Soon the Terrible

Soon the terrible, baby of legend, corruptor of souls, herald of criers, one-time necromancer and the ender of times, sat beside the crackling fires waiting. The fourteen days to return to his village still a baby had dwindled to a pitiful four. And yet he sat there. This was where the dragon of death would be. Hopefully. Soon risked his soul, his home and his life on that hope.

The Woods of Ambivalence would always be the home of death, and he hoped that no one was dying that needed the attention of the dragon of death, Seem Taleem, for four more days. He was optimistic. Bordering on realistic now. Creeping eerily close to panic. The responsible, mature and empowering sort, of course.

Out of commitment to his confidence, he had lit fires until his only piece of flint refused to light any more. He sat in the middle surrounded by eight flames of varying quality. Of course, he couldn’t babysit eight flames equally. That would be silly. Maybe that’s why a single fire would’ve been a better decision. He’d still have flint left for tomorrow with that sort of thinking. But spending his flint was his commitment that today would be the day. Or was it night?

The Woods of Ambivalence were so heavily covered in trees that the sky couldn’t be seen. The glowing eggs of soon to be flying eels tucked into Dragon Ivy were the only source of light. Their blue glow was more comforting than darkness, but only marginally so.

“Well if Seem Taleem doesn’t show today and I freeze tomorrow, I’ll know I messed up” he whispered to himself. Then realizing no one was around in his normal speaking voice said, “Seem will show.” And then screamed it. A bird squawked back from somewhere up in the canopy of the forest. “Oh no,” he whispered looking at the ground. A clatter of branches and a whoosh confirmed his worst fears, the bird had heard him talking to himself and had fled to spread the word that he was a weirdo.

“If you come back I’ll cook you,” he yelled into the air. But it was too late. The whole forest would know. Maybe if he was lucky, the bird would confuse him for just any baby. Besides the gash through his left eye that curled through his lips, Soon looked like any other baby someone would find hitchhiking in the middle of the woods. It was always hard to tell fellow babies apart. He could even cut the face of another baby’s to minimize the rumors directed at him.

Although not many of his brethren would venture into the Woods of Ambivalence as casually as he did. No, few would even come here formally. And if they did they would be sure to bring at least two extra diapers as accidents happened here more than most places.

Soon was flying commando. He preferred it this way. He liked the breeze, the cool ground and carrying diapers felt strange in a place like this. In the case he changed his mind, Elephant trees shed their giant leaves this time of year. He had timed this trip perfectly, not that he had any control at all.

As if in response to the ridiculous hope, Soon shivered. It was a normal baby-sized shiver. Starting in his toes and then radiating through his body. For some reason it made him laugh. His babble of defiance against nature echoed through the trees.

The long shadows criss-crossed his face using the multiple fires to cover every angle of escape. Soon wasn’t scared of the dark, nor trees. Not because they couldn’t hurt him. He knew better than most the danger of some of the trees in these woods. The Dragon Ivy looked like a dragon and could breathe acid like a dragon breathes fire. The Lumberjack Tree on a whim would die and all three hundred feet of it would fall at speeds greater than needed to squish a baby in complete silence. Worst of all were the McCulky Bushes. They were like a hive mind of bushes that could grow anywhere, or pick up and move if a different spot seemed better. These bushes would set up traps and deadly obstacles using coordination, their roots, their seeds exploded on occasion, and their leaves poisoned with touch.

Soon felt a strange connection to them. He was dangerous too, but you couldn’t tell from looking. He didn’t have colorful fruit, or thorns to warn potential victims. He looked like a baby. And quite a cute one at that, he assured himself each morning. He might be the most dangerous thing in all the Woods of Ambivalence. That made him smile. He just had to wait for his prey. The overabundance of fires might help. His cute exterior and chubby arms definitely would.

The dark was a given. Anything could be out there. The giant three-eyed shadow deer, scorpion bears especially irked him, and worst of all the tarantula fire giraffes. Another shiver plagued his small body, this time starting from his neck. Please keep the giraffes away. He knocked on a tree. Then thinking better of it, knocked again pleading for the tree not to be a no-knock birch. Hopefully it would be merciful on a double knocker.

Dragons also lived in the dark. But those fun loving, low-ambition, laid back beasts were rarely a threat to babies. They thought of babies as pitiful and for the most part they were right. They couldn’t breathe fire, fly, or roar (well). Little did they know, the dark secret of the baby village that required a dragon, the dragon of death to solve. He must remember not to think a single thought of his plans if Seem Taleem could be nearby. The ruby eyes of the dragon of death can see through his soul. If it figured out his goal everything would be ruined and Soon could kiss his life goodbye along with every other baby present and future.

