Amethyst Eyes

Eir was hungry enough to eat an entire herd of deer. He had finally been released from his duties at the palace to get something to eat. His presence at the palace was a waste of time, anyway, during times of peace. However, his father had agreed to a treaty with the human king of the Bruni kingdom. He was, unfortunately, bound by duty to fulfill his father’s part of the bargain.

He soared over the countryside in search of game to feast on. He flew at a high altitude to avoid detection. His keen eyesight gave him a considerable advantage over the animals he hunted for food. He tried to give his prey a sporting chance to escape before making the kill, but he usually won anyway.

He had consumed several rabbits, which were more of a snack than a meal, and a deer before he decided to challenge himself by hunting in the mountains. There was no snow this time of year, but navigating through the peaks and valleys while also dodging trees during the hunt always made him feel exhilarated and alive.

As he was soaring over a clearing he saw what appeared to be a human child. A very young human child who couldn’t possibly have made it to this elevation by itself. He looked around, but didn’t see any larger humans, which should have been accompanying it.

He glided down to land in the meadow. He had no desire to feed on humans of any size, but he thought he might as well amuse himself for a few moments.

The child was a female with hair the color of an angry fire. She looked like many of the residents of the Bruni kingdom with one exception–instead of the metallic gray or icy blue eyes that most of the humans in the kingdom seemed to have, this child had eyes the color of emeralds. And, unlike most of the humans he had met, the child showed no fear toward him.

Eir decided he should show the child his fierce nature so it would learn to fear dragons. Many of his kind hated humans and wouldn’t hesitate to harm, or possibly kill, the child. He took a deep breath and growled, though not as loud as he could, and shot fire out of his mouth.

Instead of the fear he had anticipated, the child giggled with delight. She danced around like she was watching one of the king’s fools perform in the great hall.

He was annoyed at the child’s reaction, and decided to try it again. He roared louder this time, breathing fire in all directions and accidentally setting fire to some of the drier vegetation in the field.

He panicked. He knew that killing one of the king’s subjects would violate the treaty. His father would never forgive him. He might even face banishment. He looked around for a way to extinguish the fire he had started.

In the midst of his panic he noticed the child among the flames. Laughing and gleeful in the fire that should be terrifying to her. The child did a happy, joyful dance. And the flames followed her in that dance. Only the royal Bruni family had that kind of power. She pretended to go to sleep and the flames went out.

Eir looked around nervously. He was suddenly fearful that he was toying with a member of the royal family.

He looked suspiciously at the surrounding forest. Right on cue, a member of the royal guard emerged from the treeline.

“Your highness!” Upon hearing the title, Eir reached a level of panic he had never known in his five years on earth. The child must be a princess! An heir to the Bruni throne! It was at that moment that Eir realized the guard was addressing him.

‘Please, call me Eir.’

“Yes, Lord Eir.”

Eir sighed with exasperation. That wasn’t any better. He didn’t want to be addressed with his title when he was serving at the palace or out hunting.

“Thank you so much for looking after this child.” The guard looked reluctant before continuing. “I was wondering if you could help with one more task. This child is the illegitimate child of Prince Audun. She’s not only born out of wedlock, she’s born to a,” the guard glanced around and lowered his voice before continuing, “human mother.”

‘Aren’t you all humans?’

The guard looked shocked and offended. “No sir! We are what members of the human world would refer to as fae. Unlike mere humans, many of us have power over the elements.”

Eir stared at the guard, unimpressed and waiting for further explanation. When it didn’t come he said, ‘What task did you request my help with?’

“Oh yes! My Lord Eir, we need to return this child to the human world.”

‘And how would that happen?'

The guard looked around again before answering. He leaned in close and said, “There is a portal between ours and the human realm.”

‘What?!! How did that happen?’

“I am sworn to secrecy in regards to the portal’s origin. Please, Lord Eir. If you will help me with this I will do anything within my power to repay you.”

‘Even if I help you now, that portal will keep growing. It takes more power than you can possibly imagine to seal a portal. It will eventually be discovered, and every being in this realm and the human world will wander into it. It won’t stay a secret when that happens.’

“What do you want?”

Eir hesitated for only a moment, ‘I want to be free from serving in the palace like a trained hound.’

“Then you shall have it. I will tell the prince that he must think of some excuse to give his father for why you mustn't be forced to serve in the palace any more.”

‘What do you need from me?’

“I need you to carry me through the portal with the child. The prince wanted to bring her to our land so he could one day raise her as his own family, but he couldn’t find anyone to care for her until his father dies. His father will surely banish him if he finds out about the child. We need to take her back to the human realm where her mother can care for her until Prince Audun is in power.”

Eir wasn’t okay with any part of the plan. In fact, he knew that moving back and forth between the realms always came with consequences. The portal would continue to grow until creatures, both benevolent and malevolent, would accidentally find it and end up in the other world. However, he also wanted to be released from palace duty. And he knew that the plan would continue with or without his help.

‘Okay. Where is the portal?’

*******************************

Mom's going to know I didn't go to the store and then straight home like she told me to. She's going to hear my time of death and know that I stopped at Marvin's house and played video games before going to the store and then home.

The thoughts echoed through Adan’s mind as she gazed into the hypnotic amethyst eyes of the creature in front of her that could only be described as a dragon. The dragon’s body had appeared black from a distance, but now that she could see him up close she could tell that he was covered in a thick armor of beautiful iridescent scales. The scales were smaller on his head and long neck, got larger on his body, and then tapered down again to smaller scales on his tail. He had four legs and large wings that looked like bat wings. Each leg and arm featured shiny, razor-sharp claws. His mouth was filled with a surprising number of pointy, pearly-white teeth that were obviously designed to tear flesh from bone.

