by LJ Davies
I watched them depart, before returning my eyes to the lead creature. It gave one final bow before jumping from the rock into the forest, the instant it did my focus was pulled back to normality like a breath of fresh air.
"What... was that about?" Risha asked as she appeared at my side
"I don't really know," I muttered, looking down at my amulet. "I think we set them free."
With one worry gone, another was swift to replace it. Why did they move off so quickly? What else is out there?
Raising my nostrils high, I took in a fresh breath and above the damp scents of the forest another smell filled my lungs. It was another scent I recognised; one I hadn’t known in a long time. Like the ghaul’s it was quickly getting stronger and was soon accompanied by a familiar sound amidst the rustling pines.
"What is it?" Risha asked.
I looked back to the others, and the moment my eyes settled on Tarwin, I saw she recognised it too, if not the smell, then the sound. She put away her makeshift bow and ran to me. Boltock and Ember hung back, while Risha stayed by my side, all staring into the veiled pathway until the clip-clopping of hooves, the smell of the animals and those riding them, emerged. Tarwin raised both of her arms, getting the attention of the four horse-mounted men as she jumped up and down.
I caught Risha jump back at the sight of the armoured humans and their bulky mounts, without hesitation I draped my wing across her back. She glanced round and the glimmer in her eye told me everything. ‘Humans’. Despite all she'd been through and what she had told her brother, she was still scared.
"It's okay, there's nothing to be afraid of," I reassured her.
The horsemen approached and encircled us, while I looked to Tarwin. She was swift to have the men stand down, before I heard a familiar voice. It was one I hadn’t heard in what seemed like an age but was as recognisable as the day we'd left.
"Tarwin, Tarwin!" The words grew louder as one of the burly men swiftly dismounted.
Like nothing I'd ever expected to see, Tarwin flung herself into her father's arms, almost knocking him to the floor. She said nothing through her tears, and he made no effort to hide his own as they embraced.
"You're alive, you're alive!" he exclaimed, laughing like he'd never expected to see the day.
No matter my anxiety, a smile formed on my muzzle; whatever angered them before was gone.
Who knew it only took a dark lord's monsters and a trek half way across the world to sort that issue out?
"I thought I'd never see you again," he gushed. "When I came home and the men said you'd disappeared, oh by the spirits!"
His vast arms held her shoulders, the broadest smile I'd ever seen beaming through his thick beard. Meanwhile, I looked over to Risha, thinking of how strange it must look to her.
"This... this is your family?" she whispered quietly. "It... It's sweet."
There was a slight sadness in her eyes as she forced a smile. "I could never have imagined it'd be like... Like this."
Only then did her statement make me realise the truth. After spending the most amazing and adventurous months of my life with them, it was time to make a choice: my home was now open to me. I'd achieved all I'd set out to, found Tarwin and returned safely.
Risha slipped away, moving back to her brother. Boltock and Ember seemed to share her disappointment. I couldn't blame them – it was my responsibility to see them through and always had been.
I turned to Tarwin and her father talking frantically at the side of his horse. All four of my shivering paws slowly dragged me through the mud, bringing me to a stop at her feet. It was completely ridiculous to think that after what we’d been through it came down to this, a bedraggled, little dragon who didn’t have a clue what to do.
This situation was completely alien to me, even more so than fighting Acrodan and the ghauls. I slouched against Tarwin’s leg, no real desire to attract her attention, though I obtained it nonetheless. She broke away from the conversation with her father, kneeling beside me.
"I would never have gotten out without Blaze," she gushed excitedly, rubbing her hand beneath my head and forcing it to rise.
I tried to figure out what she might have told him. Would he believe her stories about a dark overlord, giant flying beasts and an icy fortress? It seemed strange to think back to the day he'd left on his ship while worrying about rumours in the forest. He hadn’t been far from the truth after all.
Tarwin continued her description of what I'd done. The only part I knew he might not believe was how her mysterious pet dragon saved her by defeating an evil beyond anything he knew. How he would react to such an impossible story was beyond even my imagination, but as she elaborated, he glanced over at the three huddled dragons in the road.
If he had any doubt about more of my kind, it was lost at that moment, as his daughter told him she was still alive because of them.
