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Dragon's Flight
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Written in 1996. This one's about the birth and life of Sunflight, a dragon of the Sylvern Mountains. |
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Dragon's Flight
The Circle of life,
always turning,
never ceasing,
surrounds both great and small.
It is a Cycle.
a Dance,
a Song,
which is within us and binds us all.
It was a joyous day for the creatures of Sylvern Forest. A female dragon had sung the birth-song, signaling the hatching of a dragon pup, and such was a rare event in those times. Fifty cycles had passed since the male Fleethart's birthday, and he was the youngest of the Sylvern dragons. The sky above the mountains was dotted with dragons of every hue executing their intricate aerial dances celebrating the great event.
The hatchling, though black in color, was called Sunflight, for the Sylvern dragons did not have to earn their names in battle like the dragons of the Redstone Mountains. Their names were the First Gift, given at birth by one's mother, to be cherished all of one's days.
Many of the forest creatures had climbed the Sylvern Mountains at the edge of the forest to greet the new arrival. So the first thing Sunflight saw was his mother and a crowd of pans, gryphons, unicorns, and all other manner of creatures. This was a rather frightening sight for a tiny hatchling to see, so he very quickly pretended to fall asleep in the hopes that these strange creatures would go away. They did, and when Sunflight later opened his eyes his mother fed him his first meat, which her mate had hunted when it was learned that hatching was imminent.
Thus sated, the hatchling Sunflight fell into a contented sleep.
. . .
"Come on, Firewave, try to catch me!" Sunflight shouted to his younger brother. Fifty cycles had passed since his hatching day, and twenty since the birth of his brother. Sunflight was half-grown, out of infancy, yet still too young to be considered an adult. His immaturity was still tolerated, but once he reached his one-hundredth cycle he would be full-grown and must act like an adult if he ever wished to earn a mate. That stage was years away, though, and did not trouble the young dragon as of yet.
"All right," Firewave cried, "just remember, you asked for it!"
The two young dragons circled around each other in an elaborate game of tag. Sunflight laughed as his brother took the lead. He prepared to give chase and looked at his surroundings. The youngling was startled by how far he and his brother had flown. They had long since left the Sylvern Forest behind and were flying over wide grasslands dotted with clumps of trees. As he chased Firewave, he noticed how close they were to a small, ragged chain of mountains. Fear stole over the young dragon as he realized to whom the mountains belonged.
"Firewave!" he shouted. "Firewave, we are too close to the mountains of the harpies! We must fly before they see us!"
Firewave looked at the mountains. He had not realized how close they were to harpy territory. The harpies were messengers of death to the dragons. They attacked in large numbers, were clever at avoiding dragonfire, and it was even said that the creatures made an ointment from the kytha plant to protect themselves from it. Firewave spun on his tail and flew madly towards the Sylvern Forest and his home in the Sylvern Mountains.
"Have they seen us?" Firewave cried to Sunflight.
"I don't... wait! They have!" Sunflight's voice broke with dread. The sky began to swarm with harpies. They were catching up fast. He felt one try to grab his tail.
"Fly!" he cried. "The enemy is upon us!"
Surrounded by harpies, Sunflight tried to find his brother. He knew that Firewave, being smaller, stood nearly no chance against this enemy. Sunflight torched one harpy and watched her go down, only to come back up under him, the char from his dragonfire flaking away in the breeze, revealing flesh that was merely reddened and not blackened as it should have been. So they did have an ointment to protect themselves from dragonfire! Sunflight fought with tooth and claw, looking for a splash of red, his brother's color. He knew that his own black body would be hard to see amid the dark bodies of the harpies. One harpy dug her claws into his shoulder, and he screamed before knocking her off. Several of the loathsome creatures grabbed his tail and attempted to pull him down. Sunflight emitted a burst of flame and shook them off.
The young dragon saw a grove of trees below and knew that if he and Firewave could reach them, the harpies would have to give up or risk entangling their feathery wings and gangly bodies in the branches. Sunflight looked around for his brother and heard a scream. Firewave! The harpies had torn one of his wings and his brother was plummeting towards the trees! Sunflight folded his wings and dove. He brought his body under that of his brother and helped him to land amid the trees of the grove- their sleek, streamlined bodies helping them to avoid becoming snared by the branches. He looked up and saw the harpies flying away, some crying in pain, others crying victory, and all furious at the loss of their quarry.
Sunflight looked at his brother. The younger dragon was barely breathing and did not appear to be conscious. He was bleeding heavily in several places and his wing looked torn beyond repair. Sunflight hung his head in despair. Suddenly he heard a rustle of leaves and turned to see a unicorn enter the grove.
"What causes thy grieving, Little Flame?" the beautiful creature spoke. She had an unearthly shimmer about her. Sunflight's spirits rose. A unicorn! And a Healer by the look of her!
"My brother lies dying from a battle with the harpies, Graceful One." He reverted now to the formal speech one uses when dealing with unicorns. "If thou art a Healer, wilt thou Heal my brother?"
"Indeed, I shall do as I may, but I may not interfere with the Cycle. If it is thy brother's time, then I may not delay his passing."
"I understand." Sunflight said.
That wondrous creature of light and song then bowed her head. A light issued forth from her spiral horn and bathed Firewave. Sunflight could sense the struggle as the unicorn tried to free Firewave's spirit from death's claws. Suddenly it was over.
"Alas!" the unicorn cried, " his spirit has flown! His Cycle is over." She then began the death song in the language that only the unicorns know. It began as a somber chant rising to an almost joyous ending; for Death, too, is part of the Cycle as much as Life.
"Farewell, my brother, you served your clan well. You will be missed." Sunflight spoke.
. . .
Three hundred more cycles passed, and with them Sunflight's immaturity. He was a full-grown dragon, with thousands of cycles of life still ahead of him. He was courting a graceful white dragon named Moonsong, and tonight he would find the courage to speak his heart.
Sunflight and Moonsong perched on one of the highest ledges of the Sylvern Mountains. The forest could be seen below- a dark, rippling wave in the moonlight- stretching as far as the eye could see. Sunflight glanced at Moonsong, noticing how the moonlight played on her scales, showing their iridescence. He marveled at how her scales shone with many colors, yet still remained beautifully white. She and he were a good match- one having a strength where the other had a weakness. When his temper flared, hers remained cool. When she was indecisive, he had a plan. Moonsong was sweet and kind, and accepted his faults. She was all he had ever wanted in a mate, and now Sunflight would ask the question that was burning in his heart.
"Moonsong, my love," he spoke, "will you be my lifemate and soul-companion?"
She looked at him and smiled. "Beloved, that is all you ever had to ask."
Then she led him on a mating flight higher than the clouds, and Sunflight felt a joy in his soul; for Love, too, is part of the Cycle.
. . .
It was a joyous day for the creatures of Sylvern forest. For the female dragon Moonsong had sung the birth-song, beginning, once again, the Cycle of life...
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