Crown of Flesh and Flame

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.”

I try my hardest not to roll my eyes at the puppet master's statement as he begins his play. Little did the puppet master know there have always been dragons in the Valley, they just didn’t make their presence known until fifty years ago. That fateful day of the Blood Moon celebration marked the largest death count the Valley has ever seen. I wasn’t yet born but everyone is taught the history of the Battle of the Blood Moon. It was the night the dragons came and laid siege to the Valley. As history is told, there were no survivors, and yet, there is every recollection of what happened that night. Makes you wonder whom the history was mouthed from.

The puppet master in the courtyard drones on. “It is the night of the Blood Moon when magic is at its peak, the night we Astrians are one with the Moon Goddess. Her essence seeps into our soul giving us chase to dance. This is the dance of Moon Beams and Starlight, where we open our hearts to the Goddess in worship.” He takes the white cotton puppet depicting the Goddess and pushes her into another puppet where she disappears. Off to the side, a band of drummers start a rhythmic beat, their palms at first a slow slap across the batter head, then they gradually pick up the pace. On cue, the puppet begins to jerk in a movement that resembles the Moon Beams and Starlight dance.

I back away from the noise. The drums are loud and it takes everything in me not to lash out, to bare my canines on the drummers. It’s too soon to show my true form, it’s not yet time for the Reckoning. I turn away and walk to the edge of the courtyard into a shadowed alcove to better regain my self control. Humans and their deafening noises. The earth has many secrets to share if they only learned to listen. And if one were to sit and listen they would learn the Goddess’s true wishes. But humans are terrible at being still and are even worse at listening. They would never learn the Earth’s secrets that want to tell of the Goddess’s displeasure with them.

“You look as if you want to eat the humans.” I ignore Jasper's comment by intently staring at my sharpened nails. I had painted them black for the occasion. They glisten against the waning sunlight and I can’t help but imagine what they’ll look like tonight. Every fifty years there’s a blood moon and tonight marks the next one. On this night, the Guardians of the Goddess will lay siege to the Valley for the second time.

Of course the ignorant humans suspect nothing, they didn’t then and won’t now. They have no idea that the Goddess they love and worship despises their very existence. It was she who sent the dragons fifty years ago to punish them. It was meant as a warning but because humans are so dull, they didn’t realize it. And now they sing and drink in celebration. The audacity is appalling. Have they not learned their lesson? This year, the Goddess wants there to be one survivor, so that maybe during the next Blood Moon, the humans would stop celebrating a holiday she deems them unworthy to honor.

“You’re baring your teeth again. What have the humans done this time to upset you?”

This time I acknowledge Jasper. “They simply exist.” I sneer, “I don’t know why Achelois doesn’t have us wipe them all off the face of the earth. It would make this world a much better place.”

Jasper stares at me, quiet and contemplative. His ashen hair is pulled back in a leather strap but a strand manages to escape as he leans forward. The scent of cinnamon and pine float around me and my breath catches in my throat. Sometimes I forget how handsome Jasper is. His pale eyes find mine as he says, “It is not for us to question the Goddess’s wishes.” His eyes narrow just a fraction. “If the others heard you speaking her name they would have your head, no questions asked.”

I try not to break eye contact but Jasper’s will presses against mine and I instinctively bend to his dominance. Glancing to the ground I expose my neck to him in submission. The back of his hand brushes against my cheek then slides down my neck. My eyes flutter close and I shiver in anticipation. He’s my bonded but we hadn’t yet taken the oath to bind each other. I’m a mere fledgling that was promised to him before my birth, but he hasn’t shown any interest in fulfilling that oath since that day. He only ever shows fathership during our times spent together in training. This is the first time he has ever touched me that promised more.

The beating of the drums brings me out of my trance. I press my hands against my ears, trying to block out the noise. With each beat the drums grow louder and louder. How Jasper could stand there undisturbed is beyond me.

He looks up to the sky, then back to me. “It is time.” His eyes are blank of any pity towards my predicament.

Jasper’s words wash over me like the shedding of skin. The drumming in my ears is replaced by a different beat, one full of adrenaline that courses the rush of blood to my ears. The sun has finally set and it’s not my imagination that the drums have gotten louder. The bass of the heavier drums ricochets off the surrounding walls, marking the setting of the sun and the beginning of the Blood Moon.

The puppet master was wrong, dragons have always existed in the Valley. We live among the humans in their form until our Goddess commands otherwise. Alongside them we tend to the rich fields that the Valley is known for. We laugh, we love… we kill.

As the moon turns crimson, people begin the dance. And during their dance, we strike. Bran and Emmett are already in the sky, unseen and gliding through the darkness. I can sense them and the dozen others that will help lay waste to the Valley.

The humans don’t notice Jasper and I at first as we morph into their living nightmare. You’d think the humans would’ve readied themselves for another slaughter, but what was I expecting? These are humans we’re talking about. I finally feel like myself as I shed the soft human flesh and replace it with the firm texture of scales. My draken form being the size of a small hut and Jasper being double that, we no longer fit in the alcove. Jasper’s russet exterior almost looks maroon in the poor lighting. Whereas my snow white scales are devoid of any color, a blessing from the Moon Goddess herself.

Someone screams. The laughter that escapes my draken form is more of a hum that sends vibrations down the back of my throat. I set fire to the drummers first, to end their incessant banging. The smell of their burning flesh is acrid, I don’t delight in it but I do relish the way the flame exits my throat. When I go too long without using my ember chord my throat itches with that same scratchy feeling you get when sick. The back of your throat tickles and all you want to do is dig at it. So you cough because your hands cannot fit back there, and when your coughing subsides you are filled with relief that you can finally breathe again.