The other non-death dragons brought back from fellow baby’s hunts had been roasted to celebrate another failure and a former baby. Soon didn’t care for the chewy meat cooked medium, the village chef’s speciality. He preferred more salt and a rarer sear on his dragon meat. “Mmm, I could go for some dragon meat right now,” Soon chewed on some mashed grass. Doesn’t hit the same as dragon thigh.

“You eat dragons,” a voice like an upper nose piercing asked from somewhere in the darkness.

“Who’s there?” Soon dropped his mashed grass. It wasn’t really doing anything for him anyway. “How long have you been watching me?” Soon stood and tried to seem larger than he was, but a naked baby in the middle of eight fires doesn’t emit even a shadow.

“I’ve been here the whole time. This is my dark corner. I call it Seem’s corner” sharp red eyes peered out from a tree branch a few feet above the ground. “I like it here. And you seemed okay, I guess. Wouldn’t have said anything if you didn’t mention wanting to eat us.”

A dragon? Seem? Is it the Semi Taleem, dragon of death? Play it cool. “Did you hear me, umm. Did you hear me earlier?”

“Talk to yourself? Yeah. I do it too, so no judgement here,” the voice sounded like it is putting itself to sleep only to wake itself up to begin a new thought. “But Benson the crow is a judgey loud mouth. I’ve been on the wrong side of a few of her rumors. You’ll be hearing gossip about you for days.”

Soon could handle gossip. The next step of his plan, not as easily. “What are you doing here?”

“Existing. Struggling. Doing my thing. What about you?”
 “Trying to escape my destiny.”

“With your legs, you won’t get far. Destiny is a one of the fastest dragons I know. She’ll play with you. Make you think you’re winning, or in on the joke, but you’re not.”

Soon laughed. That might’ve been the only funny thing he’d ever heard a dragon say other than please don’t eat me. “I thought all you dragons were so positive and happy all the time.”

“Not all of us. Most of us. Probably not the ones you ate.”

“No, they were still mind-numbingly optimistic about the whole thing. I think it ruined the meat.”

“I don’t want you to eat me.”

“You don’t sound like the kind of dragon I’d want to eat.”

“That’s what everyone says.”

“You’ve had this conversation with other people?”

“Once, or twice. Everyone like’s my corner of the woods, but they never notice me. I think I might be invisible.” Soon has never heard of, nor seen an invisible dragon. It was unlikely this would be the first.

“If you come out of the dark, I can verify your visibility.”

“You promise you won’t eat me. Or at least, if you’d like to eat me, please kill me quickly. I’d rather my end be a mystery.”

“I’m not going to eat you.” You might be much too important for that. Shhh. Shhh. Clear your mind Soon.

A normal-sized purple dragon with bright rubies for eyes descended from the tree crawling like a spider. Its wings were ragged with slits and it’s ribs showed through its chest. In its nose there was a little ring, which jingled as it reached the ground.

While a normal size for a dragon, it was an absolute behemoth compared to Soon. It lowered its head to his level, closed its mouth and a few smoke rings escaped its nose.

“If it makes you feel any better, skinny dragons aren’t worth the hassle to eat.”

“That does. Thank you.” The dragon seemed to smile. In the fire’s light, Soon saw one of its horns twisted like a spear and the other looked to be hacked off. “What’s your name, baby?”

“Soon the Terrible. And you skinny dragon?”

“A foreboding name. Not very fitting for a cute baby. I am the Seem Taleem, dragon of death. But I prefer Seem Taleem the skinny dragon.” What I’ve been searching for. My ticket home. Death.

“You are the dragon of death.”
 “Only on occasion. For ceremonies. Or when death needs to get very far away and the wind is just right. I have a lot of days off.”

“That doesn’t sound like a very fun role.”

“What is your job, terrible baby?”

“I’m the chosen one of the babies. Hopeful to end our miserable cycle.”

“Do you get days off?”

“Rarely.”

“That seems worse.”

“You get ridden by a skeleton that kills things.”

“Death rarely kills anything.” Seem said and then whispered with a sense of pride, “And I get days off.”

“Isn’t that odd?”

“I don’t know. That sort of thinking is above my pay grade. I mostly just fly and do this,” Seem raised its head, leaned back and blew streams of blue flames into the canopy way above their heads. The blue evaporated the thick layer of leaves, thorns and any creatures in its way. Smoking remains of trees, and little creatures rained down peacefully. A thin red crescent moon winked at them.

“Do you ever want to do more than fly and breathe fire?”

