Spiro

I could sense her at the start of it all, before I knew of anything else. She was kind and full of hope. I could tell her soul was pure and true. I felt safe in the presence. There was another I could sense too, he was like me. He too was new to everything and this existence we both shared. I was not yet ready to see more and neither was he.

We waited in our existence for a long period of time. In that time I sensed two more beings. They carried the emotion of wonderment and joy and another emotion I had never felt. It was a hideous feeling. Suddenly I felt her presence again, she too carried a hideous emotion. I could hear things now as well. Muffled loud noises that hurt. Then a loud crack resounded around me, I felt pain for the first time.

I could no longer sense the one who shared my existence, he was gone. Soon all I could sense was her. She was sad and still carried a trace of the ugly emotion. I felt her draw closer to me, her grief was strong but there was hope laced within the heavy emotion.

I felt movement and my whole world started to move too. I heard a whisper above me and a flash of green light showed through my eyelids. The pain stopped and it was then that I noticed that I could feel the faint tickle of another presence. It wasn’t as strong but it was definitely there and it brought me a strange sense of peace.

After some time more I could sense that she too was waiting. She always seemed to be carried by the first presence. Soon the older presence started to acknowledge the other presence as well. It was just the three of us for some time. There was contentment and peace for the time. I cherished it greatly and, from what I could sense, so did they.

I started getting curious as to what lay outside my existence. I wanted to meet the second presence with each passing moment. With all my strength I began pushing and, with some massive effort and time, successfully breaking the existence I had come to know. Harsh light blazed through the cracks and stung my eyes. A cool rush breezed it’s way around my scales. I loved the feeling and craved more. I began pushing and wriggling more.

With a final push the rest gave way and I fell out onto a smooth and plush surface. Raising my head I looked around at the blurry world around me. The cool crisp air tickled my nostrils. There were tall living beings that had many arms that carried either green needles or flat green scales that seemed to rustle in the wind.

They made a beautiful sound that I deeply enjoyed. The world began to gradually grow clearer and I noticed more and more with each place I looked. The tall beings were all around me. I was in an elegant looking stone structure. The stone was carved to look like the tall beings with a more smoothed out look to it. There were four pillars and they all connected at one point above me.

Their pale white surface was being overcome by soft green surfaces and a stranger looking being that had seldom any green scales but more of a thin brown body that wound its way up the pillars. I noticed a great blue beyond past the tops of the great beings. I wondered what else lay beyond it. I marveled at the beauty of it all.

I felt them before I could hear them, though, hearing them was pretty hard too. I could now see her, she was tall. She had a flatter face than I, but it was more angled than my own. She had a long black flowing material that started at the top of her head and fell long past her shoulders. It was stringy and flowed in the breeze as she approached. She was covered in flatter looking materials that also flowed and they matched the beings around us both in colors and grace.

On her head above the black material she wore a silver material that made her look rather regal. She spoke in the same whisper I had heard before. I tilted my head and squeaked back to show her that I acknowledge her existence. Her mouth turned upward and she showed me her teeth.

I felt a cold emotion for a little bit but then I realized quickly that it wasn’t a look of malice but of joy. I swished my tail to signify my joy. It brushed against the smooth plushness that surrounded my body. I looked around for the other presence I was feeling but I could not see her…odd. I could always feel her when the other was around.

After sometime, as I learned from the elf about the world and everything that lay beyond. I came to realize that she carried the other presence in her belly. As her belly grew, so did the strength of that presence. She was a strong presence, just like her mother.

Her mother taught me about my own species. I was a dragon, a feared but hoped for creation that brought both war and peace. She said that there had been only a few of us for a while but now there was hope. She talked of a blue dragon named Sapphira and of a crooked black dragon and his equally crooked king.

My scales were white and would glint greens, blues, pinks, yellows, and sometimes even purples at certain angles of light. There was a shallow pool by my alter that I would often stare into. My reflection in the still waters showed me that I had blue eyes. My face was longer than the elf’s and my teeth were long and sharp. Two of my top teeth would peak out from under my top lip with my mouth closed. My face was also angled and my scales looked very organized, something I appreciated to some extent.

I was strong and had rippling muscles along my arms and legs. My tail was even more strong and could do some damage when swung. I had wings that were weak, I would grip the deep roots of some nearby trees and would beat the air with my wings to strengthen them. With each day I could pull more and more air down with them.