The courtyard fills with screams of terrified adults and children as they run every which way, trying to escape mine and Jasper's flames. The sole of my padded foot comes down on a woman who tries to slip past. She falls face first onto the cobblestones as my talons rake down her back, shredding her dress. Within seconds she is dead, her blood puddling around her corpse as I move on to my next victim.

The cries of the scared and dying pierce my ear drums, almost bringing me to my knees. I take to the sky to drown out the noise. Jasper doesn't follow, his enjoyment of the slaughter is too great. I can hear his laughter, one of pure undulated joy. Circling around the courtyard I see Jasper tearing a limb off a male and then laughing as the body twitches in shock. The man’s one arm slaps against the ground like a fish out of water while his legs kick out in jerky spasms. With each kick a pump of blood spurts out of his torn arm. His eyes roll back as he starts choking on the blood that has flooded his mouth. Disgusted with what I’m seeing, I huff fire at the male to end his suffering. My flames turn from a deep blue to a bright azure as they disintegrated his body into nothing. Not even ash remains. Jasper roars in fury at my interruption but I tilt my wings to catch the passing wind and soar away from him before he can unleash that fury onto me. He will discipline me later for going against what he deems as justice. But the sick mutilation of others for your own entertainment is not justice, it is far from it, so I will gladly endure whatever my punishment shall be. I loath the humans but that doesn’t mean I want to see them tortured. That’s something no one deserves.

My wings twitch as the wind carries me over the Valley. This far up the screams no longer bother me. It’s a relief to be able to think clearly again. The rest of the draken have made quick work with setting fire to several villages and towns down in the Valley. The flames are a mixture of reds and orange, but none are the color of blue that I emit.

With my exceptional vision, I notice a young boy trapped by the raging flames in a wheat field. Flames flick toward the boy at a rapid speed, encircling him, pushing their way toward the center where he will ultimately meet his end. Tears streak the boy’s face, but I’m astonished to see no fear in his eyes. No, they are as hard as steel. His shoulders are rolled back and his chin held high as he stares down the flames. Maybe it’s in the way the boy chooses to face his death - his jaw clenched in defiance with his shoulders as straight as a board - that I decide to save him. Swooping down, I come at him from the back and grab his torso with both of my feet, my talons wrapping around his small frame. He doesn't fight me like I anticipate. Instead, he holds onto me, silent and willing. Grasping onto my outer right talon, his hands send a shock wave of electricity up my leg and to my chest. The force of it causes enough pain that I almost let go of him and lose control of my wings. The electric pain subsides to a humming buzz all along my skin, turning from pain to warmth. The warmth spreads to my chest where the sensation of peace settles within me, allowing me to regain control of the sky again.

Gliding through the warm night sky I don’t free the boy until we are outside of the Valley and flying over the Saengdao Woods where I spot a small cottage situated in the midst of the forest foliage. Smoke rises from the chimney and the aroma of burning cedar fills my senses.

As soon as I set the boy down, the electricity disappears, and with it the warmth that had settled in my chest. Emptiness overtakes me and I feel as if a part of me is no longer there. Wishing to fill that void, I find myself yearning for his touch. In this moment he is a lifeline that my soul yearns for. The thought is fleeting and absurd but my draken instincts recognize him. Muhjah? It whispers in the back of my mind, but I quickly wipe that thought from existence. I take a step towards the boy, forgetting the whole reason why I was here in the first place.

“You will pay for this,” his voice cracks. I stop my advance and tilt my head to look him over. Soot is smudged over his face and his dark curls are set in a disheveled mop over his head. Specks of gray ash sprinkle across his thick lashes causing my attention to be drawn to the dots of silver that swirl around his onyx colored eyes. They remind me of stars shooting across the night sky. Blink, and you miss one. Focus, and you’re welcomed by a meteor shower of zooming light painted against the darkness. It is odd to see eyes like that on a human. Looking at this child I’m shocked that I find him beautiful; I have always found humans repulsive. I step back, shaking my head. My thoughts swirl in confusion. It was absurd for me to think that, especially since Jasper is my bonded. But maybe I’m wrong, maybe beauty could be found in the humans and that we draken were wrong about them this whole time. I shake myself even harder, my head must still be jumbled from the sounds earlier for me to think that way.

“Be gone you monster!” The boy waves his arms in my direction as if that mere movement could fling me back into the skies. I growl in response, a firm warning. Instead of flinching, the boy straightens himself and stands even taller. My nostrils flare at the challenge but I do as the boy commands. Not because he commanded me to, and definitely not because his looks made me curious, but solely for the fact that tonight a lone soul must be left for the Reckoning.

Before taking to the sky, I give the boy one last glance. The silver in his eyes hardens as he dares me to change my mind. I’m tempted to kill him and find someone else to spare, but I know that by now everyone is most likely dead. Anger fills me– at my softness towards the boy, and at my desire for him to touch me again. Taking a deep breath I unleash a fireball towards the boy. Not directly at him, but close enough that he has to jump out of the way to avoid getting burned. “I don’t care if he’s okay,” I tell myself as I launch into the sky and reunite with the rest of the draken.

I don’t agree with the Moon Goddess’s decision for a survivor, and I doubt that boy could change anything.

Humans never learn.