Tiger thought, no, knew that Nightfall was not his cousin. But he had decided to wait. It was true that today was a big day for his parents. Nightfall had not lied about that. But the guise started to falter and doubt came in when Maple came over to their table. Being that she had not impersonated his cousin, Tiger liked her.

“Maple?”

“Yes?” she said.

“Can– can I trust you?” Tiger’s mouth had decidedly decided not to listen to reason. Spilling the beans he continued. “I-I know that Nightfall is not who he says he is. Do you trust him?”

“Hm… I cannot prove that you can trust him… or me. You see ‘Nightfall’ over there, sleeping? Or perhaps eavesdropping… Though he worked for the same organization as me, he has been trained to– to kill. I don’t think he’s done it. He has done more minor crimes such as robbery.”

Tiger furrowed his brow. “What should we do then? Ditch him?” The thought of knowing a killer was frightening. Of course, it was. It should be. But Nightfall didn’t seem the murderous type.

“Give it a few more days, Tiger. He may prove himself to be a good dragon.”

Silence ensued.

Tiger thought about what might have happened to his parents. They told him that something was happening, but not what. Tiger, fearfully wondered if they were–were—

Tiger’s eyes started to water a bit. “You don’t think he’d kill me?”

Maple just hugged him and said, “I’ll protect you. Sssssh. Besides, I doubt he will. But worst comes to worst…”

This affection was unexpected. Tiger, though he liked Maple, did not want her claws on him. He tensed and pulled away.

He knew he was too trusting of strangers. But Maple seemed to have a charm to her. She seemed to be slightly younger than ‘not-Nightfall’ and was quite pretty. Tiger knew that his other cousin would be head-over-heels in love with this girl.

“Off-topic question. Do you have a book for me to read? I am very bored. And being bored makes me very stressed. And being very stressed is not pleasant.” All of this was true. Although reading was not his favorite activity, he had nothing else to do but twiddle his claws.

“Yes, I do. It’s about this race called griffins.”

“Why should I read about griffins?” Tiger asked.

“Just read, you little goofball.” She replied affectionately.

But Tiger knew he should read it. There were some griffins in the kingdom. They were a minority, yes, but a king must help all peoples under his rule. And Tiger wanted to be a good king. That is if he made it that far.

But he also knew that his dad treated the griffins poorly and did the bare minimum for them. He was… Tiger did not like to say it… a bigot. Tiger wanted to be a just and fair king to all beings. Regardless of species and gender. He saw all as equal. But he was afraid that this overly positive and trusting view was wrong and might get him in trouble one day.

***

An hour or three later, Tiger, Nightfall, and Maple started marching down the caves. Maple seemed to know where to go. She took the lead. Tiger still didn’t know what to think about Nightfall. He seemed to be sad. He plodded behind Tiger, who was behind Maple.

“Do either of you know if the fire spread to more of the kingdom?” said Tiger.

“It looked like about a quarter of the city burned. I guess we didn’t notice it because the restaurant had no windows,” Maple replied. She must’ve known something or had some sources that he and Nightfall had not or just gotten some fresh air. That was possible because Tiger did fall asleep for a bit.

“Why did the construction workers think it was a good idea to not put many widows in that restaurant?” Tiger asked.

“I have no clue,” said Nightfall.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Tiger, to distract himself from Nightfall, started focusing on his footsteps.

One foot.

Two foot.

Left foot.

Right foot.

This little piggy went to market… And was burned alive in the fire. Tiger shook that thought away.

I have feet, each with five toes or claws, I guess. So every time I take a step, five piggies go about their happy little lives and I’m stuck here. Sad. And with a maybe killer.

One foot.

Two foot.

Left foot.

Right foot.

This is getting very boring, counting feet. How about I look in my satchel for… something.

As he walked, he started rummaging around the satchel that hung from his neck. He found 10 bluescales, a pen, a key to the palace, and a finely written note from mom and dad.

Opening it up, it read:

Dear Tiger,

On Pentday the 23rd of Monsept. Your cousin Nightfall, who is visiting for the next few weeks, will keep you occupied so you don’t bother us.

Love, Mom, and Dad.

P.S. if anything happens, we will send someone to fetch you and bring you to safety

Tiger had read this note a few days before the incident and thought little of it. But now, he knew that his parents at least knew something was going on. They were prepared. Was Maple the dragon coming for him? Or was it someone else? Was this all to help him? Was it to keep him safe as something happened?

He tried to discreetly put the letter back in his satchel. But that failed because, when he was rummaging, he was being loud. Somewhat like Nightfall’s sigh the other night.

Nightfall looked at Tiger curiously from behind. Contemplating? Planning? Or just curious?

Either way, he couldn’t be trusted.

“What's going on?” asked Maple.

“Oh, just looking through my satchel.”

“Find anything interesting?” Nightfall asked.

When Nightfall asked the question, Tiger tensed and scurried next to Maple and looked back to see Nightfall looking hurt. Tiger did not feel sorry for him, then he felt bad for that. Not knowing what to think, Tiger just gave Nightfall a sympathetic smile. He returned it with another smile. It still was a little upsetting.

Turn left.

Turn right.

U-turn.

Maple led them through dark tunnels, passageways, and other creepy-crawly places.

They had found some torches near the entrance to use. The flickering, though one may think it frightening, Tiger found comforting. It reminded him of home. The warmness and the royal red and hints of purple in his parent personal quarters.

“Tiger! Come for dinner!”

Tiger ran down the stairs, bumped his head, turned, and ran to the table.“What’s for supper?” he asked.

“Biscuits and tomato-bisque soup by the fire. Made fresh”

His mother’s loving embrace. She also did more cooking than she need to, but she enjoyed working with the maids and servants. His dad’s smile after a hard day of ruling a kingdom. All these memories from the flickering of a torch. He missed it all. But he was relieved that his pressures were not there, he could never live up to expectations. How could he?

“Oof!” Maple shouted.

“What happened?” said Nightfall, running to her.

Tiger walked up and saw a long scratch running down Maple’s forearm. Just behind, the perpetrator, a sharp piece of stone, looked menacingly at Tiger.“What is that?” he asked.

Maple and Nightfall turned to look at the piece of stone. They both mumbled something.

“What?” Tiger said.

“It’s a message,” said Maple.

Nightfall started reading it aloud. “ You are not alone here, Maple, Truth, and Tiger. I’ll let you pass through here further if you: A, Complete a Trial, and B, make it out in four days after that. Best of luck. From, the Master.”

It sounded extremely ominous to Tiger. And he felt justified by the expressions on Nightfall’s and Maple’s faces. It scared him.

Maple gasped. “It can’t be THE Master.”

“I doubt it,” Nightfall, now Truth said.

“And your name’s Truth, right? Did my parents hire you?” Tiger said.

Truth sighed. “Not now.”

This answer was very concerning to Tiger, as Truth had avoided the question. He was definitely not trustworthy. The stone under his talons was cold. A foreboding cold. One that scared even the doughtiest.

Tiger wanted to yell and scream and breathe fire at Truth. He was screaming internally, and his anxiety of the situation was overpowering…

He felt someone touch his shoulder and he jumped and turned to see who it was.