Chapter 16

Chapter 16

“Unnh, what happened?” I moaned as I awoke. I was in a field, near a lake. I sat up, then regretted it immediately as my head pounded. I was against the side of the dragon that I had been fighting.

      I scrambled to my feet, swayed as my vision swam, and took a fighting stance. I crumpled to one knee and, but still stared at the dragon, weapons poised. The dragon moved its great head, as if it was wondering what I was doing. I fired a stare of daggers at the beast’s eye.

      “What am I doing here?” I asked, standing back up and swaying again. “Where is Coal? What happened to the others?” I demanded.

      Relax, young Kiidarung, the humans are safe. The shape shifter has injuries, but will survive. The voice of Lucianous, as apparently, he called himself, was in my head, just like before. The shape shifter that he referred to must have been Coal. The voice made me almost pass out again, as it compounded my headache by ten. I put my hands to my ears in an attempt to drown out the dragon’s voice.

      “How are you in my head?” I almost cried from the voice in my head and it definitely made my eyes water. Also, the thought of a mind beside my own in my head was terrifying. To my surprise, Lucianous looked stunned, if a dragon can make that expression. Maybe because I asked a stupid question, I don’t know.

      “I apologize,” he spoke out loud now, “I did not realize that you could hear me.” He spoke quietly, as if he knew that I had a pounding headache. “Usually, only Dragons and Kiidarung that are truly bonded can hear each other’s thoughts. It was a Yaluna, so you could not be it.” I removed my hands from my ears, as he did not have two voices now.

      “Where are we, exactly?” I asked.

      “The lake of Kanaas.” Replied Lucianous.

      “What’s so special about this lake?” I asked.

      “Watch,” was all the answer that he would give. Giving up, I turned my attention to the lake before me.

      The sun started to set, and pinks, oranges, reds and gold streaked through the sky. Any clouds that were in its path were set aflame with color. When the color started to reflect in the lake, the first to do it was a deep crimson. The water started to boil and churn. I gasped as I saw it. The water in the center started to rise into a pillar. At first it was clear, but then the red from the pool below was drawn up, filling it. Then the pink was drawn up, a dark magenta, to take on a front stripe on the tower. Finally, the gold streaked up, and the tower writhed even more vigorously.

       It began to take on more shapes, growing arms, legs, a tail and wings. It was becoming a dragon. It was then revealed that the dragon was inside of a water cocoon. The eyes flashed open, deep gold with many shades. It thrust out its wings and roared, bursting from the cocoon. The sound echoed out across the meadow. The wings were barely flapping, just enough to keep the beast above the water. The great eyes fixed on me and it began coming towards me. I was suddenly running for my life, even though I couldn’t take my eyes off of the beast. I stumbled and fell fixed to the spot only a short distance from where I had started. The dragon landed in front of me, buffeting me with the wind off of its wings. When the dragon looked at me, it snorted, no doubt at the way that I was sprawled on the ground covered in dirt.

      It seemed that it could not take its eyes off of me the same way that I could not take my eyes off of it. Upon closer inspection, the dragon was about eight feet tall. It was about a tenth of the size of Lucianous, and still a baby. It was a dark crimson, with a magenta underbelly.  The gold was a thin lining of each scale, making it shimmer. The ears were also tipped in gold and the talons were pure gold. The eyes held the most attention for me, the ever-shifting shades of the golden eyes that had the pupils similar to that of a cat. They seemed to pierce into my soul. What they saw, and if they liked it, I don’t know.

      “What am I supposed to do?” I asked Lucianous, finally being able to say something.

      “You are the first to set eyes on it. You must name it, as it is yours and you are bonded to it forever.” He said.  I was stunned, and I fell the rest of the way onto my back to think of a name. When I came to a decision, I spoke it out loud, confident in it.

      “Solaris,” I said.

      That sounds like an excellent name. Came a voice in my head. It was deep and melodic, not nearly as deep as Lucianous’s, but deep enough. I was sure it belonged to the beast in front of me.

      Are you Solaris? I asked in my thoughts.

      Of course, replied the melodic voice. We are now companions for life. You named me, and now I am yours. Dumbfounded, I stared at her, trying to make sense of what to do next.

      I don’t need a dragon! I exclaimed in my thoughts. I was kidnapped, brought here, then met you as soon as I woke up. This was not my idea!

      Kiidarung! Exclaimed Lucianous. You are scaring the little one. There is an instant bondage between Kiidarung and dragon. It cannot be broken and if you reject this, the little one will die.

      Well what am I supposed to do? I asked distressed. I’m not so sure the monks would me so happy to see a dragon appear on their doorstep. You did attack Coal when I first arrived.

      Not all dragons eat winged prey. Chimed in Solaris. We can eat other meat, it is just that they are more delicious.

      I’m sure that you can find something else to eat. I said. Then I directed my thoughts more towards Lucianous. So… where is the cabin? I am awfully hungry and the others are probably worried sick over what happened to me.

      To the west, a five-hour flight. He said. I shook my head at how long I must’ve been gone to be five hours away. I looked at Solaris and nodded, then jumped into the air. Solaris followed without hesitation.

      The flight west was uneventful. Five hours of straight flying really gives you time to think, and your new pet dragon to spy on those thoughts. The sunset had faded, turning to navy and then gave way to the stars. The moon crested the mountains, giving adequate light to fly by. The forests passed in a blur underneath for a long time, until I finally saw the meadow with the cabin in it to give a break to the same landscape. I circled, descending slowly and silently. I told Solaris to stay in the forest until daybreak when she could be introduced to the family.

      When I landed, I turned to creep into the cabin, but saw that all of the lamps were still lit inside. I still walked silently over, in case they had fallen asleep with the lights on. I eased the door open, wincing as it creaked ever so slightly. When I finally did get it open, I was immediately enveloped in a bear hug.

      “Elsa! How did you escape?” gasped Wolfe in surprise. The rest of the family must have heard her, because they all came running. “After you were carried off by the dragon…” I cut her off by placing a finger over her lips. I knew that she would never stop unless I stopped her.

      “I didn’t escape,” I said and everyone looked stunned. “Lucianous let me go. He was following a tradition. Here, I’ll tell you all about it in the morning.” I said as I saw that they wouldn’t let me stop talking if I even started on my story. They agreed to my plan of talking in the morning, and everyone went back to their beds. I settled on the floor near the couch, as I had before, for some much-needed sleep.