Dragon Speaker

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Before long, they’d be gone again. Ery had seen what the Valley would become. The potential futures plagued her mind incessantly. Green would turn to black. Hazel trees, to white ash. The sound of chirping birds and rustling animals replaced with the stillness of death.

In the distance, a platoon of dragons approached. Ery felt their presence before they rose over the horizon. She could sense their heartbeat, their thoughts, their fears. Eighteen dragons and one rider. She could not sense the rider’s thoughts, but she knew it was Althien.

Tolmad was the lead dragon, his black hulking body punching through the clouds as he made a path for the others.

A gentle smile crossed Ery’s face as she recognized the dragon’s energy. She could feel his presence most of all. His wings beat slowly. Each movement propelled the dragon gracefully forward, like a dolphin in the sky.

They would be here in ninety seconds.

Meinteer curled nervously beside Ery, wrapping her tail around Ery as though to comfort her. White scales glittered in the sunlight as they shifted, sending a show of lights shimmering across the mouth of the cave. Ery rested her hand on the dragon’s tail and pulled it tighter around her.

Closing her large eyes, Meinteer showed Ery images of the past. Images of friendship. Meinteer showed Ery a memory of Tolmad and Althien flying next to them, of Ery smiling with delight as the wind flowed through her hair. Meinteer showed Ery a memory of Ery and Althien riding together on Meinteer. Ery’s head was resting on Althien’s back.

“I know we were friends once,” Ery responded.

Meinteer gave her a stern glance.

“More than friends,” Ery conceded. “My mind hasn’t let me forget either. The past is as present in my visions as who he will become.”

Ery moved her hand across the pearly scales. She recognized warmth beneath the strength: each scale was as tough as the finest Northern longshield. Like a sheet of white diamond hiding a fire.

“When they arrive, let me do the talking though,” Ery insisted.

Ery sat unmoving and waited for them to arrive. For him to arrive.

When the platoon was a thousand meters from the mouth of the cave, they stopped. The dragons’ muscular wings pumped in the air as they hovered.

Only Tolmad approached. When he reached the mouth of the cave, he knelt and a broad man jumped from the dragon’s back. The man’s ebony hair matched the dragon’s scales. Raising his hand, he commanded a root to break through the earth to catch him. It lowered him to where Ery sat.

“It’s been too long, old friend!” Althien exclaimed with a grin, flashing a set of silver teeth. He strode over to Ery and offered her a hand in greeting.

Ery shuddered as her mind was pulled into a vision of the past.

Ery glanced up at the young boy who was offering a hand to her. She swallowed hard and could taste the copper flavor of blood in her mouth. Her heart was pounding in her chest as though she had just sprinted up Mount Calsew.

The boy had a gash over his left eye that was beginning to swell, and his knuckles were bruised and bleeding. Behind him lay the three motionless teens that had been tormenting Ery moments before.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a mischievous grin. “They won’t be getting up any time soon.”

The boy was about her age. He was scrawny, half the size of the three teenagers who were groaning in agony at his feet. His clothes were far too big for his frame, and his jet-black hair was pointing every-which direction. But his eyes were lit with sincerity.

Slowly, Ery extended her hand.

“The visions are getting worse, aren’t they?”

Althien was sitting next to Ery, his hand on her head. She shook it off.

“I’m fine,” she retorted.

“No you’re not,” he whispered. “Do you even know when you are anymore, or have past, present, and future all become one to you?”

Ery stayed silent. She was aware of how close he sat. His leg was resting against hers. She could feel his warmth and hear his calm, deliberate breathing. His familiar scent filled each breath she took. A sweet smoky aroma. Like pine needles over a fire.

Ery shifted her leg away and felt their skin stick together for a brief moment. Althiene bowed his head and shuffled back.

His voice was earnest. “Let me take you to my palace. My servants can look after you. Together we can find a way to keep you present.”

“Come with me!” Ery insisted, pointing across the ocean, her hand resting carelessly on Tolmad’s back.

Althien broke into a boisterous laugh. He looked at Tolmad. “Can you believe her?”

Tolmad pushed an image of them flying over the ocean into Ery and Althien’s minds. The water reflected the sunlight like a field of sapphires.

“You too?” Althien protested. “How do you know there's anything across the ocean?”

“What’s the point of dragons if we can’t find answers to silly questions like that,” Ery replied, nudging Althien. She gave Tolmad a wink.

