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ehsopenmind · 8 years ago

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The first thing Benjamin saw as he woke was the glittery trail of a shooting star. It flickered in the dark skies, lost in the mix of deep blues, swirling purples and vibrant pinks. The boy groaned and sat up, his head aching. He brought one shaking hand to his forehead and surveyed his immediate surroundings. He was perched atop a grassy hill, that overlooked a great body of water, which churned with oil black waves and reflected the sliver of a pale silver moon. Gnarled pine trees were scattered around the hill and stretched their twisted limbs toward the open sky. The boy looked up to find branches shadowing him, and he leaned backwards to feel the roughness of bark against his shoulders. He frowned, not knowing whether the tree had always been there or if it had appeared as soon as he’d noticed the other trees. He swallowed and got to his feet, swaying side to side before regaining his balance. He placed his palm against the tree, as if to reassure himself that he was in a physical place, before trying his voice.

“Is there anyone out there?” he called, fear crawling up his spine. He regretted speaking out once the words had left his tongue and squeezed his eyes shut in attempt to block whatever phantom monster would jump out at him. Seconds passed, and ,still, he was left unharmed and pressed against a tree. He blinked and saw no change in the layout of the world. He cautiously stepped into the thick grass, his legs brushed by the thin dark green blades. The sky was lit with the glimmering trails of stardust left behind by shooting stars and the winds blew his hair in all directions, its’ cold fingers working up and down his scalp. He shivered and inched even further down the hill, guided only by the faintest sense of direction, urging him down the hill, and to the rolling waters of the sea, for he assumed that’s what laid ahead of him.

The water tossed and turned, the crash of surf against land almost deafening. He stopped a few yards from the water’s edge, his eyes stinging with the spray of salted liquid and his body convulsing with violent shivers. He squinted out toward the foaming sea, the moonlight barely light enough to reveal the thrashing of some sort of animal. It squirmed within the waves, with scales glinting and glowing green eyes wide with suppressed terror. A mighty tail whipped back and forth, creating swirling whirlpools in the midst of the turbulent waters. Benjamin’s mouth opened with shock. It was a dragon, caught inside the roaring ocean. He felt another pang of fear, and resisted the urge to run and hide. His nurse had warned him about such creatures.

“Dragons are beasts of legend, child. They walk the earth, they writhe in the seas, they dance on air and they crawl through fire. They are elemental beasts, with old magic that can shake the land, flood valleys, rip apart buildings with terrible winds and tear apart mountains with fire. They want nothing more than to rid the earth of humans, for they hate us. We took everything from them, and they will not hesitate to kill. These monsters are dangerous my child, and can only be defeated by the lucky stroke of sword on scale or by ancient magic. I pray that you will never encounter one my dear.”

Benjamin wiped away tears, the voice of his nursemaid echoing in his mind. She would never know that he had been taken away, she’d assume he was dead.

He stared at the dragon, it was flailing in wild attempts to free itself, but couldn’t escape the onslaught of waves across it’s body drawing it toward the shore. He trembled with both terror and cold, his teeth a chattering of bone. The dragon was howling, a low haunted noise that grated against the boy’s ears. It shook the ground beneath the boy and stirred the waves. It was clear that the beast had power, though it was still trapped, a fact that puzzled the boy. How could something so horrifying and powerful be trapped in mere water? He wiped away at the salted spray dripping down his pale face and shouted into the wind.

“Stop it!” The boy blinked in surprise as the dragon quit it’s flailing attempts to free itself and turned its wide head to face him. Benjamin swallowed, his courage draining away. “You can’t escape if you’re making it worse!” he called out, his voice carrying out in loud ringing waves of sound. The dragon tilted its head, still being carried by the waves toward the shore. Benjamin bit his lip. He had the dragon’s attention, though he wasn’t sure why he wanted it. He was following pure instinct now. The dragon was coming nearer, actually starting to swim with the wave, toward the boy, it’s gaze curious. The boy felt words form on his tongue, though he wasn’t quite sure how to say them. He wiped again at the rain slicking his forehead and frowned, noticing the dark cover of cloud that had swallowed the starlight drenching the land in heavy draughts of rain, but strangely there was still an abundance of light, though the boy could not name it’s source. He glanced back at the hill and then at the advancing dragon, who was coming nearer every second. Making his decision, Benjamin scampered back up to the cover of the trees.