“I also sulk in dark corners of the forest, but that’s out of commitment to the lifestyle. Do you?”

“Sometimes…” Why was Soon about to share this with a random sulking dragon in the woods? Who else could he share it with? Maybe it could be advantageous. Soon looked down and continued, “Sometimes I feel like I’m not allowed to cry. But I’m a baby. And I need to cry. And I want people to hear me. I don’t want to be judged as a weak chosen one just because I need a release.” The dragon didn’t respond. Soon looked up and it stared into his eyes.

“That’s a little dark for me.”

Soon laughed. Seem didn’t. Soon wondered if dragons could laugh. “You’re the dragon of death and crying is a little dark for you?”

Seem blinked its eyes, “Oh no no no. I cry all the time and twice I’ve caught death crying after we visited some young, poor critters not quite ready to move on, but forced to any way. Outside the job we have sad movie weekends. We cry for hours. Death is an emotional being. And crying is important. It’s the denial of your tears I find dark. What I support is the opposite of denial. Death preaches acceptance. Sometimes unfortunate, always infinite and never forgotten acceptance.”

“Seems ironic that death cries.”

“Why? Everything gets sad, overwhelmed, beaten down and occasionally needs a release. Sometimes screaming isn’t enough. Death has to experience everything cry. Few things accept death without some frustration. Some are ready, but no one wants to be.” Seem shook its head sending cracking sounds into the night sky. Little red and white specks in the company of the moon stared down at them.

The dragon lowered its head to the ground and looked straight through the fires to Soon. “I’m sorry. You can cry here. I won’t judge you.” Seem nods its head. Then shakes it, “Better not though, Benson might come back. One rumor would stick for days, but two and you’ll be the talk of the woods forever. I could cry with you. Then Benson wouldn’t know what to do.”

“I don’t need to cry right now, but thank you.” Soon smiled. Seem smiled back. They sat there looking from one another to the fires to the sky.

“You lit a lot of fires.”

“I didn’t know when to stop.”

“It’s comforting. Makes these woods feel a little less full of life.” Seem stands up and walks around the circle of fires. It curls itself around, so Soon is not only surrounded by fire, but also by the dragon of death.

Soon nodded to hide his discomfort, “Comfy?”

Soon purred in response, “What does the chosen one of the babies even do? Doesn’t seem like a species that really needs a special member to achieve something.”

The question Soon has been dreading. He had hoped sharing his title wouldn’t come back to bite him in the tushy, but like most things in these woods, it did. “We are forever on a quest. Of life and death.”

“Hmmm. Those are the only quests I ever hear about. For once, a quest for something yummy, but optional would be nice.”

“Oh, we have a yum yum chaser. She’s excellent. Or she was. Maybe quest is the wrong word, then. Think of it like the function of all babies, but only holds one of us hostage at a time.”

“That’s mighty considerate.”

“Until you’re the hostage.”

“It’s your turn?”
 “As of a little while ago.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I still have four days left.”

“And then what?”

“I either succeed and go back a hero. I fail and go back a failure. Or I fail and run away. I wouldn’t last long on my own.”

“A tough situation to accept.” Seem stared at Soon. “I’m sorry.”

“I was always watching the baby who would go before me. Hoping she wouldn’t go, so maybe I wouldn’t have to either.”

“Will death and I definitely be visiting you before long?”

Soon looked down. He’d never thought that far forward. He’d always had time. He still did. Just less. “There have been too many babies before me to count. They all failed their function and moved on. Can’t imagine I’ll be much different. It will either be in four days, or when this forest eats me itself.”

Seem raises its head above the flames merely an inch from Soon. “Odd.”

“What?”

“All natural deaths, curse, or otherwise are dealt with by death. We rarely have babies. I haven’t seen one before you for the longest time. I can’t recall the last time.”

“Oh,” Soon drew a few lines in the ground with his finger. He knew why. Every baby did. Maybe a few who left on their quest and failed would die before death and her dragon. They’d still know the truth. Sharing it now would ruin his plan. He finished drawing a smiling face in the dirt, looked up at Seem and nodded with a smile on his face. “That is odd.”

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

The darkness crept in as the fires tired of their fight against it. Little embers in a circle around Soon were all his protection from the gleaming red eyes of Seem. They’d stopped talking for while. Not much to say when Soon knew the reason that babies stopped dying naturally and couldn’t tell the dragon of death and the dragon of death knew. Soon refused to make eye contact again, but it was too late. Something in Soon was screaming that Seem knew. The dragon knew it all. His plan. His villages’ secret. And if all went smoothly for Soon, his future as a sacrifice for eternal baby-hood. Even these thoughts weren’t safe from those eyes. Was it a mistake to admit it all to himself? He didn’t know, but even if he did, Soon couldn’t stop them. The thoughts, his plans they all flowed out from him. All the tricks he’d come up with for exactly this moment danced on his eyelids.

