Part
Madreena opened her eyes to a landscape of sand everywhere she looked. The sun overhead beat down on her back as she walked up a sandy hill and finally laid eyes on a vast expanse of water that stretched for a seemingly endless distance. Happiness filled her heart at the sight of it until a small pang of something darker tore through the joy. This isn't where I belong. A voice that wasn't hers boomed in her head as she looked down at her tiny human hands.
“Lady Madreena, wake up, I got something to show you!” a voice ripped through Madreenas dream, she blinked the blur from her eyes as she raised her head. Alana greeted her with a little clemis tiara clutched in her hands. A silly smile on her face as she bounced on her heels as Madreena stretched her legs.
“Is that for me little one?” Madreena said, taking the tiara in her claws and setting it gently on her head. “It's beautiful, I can tell you've been practicing. This is the prettiest one I've seen yet.”
Alana beamed at her compliment and gave her a quick hug around the neck before running off. The rest of the children sat in a group next to the nursery, all working with their tiny hands to weave flowers together. They all seemed to love bringing their crafts to Madreena every chance they got. Of course she adored all of them - even if she did have a horde of their crafts at this point.
Five years had passed since they joined the village and embraced life with the people. The pain and sorrow she held for Rolans death still stung in the back of her mind. And she still had the occasional nightmares of his death - helped by Nadraks soothing voice when she woke up crying. But every day felt like a fragment of her heart was being stitched back together; piece by piece until one day it would be whole again.
At least the little ones were there to fill that missing piece in her heart. She spent most of her days watching them play and tussle amongst each other in front of the nursery, sometimes accompanied by one of the mothers. Who usually offered surprisingly good company, and rather enlightening in the ways of being a parent. Madreena often wished she had learned these lessons long before raising Prida and Rolan years ago.
Prida…what is she doing right now? I wonder if she misses the forest and the animals she used to love so much. I don't even know which village Nadrak took her all those years ago. He had refused to tell her every time that she had asked all these years later. He insisted that Prida deserved to live her life without either of them interfering. Even though it still left a lonely hole in her heart that she struggled to fill.
“Is Madreena here?” Nadraks voice drifted over from the playpen entrance. The young woman who guarded the entrance nodded her head curtly and stepped aside to allow him to enter. His face lit up in that silly cute way it always did when he saw her. A thrill of joy ran through her wings as he rested beside her. His tail twining with hers as he nudged her shoulder with his snout.
“How are you feeling, my lovely little orchid?” he said, his good eye shining as he looked at her. He pointed a claw at the little tiara that still sat on her head. “Well now I'm a little jealous. Why didn't I get a tiara too?” He turned to the group of children and called Alana over. Who’s expression was ecstatic as she saw her favorite dragon in the whole world. A twinge of jealousy shot through Madreena as Alana jumped into Nadraks claws nearly bowling him over.
“Whoa there little one,” he laughed, wrapping his wings around her and flopping onto his back. Blowing dust and dirt everywhere as she giggled wildly on his chest. “You're getting way too big to be tackling me all the time. I don't know if my old bones can stand it much longer.”
“You're not old Mr Dragon, you're big and strong,” Alana giggled as Nadrak tousled her hair.
“Well maybe I aint too old yet, but I don't know if I can keep up with that energy of yours,” he said, rolling back onto his side and setting Alana gently on the ground. “Could you be a dear and make me one of those beautiful tiaras while I talk to Madreena?”
Alana beamed again and ran clumsily back to the group of children. When she got out of earshot Nadrak turned back to Madreena with a hint of concern on his face.
“You ok love? You look like you just ate a snail.” He placed a talon on hers and she rested her head on top of it.
“It's just a bad dream, you shouldn't worry about me,” she said.
“Well we both know that's not gonna happen,” he teased and nuzzled her ear. “Would you like to talk about it… maybe it'll make you feel better.”
She really didn't want to talk about her dream to anyone, but it was always so difficult to refuse Nadrak. Especially when he gave her that adorably affectionate look, like he would be perfectly content to listen to her talk forever.
Letting out an exasperated sigh she whispered. “I've been having these dreams lately, they always start in the strangest place and everytime it feels like I'm tiny and scared. Like an overwhelming fear has my heart in its claws. But then it always ends when I look down and see that I'm not me anymore; that I'm a human.” She scrutinized her talons, half expecting them to morph into the stubby arms of a human.
“What kind of place was it? Maybe you're just remembering somewhere that we visited,” Nadrak suggested and she shook her head.
“I don't remember any place like this, just sand everywhere and a vast ocean as far as I could see,” she said and placed a claw on her chest . “But it felt like something was wrong, I heard a voice in my head say that they didn't belong.” She glanced over at Nadrak, who’s usual smile had shifted into a grimace. “What's wrong? Do you recognize it?”
His face fell and he shifted on his talons for a few seconds before speaking. “I-I do recognize it, I.. I think I've been there before. I think the human in your dream might have been Prida.”
