Dragon Dream

by Elena Van Peborgh

  “Thank you so much,” I said and wrapped my arms around my mom’s waist. I was grateful because she had prevented me from making the same mistake she had made.

  “Don’t thank me. I want to protect you, just like your father. That’s why he didn’t want Jon to come close to you. Are you sure he has never hurt you?”

  “Mom, he has barely touched me. The only time he has, was when I sat on his back because I couldn’t walk myself. That wound was bleeding heavily at the time.”

  I didn’t say anything about the swimming lessons or about the time he had saved me when I had almost drowned. I also didn’t mention the other times I had been sitting on his back. I didn’t want to tell her he had gained my trust. I didn’t want her to worry too much about me. He might have used me, but he had taught me some useful things too. My mom and I released each other. She stood up and left my room.

  The week passed by extremely slowly. I didn’t eat or drink very much, but I wasn’t that hungry or thirsty either. Flora replaced the bandage and the leaves daily and had said the wound started to look better. I didn’t care that much about my leg. Jon had betrayed me. I was still angry about that. I mostly blamed myself. I couldn’t forgive him or myself for what had happened. It drained all the energy out of my body. I felt impassive and restless. I slept badly too, waking up every night while bathing in my own sweat.

  “This can’t keep going on like this. I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but your leg is healing well so you can’t blame that,” Flora said. “There are enough people who you can talk to, but you don’t say anything to anybody,” she continued while sticking a clean bandage to my leg.

  I shrugged. I didn’t have anything to say.

  “I’ve talked to your parents about this and they won’t mind it if you go to The Capitals with me and stay there for a while. I know you’re interested in The Capitals so what do you think? Would you like to travel there? You’re fit enough to walk, and we’d only have to walk for a day to reach The First Capital. I think you can do that.”

  “What exactly have you told them?”

  She looked up and smiled. “I’ve told them you don’t feel so well and that I need to do extra examinations, but that I can only do them in The Capitals because I don’t have all the materials I need here.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Will it be okay for you if we leave tomorrow? I’ll start packing.”

  I shrugged again. “That’s fine with me.”

  My own reaction frightened me. I was supposed to be very enthusiastic now. I had always been curious about what The Capitals looked like. I hadn’t been there before. Why wasn’t I joyful? What was wrong with me? Maybe Flora was right; maybe I needed this. I hoped my enthusiasm and my energy would come back when I arrived in The First Capital.

  Twelve

  The next morning, Flora woke me very early. I knew we’d only arrive in The First Capital by the evening, so I needed to get ready for the hike. When I came downstairs, she handed me a small backpack.

  “This is yours. There’s food and some water bottles in it. So always keep that backpack close to you,” she said.

  I nodded and accepted the backpack from her, hanging it over my shoulders. We left the house and walked through the village in a northern direction without saying anything to each other.

  “I’m not going to say much. We need to move fast so we can arrive as soon as possible in The First Capital. Maybe we’ll still be able to take a train to The Third Capital. Focus on your breathing and your heartbeat,” Flora said.

  I didn’t answer. I also knew I could better focus on my breathing and my heartbeat instead of wasting my breath and energy with talking. She didn’t need to tell me that at all. We left the village behind us and continued further north. I had an excellent sense of direction, but still usually used the mountains to orientate myself; they were very easy to spot from everywhere. I used the sun as a clock to know what time it was. I saw the sun at my right side. It floated very low above the horizon; it hadn’t even reached above the trees. I saw it through the trees. It was still orange instead of yellow.

  Sometimes, Flora and I stopped for a bit to drink something, and during lunchtime we sat on the forest ground. We ate without saying anything. I was very hungry from the hike. I also took one of the water bottles and drank half of it at once. I had drunk the other half on the way, so the bottle was completely empty now.

  “Don’t you dare to throw that bottle on the ground. Just put the cap back on it and then put it back into your backpack. We’ll get rid of the empty bottles when we’re in The First Capital,” Flora said.

  She sounded like she was warning me. I shrugged. I hadn’t wanted to throw the bottle away here. I knew humans threw their litter everywhere and therefore polluted the forests and the streets in their cities. I also knew the druids from The Capitals regularly inspected the forests and cleaned up the dirt. In my village, we threw our litter in big black bags and every month, a few shape-shifters came to collect them. I put the cap back on the bottle and then put it back in my bag before closing the backpack and hanging it on my back again.

  “You don’t need to tell me that. Can I ask you something? What do they do with the black bags they come to collect every month?”

  “Oh, they only come to collect them once a month there? I don’t know how often they come to collect those bags in other communities. They bring them to The First Capital. There’s a sorting centre where they can leave the bags. When they sign up there, they get a place to sleep. They can also stay multiple days.”

  “Do they receive money when they bring in the bags?”

  “Everyone receives a certain amount of money per bag they bring in, yes,” Flora answered.

  I understood that and was happy she had given such an extensive answer to my questions. I wondered if I should ask her about the pigeons. I decided to risk it. I wanted to know how that worked.

  “How about the pigeons? How does that work?” I asked.

