Dragon ClutchAs a young girl, Damara lived with dragons. Years later, in the Kingdom of Wystil, she’s desperate to stop the looming war between humans and the dragons she fondly remembers. Spurning the warnings of her loved ones, Damara runs away and joins a pack of dragons in the hope of preventing further bloodshed. But she soon finds that not all dragons are what she believed.
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Chapter 1
What rubbish is this? Damara thought, repulsed as she watched a market play. They had announced it as the story of their princess, the true Dragon Slave as they called her, who was rescued by their mighty King Chadwick.
A man wearing a bluish-grey dragon costume flapped his wings dramatically, calling out, “I am River- the most fearsome spy of all the dragons!”
Besides Damara, the audience gathered in the town square was enraptured, cheering as a fraudulent king overpowered the pretend dragon. Tying up the winged man, he demanded, “Take me to my sister, Princess Theora!”
Defeated, the bound dragon slunk along the stage. The king drove him mercilessly with a fake spear until four new dragons arrived- more costumed men that roared and gnashed their teeth. Behind them, a youthful boy cried out to the king, grasping his dress and girlish wig fearfully.
“Save me, Brother!” he screamed. His immature voice cracked. “Kill them all!”
Fools! Damara glared at the performance. A soft, chilling breeze fluttered the short cape around her arms and teased her long dress. They have no idea what the dragons are like!
She stormed away, shoving the other children out of her way, careful not to touch the adults as she passed. When all she could hear was the voices of the crowds, she stopped, hopping up onto a stout wall. There she sat with her back leaned up against the side of a house.
If they met the dragons they wouldn’t be so arrogant, Damara seethed. She closed her eyes, scowling as she heard the audience clap and cheer yet again.
Am I the only one who knows the truth?
She breathed softly, trying to recall her most vivid memory of a dragon- the first one she met when she was still a small child. The vision came, calming her as the gentle wind blew in her face, making her light brown hair quiver and tickle her neck.
Deep red was the dragon that smiled down at her in her memories. A beautiful, reptilian face looking into her eyes with an understanding she’d never sensed from anyone else. Damara could still imagine the rain drizzling down as she recalled the dragon’s name.
Jacinth.
She thought for sure another dragon had been there as well, but she couldn’t remember who. She couldn’t even remember what the second dragon looked like.
I’ll never see them again.
She bit her lip in discouragement.
Will I be stuck here till the day I die? With these people?
The thought was incomprehensible. It sounded like a death sentence in itself.
“Damara, there you are.”
A familiar female voice met her ears and she looked up. “Hello, Catherine,” she said, failing to hide the bitterness in her voice.
Catherine was, without a doubt, the prettiest young woman Damara had ever seen, with her light blonde hair and elegantly long nose. Commoners regarded the rosy birth mark on her cheek as a sign of good luck. But the thing Damara envied her for most of all was her eyes- a soft, minty green that stood out like lily pads on the water.
Of course, as sweet as she was, Catherine would insist that Damara’s eyes were a lovely blue. Yet Damara was convinced the color faded from them a little more each day.
“Did you see the play?” Catherine asked pleasantly. “I think you’d have enjoyed it. It had dragons in it- like the ones you tell me about.”
“Except not,” Damara muttered under her breath.
She’s just like all the other people. She doesn’t understand anything about the dragons.
Guilt came over her, knowing her resentfulness was unjust. She could tell Catherine was just trying to be kind. Still, she wondered if her brother had anything to do with it. She’d seen how her friend looked at him. And how Xander looked at her.
Damara stiffened once more.
“Oh Damara, did you cut your hair again?” Catherine asked, reaching out to touch it. “You know, it would look lovely if you let it grow out.”
“Like yours?” Damara responded out of obligation, not interest. She liked her hair short so it didn’t get as tangled. She didn’t want to deal with the hassle of brushing it out and putting it in a long braid like Catherine did.
Damara sighed. “You always find the time to make yourself pretty, Cath.”
