The Guardian of Threshold

by A. A. Volts

  “How do you like living here with the Bogs?” asked Carla, moving closer to Manuk.

  “Huh, I can’t complain,” said Manuk, avoiding any eye contact.

  “Can’t as in they won’t let you, or can’t as in it’s not that bad?” Jonas asked.

  Manuk looked a bit upset but was quick to compose himself. “Are you sure I can’t interest you in a companion?” asked Manuk, gesturing to show me his merchandise. Everything was alive and trapped in the same translucent cages.

  On his command, the dragon that had been flying around the store returned to his cage, looking depressed. I got the sense it really enjoyed those few minutes of freedom. Worse yet, that would probably be all the exercise it would get unless another customer showed up.

  “No, thank you. I’m just looking,” I replied.

  That’s when I noticed him. He was the smallest dragon in the store. He was green and blue, almost the size of a mini-poodle. He had very small wings that blended well with his back. He had big claws and sharp teeth. He cowered in the back of his cage as two slightly larger dragons hissed and charged at the glass divider that separated them from the smaller dragon. I instantly felt sorry for the little fella.

  I was staring at the poor creature, wondering what his name was, when I heard a voice inside my head say “Spark.” At the time I didn’t think much of it.

  “What is wrong with them?” I said, pointing at the two angry dragons as they charged and hissed at the smaller green and blue dragon.

  “With them, nothing; but with that little scared guy over there, everything. He’s useless… I’ve been trying to sell him for over three long wind cycles without success. I can’t blame the customers, though. Who would want a scared guard dragon? I certainly wouldn’t,” said Manuk.

  “Guard dragon? But they’re so small,” I said as my friends made their way outside to find a way out.

  “They’re small now, thanks to the nature spirits. Can you imagine if I had to fit ten or twenty fully grown dragons in my store? Never mind trying to feed them all. Nope, I prefer them like this, small and manageable,” said Manuk. “My apologies, I keep forgetting that not everyone in Threshold is a native. You see, as long as they don’t drink water from the Everwell, they’ll age but not grow.”

  “I see,” I replied.

  “Oh, this cursed dragon is ruining my business, not to mention my reputation. My customers are starting to talk. They are saying that Manuk only sells wimpy guard dragons,” Manuk said as he approached the small cage and knocked on it hard, which only made the dragon inside even more scared.

  “Then why don’t you set it free?” I asked.

  “Are you insane? If I set it free, the first thing he will do is drink water from the Everwell—they’re drawn to it—and then we’ll have another massacre on our hands. It would be like 1576 WC all over again,” replied Manuk, dumbfounded.

  “What happened in 1576 WC?” I asked.

  “In 1576 WC, Althaer, the greatest warrior ever, thought he could control his dragon companion. So he let him drink water from the Everwell so he could grow to his normal size. His dragon Sparkus grew to his full size and potential,” Manuk said, pausing briefly to scratch his almost-bald head.

  “Because of his poor judgment, thousands were harmed. Whole towns and villages where burned to the ground. The Living Forest and its residents were almost completely obliterated. It took Threshold hundreds, if not thousands of wind cycles to recover. A lucky few were spared, but not many, and it was all thanks to Phasma. If you ask Manuk, we don’t give Lord Val-Fraux the credit he deserves,” he said, frowning.

  Since the others weren’t back yet, I stayed there and looked around for a bit. However, I couldn’t get that poor creature out of my mind.

  “Fight, you impostor of a dragon!” Manuk yelled at the little dragon. “I’m done with you. I might as well sacrifice you. In fact, I should’ve done it a long time ago. After all the financial damages you have caused me. Manuk should never have said the truth about you.”

  The dragon trembled at his words.

  “What truth are you talking about?” I asked.

  “Sparkus was a brave dragon, too brave, but that hatchling over there is a coward. Nobody believes me when I tell them that he’s Sparkus’s direct descendent. They laugh at Manuk, because Manuk tells the truth for once. That dragon is bad for business. Everyone wants a brave guard dragon not a wimpy one,” Manuk said.