  She needed to think about that for a bit. “I’ll try to explain it simply with terms you’ll understand. Pigeons are actually very clever and have a terrific sense of direction. We even make them smarter by enchanting them. Pigeons already know a lot when you put a name on a letter and then whisper that name to them, but you also need to visualise that person in your mind. It’s even better when you can visualise where that person lives. Then the pigeon will find its way to that person. They automatically find their way back to The Capitals.”

  “Are those pigeons located in post offices?”

  “Yes, there’s a post office in every Capital. They sit on their perches there. When you’re in your village and you want to send a letter, you just need to whistle. They can hear that because of the enchantments. We need to put those enchantments on them daily because they only last for twenty-four hours.”

  “Oh, okay,” I reacted.

  “Do you have any other questions? We need to continue.”

  I shook my head. Flora walked at a brisk pace, but I could easily keep up with her. As the evening fell, we arrived at The First Capital. A gigantic gate, made of steel, rose up straight from the ground. Behind the gate, the apartment blocks were silhouettes against the sky. The buildings all had a camouflage colour but that wasn’t necessary. The huge protective shield made sure we were all invisible to planes and helicopters so the humans wouldn’t be able to spot us. I felt the magic in the air. It was beating like a heart. It pulsated. It was alive. The centre of the magic and the world was here. Everything happened here. We walked through the gigantic gate. I wondered why it was here; there were no guards in sight, and the gate was wide open. It was probably just a remnant from the war.

  “Is that gate always open?” I asked.

  “This gate has always been open, even during the war. It will only be closed when there’s an external threat. But during the war, the threat was internal,” Flora answered.

  “Oh, so this gate was already here before the war?”

>   “Yes, all the gates are from before the war. The gates serve as a failsafe and they also protect against threats. All gates are permanently closed except the two Outside Gates, this gate and the gate of The Seventh Capital to the outside. That’s why we use trains to travel between the different Capitals. You can shut down the train lines more easily. Line One rides between The First, The Second, The Sixth and The Seventh Capital, and that line is free to use. You need to have a badge to use Line Two. That one rides between The First, The Third and The Seventh Capital. We’ll take Line Two.”

  “Is there another line or are there only two?” I asked.

  “There’s a third line: Line Three, and that one rides between The Third, The Fourth and The Fifth Capital. When the war started, Line Three was immediately shut off because The Fourth Capital is in direct contact with the mountain druids. Apparently, they hadn’t been fast enough because a few mountain druids had gotten into The Third Capital. Luckily, they had been smart enough to shut down Line Two immediately after Line Three had been shut off. It had taken the mountain druids five years to occupy The Fifth Capital. Fortunately, it has never been necessary to shut down Line One.”

  I was glad I had gone with Flora. She didn’t ask any questions. She also didn’t seem to wonder why I wanted to know all of this. She answered my questions clearly.

  “Why do you tell me that? Nobody ever wanted to tell me. I had the impression this was top secret. Don’t you wonder why I want to know this?” I asked.

  “It’s not top secret. Most shape-shifters aren’t interested or don’t want anything to do with it. If you ask them anything, they don’t know much about it themselves, and they will give you a vague answer. I just think you’re more curious than others are.”

  Flora smiled at me in a friendly manner. In the meantime, we arrived at the entrance of a tunnel. Next to the entrance was a sign, but I couldn’t understand what it meant.

  “Where’s the station? Where are the train tracks? I haven’t seen any trains yet,” I said.

  “This is the station. They’re underground.”

  “Then they aren’t trains but metros. Trains ride above the ground while metros ride underground.”

  “I don’t know how you know the word metro. It even surprises me you know what a train is.”

  I shrugged. “I read a lot.”

  We descended the stairs and entered the underground tunnel. We walked further until the tunnel split. There was a way to the left and a way straight ahead. Flora chose the path straight ahead, and I followed her. A bit further, we got to a closed metal gate. I couldn’t see what Flora was doing, but she had mentioned a badge, so she was probably scanning her badge. The gate opened. Flora quickly passed through it, and I followed her. We descended some other stairs to get on a platform. I could see the metal rails the metro rode on.

  “Don’t the metros ride at night?” I asked.

  I remembered Flora telling me we should try to get here as soon as possible. She shook her head. I looked to the left and to the right, but the track only continued on the left side. On the right side, there was only a bumper and behind that a wall. I heard a sound getting louder and louder and then the metro appeared. It drove slowly and braked even more. Eventually, it stopped three feet before the bumper. The red doors all opened at the same time and a few people got out of the metro. They passed by without glancing at us once. Then the doors all closed again at the same time.

  “Uhm… Shouldn’t we have gotten on the metro before the doors closed?” I asked.

  “No, the driver needs to switch sides. He’s now at the back side of the metro while he needs to sit at the front.”

  While Flora was saying that, I heard a door opening, but I couldn’t immediately see which door it was. A man got out of the metro and came towards us.

  “Hi, Flora. How are you?” he asked when he reached us.

