The Silver Dragon

I neared it and slowed to a walk, trailing my hand as I went under the grey stone archway. The rest of the round slate building had crumpled to the ground, and the vegetation from the land was slowly reclaiming it. Tree branches and vines dotted the once vibrant painted roof, with long strands of grass growing in various places along the bottom and in-between the rocks. A musty smell wafted into my nostrils, and I wrinkled my nose and tried not to sneeze. Even though I'd seen the blue sky above, it was dark inside the ring of stones.

I hesitated inside the arch. It was a good hiding spot, but the chill that swept through me from the inside froze my heart. I glanced outside.

The warmth of the sun washed the strange cold away, as if it wanted me to stay in its bright light. But something drew me in, and I turned around and stepped inside.

My bare foot hit the grey stone, and a tremor rumbled the ground beneath me. A vision flashed before my eyes.

The stars turned into a galaxy for travelling in. Golden dust floated amongst the burning white lights and I got the feeling that they were searching for something. A home? No, they were looking for their home planet, the location of which was lost to them long ago. How I knew all this, I didn’t know. I didn't quite understand it. It was as if the Dragons themselves were feeding me the information into my mind.

The dragons were exhausted from their search through the vast stars. And when they spotted a small habitable planet near them, they went toward it. With great wings of gold they landed on the small planet. The dragons around me whispered the name of it in my ear.

Rinn. My own planet, but it was unrecognisable from the Rinn I knew.

Instead of the green grasses and luscious forests teaming with vegetation, great flames of red and orange burned the vast land as volcanoes erupted all around me.

This was Rinn when it was young, the dragons whispered in my mind. This was how we remembered it when we lived here.

A bright white light flashed across my eyes and the visions of the fire and stone land disappeared, replaced with those of a cave.

A dragon’s egg, with silver and black hues intertwined, lay nestled in the cave. Beside it were two other eggs golden in colour.

He is different, the dragon voice whispered.

I looked up. Their parents, I assumed, had massive golden scaled forms, and two leathery wings tucked in tight to their bodies. My jaw dropped in awe at their shimmering forms as their long necks and giant heads hovered above the eggs. Their massive nostrils snuffled at them fondly, while a purring noise rumbled deep in their throats.

My gaze traveled toward the mighty horns that stuck out at intervals along their faces and necks.

Veins of lava ran all around us, giving the light and heat to the room and making the scales on the dragons gleam.

How did they make it that way? Or was it natural? I wondered watching the lava as it moved freely across the cave. Not a single drop ran out of place. It was as if the cave held magic in those burning threads of fire. I watched the parents for any signs that they used magic. There wasn’t. But their colossal forms had me mesmerized all the same.

Their snake-like eyes squinted at the dual hued egg with heads bent and smoke billowing from their nostrils as they looked from each other and toward it.

I felt myself being pulled toward the egg, wanting to know what their expressions meant.

Why was this egg different from the others?

The vision faded from my mind, and sweat drenched my body. My chest heaved, and I blinked in the darkened room. A strange throbbing light, shifting from silver to black caught my eye from the back of the cave.

Curiosity took my feet closer. I ignored the sharp stones underneath my feet that bit into my flesh. It drew blood, and I winced at the pain. Before my eyes, a black stone the size of my fist, encased in chains throbbed on a circular grey altar that lay in the middle of the room. The stone had me mesmerised.

I heard Sakura in the distance. Her voice sounded fainter with each passing heartbeat. She wouldn’t find me here, I hoped, for a while at least. I would have time to see the stone myself. It would be all mine. Mine alone.

I gasped. Shocked at the very thought, and halted in my walk toward it. That wasn’t me. We shared everything. Sakura meant so much to me and I glanced outside hoping to see her. The sun called for me to find somewhere else to hide. It was too dangerous to do so here.

I should have heeded the elders’ words to stay away. According to them, the stone should remain forever untouched, unless a dark evil crossed the land once more. To me, the place didn’t feel evil. Just old. Empty and sad.

I bit my lip. I could just touch it once. What harm would it do? I had come this far.

My face turned toward the stone in the shape of an egg. It called to me. My eyes glued to it, and I felt my breath quicken with each step forward. The trance this time was stronger than last. It was as if it didn’t want me to go away.

I couldn’t help it. My hand shook as it reached out toward it. Just one touch. Then I would leave. My finger traced the cool surface. A surface smoother than a polished sword. As my finger glided over it, the visions came.

The black and silver egg hatched revealing a dragon. Smaller and duller than his siblings, his parents looked at one another and blew puffs of smoke. They shook their heads. And their voices echoed in the cavern walls of the den.

So tiny, his mother remarked, turning her head to her partner as her words penetrated my mind.

So different, his father said, wrinkling his nose.

His mother frowned, and her eyes narrowed at the tiny dragon before her. How can this be?

We must go to the Elders for answers.

My eyes blurred from the roaring winds and goosebumps crawled over my skin as I felt myself flying alongside them. They took their children away over a vast land of fire and ash. The flames scorched my skin as they flew further and further from their home. Until a land full of golden dragons in the distance caught my eye. With a sickening lurch they turned downwards and toward the cluster, and landed on the ash below. I staggered as my feet took the brunt of the landing onto the ground.

They placed him in front of an ancient golden dragon whose scaled hide shrivelled with age.

“He will take us home.” She said, “Home to the noble tree of life.”

The vision faded once more leaving me disorientated although the feeling of euphoria remained. My eyes caught the stone. No egg. It’s similar size to that in the vision had me elated. Was this the same egg? If so, why was it chained?

Wouldn’t it be better if it was free? The creature inside the egg could take the dragons home. The thought that there remained no more dragons on this land never entered my mind as I touched the chains that held the egg down.

The rustic metal disintegrated within my hands. It turned to dust and blew away in the wind.

It was free at last. But how could I hatch it?

My hand reached out toward it. And I felt it sap some of my energy. It could take what it wanted so long as it let the dragons go home.