. We were deep underground now. Here, the air smelled of minerals and clay. Following Wink, I entered the massive interior chamber at the very back of the cave. The cavern, trimmed with amethysts, sparkled. A small oil lamp, which we kept perpetually lit, cast its glow around the room. I scanned the chamber for Wink, furious with her for putting us all at risk.

But my heart melted when I saw her.

Her sisters flew in behind me then joined her. The three of them nestled inside a cracked geode at the other end of the cave. There, they snuggled around the last unhatched dragon egg. The pearlescent egg, looking like a smooth quartz crystal, twinkled in the dim light.

Suddenly feeling sorry for having scolded her, I joined them. The geode was large enough to house them, but not me. Sitting beside the stone, I set my chin on my hands and looked at them.

Wink gave me a passing glance, a half-apology in her eyes, then set her head on the unhatched egg. No. I couldn’t be angry at her. I could barely stand this semi-prison myself. I couldn’t blame her for being curious.

I sighed. “Still won’t wake up, huh?” I asked the egg.

The others looked at me expectantly.

Dragon caller. I had woken all three sisters with my songs. The eggs, stashed here hundreds of years ago by Merlin, had been waiting for someone to wake them. I’d sung to each of the girls, waking them from their long slumber, but the fourth egg wouldn’t stir—no matter what song I warbled. The dragon inside was still alive. When I put my ear to the egg, I could hear its heart beating. But no matter how much I called, no matter what song I sang—and I’d sung them all, made up new ones, sung in Latin, French, and even Seelie, the strange language Mother had taught me—the dragon would not wake.

“One day, I will find the right song.”

After all, if I couldn’t do it, who would? How many hundreds of years would have to pass? Legend said that every nine generations, a dragon caller would be born. And that was me. There hadn’t been another since the time of King Arthur. That’s what Mother told me. Well, I called her Mother, but she was not my true parent. Gothel had raised, loved, mothered, and protected me. She was my guardian. But she was not really my mother. She was a faerie sworn to protect the line of Pendragon. Every nine generations, the old blood, the blood of the dragon would awaken. Pendragon. That was me, a descendant of King Arthur, Rapunzel Pendragon, cave-dwelling heir of Camelot.