Farewell: A Pathway To New Worlds

They had been on the run again for days and lost and alone in the wilderness for the last 3 years.

From the moment she felt the baby moving inside her womb, she knew home could no longer be her home. It hadn’t actually been her home since the fateful day she met Somerset.

She would die before allowing him to claim her child.

Cold, hungry and completely helpless to change what had happened. She pressed on, determined to keep her secret.

She had been sneaking items she knew they would need to survive for months. Every day she would take a few items and hide them away so no one would notice. No one could know of her plan. If anyone found out, her life and the life now living and growing inside her, would be taken.

She had come from a long line of survivors. Her family was known throughout the land, for their strength and kindness- until the day they were invaded and forced into slavery.

Trusting was once a value, now it had become their weakness.

The invaders drug her to Somerset, the one who led the attack. He was smitten by her beauty and angered by her stubbornness. He vowed to have her, to woo her into submission, he forced her to watch- as one by one, he slaughtered her parents. This was the kind of submission he demanded, loyalty- no matter what. No-one stood against him and lived.

She knew one day; she would have to.

The moving around was hard enough, but constantly changing identities and keeping up with the secrets, made staying out of his grasp even harder. He would not rest until he had her back, dead or alive. And if he discovered she was hiding his son. Definitely dead.

It would be worth it to escape the brutality of where she came from, after-all the running, it would be worth it. She repeated it, daily, maybe trying to convince herself, keeping her on task.

“Momma?” A small voice called, from inside a hollow tree -

She heard the cries - but did not answer. She stood completely still, so he did not hear her.

“Momma” the child called again.

She could not bear his needy and helpless cries. Her intentions were what motivated her next step.

She took the items she had kept hidden from inside her garment and wrapped them in the leaves from the branches of the woodland trust. A mighty tree with large sturdy leaves.

Her great grandfather had told her of a magical land where the trees talked to one another, and the land healed the hurts of the pure hearted. She was certain they had finally found it. She looked around, taking a mental picture of the place she left, to save her child.

She cried as she made her plea to the trees.

“Please, this child has done nothing wrong. He is pure hearted and full of love and promise. I will face my fate, but he does not share in it. No one knows he breaths, there is no claim of him. Please provide him protection and care”. She kissed her hand and touched the entrance of the tree, “farewell my child, may your eyes see my intentions and your heart overflow with my love.” She swept away any prints around the area and disappeared over the hill.

“Momma, momma” the child cried again. The trees swayed mournfully. The breeze played a lullaby through the leaves, coaxing the child to sleep.

Through whispered breezes the trees called for the keeper of the tree forum. He was a wise, stealthy and compassionate dragon named Plasnewed. He had seen much and would have the answers needed to make the proper decision for the well-being of the small human.

Plasnewed dwelled on the mountain across the valley. With the message sent and received, it would not be long until he would arrive. The trees made sure all the creatures knew of his coming. A celebration was sure to take place.

As he arrived, all the woodland creatures and trees welcomed him. They led him through the tangled wall of trees, leading to the toddler nestled - sleeping safely in the adopted hollowed tree. Many creatures had taken refuge in this warm, inviting tree before, but never any of the human species.

The humans were feared by the trees, this woman and her child, however, were different. They sensed her vulnerability and fear and allowed her to take shelter here. Now that she was gone, they needed help to care for the helpless pip.

Plasnewed approached the sleeping child, so small and frail. He looked around the now abandoned hollow tree, surveying all the items left behind, and shook his head. As he turned around, the tot began to stir.

As the child stretched, he moaned, growled and sighed at once. Plasnewed turned his head back to look at the small bag of flesh, puzzled. He softly spoke, "what kind of language is this?! I speak all the tongues of the land and have never heard such nonsense."

Perplexed, he moved closer, the small boy blinked a few times and smiled. His eyes were fixed on the scaly creature. Without warning - the boy cupped his hands around the horn on the tip of Plasnewed's nose and giggled.

Startled, Plasnewed pulled his face away from the child, hitting his head on the top of the tree, causing the tree to cry out in pain. which scared all of the other creatures standing around watching - causing them to hide in the surrounding bushes and brush.

The commotion - witnessed by a flock of passing geese, stirred such uncontrollable laughter, the geese crashed, honking into a pile of leaves, previously dropped by a frightened red wood tree. The sound of the laughing, honking geese, and smashing leaves, scared the boy, who now began to: what could best be described as a Banshee cry. The shrieking could be heard for miles, according to the other trees reporting, calling through the wind to see what had happened. Plasnewed, being thoroughly embarrassed, threw his hands in the air and bellowed, "ENOUGH"!