Ery knew they would go. She had seen the way Althien looked at her, eyes full of wonderment and desire. He’d follow her anywhere.

“Let’s do it!” he replied, grinning.

“Do you hear yourself Althy? Your palace? Servants? We came to this land to find freedom, not to enslave its people. We brought dragons so they could be away from war, not to find a new one,” Ery said.

“This is freedom,” Althien responded impatiently.

“No!” Althien cried.

Ery gasped. She felt her stomach drop as tears threatened her eyes.

Althien dropped to his knees, and punched the earth. Trees shuddered, sending leaves falling through the air like snowflakes.

Laying on the ground was a young dragon. Its eyes were closed. Several spears in its side pointed into the air. One had a flag on it which swayed with the wind. The red flag was embroidered with a gray wolf’s head.

The leaves fell as if the trees themselves were weeping. They formed a patchy green blanket over the young dragon.

“They’ll pay.” Althien muttered, fire in his eyes.

“I’ve seen where your freedom leads,” Ery said, wincing as the vision left her mind. Her sight was blurred. Even through the haze, the fire in Althien’s eyes shone clear. It was no longer lit with anger. It was cold, determined. “Brother will turn against brother. Father against son. And in its wake, there will only be pain,” Ery continued.

The smile had disappeared from Althien’s face. He was scowling, revealing deep creases along his visage.

The cave stood in silence as Althien and Ery stared at each other, both refusing to look away.

Meinteer broke the stillness. She rose up on her haunches and stretched her wings to their full length, filling the opening.

She moved gently towards Tolmad. With each step, the cave shook. When she got close, Tolmad bent his head in recognition. The two lay their heads across each other, with their necks intertwined like swans.

Ery’s eyes softened.

“Stay here with me,” she invited. “This Valley is large, we can build mountains around it. The dragons will be safe.”

“Dragons hiding from humans?” Althien scoffed. His eyes darkened. “They need direction. You speak of death? This land is divided. Kingdoms fight other kingdoms. Towns are raided in the night. Robber barons rule the streets and children are afraid to walk home in the dark. Death is already here. I can end the suffering. I will unite them.”

“At what cost?”

“No cost is too great for freedom,” Althien responded. “You knew that, once.”

“Our freedom, Althy. We fought for our freedom. We ran for our freedom. We ran from men that said the same things you’re saying now.”

“Be careful how you speak to me,” Althien threatened. “I’ve been patient because of our friendship, but this land will be mine.”

“No,” Ery responded.

Althien jumped to his feet. “Are you saying you’ll fight me too?”

Ery lifted her left hand. A wall of earth rose to block the entrance of the cave, engulfing them in darkness. Tolmad and Meinteer cowered.

“You know what would happen if I did.” Ery said in a whisper, yet her voice thundered through the cave, filling every corner and causing every rock to shake until the ceiling threatened to collapse. She pushed her hand forward and Althien gasped in pain, falling to the floor. His hands clasping his head.

Ery could sense the seventeen dragons outside race toward her.

“Stop!” she commanded with her mind. The dragons ceased their approach immediately.

“This Valley is mine,” Ery declared. “I’m no longer the scared little girl you saved all those years ago. And you are no longer the brave boy I once loved.”

As she said this, she lowered her hand. Althien let out a sigh of relief and the wall blocking the cave crashed to the ground, flooding the space with light.

The floor was still. Althien got to his feet, his eyes full of rage. “Come Talmad,” he commanded.

Raising his arm once again, he was flung through the air onto the dragon's back. Talmad turned to Ery and Meinteer, dipping his head ruefully before flying toward the hovering platoon. He sent a single image into Ery’s mind: a distant view of Ery and Althien holding hands on a cliff.

“I’m sorry,” Ery thought and projected it so that only Tolmad and Meinteer could hear.

Ery watched as they sank into the horizon. Meinteer nudged her gently.

An empty feeling resonated through her. Her lungs felt heavy, as though each breath were being pulled far away. A lump of stone sat in her stomach.

Ery yelled and lifted her arms.

The Valley trembled. The landscape changed. Jagged cliffs and mountains stabbed through the earth at the edge of the clearing. Ery fell to her knees from the strain, but did not stop. As the mountains rose, her mind was carried into the future.

Fire. Destruction. Death.