Catherine smiled. She was gorgeous.
It’s obvious why Xander is so fond of her, Damara thought jealously. She catches every eye.
“Oh!” Catherine’s hand flew to her hair. With slender fingers, she checked for flaws in the seemingly perfect braid. Damara narrowed her eyes, knowing well by her friend’s sudden shyness that Xander was coming towards them.
Don’t swoon with desire, she gibed silently and turned to face her brother.
Xander met them with a lively smile. “Hey,” he said.
He really has grown into a man, she thought, noting his well-trimmed hair and clean-shaven face. It’s obvious why Catherine is so fond of him…
Catherine and Xander were the only people Damara truly cared about. But whenever she saw them catching each other’s eyes, it put her on edge.
Will they start ignoring me once they realize they feel the same way about each other? she feared. Will I be nothing more than a ghost?
No, she refused.
I will not be forgotten.
“Did you see the play, Xander?” Damara asked him flatly, resting her head on one knee. “Didn’t they portray the dragons perfectly?”
He neglected to answer, grinning offhandedly. She could tell he was evading her gaze as he said to Catherine, “How did you like Clem’s performance? Did you see his beard?”
Catherine tittered nervously as Xander braided imaginary facial hair from his chin all the way down to his chest.
Why does he always get like this when I mention the dragons? Damara wondered. It’s not that he denies anything- he just doesn’t respond at all.
She knew Xander didn’t want to encourage her dreams about life with the dragons.
Why doesn’t he tell me those days are done and over with? To stop thinking about the dragons all together?
He never says anything bad about them…I suppose he still respects them.
Does he remember more than I do?
Damara looked at Catherine, who simpered at her- a sympathetic expression that made Damara feel like a little child with ridiculous fantasies.
I hate that smile.
Damara watched as raindrops began to fall from the grey clouds overhead. Xander barely seemed to notice the rain, but Catherine shielded her hair, looking up in dismay.
“Mother should be waiting for me at the house,” Catherine excused herself warily.
Xander grinned. “Alright. See you there.”
With a shy smile, Catherine turned and walked away. Damara watched her friend go, feeling rather guilty for being so cross.
It’s just that dim-witted play, she grumbled to herself, wet hair sticking to her face.
Looking to Xander, she noticed him pull out his knife and a half-carved lump of wood. Damara hid a smile as she recognized its shape as an animal of some sort.
Is he making that for me?
Trying not to sound overly curious, she asked, “What’s that?”
“Something,” he replied vaguely, turning away from her as he whittled.
He doesn’t want me to see it. Damara grinned, looking away. It’s definitely for me.
The sound of hooves battering the ground grew louder. She and Xander turned their heads to it.
What’s the rush? Damara wondered, knitting her brow with concern.
A herald’s voice struck the air with urgency. “Swaineford has been attacked! Swaineford has been attacked by dragons!”
What rubbish is this? Damara thought, repulsed as she watched a market play. They had announced it as the story of their princess, the true Dragon Slave as they called her, who was rescued by their mighty King Chadwick.
A man wearing a bluish-grey dragon costume flapped his wings dramatically, calling out, “I am River- the most fearsome spy of all the dragons!”
Besides Damara, the audience gathered in the town square was enraptured, cheering as a fraudulent king overpowered the pretend dragon. Tying up the winged man, he demanded, “Take me to my sister, Princess Theora!”
Defeated, the bound dragon slunk along the stage. The king drove him mercilessly with a fake spear until four new dragons arrived- more costumed men that roared and gnashed their teeth. Behind them, a youthful boy cried out to the king, grasping his dress and girlish wig fearfully.
“Save me, Brother!” he screamed. His immature voice cracked. “Kill them all!”
Fools! Damara glared at the performance. A soft, chilling breeze fluttered the short cape around her arms and teased her long dress. They have no idea what the dragons are like!
