As the dragons and warriors rested, a small child entered the camp with eyes wide in anticipation. His heart was pounding with the strength of a thousand drums. He walked cautiously in between the sleeping warriors: men and women, young and old, and the dragons.
The dragons were what lured him here this fateful night. He had watched the battle from the window of his home. He had cheered every explosion of fire and every shriek from the powerful mouths of these huge sleeping beasts. He felt as if he had somehow been a part of the battle himself.
The little boy walked through the camp looking into the sleeping faces of the warriors and protectors of his homeland with pride, but it was the dragons he was most interested in. The child had seen the hero dragons many times before but had never touched the scales of their massive bodies. He dreamed of being a dragon rider and of the adventures he could have upon the back of such a beast.
He searched intently for a specific dragon. The dragon named Night Shadow was of particular interest to him. He finally spotted the dragon and approached it with quiet stealth. He tried to control his breathing as his heart threatened to explode inside his chest with excitement.
The dragon’s warrior friend, June the Fearless, was asleep beside her dragon friend. He placed his hand on the dragons face ever so gently, his hand shaking with anticipation.
The child closed his eyes and inhaled air deeply into his lungs. The dragon’s scent filled his nostrils and he felt more alive than he had ever felt before. In an instant, he could feel what Night Shadow was feeling and could know what Night Shadow was dreaming in her sleep. He pulled back, startled. Then he smiled a different kind of smile. It had worked, just like the stranger had said it would.
During the battle an old man walked through the village, searching. He was looking for someone who would listen and believe. He found the child sitting at the window watching the spectacle of war with great delight. The old man knew that he had found the one.
He spoke to the child for a few moments, asking questions, all while stirring the imagination of the little one at the window. The old man spoke a phrase in another language the child did not comprehend.
“Philox unbrax t’nigra umbichry.” he said with a hauntingly beautiful rhythm and tone.
The child’s mind did not understand the meaning of the strange and ancient phrase, but his spirit and heart did. It was at that moment that the decision was made to explore the camp while the warriors rested. The great and sudden need to touch the face of Night Shadow was birthed in that moment.
The child placed his hand back upon the great face of Night Shadow and gave the dragon instructions. Night Shadow breathed in long and slow and then let it all out like a sigh. In that moment, the dragon surrendered her heart to a new master.
The young child removed his hand and bowed to the great beast before him. He turned towards the cliffs of the homeland and out into the expanse of the sea that lay beyond. His heart now belonged to another as well. The intrigue and seductive lure of another homeland burned in his heart.
He walked towards the edge of his now past homeland and raised his hands into the air above his head. He started to dance an ancient dance as if he had been practicing his whole life for this moment in history. The child moved his hands above him as if conducting a silent symphony of music. As he did the first dark dragon rider appeared above him, and then another.
Before the sleeping warriors and their dragons knew it, the dawn sky was filled with the evil and dark dragon riders and their twisted and demonic dragons.
Stay tuned for the next chapter - coming soon!