  “I’m good, thank you. How are you, Marius?” Flora answered.

  “I’m good as well. Who have you brought with you this time?” Marius nodded in my direction.

  “This is Tatiana, she’s Diana’s daughter. I assume you’ll take us to The Third Capital?”

  “Of course, I don’t have a problem with that. The council members can be a bit old-fashioned sometimes. I don’t mind shape-shifters wandering around in The Third Capital. You can enter when I open the doors.”

  “I know how it works,” Flora said, and smiled at Marius.

  Marius went to the front of the train. I heard a lot of sounds, and the doors opened a minute later. Flora and I got into the metro and sat down. It didn’t take long before more people got in, the doors closed and the metro drove off. When the metro stopped, we got out as soon as the doors opened again. There were a few people on the platform, but we just passed by them.

  We left the metro station and went to Flora’s house. She had a very spacious place. I felt at home here. I would want to work for the druids later and live here too. The Capitals reminded me a bit of the human cities. There was a lot more comfort here than I had at home in my village. I could bet people here would always have warm water and that the refrigerators were always on. Maybe they even had freezers here, so people could keep ice in them.

  Weeks passed by. Flora took me to almost all The Capitals, showing me around in each one. There were a lot of similarities between The First Capital and The Seventh Capital, they were both business districts. Same for The Second Capital and The Sixth Capital, both focused on agriculture. The Third and Fifth were both for research, innovation and sciences and were a mirror image of each other, just like the other Capitals.

  A couple of weeks later, Flora needed to go to The Fourth Capital, and she decided to take me with her. She said she had a surprise for me. I didn’t know a lot about The Capitals or the druids in general, but I had the impression the druids didn’t appreciate it if there were shape-shifters in The Third Capital, and that they didn’t tolerate them in The Fourth Capital at all. They probably didn’t like shape-shifters mingling with the Capital druids. So Flora was probably taking a huge risk.

  We took Line Three to The Fourth Capital and departed at the first stop. When we were above ground again, I immediately noticed the huge building right in front of me. How couldn’t I have seen this building before? It looked just like a palace.

  Flora walked towards a male druid. He looked different from the other druids I had seen so far. His hair was grey, and the grey stubble of his beard was clearly visible at the bottom of his face, while the other male druids were all clean shaven. He appeared to be old. I wondered whether he even was a druid, but they would never allow a human here.

  “Bernardus, this is Tatiana. Tatiana, Bernardus is a mountain druid,” Flora introduced us to each other.

  What? A mountain druid? Was she being serious? How did she even know I was interested in the dragons? They lived together with the dragons and took care of them. What did she want to achieve with this? I was so confused.

  “I must attend a meeting. Can you watch Tatiana?” Flora continued.

  She walked away but quickly glanced over her shoulder. She smiled and winked at me. Bernardus decided to show me around but there wasn’t much to see here. He was acting weird. I got the impression he was a bit crazy. He even hopped instead of walking normally. Flora would never leave me with a lunatic, right? Sometimes he’d say weird things as well.

  “Do you know anything about physics? I find physics very interesting. There are four fundamental interactions: gravitational, electromagnetic, strong nuclear, and weak nuclear interaction. I will explain to you clearly what those interactions precisely mean,” Bernardus said while we walked around in the park.

  I didn’t listen. I looked around. A couple of druids were talking to each other while standing next to the pond. I saw a few ducks swimming around in it. I wondered if the druids sometimes threw a few breadcrumbs to the ducks like humans did.

  Bernardus prattled on about gravity at this moment. At least, I thought he was talking
about gravity. He had mentioned an apple which had fallen from a tree and also a certain guy called Newton. I didn’t even know who Newton was. I did know what gravity was and how it worked but, it sounded a lot more complicated than it actually was by how he explained it.

  “The fourth fundamental interaction in physics is the electromagnetic interaction. That’s the interaction electrically charged particles experience because of electromagnetic fields. This interaction plays a huge part in daily life because it’s the base of the chemical properties of matter. Scientists try to accommodate the four fundamental interactions under one universal theory with the string theory. This is called the theory of everything,” Bernardus said.

  I didn’t even understand half of those terms, but I nodded like it was all clear to me.

  “I’m sorry; I think I’ve overwhelmed you a bit with all that information. I’m just very interested in physics. I know a lot about it.”

  “Yeah, I noticed that. If I want to know anything else, I’ll just ask you.”

  “Okay, that’s good. Flora has told me you’re interested in the dragons.”

  I wondered why Flora had told Bernardus about that. “Yes, that’s correct,” I answered.

  “I can turn you into a dragon.”

  Thirteen

  I was absolutely certain now: Bernardus was completely insane. I could never be a dragon, that was just impossible.

  “You’re crazy. That’s not possible. I’m a shape-shifter. I will never be able to turn into a dragon,” I said.

  He shook his head while laughing. “I’m a druid and I deal with dragons every day. I know there are a couple of shape-shifters who have become dragons. I won’t tell you it’ll be easy to become one. You’ll have to sacrifice something. What kind of animal are you now?”