She stormed away, shoving the other children out of her way, careful not to touch the adults as she passed. When all she could hear was the voices of the crowds, she stopped, hopping up onto a stout wall. There she sat with her back leaned up against the side of a house.
If they met the dragons they wouldn’t be so arrogant, Damara seethed. She closed her eyes, scowling as she heard the audience clap and cheer yet again.
Am I the only one who knows the truth?
She breathed softly, trying to recall her most vivid memory of a dragon- the first one she met when she was still a small child. The vision came, calming her as the gentle wind blew in her face, making her light brown hair quiver and tickle her neck.
Deep red was the dragon that smiled down at her in her memories. A beautiful, reptilian face looking into her eyes with an understanding she’d never sensed from anyone else. Damara could still imagine the rain drizzling down as she recalled the dragon’s name.
Jacinth.
She thought for sure another dragon had been there as well, but she couldn’t remember who. She couldn’t even remember what the second dragon looked like.
I’ll never see them again.
She bit her lip in discouragement.
Will I be stuck here till the day I die? With these people?
The thought was incomprehensible. It sounded like a death sentence in itself.
“Damara, there you are.”
A familiar female voice met her ears and she looked up. “Hello, Catherine,” she said, failing to hide the bitterness in her voice.
Catherine was, without a doubt, the prettiest young woman Damara had ever seen, with her light blonde hair and elegantly long nose. Commoners regarded the rosy birth mark on her cheek as a sign of good luck. But the thing Damara envied her for most of all was her eyes- a soft, minty green that stood out like lily pads on the water.
Of course, as sweet as she was, Catherine would insist that Damara’s eyes were a lovely blue. Yet Damara was convinced the color faded from them a little more each day.
“Did you see the play?” Catherine asked pleasantly. “I think you’d have enjoyed it. It had dragons in it- like the ones you tell me about.”
“Except not,” Damara muttered under her breath.
She’s just like all the other people. She doesn’t understand anything about the dragons.
Guilt came over her, knowing her resentfulness was unjust. She could tell Catherine was just trying to be kind. Still, she wondered if her brother had anything to do with it. She’d seen how her friend looked at him. And how Xander looked at her.
Damara stiffened once more.
“Oh Damara, did you cut your hair again?” Catherine asked, reaching out to touch it. “You know, it would look lovely if you let it grow out.”
“Like yours?” Damara responded out of obligation, not interest. She liked her hair short so it didn’t get as tangled. She didn’t want to deal with the hassle of brushing it out and putting it in a long braid like Catherine did.
Damara sighed. “You always find the time to make yourself pretty, Cath.”
Catherine smiled. She was gorgeous.
It’s obvious why Xander is so fond of her, Damara thought jealously. She catches every eye.
“Oh!” Catherine’s hand flew to her hair. With slender fingers, she checked for flaws in the seemingly perfect braid. Damara narrowed her eyes, knowing well by her friend’s sudden shyness that Xander was coming towards them.
Don’t swoon with desire, she gibed silently and turned to face her brother.
Xander met them with a lively smile. “Hey,” he said.
He really has grown into a man, she thought, noting his well-trimmed hair and clean-shaven face. It’s obvious why Catherine is so fond of him…
Catherine and Xander were the only people Damara truly cared about. But whenever she saw them catching each other’s eyes, it put her on edge.
Will they start ignoring me once they realize they feel the same way about each other? she feared. Will I be nothing more than a ghost?
No, she refused.
I will not be forgotten.
“Did you see the play, Xander?” Damara asked him flatly, resting her head on one knee. “Didn’t they portray the dragons perfectly?”
He neglected to answer, grinning offhandedly. She could tell he was evading her gaze as he said to Catherine, “How did you like Clem’s performance? Did you see his beard?”
Catherine tittered nervously as Xander braided imaginary facial hair from his chin all the way down to his chest.
Why does he always get like this when I mention the dragons? Damara wondered. It’s not that he denies anything- he just doesn’t respond at all.
She knew Xander didn’t want to encourage her dreams about life with the dragons.