Everything became eerily quiet, no one, not even the child, made a sound.

He turned to face the child again, determined to gain control over the whole chaotic situation. He was unaware however, that during all of the wild commotion, that his face had been completely covered with leaves and goose feathers. When he began to speak to the child, all the feathers and leaves blew and shook as he spoke, causing the boy to roar with laughter.

The dragon stood speechless. Waiting for the child to compose himself.

However, as he waited, he learned something. Human children have a very contagious laugh, and one by one, the entire forest was ablaze with laughter. And though he tried hard to maintain his immunity, all at once -there was a strange tickling sensation beginning in his belly. Slowly it began to make its way up his throat and into the back of his mouth. Without warning - blazes of fire and spirts of giggles erupted from his mouth. Plasnewed fell on his back rolling and laughing until he cried.

Before long, he was the only one left laughing. Wiping the tears from his eyes, and still holding his belly, he let out a ginormous sigh.

"What was that?" Plasnewed asked, still grinning.

The geese honked out, "that was laughter, sir". Holding their wings to cover the smirks on their faces. The dragon rolled over onto his belly and looked befuddled at the small boy. The boy waddled, much like the geese, and laid on his belly next to the dragon. Hands holding his chin, he began to speak in a language none of the woodland animals had ever heard before.

"arr ou mma dada?" He looked deeply into the eyes of the beast and repeated, "dada?" The dragon did not know what to do.

"NO!" he responded loudly. "I am not your dada! How silly."

The tears in the small boys' eyes were as large as the rocks in the riverbed. "I wan momma," the child began to sob. The dragon was petrified, he had never seen such a reaction before. As the child continued to cry, Plasnewed placed his large hand onto the small back of the boy, though he did not understand why, he began to pat. Lightly, rhythmically tapping. The trees began to sway, creating a soft melody- causing the birds in the trees to sing.

As the boy began to calm down, the dragon asked his name. The child smiled and said, as he patted his own chest, "mafew" perplexed, Plasnewed said, "What?"

"Me, Mafew, repeated the child. "me no no my momma iz."

"Bring some food," Plasnewed demanded, food helped everything. And soon, the boy forgot about talking and ate.

For months they all played and ate and talked, trying, with some success-to decipher what the small human was trying to say.

During this time, the dragon spent a lot of his time and energy with the boy. It was easy to see the bond between them growing stronger with every passing minute. The woodland animals jokingly called the tot, snapdragon: Meaning little dragon slayer, because he had slayed this dragon's heart

Every day the dragon became more and more in tuned to the pain the boy felt, missing his momma. It was obvious the child's pain hurt Plasnewed deeply - but was oblivious as to how to fix it.

Perched high in the tree, was an old owl, who had witnessed everything from the moment the child's mother left her village years ago, to the current moment. Although they were not permitted to interfere with the ways of the human world, the owl wisely decided it was an appropriate time to shed a little light on the whole situation and fill the dragon in.

Besides- conversations with a two-year-old -well... can be difficult.

The owl flew down and perched himself on a branch separating the boy and the dragon and spoke. "His name is Matthew, sir. He was placed in the care of the trees by his mother, to save him from the man-animal that invaded his village. She has gone back to kill it. She, however, has been living in the forest for a long time, and is not strong enough. She will be unable to successfully complete that task, sir."

After hearing all the reasons why - the child had been brought to the forest-and how his mother planned to sacrifice herself to guarantee the boys safety, the dragon became furious. Plasnewed commissioned the owl to lead him back to the village where the crime had taken place.

The animals of the forest and the trees were put in charge of the boy until the dragon returned. Plasnewed hugged the small child and reassured him that he would return soon, the boy waved goodbye, creating those rock sized water bubbles in his eyes again. Plasnewed - had them as well.

He and the owl began their journey, not knowing what they might encounter.

As they neared the place of the humans, the owl perched himself in a tree bordering the village. Plasnewed landed in a field just below. The owl asked the dragon to wait, letting him get a closer look. Plasnewed agreed and waited for the owl to return.

As the owl flew above the small huts, he smelled the smell of death. The village was full of warriors. He circled again and saw the most horrific sight. Hanging in the middle of the village was the boy's momma. She was bloody, bare and lifeless, having been cut open, like an animal. Lying next to her body was a small basket, filled with what was left of her. The owl cried a cry of horror, flying as quickly as he could to the dragon.