  ***

  “If he’s so bad for business, why don’t you just give him away?” I suggested.

  “That’s not a bad idea, I just need to find the foo… I mean someone who wants him,” Manuk said.

  “If you like, I could find him a nice home,” I offered.

  “Uh, a human? With a dragon? Manuk is not sure if that’s such a good idea.” He paused. “Well, if it was any other dragon, it probably wouldn’t be, but this coward dragon shouldn’t even be legally called a dragon. I guess it could work. Yes, it could work,” he repeated.

  “So what do you say? Do we have a deal?” I asked, trying not to look too hopeful.

  “Yes, but first you must sign an agreement,” said Manuk as he stepped down from the wooden platform to open a drawer, looking for the correct paperwork.

  I tried to control myself. I felt it was important to hide how excited I was. Otherwise, Manuk might change his mind and try to make a profit.

  I had no idea how to take care of a dragon or what to do with him once I returned to Earth, but anywhere was better than this store for that poor dragon.

  “Ah, here it is,” said Manuk when he finally found the paperwork. “Please fill this part out and sign here, here, and here. Or you could just put your thumbprint here and a strand of hair here,” said Manuk as he pointed to the different areas on the long agreement riddled with fine print.

  “Strand of hair? What for?” I asked.

  “Standard procedure, just in case we need to find you,” Manuk replied.

  I filled out the form as quickly as I could. Something told me I was doing the right thing—maybe it was just a gut feeling, but I trusted it completely.

  When I finished completing the form as Manuk had instructed, I handed him the agreement and I had to stifle a smile.

  Manuk glowed with happiness.

  He waved his hands in front of the translucent cage that held the small dragon, pulled him out of the cage by his tail, and handed it over to me.

  I extended my arms to welcome the scared creature when something remarkable happened. As soon as I held it, the dragon almost immediately stopped shaking. It was as though he felt safe.

  He became so serene that I placed him on my shoulder while Manuk looked at us, dumbfounded. The dragon moved from one shoulder to the other, his tail wagged from side to side.

  “Remember, do not let him go near the Everwell. Are you sure you don’t want to purchase a cage?” Manuk asked.

  “Thanks, but no. He’ll be just fine,” I replied before I walked out of the store to look for my friends.

  I looked around but didn’t see them, so I figured they went looking for answers and that it would be best to stand in front of the store and wait.

  I took the time to observe the strange town. I was so distracted that I barely heard the footsteps approaching me from behind.

  “We found an… whoa! What’s that?” Jonas asked. He seemed to freeze in place, as though he expected the worst from the small, purring dragon.

  “I got him from Manuk,” I explained, petting the dragon.

  “What’s Manuk thinking? Giving an undead a dragon… you don’t even live in Threshold. We should return him at once,” Nyx said, walking toward the store.

  “Wait! We can’t do that,” I replied. “He’ll sacrifice him, and I can’t let that happen.”

  “He’s cute. What’s his name?” Carla asked as she approached.

  “I don’t know. When I first saw him, I kind of sensed that his name was Spark. Yep, his name is Spark,” I replied.

/>   “Spark? No, it can’t be,” said Nyx, looking really worried.

  “Why?” Jonas asked.

  “It happened so long ago that I thought his lineage was lost,” Nyx said.

  “I’m lost, can someone please explain it to me?” Jonas asked.

  “A very long time ago, there was a dragon called Sparkus that almost destroyed Threshold, my fath… Phasma fought it and supposedly saved Threshold. At least that was the story he used to tell me when I was young. Supposedly all of Sparkus’s eggs were destroyed,” explained Nyx.

  “Mark, who is going to take care of him when we go home?” asked Carla.

  “I don’t know, I didn’t think that far ahead. Maybe Nyx could,” I replied.

  “No, I don’t think so. I don’t get along with pets. Besides, I have this little problem with fire, remember?” replied Nyx.

  “That’s why it will be perfect. He’s a dragon, so I’m sure fire won’t be a problem for him,” said Carla.