Why doesn’t he tell me those days are done and over with? To stop thinking about the dragons all together?
He never says anything bad about them…I suppose he still respects them.
Does he remember more than I do?
Damara looked at Catherine, who simpered at her- a sympathetic expression that made Damara feel like a little child with ridiculous fantasies.
I hate that smile.
Damara watched as raindrops began to fall from the grey clouds overhead. Xander barely seemed to notice the rain, but Catherine shielded her hair, looking up in dismay.
“Mother should be waiting for me at the house,” Catherine excused herself warily.
Xander grinned. “Alright. See you there.”
With a shy smile, Catherine turned and walked away. Damara watched her friend go, feeling rather guilty for being so cross.
It’s just that dim-witted play, she grumbled to herself, wet hair sticking to her face.
Looking to Xander, she noticed him pull out his knife and a half-carved lump of wood. Damara hid a smile as she recognized its shape as an animal of some sort.
Is he making that for me?
Trying not to sound overly curious, she asked, “What’s that?”
“Something,” he replied vaguely, turning away from her as he whittled.
He doesn’t want me to see it. Damara grinned, looking away. It’s definitely for me.
The sound of hooves battering the ground grew louder. She and Xander turned their heads to it.
What’s the rush? Damara wondered, knitting her brow with concern.
A herald’s voice struck the air with urgency. “Swaineford has been attacked! Swaineford has been attacked by dragons!”
Chapter 2
Over the next few days, the streets hummed with commoners sharing what they knew about the dragon invasion of Swaineford.
Of all the towns in Wystil, Swaineford was arguably the most important. It was a huge trading town, with the only reliable bridge across Swaine River. A big portion of Wystil stood on the other side of that river. Without access to Swaineford Bridge, communication from that upperpart of Wystil was almost completely severed from the castle.
It was reported that dragons of terrible size had attacked from above, breathing fire and destroying houses. The beasts wrecked the whole town and killed nearly everyone inside. The few survivors escaped to the Wystilian castle, to tell of what they’d witnessed.
Word had it that King Chadwick was gathering an army. A huge one.
It was like the time he’d prepared his army to fight the mighty dragon, Zeus, in hopes of saving his sister, Princess Theora. Except this time it wasn’t just his best knights. He was calling people off the streets to fight. Able-bodied men- rich or poor, young or old.
His objective, they said, was to wipe out all the dragons.
This can’t be happening, Damara told herself, walking home with a pail of well water. Beside her, a group of boys talked amongst themselves with much excitement.
“We can’t miss the Parade of the Troops when they march around the castle,” she heard one say. “It’s happening on Saint Morehice Day, isn’t it?”
Parade of the Troops? Damara hung inconspicuously nearby.
“Oh, we’ll be there!” another declared. “And so will half the kingdom! This is the biggest threat Wystil’s seen since Crageria. Maybe even bigger!”
“Not if the Huskhns challenge us,” someone opposed.
But to this, a boy argued, “They’re only fierce at sea.”
There was some dispute between the boys. Damara was about to walk away again when she heard one pipe up, “I hear Princess Theora doesn’t want King Chadwick to kill all those devils.”
“She’s still trying to convince everyone that the dragons aren’t our enemies? They’ve attacked Swaineford! I tell you, that woman is insane.”
“We should hand her back over to the dragons. I’ll wager that’s what they’re after!”
“Yeah, leave it to the devils to see any value in her!”
The boys laughed uproariously.
“Quiet, if you know what’s good for you!” an old man silenced them with a hiss. “That’s the royal family you’re mocking.”
Damara walked on, mulling over what she had just heard.
Princess Theora is on the dragons’ side?
She remembered hearing before that King Chadwick’s sister had different views about the beasts even though they had supposedly kidnapped her.
What does she know about the dragons? she wondered.
Damara recalled the time when Xander tried to convince her that they had met the Princess before. He said that she gave them both a ride on her horse.