The dragon touched down onto the sand of the beach and started its climb up the hill, it’s breath steaming in the cold air, green eyes glowing and turquoise scales glinting oddly in the light. It’s wings flared as it scrambled for claw holds on the steep slope, which was slippery with rain. Benjamin took a step backward, his brown eyes wide with anticipation. The dragon was certainly beautiful, with curled blue horns and dark edged ridges that rose down the length of it’s back. Its wings were leathery and criss crossed with webs of navy blue veins pulsing underneath the folds of skin. Its toned muscles stood out, bulging against scaly armored skin. The eyes were surprisingly full of intelligence and seemed to survey his entire body, assessing him.

The beast snorted with irritation as it kept sliding and pumped its powerful wings, trying to take flight in the wild winds.

“Careful.” Benjamin warned, concern toward the creature taking hold of him. The dragon made a grunting noise and took to the air, its strong wings beating as it tried to keep itself aloft. Benjamin stared as it glided overhead, landing in between two large pine trees. It stomped around, snorting small flickers of flame and growling deep in its throat. Benjamin blinked, inching toward the dragon with hesitant steps. It turned it’s green glowing stare to him and it cocked its head.

“You aren’t scared?” it asked, which startled Benjamin. It was not as deep and rumbling as one might have expected, but softer and higher, like a young boy’s.

Benjamin shook his head.“I’m plenty scared.” he replied bravely. The dragon bent its head low, so as to look at the boy closer.

“But I can sense no fear emanating from you, at least not toward me.”

Benjamin frowned.“You can differentiate fear sources?” he questioned. He now realized that he really wasn’t afraid of the dragon. He was more frightened of the prospect of being isolated in this strange place. The dragon wore an amused expression, the corners of it’s eyes crinkling.

“Yes I can young son of man. You are far from home.” It noted pointing a nose in a southerly direction.

Benjamin looked off at the roaring seas and bit his lip. “Then I cannot reach home, if it is over an ocean.” the dragon smiled, revealing white smoothed bone sharpened into fangs.

“I suppose not. I would offer to carry you, but the wind is too strong and you do not know how to breathe underwater.” the dragon shifted its weight, staring at the waves, a thoughtful gleam to its eyes. “What is your name?”

“Benjamin.”

The dragon nodded slowly. “I have heard of this name.” It stood taller, wings twitching and claws digging into the soft dirt of the hill. “My father used to tell stories of a son of man called Benjamin, who brought the seas forth and ruptured mountains. Who carried himself on the air like a bird and who split the earth open for lava to flow. He had the magic of dragons, our ancient magic. My father says he must have stolen it, but the son of man was kind and taught dragons how to speak. He was our friend, and then he was taken from us.” The dragon’s voice turned cold as he continued, tail absently swinging back and forth behind him. “The other sons of men came, with weapons and tried to kill us. Benjamin tried to help. He attempted to reason with the soldiers but they would not listen. They claimed that we were dangerous monsters. But we only killed the sons of man when they threatened us with their steel and fire. The bullets did not kill us at first, but the sons of man are smart. They learned how to kill us quickly and then they came after us. Benjamin used his powers, and many of his kind were killed, but still they did not give up. A lucky gunshot wounded him and before we could get him to one of our camps, the leader of the sons of man grabbed his body and hauled him away. We never saw him again.” The sorrow was clear in the young dragon’s voice.

“Did you know him?” Benjamin asked.

The dragon shook his mighty head.“I did not, but I’ve heard enough of him to feel like I did.” the dragon laid down, curling its tail so that it flopped over onto it’s front claws. “My name is Airell, and I am pleased to meet you.” he paused, chuckling. “I am supposed to kill you actually.”

Benjamin’s eyes widened. “Kill me?” he echoed.

The dragon shrugged. “Of course. Since Benjamin was taken, my father ruled that all humans that we meet must be killed, but lucky for you, I like you.”

Benjamin hugged himself, a new sense of fear resting on his shoulders. This dragon did have the capability to kill him.

“Now you are afraid? After I’ve told you I would not harm you?” the dragon muttered, green eyes staring down at Benjamin with confusion. It stretched its head so that it was level with the boy’s face.

Benjamin shook his head. “I was afraid, when I first saw you out on the water. I was taught to avoid you, and your kind. I can see that not all of you are mean spirited beasts.”

Airell sighed and his head rose, small puffs of smoke rising from his nostrils. “Your kind only sees the outside, the claws and fangs, fire breath and magic. They see only a threat, nothing within. They do not know our ways, they do not try to learn them. The sons of men are creatures made of demons locked within minds riddled with insecurities and judgments. They feed off hatred and choose to judge others based on the first few seconds of greeting. I have been taught to shy away from them, that they are incapable of love. But… you hold something in your heart boy. I do not know what it is but it is not love. It is something powerful, and I suppose that the wizard will want to explain this, your role in it all.” The dragon stopped, watching a few stars fly past. Its expression saddened, and it dug its claws deeper into the earth.