Adan thought the dragon was beautiful, but he also exuded an energy that was extremely powerful and, potentially, deadly. In spite of his energy she did not feel threatened by him. She found herself fascinated by him, even drawn to him.

She was interrupted in her observations when she realized the dragon was talking to her. The dragon wasn’t speaking in words, but in thoughts. She came to the realization that she must be asleep and in the midst of a particularly strange dream.

*******************************

The influx of mysterious creatures, including dragons, had started a couple of weeks earlier. The first reported sightings of dragons and other creatures believed to be mythical in nature were met with the expected response to anything that seemed too far-fetched to be real. They were initially dismissed as a case of mistaken identity. The people reporting the sightings had simply seen a large bird or an airplane painted like a dragon. When more reports were made along with photos the sightings were suspected of being a hoax, either by the individuals making the reports or another unknown party in an attempt to frighten people.

Eventually it became impossible to ignore or deny the growing number of strange animals and animal-human hybrids that seemed to be making appearances in the valley–unicorns, griffins, centaurs, and other animals witnesses didn’t even have a name for. They didn’t seem to be venturing very far out into the world, though. The local authorities had managed to debunk any videos of the animals as hoaxes, ensuring they would not be taken seriously. They had even found a scapegoat to claim responsibility for the hoax in the public eye–a divorced hermit who had more time than money.

As Adan had walked out of the grocery store after school she checked her surroundings. Most of the animals that had shown up recently didn’t really come into town, but the dragons did occasionally fly overhead and there had been some close calls between residents of the town and the dragons that seemed to be hunting them either for food or sport. The only cases where anyone had actually been harmed were some missing farm animals whose disappearance had been attributed to being eaten by one of the new creatures.

Nobody knew where the animals were staying when they were not out flying or walking around in plain sight, but it was obviously an area that should be avoided. Stumbling on that lair would be disastrous.

When Adan was satisfied that the coast was clear she started out toward home at a pace that would not qualify as a jog, but still caused the noisier items in her backpack to remind her to be more gentle. She did have a couple of glass jars in with the other groceries.

She walked most of her journey without incident, but when she rounded the corner on the last leg of the trip she was confronted with a rising wall of flames. The flames were not blocking the path to her house, but they looked dangerous and she knew she needed to call the fire department.

She looked around and noticed that one of the dragons was flying overhead and was still breathing fire toward the trees. That was most likely how the fire had started. This was the first time she had seen one of them, and she didn’t know whether she should run or stand still to avoid attracting its attention.

As she watched, frozen with fear, another dragon she hadn't noticed until now flew at the first dragon in a swift dive from higher up in the air, its talons leading the attack. The newcomer screeched at the dragon that was setting the fires. The noise was obviously meant as a warning, and it worked. The arsonist retreated to the skies away from the center of town.

The new dragon then dove straight toward the ground, slowing to a surprisingly graceful glide just before actually hitting the ground. Before Adan could run or even react the dragon had landed right in front of her and was looking at her with an expectant look. She felt like she should say something even though she was at a loss for words.

“How did I end up here?” Adan wondered aloud, meaning the question to be rhetorical.

‘I know exactly where you came from, child, but we don’t have time to discuss it right now if you want to save your village.’

The dragon’s thoughts were as clear to her as spoken words. She didn’t know how that was possible, but she didn’t have time to try to reason it out right now.

“Wait, what village?”

Adan took a look at her surroundings and noticed the fire was spreading in the direction of town. “But what can I do? You’re a dragon. Can’t you do something to put the fire out?”

‘I’m a dragon. We start fires. We don’t put them out. You have the ability to control fire, though.’

“And how would I do that? I didn’t bring a fire extinguisher when I left the house today.”

‘I know you haven’t been taught to use your powers in this realm. You're going to have to use them anyway.

The first thing you need to do is get your emotions under control. The fire is growing and spreading because it is responding to the chaotic nature of your fear. You have to force yourself into a state of calm and peacefulness.’

Adan opened her mouth to point out how ridiculous the entire conversation was, but the dragon said, ‘Please just try it.’

Realizing the request wouldn’t hurt anything if it didn’t work, Adan slowly closed her green eyes and pictured the field down the dirt road from her house where she liked to go and sit in the afternoons. She imagined herself sitting in the grass on a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze gently blowing the leaves on the trees at the edge of the meadow. She could smell the grass and the wildflowers all around her. She felt the warmth of the sun on her skin. She took a deep breath and truly relaxed.

‘Now open your eyes.’

Adan opened her eyes and discovered that the flames had died down to almost nothing. However, there were a few small flames still burning and threatening to grow back into the wildfire they had been a part of.

‘You’re almost there. Now imagine that you are sending the calm feeling toward the flames.’

Adan did as she was told and she imagined her feelings were waves that she sent out to the fire. She could feel the fire responding to her new state and becoming calm and tranquil itself. 'Herself,' she heard in her mind. The flames finally died down and went out. She felt her jaw drop at what she was seeing just before she unexpectedly yielded to her inner sense of peace and lost consciousness.

Her dreams featured beautiful, lush fields of green grass and vibrantly-colored flowers in every color and shade she could imagine. And lots of dragons. Some benevolent and some possessing the sole intention of destroying her and everything she knew and loved.