The things he makes up! She scoffed to herself. Why would he say something as ridiculous as that, but not tell me more about the dragon colony?
Dragons couldn’t have attacked Swaineford. They aren’t evil like that. Maybe they were attacked first and they were just fighting back? Or maybe all of this is just a lie!
I didn’t even know there were still dragons here. The Colony left! Did they come back? Maybe some of them got left behind?
Her heart jumped hopefully. Maybe I can meet one again.
Her memory of Jacinth resurfaced in her mind. A friend that actually understood her.
The clouds above Damara’s head were stained yellow and grey. They hung in the sky as one, endless sheet, like a feathery pelt. Damara gazed up at them when a sudden gust of frigid wind blew the hood off her head and tugged at her cape.
More bothersome than little children, Damara thought crossly, drawing the light hood back around her face. She glared down the road as she walked, bracing herself for every freezing whisper of a breeze.
As she neared Catherine’s father’s house, where she and Xander were allowed to live, she saw that just across the street Xander and Catherine were sitting close together.
Too close. Damara thought. Her eyes flew open in disgust as she noticed they were holding hands.
She hung back a moment and waited to time her intrusion perfectly, walking up to them just as their attention began to narrow in on nothing but each other. They looked up at her, somewhat startled.
“Hello, Cath,” Damara said. “What are you doing?”
Her pretty friend let go of Xander’s hand, looking away as she blushed to the rosy color of her birthmark.
Don’t forget that’s my brother, Damara reminded her silently. She noticed her brother’s mouth twitch. It gave her a little thrill. He’s not so happy to see me. But I have just as much reason to be in front of the house as he does.
Damara’s eyes searched the flowers tucked into Catherine’s hair. “Those are pretty,” she commented, her voice edged with mockery.
Nonetheless, Catherine thanked her quietly, softly brushing the largest one with her fingertips. Damara wondered if Xander was the one who had put them in her hair.
She sat on the ground in front of them. Maybe I can bore them with conversation until they decide they don’t like each other anymore.
She knew it was unlikely.
“Did you do any pargeting today?” she asked her brother in an interested tone.
“I did,” he answered. Damara could hear him battling the annoyance in his own voice. “Catherine’s father is a wonderful mentor.” As he said her name, he retook Catherine’s hand in his, looking back at Damara, challenging her.
Not everything can be the way you want it, Damara could read the message his eyes were sending her and she gritted her teeth.
“Damara, can you come in here for a moment?” Catherine’s mother called from inside the house.
Now? Damara was dismayed. She’s making me leave them alone, together, now?
She sat there, pretending not to have heard.
“Cath’s mom wants you, Damara,” Xander told her firmly.
She curled her lip, seeing Catherine relax as Damara got back up on her feet to enter the house. She could feel her brother watching her as she went.
“What is it?” Damara asked the lady of the house irritably.
“Sorry, Dear,” Catherine’s mother whispered, pressed flat up against the wall. Damara was confused to see the woman in such an odd position, a giddy spark in her eye. “You just happened to walk in on them at the worst possible time.”
“What?” Damara asked, now more perplexed than annoyed.
The woman hushed her and beckoned her closer. “Look,” she whispered in excitement.
Damara saw that she was looking through a small window. She, too, peered through it, crouching below Catherine’s mother, and found that she could see both her brother and Cath across the road.
Damara’s skin crawled as she saw Xander reach up and touch Catherine’s cheek.
“Oh, he’s the one,” Catherine’s mother murmured. They watched as the two lovers gazed into each other’s eyes. “My goodness,” the older woman purred. “They’re perfect for each other.”
Damara’s heart leapt when she saw Xander take something from his satchel. It was the wooden figurine she thought he had been whittling for her.
Catherine gasped in delight, accepting and admiring the gift.
That should be mine! Damara objected, furiously silent. I’m his sister!
She dug her fingernails into her palms, but the woman above her was exuberant.
“When’s the wedding?” Catherine’s mother joked, elbowing Damara in the ribs.
