Fire Song

Chapter One

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. We are beings of air and fire, of sky and mountain. Our hearts sing with the song of the breeze and our minds dream in the shapes of the clouds. We had wings that let us soar into the heavens, into eternity, into freedom.

We had these things.

We also had the ability to shape-shift. From giant winged reptiles to humanoid spirits of flame and ember—we could morph our bodies at will. Our feet walked the earth, and our wings soared the skies.

We had these things…

And then we didn’t.

Twenty-five years ago, my tribe was tricked into taking our humanoid forms and then bound into those bodies. We were bound by a tribe of humans that we had called our friends. Bound into bodies with no wings, never to take to the skies again, and then we were forced to settle into the Valley—as far from the skies as possible. We were kept as slaves to mine their riches, doomed to those dark caves, illuminated only by the fire under our skin.

I was born five years after the Binding, part of the first generation of children born into the new reality of the dragons. The magic that had bound our parents also bound us. Born into human bodies, fire roiling under our skin with no release, wings trapped within our souls. I have never known the freedom of the cerulean skies, or the conflagration that erupts within us as we fly towards the sun. I was born a slave in my own body and one day I will make them burn for it.

***

The sun warmed the embers within my skin, rejuvenating and awakening my senses. I stretched awkwardly, restrained by the chains loosely binding my hands and feet. Around me, other dragons were rousing in their beds, readying for the long day ahead. Each day the same: meager scraps of food for breakfast, long hard hours mining jewels in the dark caves of the mountain, scraps for dinner, poor sleep on a stone-slab bed.

Day after day.

Nothing changes.

As I stand in line for my slop, I sink into myself, the world quiets around me and I find that little kernel of peace that I reserve deep inside.

We have been forbidden to worship the gods of our parents, of our ancestors, so I do my veneration in silence.

In that silence inside of me, I open my soul. I release the dragon. In my mind, I have wings and claws, fangs and scales. In my mind, I can see the dragon goddess Eurydice, goddess of justice. I beseech her for justice, for salvation from our oppression, for freedom.

She’s beautiful. A white and gold dragon, undulating between humanoid and reptilian. Her scales shimmer and her skin dances with flickering flame. Normally her eyes are swathed in cloth, but today is different, today her eyes are unbound.

Today, she sees me.

Her eyes meet mine. They are filled with fire, like molten gold, staring into the heart of my soul.

The slop hits my plate and splatters over my hand. My communion with the goddess is shattered, pulling me back into the world like a sucker punch.

I blink and look down at the gray, lumpy mess on my plate.

Appetizing.

After eating, I’m chained to two more dragons who each have another dragon chained to them and so on. I recognize these dragons, but I don’t even know their names. Here, we are no one, anonymous, nameless.

But I have a name. My mother spoke it to me the day I was born, before they took me from her. At night, my soul sings it to me. Sela, it sings. Sela is my name; Sela is who I am. I hold on to that name, I hold on to who I am.

The chain in front of me tugs and pulls me forward. I shuffle along with the rest of the line, down the dusty road toward the mountain.

We turn a corner in the path and before us, the gaping maw of the cave sits poised to consume us whole.

Filing in, one after another, we enter the blackness. The only light is the flickering fire that radiates under our skin.

It’s a long walk through the darkness to get to the dig site. Though none of us speak, the quiet is noisy. Water drips through the rocks into pools of milky water. The mountain creaks and groans, rocks clatter as they fall and echo through abandoned tunnels. The mountain is riddled with tunnels, long unused, their precious contents stripped away.

Once at the dig site we get our picks and shovels and begin the back-breaking work.

The quiet noise is broken by the cacophony of clanging pickaxes. As they chip away at the earth, they chip away at my mind, the sound echoing through my head.

Hours pass, no break, no stopping, no food. My muscles strain with each swing. I’ve done this my entire life, but it never gets easier.

Swing after swing, my muscles scream. The impact of the pickax reverberating through my body.

Swing, clank, vibrate.

Swing, clank, vibrate.

Move.

My arms stopped mid-swing.

I looked around but could only see other dragons chipping away at the rock wall.

Hefting the pickax, I poised to swing it again.

Move.

Again, I looked around but there wasn’t anyone that looked like they could be talking to me.

Move, Sela, move!

The voice was screaming in my head. I couldn’t go very far, but I moved. Back, away from the wall I had been chipping away at.

The earth shuddered, dust filling the air, then rocks began to slide from the wall. Dragons began screaming around me as the mountain came crumbling down on top of us.

I crouched in the pocket of the tunnel I was in, arms wrapped around my head. In my mind the voice said, Stay there, don’t move.

The crumbling continued for what felt like forever. Eventually, it stopped. I moved in the small space around me and found that my chains had been severed. They were still connected to my wrists and ankles, but I was no longer connected to anyone else. As the dust settled, I could make out a limb in the rubble—the glow fading from his skin.

My stomach churned and I began retching into the dark.

Look up, Sela.

“Who are you?” My voice sounded empty and horse.

Look up.

I did as the voice instructed and looked up. Through the settling dust, I could just make out the thinnest sliver of light.

Climb.

It hit me then, I was in a small pocket of air trapped deep within a mountain. The mountain had collapsed, and it had probably killed hundreds of my fellow dragons. But I was alive—somehow, I was alive. This voice in my head had saved me.

I began to climb, sliding on loose rocks, struggling to gain purchase. Inch by inch I made my way higher. The light grew brighter and larger ahead of me, and eventually, I broke through the surface.

Shimmying, I worked my way free of the earth and collapsed on the dirt.

The sun warmed my skin and stoked the fire under my skin. It gave me energy and I used it to get to my feet.

The land around me was in ruins. There were no trees left below where I stood, no brush, just rocks and dirt and shredded bits of half-buried vegetation. A chunk of the mountain had collapsed. Down in the valley, I could see the white-uniformed slave drivers running around like ants whose nest has been disturbed. There were dragons down there, too, I could hear their screams, but they weren’t moving, chained to their work posts.

I looked down at the broken chain around my wrist. I could leave this place. Glancing back down into the valley, I could feel my heart burn. Could I leave my tribe?

Leave them, to save them.

“Who are you?” I asked the voice again.

You know who I am, Sela. I saw you today and I’ve heard you for a long time now.

A tear trickled from my eye as I asked, “Eurydice?” My knees gave way and I fell to the ground, my head bowing, tears streaming.

Yes, my child.

“You saved me.”

I could feel the goddess smile in my mind. I need your help.

“My help? But what can I do to help a goddess?”

Not me. I need you to help your tribe. I have freed you. Go from here and venture into the Salted Desert, speak with the Oracle of Vashtue. Learn all that you can.

I looked up into the sun, the tears drying on my cheeks. “Why can’t you teach me?”

Patience and compassion washed over me. I can only speak with you for this short window of time. Already I can feel the connection closing. I will always be with you, Sela, but for now, others must guide your path. Find the Oracle. Goodbye, my child.

A surge of panic flooded through me. I scrambled to my feet and looked all around. “Eurydice?”

There was no response, the goddess was gone.

Wiping away the fresh tears, I turned to the forested mountain behind me.

One step at a time, I made my way to the peak. From there, I looked out across the world. Far to the south was a red scar across the land, the Salted Desert.

Clenching my fists, I made up my mind. I would go to the Salted Desert and find the Oracle. I would learn all that I could, and I will save my tribe. As for the humans that enslaved us… I will make them burn.