“How do you know of my future? We have only just met. How do you know of Elmerus?” Benjamin questioned, settling himself beside the dragon, who did not seem to mind the small human child pressing against his scales.

“I know of many things, past, present and future, but I wish to keep the future hidden. It is best that people do not know of the events that alter their lives, so as to keep them from changing their destiny.” Benjamin swallowed, looking up at the great lizard, his hair falling in his face and eyes shining with worry.

“Is my destiny so terrible that you would not give even a simple warning?”

The dragon smiled a bit, a deep chuckle escaping it’s throat. “You amuse me little son of man.” Airell spoke lightly, it’s eyes tracing the flight of shooting stars flickering across the marbled purple and blue skies. The wind roared, ruffling Benjamin’s hair and causing shudders along the dragon’s wings. The trees branches jerked back and forth, snapping sounds filling the air. “However, I should not be so open with a son of man, even if you carry an air of trust about you.” Airell continued, though he made no move to leave. “It wouldn’t be wise.”

“But you’re still talking.” Benjamin pointed out.

The dragon chuckled, shifting it’s weight and peered down at the human child. “I am, aren’t I?” Airell smiled and looked back up at the sky. “The night is waning. You should be careful boy, once the day strikes, I will not be able to protect you.”

The boy’s eyes widened.“I’m in danger? What from?”

The dragon sighed, and moved to stand. Benjamin scrambled out of the way, his feet slipping in the wet mud.

“Oh son of man, if I were allowed to tell you of your enemies and of your future then I most certainly would. Alas, it is forbidden and so you must forge your own path.”

The boy bit his lip and scanned the breezy hilltop and the thrashing of the waves. His mind was running over the dragon's words, reeling from the information thrown at him. There had been a man named Benjamin who’d befriended the dragon tribe and who’d been slaughtered by his own brethren. Then there was the mysterious ‘something’ in his heart. That sounded ominous. Not to mention the apparent danger he was in.

“You aren’t real.” he decided, staring up at the great lizard with a look of fierce determination. “This is just a dream and you’re part of a test. I’m not in any danger , I’m back in Elmerus’s hut.”

The dragon raised the slight ridges above it’s eyes that seemed to serve as eyebrows. “Is that so? You are sure of this son of man? For it is foolish to make such bold assumptions. You cannot be sure that you are dreaming nor can you be sure that you are not.” Airell stretched his wings a bit, cocking his head as he peered down at the young prince. Benjamin shrank under his gaze and backed away slowly, worry flashing across his features as he looked down at the ocean below.

“I am...I need to be sure of something. It is strange to be thrown from place to place, without knowing what you are supposed to do, or how to act. You...you are a new factor in this world turned upside down. I am hesitant to become close to you, or to believe you. It is hard to trust anyone.” The boy sat himself among the tall grasses and wet earth. A shiver worked its way down his body, tears welling up in his eyes. The dragon stared at him, a mixture of worry and disgust written on it’s handsome snout.

“You are admitting weakness young one, not a wise course of action, especially in the presence of a dragon. My kind is not as forgiving as I tend to be. Nor are we very merciful. Your concern over your situation is warranted. The suddenness of the changes in your life are not easy to deal with. Trust is hard to gain for anyone, but rest assured that I am your appointed guardian at least in this realm.”

The dragon sat down, it’s tail curling neatly across it’s talons. Benjamin would not look up at the creature, face burning with both shame and gratitude. Airell had been right, he should never have admitted weakness, but it made him feel better to know that this fire breathing beast was on his side.

“Thanks.” he mumbled a yawn escaping his mouth.

“Do not thank me quite yet young prince.” the dragon warned, wings spreading as he took off. It was then that Benjamin noticed the rays of red and orange light illuminating the hillside, setting the water aglow. The sun was rising in the sky, the dark night ebbing away, melting into red and orange and light blue. The dragon was already high above him.

“Wait!” Benjamin cried, leaping upwards.

The dragon shook his head. “Shhh little son of man, it is time for you to go back.” He paused as if considering it’s next words. “Do not fret, for we will meet again.”

The boy watched as the blue scales disappeared into the mass of sunshine soaked clouds. Dark black dots lined his vision and dizziness dropped him to his knees. He blinked once, twice, before collapsing to the ground and sinking into sleep.

-Aela Krubsack

#open mind #writing #prose #ehsopenmind #duluth east open mind

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