Golden Braids and Dragon Blades: Steampunk Rapunzel

Chapter 4: Et Tu, Mister Darcy?

I stayed with the dragons until they fell asleep. With the momentary excitement passed, I went back to the front of the cave. Sliding carefully on the wet cave floor near the entrance, I peered outside. The rain had stopped, and the clouds had moved off. The sky was filled with thousands of stars. Pushing the ivy aside, I scanned up and down the shoreline. There was no sign of the airship.

There was no way anyone on that ship had seen me. The massive oak tree that grew on the land overhead and its long, thick roots, entwined with the cascade of ivy, kept the entrance to this ancient cave secret. No one would have seen.

What was that strange noise? The odd sound had tugged at something inside me. Was this what Mother was worried about? Was someone looking for me?

No. That wasn’t possible. No one even knew I was alive save Mother.

I was no one. A hobgoblin in a cave. Not one of the young ladies at all. No matter how nice that would be, how normal, that wasn’t me. I was a girl in a cave with three tiny dragons and a dragon egg to look after. They were my treasure, and I was destined to stay here and guard them.

Forever.

Sighing, I grabbed my copy of Miss Austen’s book, stoked the fire, and put on a fresh pot of tea. I lit a single candle then sat down at the table, dumping my hair beside me. It felt good to get its weight off my head. Sometimes I wanted to cut it all off—and once, I had. But it just regrew within days, a peculiarity I didn’t understand and for which Mother had no reasonable explanation either.

I flipped to the chapter where I’d left off. Certainly, Jane Austen’s character, Miss Elizabeth Bennet, didn’t have such trouble with her hair. We did, however, both have fine eyes. Perhaps if I ever found my Mister Darcy, he’d like my kaleidoscope eyes. After I read a few more chapters, I went and poured myself a cup of tea. When I returned to the table, I eyed the zoetrope sitting there, remembering the momentary flash of the dragons on the wall as the airship had passed.

I gazed out toward the cave entrance again. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and there was a light rain falling again, but there was no sign of airships. Only the soft peal of my wind chime filled the air.

Lifting my candle, I lit the small taper at the center of the zoetrope and gave it a spin.

A moment later, dragons danced across the wall. They breathed fire as they flew through the illusory sky. The dragons’ silhouettes spun around the room, interrupted only by my shadow. I turned it again and again, giggling happily as I watched the beautiful design at work.

I would need to show the girls. Setting my bookmark in my book once more, I took a quick sip of my tea, placing the cup down too quickly in the saucer. The china clattered.

“Oops,” I said with a laugh then to headed toward the back of the cave, but then I heard a bizarre noise. A sound like something metal zipping quickly buzzed just outside the cave. There was an odd clunk in the rocks and then the sound of a machine working.

I rose. Gripping the back of the chair, I stared at the cave entrance.

Sensing my alarm, Estrid suddenly appeared. She blew out the candles I had lit then alighted on my shoulder.

A moment later, the ivy parted, and a hand appeared on the cave floor.

First a hand.

Then a shoulder.

Then a leg.

And then a man.

For a moment, I’d stopped breathing.

He pulled himself into the cave then stood.

Green light glowed from the goggles he wore. He pulled a small device from his belt and activated it. It clicked loudly.

He scanned the room with his strange machine.

Estrid snarled low and mean.

I gripped the back of the chair tightly. I felt fixed, frozen in place. Part of me told me to lift the chair and bash him over the head with it. The other part of me—which had never even seen a man in the flesh before—stared in disbelief.

When the stranger finally set his eyes on me, he stopped. He pushed his goggles back on top of his head and looked at me, his eyes wide. He lifted his device and pointed it at me. Lights flashed across the top of the small machine, and it clicked wildly.

“You?” he whispered.

And then he did what he shouldn’t have.

He stepped toward me.

Estrid, having decided that was enough, crawled out of her hiding place behind my long braid and flew between us. Flames flickered between her jaws, and a moment later, she blasted a fireball at the stranger.

“Look out,” I called.

The man jumped back, his device falling to the floor with a clatter as it smashed into a dozen pieces.

The man slipped on the wet cave floor. His feet went out from under him, and he slid toward the ledge. I gasped in horror. If he fell, he would surely die. He grabbed at the ivy, but it pulled away in handfuls. Desperate, he reached out and held on to the wet ledge. I watched in terror as his fingers slowly slipped.

Rushing to the ledge, I reached out for him.

“Take my hands,” I called.

The stranger grabbed for me, his hands in mine. Tugging with all my might, I slowly pulled him back up. Once he was safely inside, I jumped backed, edging toward the table. I could run. There were many places to hide in the cave. But first and foremost, I had to get to the egg.

Estrid landed on my shoulder and roared more loudly than I thought possible. Her teeth bared.

The man rose quickly. He stared from me to Estrid.

A moment later, Wink appeared, Luna right behind her.

The man lifted his finger and whispered under his breath, “one, two, three,” as he counted each of the dragons. Then he pointed to me.

“Pendragon,” he said.

Wink, who apparently had had enough of the intruder, blinked. Reappearing before the man, she exhaled a puff of pink smoke in his face.

The stranger’s eyes rolled back, and he crumpled to the floor.