He thought back to when his ideal strategy was to trick the dragon into swapping lives with him. Convincing Seem that it could fool a village of babies that a dragon was actually a baby long enough to get to the village and capture it now seemed so silly. Soon was sure it was brilliant on day one. And two and six until eight. Nine was a weird day. Soon was going to wait until the dragon slept and carry it back. He wasn’t too sure of plan number two.

Plan number three was more realistic. Kill Seem Taleem here. Take both eyes, the materials needed for immortality, back to the village leaving the body to be picked apart by hungry creatures. That seemed wrong now. And also, even touching the dragon of death would be tricky. As friends, or enemies. One did not simply caress the cheek of Seem Taleem, dragon of death. And what if killing death’s dragon sent death after Soon. Would it matter?

No. Yes. Death chasing him all the way home was not an acceptable conclusion to his function. It could lead to the end of all babies at once instead one at a time like it was now. No. Plan numbers four through seven were more desperate tricks than anything else. Four would have Soon dressed as a stunted female dragon and attempt to seduce the dragon of death. Did Seem favor female dragons? Male dragons? Did Seem want to be the big spoon, or the small? Questions that Soon didn’t have the answer to and thus plan four could never work.

Plan five was just lighting the forest on fire and hoping Seem ran straight to the baby village. There was a lot of desperate hoping for number five to work. Six was a mess that Soon was embarrassed to have even thought of. Worse even than trying to seduce a dragon as a human baby: murdering an entire village of peaceful creatures to lure death and its dragon to come collect the lost souls. Soon wasn’t a great killer, passable on his best day, and so this plan was both terrible to consider and unrealistic. Seven was to pretend to be death and order Seem to the baby village. No, four through seven were ideas Soon would keep to himself and Seem if it were listening in. Plan eight would have to do. It would be his last hope.

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

“I don’t want to be the chosen one anymore,” it was supposed to sound pitiful, sad and easy to empathize with. It came out much stronger. Tears welled and flowed. His body shook. His back arched. His face creased up. His sobs reverberated into the night. He would be nervous that a lazy predator might come, but he had the dragon of death surrounding him.

Seem Taleem didn’t so much as stir. Soon wasn’t sure if dragons slept. And if they did, was Seem? Were tears a tranquilizer for a dragon whose life was spent around final tears? Soon would get bored of them, numb to the pain, maybe even get tired around them. Seem was on vacation, would tears upset it?

“I’m sorry. Chosen one’s always seem to have it rough. They’re expected to be strong when the rest of us can be weak.”

“What no one,” Soon coughs, hiccups, starts crying again and then stops. “What…no…one…tells…the…rest of us…is that…is…that chosen ones are weak too. I feel like the last remaining dangling, dying petal of a flower that’s about ready to fall over itself. And I’m the only thing keeping it up. The counter balance to collapse. But I’m the same as the rest of us. Now it’s my time to try to be different. And I did. And I will, but I’m just the same.”

Soon let a few tears roll down his cheeks. He waited until they dangled from his chubby chin to wipe them. They barely resisted as he whisked them away into the air.

“I’m not ready.”

Seem released a heavy breath. A few embers popped up through the dragon’s nose. A couple of smoke rings followed. “If you were, you wouldn’t be the chosen one. I can only imagine quite a few creatures in the world are ready for what you have to do, but its not their function. I think part of being chosen to make a difference means not being prepared, otherwise the change would already have been and there would be no need for a chosen one.”

“I don’t understand,” Soon sniffed trying to hold back any straggling tears waiting for their opportunity to strike.

“That’s ok,” Seem wrapped its body a little tighter around Soon’s fires. Some of its black scales cut through the last bits of warmth before replacing them with its body heat. “Just know that only you can do what you’ve been charged with. And you can do it.”

Here was Soon’s only shot. His moment. He cleared his throat, stood up and started to walk. The dragon unfurled itself and watched him go. He stopped at the edge of the clearing, and stared into the distance. His eyes darted between the trees imaging his way home. He turned back to the dragon. Seem seemed to be waiting for something, “Will you come with me? Unless you’re busy.” Soon’s mind pleaded with his eyes to press into the dragon. To mentally erase his last sentence. He needed the dragon to come. It was his final chance. His only chance at living.

“I’d be happy to,” Seem stood up fully and walked up behind Soon.