I bet he didn't consider that when he told me to stop flying in the house.
He knelt beside me; bulky body daunting even when he was on his knees in the mud. Placing one heavy hand on my head, just as she always did, he paused, seeming to consider his words and who they were addressed to. I was sure it must have been very strange to him, talking to a dragon like I was one of his own. He let out a sigh, the warmth of his breath streaming out from his thick beard.
"Thank you," he admitted firmly, "Thank you."
The respect I was receiving from a man who hadn’t always liked me felt strange, though the moment of recognition was welcome. He stood up and Tarwin immediately followed. Placing one hand on her shoulder, he uttered the words I'd been dreading.
"Let's go."
She smiled, something I'd not seen her do in her father's presence for a very long time. I knew that such a random thought was simply a distraction from the truth. It was time to leave; and part of me didn’t dare to do it. I glanced back at the others, eyes homing in on Risha as she stared off into the forest.
I wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. The sound of reins and the whinny of a horse drew my attention back to Tarwin.
Am I just going to leave?
Tarwin was the reason I'd set out on this journey and, up until now, she'd been the only thing I needed in my life, but my mind had been opened to the world beyond the village, and I didn’t want to leave it behind.
I listened to the reins rattle while the horses moved to their riders' command, hooves squelching in the mud. Tarwin climbed onto the back of her father's steed, the sight forcing me to the precipice of anguish. There would be no goodbye or farewell, they would just ride off into the mist. Every moment dragged on into eternity, before I finally heard Tarwin’s voice.
"Stop!"
I heard a squelching impact as boots struck the muddy road, before she knelt in front of me, a frail smile across her hair-strewn face. The silence between us was broken by a sigh as her eyes briefly flashed to the others, one dragoness in particular.
"Blaze, you've been there for me for as long as I can remember," she admitted, placing her hand between my horns.
A tear accompanied her words. "And oh, spirits above, I know it's fairy-tale, but I always wanted something better for you."
By now I'd come to realise that she'd been saving these thoughts for the right moment, a moment when we'd both have to face our differences.
How often has she wondered about the world I came from?
"Ever since I found you, my life's never been the same," she continued, struggling to hold back tears, before she sighed. "But… this is where you belong... with them."
I looked away, unable to stop my own tears welling. She'd been my only family for so long, we were completely inseparable, I'd crossed the world to find her. Unable to say the things I would if I could, my next action required no words. I put my head to her chest and gently wrapped my wings around her. We held our embrace for some time before she pulled away and said.
"You'll always be my fallen star."
Smiling through the tear
s, she stood and climbed up to her father's horse. We looked at each other until my attention was snatched by her father's respectful nod and a signal for the other men to move out. I looked one last time as she waved goodbye before gradually galloping out of view.
The reality of what I'd let go hit me with such a force it sent me tumbling to the ground. My emotions overcame me as I stared hopelessly into the misty shroud that now filled the space where the final link to my old life once stood. Any logical reasoning seemed to die as my thoughts ran wild, until one flashed against the bleakness and held its position long enough for me to consider it clearly. Reminding me exactly why I'd given up my old life.
The world grew quiet, even the rustle of the trees fell into silence as I picked myself up and looked at the others. Every pair of eyes was fixed on me, yet no one, not even Risha, made any attempt to speak.
The awkward silence was broken by a light sound against the forest floor, chased by several more as drops of rain began to fall. The soft pitter-patter drummed its tune on the canopy, as if the whole world was sharing in my misery. I hardly felt each drop of water on my folded wings, the numbness of my mind dismissing any desire to seek shelter or hide.
Covered in a dripping coat, I finally lifted my head. No thoughts preceded my next action, and with no consideration for the rain, I started walking. For a moment there was a doubt that the others might follow. A brief peek confirmed they were, just as they had since we met.
We walked for longer than I cared to remember, this time my view focused on nothing more than the horizon, whether it be dense forest, or the open sky. Once or twice I imagined the others might have left, a thought quickly dismissed with a subtle glance back. It didn’t take long for my innermost thoughts to resurface from beneath the sorrow of Tarwin’s unexpected departure. The paranoia concerning the unknown fate of the sphere resumed its corruption, nevertheless the memories of my old home and my life with Tarwin held their own against the resurgent doubt.