  “Listen, I know I haven’t thought this through, but I couldn’t just leave him there to be killed. I can’t explain it, but we’re connected somehow. I can feel it,” I said, looking at Spark.

  “The story goes that Sparkus could communicate with Althaer, so if Spark is really a decedent of Sparkus, it’s possible he can communicate with you,” explained Nyx. “However, if he really is the offspring of Sparkus, we could have a huge problem on our hands.”

  “I’ll take good care of him and I won’t let him near the Everwell. I just know he won’t be a problem, I promise,” I said.

  “Okay, but we must find him a suitable and permanent home,” said Nyx. “In the meantime, we have to get him a collar.”

  “Collar? Where do I go to get one?” I asked.

  “Follow me,” said Nyx as she opened the door to Manuk’s store and entered the building.

  I followed her. As I entered the building, I felt Spark’s claws clench my shoulders.

  “Ah, you have returned. Is something wrong?” Manuk asked, almost smirking. When he noticed that I wasn’t alone, he tried to disguise it. Whenever he spoke, Spark dug his sharp claws onto my shoulders as though he was trying to hang on for dear life.

  “No, nothing is wrong,” I replied.

  “Manuk, we need a collar for this dragon,” said Nyx.

  “Sure, we have many.”

  “Why would you sell or give away a dragon without the proper containment collar, as is required by common rule and the Kunkan Protection Society?”

  “Manuk is sorry. Here, pick a collar, any collar,” Manuk replied. “Free of charge.”

  I chose the first collar I saw.

  “Good, now choose a ring,” Manuk replied.

  “But I don’t need a ring,” I protested.

  “They aren’t just regular rings. They are collar rings that will bond your soul with Spark’s,” Nyx explained.

  “Sort of like a marriage?” asked Jonas, trying to be funny.

  “That one,” I said, pointing toward a small blue ring on the counter.

  Manuk handed me the small ring, and Nyx motioned for me to follow her outside when the other dragons in the store started to get upset. Some even attempted to break free to get to him, while one spit fire inside his cage, causing it to fill with black and grey smoke. The smoked dissipated through several holes on top of the cage.

  “What do I do with this?” I asked Nyx as I followed her outside.

  “By common rule, a dragon needs to be bound to its owner… in our case, you. Please place the ring on your finger and then pet Spark so he will be bound to you,” said Nyx, concerned.

  “Okay, here goes nothing,” I said as I placed the blue ring on my finger. At first, the ring seemed too big to fit my finger, but almost immediately it adjusted itself to the exact dimensions of my finger. Then I proceeded to pet Spark, and the ring glowed brightly as my finger and hand became hot.

  “It’s done. This will prevent Spark from straying too far from you. As long as you wear this ring, he will always be near,” said Nyx.

  “Great, now you’re married to a dragon,” Jonas joked.

  “Actually, that’s almost exactly what happens. You see, you and Spark now share a spiritual link, whatever you feel affects him and vice versa. You must learn to control your emotions, because if you don’t you can hurt Spark, and trust me, if that happens he will hurt you back,” said Nyx.

  “I understand,” I replied, although I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to control my emotions.

  ***

  I sensed Phasma nearby. At first I thought I was mistaken, but it was no mistake. The feeling was too familiar. He was on his way, I was sure of it, and he was coming to get us.

  “Guys, we need to go,” I whispered so the guards wouldn’t hear.

  “What do you mean?” Carla asked.

  “Phasma is coming and fast,” I replied as my hands started to sweat profusely.

  “Okay then, we need to go,” said Carla.

  “Agreed, we need to leave right now,” I added.

  “I can’t. I don’t have anywhere else to go to,” objected Nyx.

  “You can’t stay here. Come with us. I promise you we’ll figure something out,” I replied.

  “Oldroot must have betrayed us,” said Nyx as she started to get upset and her skin changed color.

  “Nyx, you have to control yourself, we can’t afford that kind of attention right now,” I said.

  “Come with us, Nyx. It will be okay,” Carla said to calm her down.

  “Okay, I’ll go. Hopefully, I won’t cause you guys any more trouble.”