Yes. I’ve done it. I will live off the wine of its blood. It will quench my mortality for millennium. Shhhh shhh. It’s not over yet. Control yourself, Soon. Soon took one look at the dragon of death, Seem Taleem over his shoulder. It seemed unaware of his thoughts. Soon let out a deep breath and started walking. All that was left was to lead the dragon to the village of babies.

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

A dragon-sized, fire proof pacifier slid onto Seem’s jaws clamping them shut and distracting the dragon of death for a moment. Blankets flew over the scaled shoulders and were tied down by the highest trained baby agents the village had to offer. Before a minute had passed, the dragon of death, Seem Taleem, looked more like a blanket fort than a dragon.

Soon stood there watching. He had tricked the dragon into entering the baby village unaware. His evil thoughts desperate to bubble up, but he had kept them clamped down and invisible to the dragon’s eye. They had walked for hours even though the village was no more than a half hour walk away. The dragon had seemed to tire slightly and Soon had gotten carried away in his worry that plan eight would fail.

They’d entered the village moments after Soon gave a sign to an observer. She had almost missed it due to having her mouth hung open and her pacifier drop the ground over seeing a dragon following him into their home. She had recovered and scurried off to make the preparations necessary. There would be no screw ups. They had one chance as a village, as a species, as babies. Probably. Maybe centuries down the baby line, Seem would forget about this, but it was doubtful. Once Seem entered the village, everything had to go perfectly.

Soon said the the code word and everything had happened so fast. “Welcome to our village. Seem Taleem, dragon of death.” Seem wasn’t given a moment to respond. A swarm of babies surrounded him under the guise of welcoming Soon back. In all the excitement, the pacifier was put in place and the rest went off without a hitch.

The final step was the ice bath. The swarm of babies covered the dragon in ice cubes to cool it down in hopes that it would cause the usually spry dragon to weaken. Dragons breathe fire and ice is the opposite of fire. The logic checked out. All that was left was waiting and then extraction.

Soon couldn’t watch. As soon as the ice was applied he’d run off away from the square. He laid down in his favorite patch of Lillies and stared into the sky. The clouds stared back. The bells of the village rang. It was time. The rubies would be removed, the elixir created and Soon would be the first to taste it. The first forever baby. The first immortal. He’d never grow up. He’d never outgrow the village and so he’d survive. No point in killing a baby for being in baby village. It’s where they all belonged.

A kid in baby village was something else entirely. An unforgivable disgrace that had to be eradicated and forgotten. Every baby that had come before Soon had failed at their function. They had out grown baby village. The foolish and courageous kids who returned died quickly. Usually they surrendered and the next baby to search out their function ended things. Soon would be the first to escape that fate. He had also saved the rest of baby kind from having to pursue a function. He was a hero.

The village bell rang again. And then a third time. The rubies were safely out of the dragon’s head. A baby would be coming by to bring the hero a sip of the immortal elixir. Any time now. Everything else had been prepared. It was only a matter of time. Soon took a deep breath. He wiped his eyes. Some mercy had carried over from his short time with the dragon. The back of his hand made quick work of it.

“Soon the Terrible,” Seem bellowed from far away. There was fear, pain, and fury all mixed in there somewhere. Something had gone wrong. Soon stood up and saw the towers of black smoke. The central buildings were all on fire. Their wood frames losing the battle with ash. He took one step after the other towards the smoke and flames. He saw not a single baby on the way. He heard no sound other than the cracking flames. He entered the square he had left in such a hurry.

Before him, waiting and writhing, was the dragon of death, Seem Taleem. His eyes dripped black. His ruby eyes smashed on the ground stared up at Soon. Useless now. The blankets had been shredded. The pacifier sat in pieces. Baby bodies were everywhere. Some black as dusk, others ripped in half and a few lucky ones open holes in their chests, heartless. “I am Seem Taleem. The dragon of death. And you have betrayed me,” Seem roared at Soon. It was a tired roar. “Your babies are dead. Your village burns. Your hopes for immortality are gone forever. If only you had asked. I might’ve granted you eternal baby-hood out of the kindness of my heart.”

Seem rose up and breathed a beam of fire over Soon’s head. He ducked, but the fire was already past him and if the dragon had wanted it, he’d be dead. The building behind Soon looked like it might’ve been done burning, but the fresh flames eviscerated it and left nothing in its path. Even the ground had been burned away leaving dents.

“Enjoy your life, human. Death and I will be watching.” Seem Taleem the dragon of death, leapt up into the air and flew off. Soon the Terrible, kid of legend, corruptor of souls, herald of criers, one-time necromancer and the ender of babies, stared after him.