Damara’s temper flared. She jumped up, nearly toppling the woman over as she pushed herself away from the wall. Breathing through her nostrils indignantly, she clenched her fists.
“Why- what’s the matter?” Catherine’s mother lost her whisper as she grasped the window sill to keep from falling.
Damara screamed out loud, not caring who heard her.
She wanted to hit something. Her arm muscles tightened. She wanted to make her knuckles bleed.
“Hey! Hey!” Xander yelled. Suddenly, he was behind her, spinning her around to face him. “What is wrong with you?!”
She glared up at him through heated tears.
All around, familiar faces peered at her. Catherine and her mom stood at the doorway, worried gazes replicated on both their faces. Xander held her at arms’ length, looking disgusted.
Damara shook his strong hands off her shoulders and stamped out of the house, with Catherine rushing to move out of the doorway.
Damara ran out of town, into the wintry woods.
She split her knuckles on the trunk of a white barked pine and bawled curses at her brother, Catherine, herself.
They were the two people that cared about me! Now they only have eyes for each other…
Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, she pulled herself up into the lowest branches of the tree and kept reaching higher, climbing until the branches got so thin and weak she couldn’t dare trust them. There she clung, swaying with the skinny treetop, hot tears mixing with the sap caught in her tangled hair.
The wind was especially strong and she had to cling to the scratchy bark and prickly pine needles so as not to be blown away. She was like a bear cub, her arms wrapped tight around the flexible treetop that bowed and careened in every direction the wind took it.
I wish I never even met Catherine, Damara thought bitterly, remembering that day in the market when she eagerly helped remove a little monigon from her new friend’s braid. I should never have brought Xander to her family. Then he would never have been apprenticed by her father.
We could still be at the castle, working in the kitchen and the stables, like it used to be.
No, she thought, eyes flying open. Xander should never have taken me away. I could have lived with the dragons until the day I died.
That’s where I belong.
Her cape was torn and it flapped in the winter wind like a flag.
I’m really high up. Carefully, she peered over her shoulder to see the ground below. All around, she could see the tops of all the leafless trees. Aside from the rabid howling of wind, it was eerily quiet. She held on, watching the birds fly up out of the woody branches and past her head.
I must look out of place to them, she considered, then darkly reminded herself, I’m always out of place.
In the distance, Damara could see why her town was called Rookton. One of the Wystilian castle towers was clearly visible against the overcast sky, giving the town’s people an extra sense of security.
That’s all they’re ever concerned about, Damara scorned inside her head. Being safe.
They just go on, leading their boring lives, always fearing that something dangerous, something exciting, might come across their paths.
I can’t live like that.
Somewhere in the distance, church bells pealed. Damara marveled at the ground so far below. She wondered what falling from such great heights would be like. Even more, she wondered what flying would be like. It was amazing to imagine. She closed her eyes again, gently this time, and felt the brisk rush of air on her face.
How easy it would be to let go…and terrifying.
Reluctantly, she tucked her chin into her chest to see her feet. Picking her footing carefully, she stepped down one branch after another, listening for any crack or snap. The mighty trunk grew wider as she descended and she stuck to it, even when startled birds flew up around her.
She hadn’t realized how quickly she had climbed the lanky tree until this tedious decline all the way down. Damara always took pride in her climbing skills, but this was more impressive than anything else she’d ever scaled in her life. By the time her feet touched solid ground, her legs were shaking.
She almost smiled as she saw her blood on the tree’s light bark where she had hit it. She held her injured hand up to the mark, noting how the shapes of red matched.
Xander and Catherine are in love. Damara accepted the fact with a wave of cocky satisfaction. I will never fall in love. I don’t need anyone.
She felt the sense of solitude, letting it wash over her like a waterfall.
This is freedom.
Pine needles rattled as though sick and tired of being blown around. Damara smirked up at the trees’ bare branches.
“You’re obviously not afraid to make yourself bleed.”