  “Follow me! I saw an exit when we were walking around,” Carla said as she grabbed Nyx by the arm and moved at a brisk pace.

  We followed Carla behind a wooden building when nobody was looking.

  “Quick, this way,” Carla said as she stepped into the swampy waters. Our only hope of escaping was to take the path less traveled, and that meant the swamp behind the camp.

  “I knew there was something odd about Oldroot’s behavior. He seemed too… friendly,” I said as Spark clenched his nails into my shoulder.

  “I knew it all along,” Jonas added.

  We didn’t get very far before we ran into an improvised fence. It was made out of branches and dried vines, although it was very strong; no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t move it.

  “We’re officially screwed,” said Jonas.

  “You worry too much,” Carla replied calmly.

  “Ah yes, in case you didn’t notice, we’re stuck with nowhere else to go,” Jonas replied.

  “It’s all part of the plan. Nyx, now we need you to do your part,” Carla said.

  “I can’t, it doesn’t work like that,” replied Nyx as we looked at her in concern.

  “You have to. If you don’t, he will find us. He’ll find you,” Carla said.

  “Nyx, please concentrate,” said Jonas.

  “I can’t! It’s not working,” replied Nyx.

  If Carla’s plan was to get Nyx upset, then I guess it worked, because next thing I knew, Nyx broke down and started to cry. We backed away without saying a word, barely in time to avoid the flaming shockwave that left her body, burning everything within a ten-yard radius.

  Even Spark jumped off my shoulder when he felt the heat wave hit.

  “You did it!” screamed Jonas.

  Although, her flames didn’t completely destroy the fence, we could kick it and make a hole big enough to get through.

  “Thanks, Nyx. I knew you could do it,” I said as I dusted myself off on the other side of the fence.

  The water was very murky; it was impossible to see the bottom.

  “I don’t like this,” complained Jonas. “I hate not being able to see what I’m stepping on.”

  The sense of dread and emptiness increased as we moved away from Watertown as fast as possible; the water and the mud made the journey difficult.

  “So where do we go now?” Jonas asked as he carefully planned each
step.

  “I don’t know,” Nyx replied, sounding sad.

  “I can’t believe that Oldroot fooled us. I should’ve seen that coming,” Carla said more to herself than to anyone else.

  “Don’t beat yourself up. It wouldn’t have done us any good, and we would still be in the same boat,” I said.

  “I wish we had a boat, that would make things much easier, not to mention faster,” Jonas said while he attempted to pet Spark. Spark didn’t seem to appreciate it and let out a screeching sound and moved to my other shoulder.

  “I think we should continue to move east,” I suggested, pointing toward what I thought was east.

  “East? What’s that?” Nyx asked to my surprise.

  “You know, north, south, east, and west,” I replied, pointing to each one of them as I said it.

  “Oh, over here we have a different name for that,” Nyx explained.

  “What do you mean?” Jonas asked.

  “Here in Threshold, we use Nightside, Upside, Dayside, and Downside, that’s how we refer to different geographical directions,” Nyx said as the swamp became more sparse.

  “So that way is… Nightside?” I asked as I pointed west.

  “Correct, and that way is Upside,” replied Nyx as she pointed north.

  “Then we should continue toward Dayside,” I said.

  “I don’t know, from here on it’s all new to me,” replied Nyx.

  “Welcome to the club,” said Jonas, smiling.

  “Quick, this way!” called a female voice from the middle of the woods.

  We looked around to see where the voice was coming from. I was the first to notice a tree moving as if its branches were waving us over.

  “Come quick!” the tree said.

  “Guys, over here!” I said.

  “What is it?” asked Carla and Jonas simultaneously.

  “You don’t have much time. Come this way. We can protect you,” said the creature as I approached it hesitantly.

  I was almost face to face with the creature when I noticed Carla right behind me.

  “Don’t worry, Elder sent me. Please go straight through,” said the tree-like creature.

  We all passed through the female tree and wandered deeper into the forest. After we were through the opening, dozens of trees moved to conceal the entrance and our trail.