As the little one grew so did I myself grow. Soon I was a slight bit bigger than the elf. I would often curl up before sleep and I would purr loudly urging her to tell me the story of Sapphira again and again until I slipped into unconsciousness. Her presence was soothing and her voice always soft. She was careful to not touch me but she would sit close to me.

She had given me the name Aamu. She said it had come from a different land and it was a name that had brought hope to its people. She shared with me her name and from then on I had called her by that name through thought-speak. Something the elf had taught to me. It was very helpful when I wanted to ask her questions. I asked her why frogs looked so funny. She only chuckled and continued this strange dance with a metal stick.

I eventually began adventuring on my own. Deep into the woods I would hunt. I would hunt the deer and small critters that scurried too and fro. One day when I was hunting I came across a white wolf. His eyes were brown instead of blue like mine. He was older than me but I was slightly bigger than him. He had many scars and a limp.

He and I were hunting the same deer. Challenged I bunched my tight muscles and prepared to pounce. My tail swished silently over the ground. I heard another sound close by and I froze. As I held back I noticed other wolves appear around the deer. My muscles relaxed and instead of feeling challenged I felt rather curious. The wolves quietly circled the deer. I felt the deers presence light up in growing fear and anxiety as it noticed it’s impending doom. The wolves waited and suddenly, as if on cue, they all pounced and took the deer down. The stronger ate first, then the weaker would join them. I noticed the white one ate last.

As I followed them out of curiosity, I realized that he was the leader. He walked proudly with his tail held high. I also noticed that he was the oldest of the pack. They didn’t take much notice of me and and seemed to welcome me as their own.

I learned what it meant to be part of a pack and how to work as one. I started learning from the white wolf what it meant to be a leader. He would watch the young constantly and would make sure the pack was fed. He would patrol the land and make certain that nothing threatened his pack. He would help the weak when they couldn’t make it up certain obstacles. Many nights I spent with the pack and many days too.

I became much larger much wiser at the same time. They would sing at night and I would roar a low tone along with them. I had become wild for that time, untamed. I saw the elf a lot less. One day I decided to return. To tell her all that I learned through thought-speak.

I returned to the place of my hatching but she was not there. I waited for days and she did not come. Eventually I began following her smell. All it led to was ashes and a burned down village, I had assumed the worst. I returned back to the Wolfpack with great sorrow in my heart.

The days turned into months the months to years. Soon five years had passed and I was much larger and stronger and more skilled. Each day was nearly the same hunt, defend, sleep, again. I had become bored with this way of living and wondered if there was anything more. I would take to flying some days while patrolling. I loved the way the wind seemed to roar when my wings sliced through the air.

One day as I was patrolling the land I felt her. The presence I had been waiting for. She was close, very close and very distraught. I touched down in an empty field causing the trees to sway and hiss. I followed her scent trail. I recognized the trail, I had followed this path many times before. It had lead me back to my hatching place.

There she was, sitting beside the altar I’ve been hatched at. She had long brown hair. Her green eyes were filled with tears, her eyes were red and puffy from them. She had her mothers angular face and pointed ears. She heard me approach and quickly looked up at me.

But when she looked in my eyes I saw no fear. She was not like the prey I had taken down. I was so used to seeing terror that it shocked me. This being, who was so much smaller than any prey I had hunted in a long time, was unafraid. When her eyes locked with my own I felt something different, something new. There was a connection there that I didn’t understand. I moved my face closer to her and for the first time in my life I let a being reach out and touch me.

The touch burned suddenly, then was replaced with a ice cold feeling. The girl began crying even more but this time seem to be shaking in pain. Panicked, I wracked my mind for options on how I could help. I remembered the words that I had heard when I was in the egg. Quickly I touched her with my nose again.

This time she tried to recoil but then sensed that I meant no harm. Slowly she shifted back closer to me. My nose touched her shoulder and my mind thought the words. There was a green flash and she had stopped crying. Suddenly she turned and hugged my muzzle. Surprised I let loose a loud purr.

My name is a Aamu, what is yours dearest one? I asked her through thought-speak. She look around bewildered then her eyes fell on me. “My name is Spiro.” she said through a hiccuping sob. Why are you sad Spiro? I asked her calmly. Spiro took a breath and seem to calm down a bit. “I am lost. I just woke up.” She said.

I began to curl myself around the altar and her. Well that makes two of us then. Don’t worry though, I will never leave you. I promise. She seemed to really calm down after that. She tucked herself into my side as a wolf pup would do to its mother for safety. She quickly fell asleep, comforted by the warmth. I touched my nose to her head and closed my eyes as well. Oh my little pup, my dragon rider.