As he told the dragon what he had seen the dragon became enraged and took flight. He had the owl direct him to the human named Somerset.

As Plasnewed soared over the village, the warriors began to yell and point at the sky," Dragon, dragon!"Plasnewed angrily dipped low, spraying them with fire.

The owl directed him to the hut on the edge of the village, plasnewed landed directly in front of the door. The owl kept watch behind him, so the other humans did not interfere. Plasnewed bellowed for Somerset to make himself known. The coward snuck out the window in the back of the hut. As he was about to make his sneaky get away, a young woman called out. "He is getting away; he is running for the woods!" Somerset hit the young girl so hard she blacked out and fell to the ground.

Plasnewed, once again took flight, this time landing just in front of the rabid animal. "What do you want from me?" Somerset screamed, spitting as he talked. Plasnewed stepped up to him, until his face touched the man's face, and in a low burning voice answered, "JUSTICE!"

The human began to bargain and justify what he had done, his words spewed like poison." It is no business of yours anyway, I am the master of this village, I decide who lives and dies here, not you. And when my men get here, I will make a lovely bag out of your hide."

Plasnewed began to grin. Slowly and deliberately, he bared every single tooth. In a low guttural growl, he hissed, "I am the master of the forest....I have been for centuries. The human master of this village was a real man, and you stole his power. You are nothing but weakness shrouded in hate wrapped up in skin and bones. Your punishment won't be as quick as your men's. " Now drooling - he continued, "I also know a little secret you don't know. The future master of this village is a small boy, in my care. He will be raised to be worthy of the title you stole from his grandfather."

Somerset's eyes widened, he pleaded, "you have MY son, that woman stole him from me, her punishment was just. She lied; she told me he was dead; you must let me go; I demand you give me my son!"

Plasnewed circled the man, wrapping him up in his tail. As he put his face on the face of Somerset, he seethed, "you will never know that boy, nor he you." In one swift snap, the mighty dragon silenced the real beast.

Plasnewed flew off without looking back.

He spent a several weeks speaking to the owl, the trees and the other woodland creatures about the fate of the small child. They unanimously agreed on the final decision.

Plasnewed coaxed the boy onto his back for one of their daily flights, that boy loved to fly. But, this time, the dragon took the boy further than they had ever traveled before. As they circled the village, the boy was confused. He had never seen creatures like this before. "Where are we going papa?" the boy asked, Plasnewed kept silent, landing in the center of the village. Not far behind them was the owl, he swooped past the boy and onto the arm of a young woman. The same woman who helped capture Somerset.

The young woman approached the dragon and smiled warmly at Matthew.

So, you are the boy I have heard so much about. Matthew jumped off Plasnewed's back and looked intently at the girl. "Do I know you, " he asked puzzled. "You seem familiar."

"Well," she said hesitantly. "I believe you knew my mother; my name is Fin, you are my brother, half-brother", she corrected herself. Our mother made a way for us to be together, that is, if you want to stay."

Matthew looked at the dragon, river rocks forming in his eyes. "You don't want me, papa?" he whimpered. Plasnewed hugged the boy and cried. "Dear snapdragon -I have never wanted anything so badly in all my days. But you do not belong with me, we were meant to touch one another's lives and change the world." He smiled and looked at Fin. "And we have. She is your future now, but I will only be a whistle away, we will always be together, always."

The people of the village began to surround Matthew and Fin. Plasnewed embraced the boy, and from under his wing, presented Matthew with a small blanket and silver charm. "When you were found and introduced to me, you were wrapped in this blanket and this small charm was attached." Fin raised her arm, exposing her charm. As they put the two charms together, they completed a broken circle. "You see, " he said to, Matthew, she is your family." Fin hugged Matthew tightly, crying; the entire village welcomed Matthew home.

As they began to lead the children back to their home, Matthew looked up into the sky and blew a kiss to the mighty dragon. "I will miss you, " he yelled. Plasnewed waved his wings and drew a heart of flames in the sky.

As Plasnewed returned to his mountain, he felt lonely. He never realized before Matthew just how good others made him feel. He flew back over to the valley to where he had spent so much of his time. The geese and the owl and the woodland trees welcomed him gladly.

On moonlit nights the owl and Plasnewed sneak over Matthew's village, just to hear his laughter, and imagine his smile.