The Hatching--A Short Story
Page 4
life most people cannot conceive of. It's nothing to fear. We must perform the ceremony. Tomorrow, you receive your first lessons. Then I take you to the Dragon Council. Stand up."
Wenlyn obeyed, legs trembling.
They stood beside the dragon at the cliff's edge and Darnek produced a dagger. Wenlyn winced as Darnek made a cut across the palm of his hand, then turned and carefully inserted the blade between two of his dragon's scales. After a moment, a light orange liquid oozed out. Darnek pulled Wenlyn's hand forward until it trembled directly below the orange ooze.
"What is it?" Wenlyn asked.
"Dragon blood. Fire is in their very veins."
A drop of the orange ooze hit Wenlyn's wound, burning. Wenlyn sucked in his breath as the ooze spit and fizzled over the incision. The burning sensation radiated outward, spreading through Wenlyn's entire body. He trembled from the pain and fought to jerk his hand away. Darnek held him steady.
"It hurts," Wenlyn screamed.
"I know," he said calmly, "but it will be over quickly."
The ooze disappeared into Wenlyn's wound. The blue dragon—purple without the sun—lowered its face and puffed out a tiny tendril of fire. It hit Wenlyn's cut perfectly, cauterizing the wound and sealing the dragon's blood inside him. Every muscle in his body felt like water. He shook violently, unable to control his limbs or voice box.
Darnek gently lowered Wenlyn to the ground. Both his and the dragon's head hovered over Wenlyn, looking down into his face. "It's all right, now," Darnek said softly. "Let sleep take you. My Companion will keep you safe. His blood will work in you. In the morning, you will be reborn."
Sleep Ancient One, a deep male voice echoed in Wenlyn's head. For you are all-important to this world.
Darkness crashed in.
When Wenlyn came to, he couldn't see anything. His eyes felt too heavy to open. He uncurled his body from a tight ball. When he sat up, he found hard walls enclosing him on every side. Panic surged in his gut.
He screamed, though it came out as a moan. He flailed and kicked his legs. Relief flooded in when one of his legs punched through the wall behind him. He would be able to free himself from this prison. He = kicked harder at the walls and discovered they were quite brittle. He smashed them all around and emerged.
He felt the sun and wind on his face, but still couldn't see. Some kind of slimy mud covered his eyes. He used his fingernails to claw it away and scratched himself in the process. When did his fingernails grow so long? Warm blood seeped from the scratches, dripping down Wenlyn's face.
He forced his eyes open. He stood in the meadow he'd camped in with Darnek the previous night. The sky beamed a brilliant blue, the sun shone merrily in its sphere. The cocoon he'd emerged from was made of thin, white material. It lay scattered around him in pieces.
Wenlyn turned his head and found Darnek astride his dragon, watching. The blue dragon stood at the edge of the drop off, poised to launch into flight.
"Good morning," Darnek called. "Time for your first lesson. Can you stand?"
Wenlyn rolled over and gained his first look at his body. His belly had bulged during his slumber, his legs lengthened. The knee joints now bent the wrong way. His arms were stunted, and hard, metallic scales covered him. His skin had turned the color of alfalfa fields in spring, and a long tail coiled around him.
He gaped at himself in wonder, then turned to Darnek for explanation. Darnek merely gazed back. Wenlyn stumbled clumsily to his feet, falling onto his stomach twice in the process.
"Come," Darnek called.
Wenlyn obeyed, finally getting to his three-toed feet and joining him at the edge of the cliff. Darnek seemed much smaller than he had. Wenlyn did not reach the height and stature of the blue dragon, but he stood much closer than he had been the night before.
"You're on your feet, and well on your way. Next, you must learn to spread your wings. Do not fear. They're made to bear you up and will not fail. Watch us, and follow."
His dragon leapt from the edge of the cliff. Its wings spread long and the air currents carried it higher and higher. It beat its wings to gain still more height, then flew a circle to look at Wenlyn, wings pumping to keep it in a hover.
Wenlyn toed the edge of the cliff with thick black talons. It was not far to fall, but still Wenlyn wondered nervously if he would die today.
The cliff called to him. The wind beckoned him on. Darnek's dragon flew figure eights in the distance.
Come Ancient One. The voice from the night before sounded in his head again. The way Darnek's blue dragon looked at him, Wenlyn understood that the voice belonged to him. Time to embrace your destiny. First you must learn. Come.
Wenlyn's heart pounded against his rib cage—did he still possess those body parts?—and, feeling more exhilarated than he ever had in his life, he leapt from the cliff.
He fell. It wouldn't take long to hit the rocky ground not far below.
Then something amazing happened. He became aware of extra limbs connected to his rib cage. As the frigid air currents hit them, they unfolded. Wenlyn pumped them once, twice, three times. His talons scratched the rocky grounds before it fell away, and the drafts beneath his wings €slung Wenlyn into the heavens. Had he still been a boy, he would have laughed. When he tired, smoke spewed from his jaws. He kind of liked it.
As he closed in on Darnek, the Servant laughed. "Welcome to the brotherhood, my boy! Next stop, the Dragon Council!"
What's Next for Wenlyn?
Thank you for joining in Wenlyn's first adventure as a young boy. Here, he was introduced to his new life and power he couldn't have imagined. But he has many, MANY more adventures ahead of him, along with many companions. Book 1 of Dragon Magic, (as yet untitled) will be available late in 2017. It will begin several years later, with Wenlyn now a young man and trained Harpy's Servant.
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Also by Liesel K. Hill
Do you enjoy other genres? Visit Liesel K. Hill’s website to check out her crime fiction, dystopian and historical fiction series.
Crime Fiction:
Dark Remnants, Book 1 of Street Games (free on most platforms)
Desolate Mantle, Book 2 of Street Games
The Botanist
Dystopian:
Persistence of Vision, Book 1 of Interchron (free on most platforms)
Quantum Entanglement, Book 2 of Interchron
Historical Fiction:
Citadels of Fire, Book 1 of Kremlins (free on most platforms)
Bastions of Blood, Book 2 of Kremlins
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About the Author
L.K. Hill has a degree from Weber State University and has won numerous writing awards, including garnering first place in the 2011 League of Utah Writers Writing Contest. When she’s not writing, Hill relaxes with her family in Ogden, Utah, while maintaining constant communication with her many followers.