The idea she'd known it was right offered some relief. I knew deep down I couldn't just leave the others, I owed it to them as much as I owed it to her. Particularly Risha, who had become just as important to me. She had saved me when no one else could.
A rocky cliff face abruptly interrupted the never-ending sprawl of pine trees, my thoughts about Tarwin, the sphere and its corruption. I recognised the obstacle as the face of the cliff leading to the cave where we had slept on that first rainy night. It was strange how similar this dull, wet day felt to that evening. Only this time there was no fear of losing Tarwin or the attack of monsters. It was just another obstacle to traverse.
Within the day, the forest finally gave way to the vast grassland of the Midnight Plains. It looked so different from the ground, almost alien. The large grassy banks, invisible from above, now dominated the landscape and patches of trees stood proudly atop the dull-green waves. Fewer leaves graced their branches, and a light dusting of snow mottled the grass.
As we pressed on, I allowed the others to pass; after all, they knew the way back to the city through the endless expanse of wintery grass better than me. Reaching the peak of a hill, I peered out over the plains to see fluffy brown blotches, it didn’t take me long to realise they were large flocks of earth birds. Their feathers had dulled to a darker shade, and their almost black coats ruffled in the winter wind as they huddled together for warmth.
Eventually the horizon flattened, and the peeks of snow-dusted towers broke the smooth edge, outlines framed by the ruins of the cliff top city. Just like Acrodan's fortress, it became apparent that the steeples were further away than I first anticipated, we walked for a few more hours until they eventually appeared to get closer.
The blue sky slowly surrendered to the dull purple of winter twilight, the sunset illuminating the clouds from below, creating a thin band of wintery pink mist reflecting the embers of its red glow over the plains. The moon rose from the opposing horizon, its majestic glow beautifully flooding across the snowy grassland before the first words to grace my ears in days interrupted.
"We're home!" Ember declared with a leap.
I looked up to see her frantically flapping around in the air, before turning to see that the others had come to a halt amidst boulders by the cliff top. Knowing Dardien was below did spur on my thoughts – I do belong here, with my own kind.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Boltock announced, looking up to her and ruffling his wing within its well-worn bandage.
"Oh, right," she replied with a slightly embarrassed laugh, "I'll go find a patrol, there's a few academy members that still owe me a few favors," she added, before diving over the cliff edge and down to the city.
Boltock chuckled to himself, turning to face Risha and I. He looked at both of us with a strange expression and then, without saying a word, darted over to the edge of the cliff, eagerly awaiting Ember’s return.
I avoided the urge to turn to my friend, eyes remaining locked on the starry horizon beyond the cliff. My reluctance to speak was shattered as my ears were met with a few poignant words.
"I'm sorry about your home."
Even now, after all that had happened, she was sorry when she'd nothing to be sorry about. It certainly wasn't any fault of hers that I'd chosen not to go with Tarwin. It was my own decision.
Unlike how I felt when I'd first arrived here all those months ago, it felt like I'd returned home, a home I'd chosen for myself. It had taken me all this time, all that travelling, even finding out I was some kind of...
Well, I've no idea really. I still have to figure that out.
Peering up, there was nothing new above me, just the same comforting ocean of stars – the same as home, the same as anywhere.
Finally, I turned to Risha, illuminated by the moonlit glow, her magnificent eyes instantly meeting mine.
"I am home."
The words couldn't have been more truthful, but that truth cast a veil of doubt. Hiding behind the curtain of contentment, deep down, I was dreading the time when I'd once again have to let it all go.
End of Book One
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
This world has never been easy, kind of okay, mostly so-so, just okay.
School was hard, as I struggled to fit in, to be accepted and to tolerate the regime, the students and the discipline. The days dragged on, the world of my imagination my only escape. Through the hardest days of my life my world gave me the hope and courage to carry on.
Life’s a little easier now. I’m able to get by, to slip away whenever I want. I hope you enjoy this part of my world as much as I enjoyed writing about it and making it a little more real.
Welcome to my mythical place.
LJD