Damara jumped as a voice spoke up behind her, brazen and growly. Her lips parted and her eyes widened in pure awe to see an oak grey beast slink out from behind the trees. His neck snaked around the trunk, his head low so as not to hit the branches.
His body followed after him, tough bat-like wings folded to his side and tail sweeping the frosty grass behind. He placed taloned feet on the ground beneath his plated belly as silently as a mountain lion, and stopped, staring at her.
“Hello, Damara,” the dragon purred, baring jagged teeth as he grinned. “Remember me?”
Over the next few days, the streets hummed with commoners sharing what they knew about the dragon invasion of Swaineford.
Of all the towns in Wystil, Swaineford was arguably the most important. It was a huge trading town, with the only reliable bridge across Swaine River. A big portion of Wystil stood on the other side of that river. Without access to Swaineford Bridge, communication from that upperpart of Wystil was almost completely severed from the castle.
It was reported that dragons of terrible size had attacked from above, breathing fire and destroying houses. The beasts wrecked the whole town and killed nearly everyone inside. The few survivors escaped to the Wystilian castle, to tell of what they’d witnessed.
Word had it that King Chadwick was gathering an army. A huge one.
It was like the time he’d prepared his army to fight the mighty dragon, Zeus, in hopes of saving his sister, Princess Theora. Except this time it wasn’t just his best knights. He was calling people off the streets to fight. Able-bodied men- rich or poor, young or old.
His objective, they said, was to wipe out all the dragons.
This can’t be happening, Damara told herself, walking home with a pail of well water. Beside her, a group of boys talked amongst themselves with much excitement.
“We can’t miss the Parade of the Troops when they march around the castle,” she heard one say. “It’s happening on Saint Morehice Day, isn’t it?”
Parade of the Troops? Damara hung inconspicuously nearby.
“Oh, we’ll be there!” another declared. “And so will half the kingdom! This is the biggest threat Wystil’s seen since Crageria. Maybe even bigger!”
“Not if the Huskhns challenge us,” someone opposed.
But to this, a boy argued, “They’re only fierce at sea.”
There was some dispute between the boys. Damara was about to walk away again when she heard one pipe up, “I hear Princess Theora doesn’t want King Chadwick to kill all those devils.”
“She’s still trying to convince everyone that the dragons aren’t our enemies? They’ve attacked Swaineford! I tell you, that woman is insane.”
“We should hand her back over to the dragons. I’ll wager that’s what they’re after!”
“Yeah, leave it to the devils to see any value in her!”
The boys laughed uproariously.
“Quiet, if you know what’s good for you!” an old man silenced them with a hiss. “That’s the royal family you’re mocking.”
Damara walked on, mulling over what she had just heard.
Princess Theora is on the dragons’ side?
She remembered hearing before that King Chadwick’s sister had different views about the beasts even though they had supposedly kidnapped her.
What does she know about the dragons? she wondered.
Damara recalled the time when Xander tried to convince her that they had met the Princess before. He said that she gave them both a ride on her horse.
The things he makes up! She scoffed to herself. Why would he say something as ridiculous as that, but not tell me more about the dragon colony?
Dragons couldn’t have attacked Swaineford. They aren’t evil like that. Maybe they were attacked first and they were just fighting back? Or maybe all of this is just a lie!
I didn’t even know there were still dragons here. The Colony left! Did they come back? Maybe some of them got left behind?
Her heart jumped hopefully. Maybe I can meet one again.
Her memory of Jacinth resurfaced in her mind. A friend that actually understood her.
The clouds above Damara’s head were stained yellow and grey. They hung in the sky as one, endless sheet, like a feathery pelt. Damara gazed up at them when a sudden gust of frigid wind blew the hood off her head and tugged at her cape.
More bothersome than little children, Damara thought crossly, drawing the light hood back around her face. She glared down the road as she walked, bracing herself for every freezing whisper of a breeze.
As she neared Catherine’s father’s house, where she and Xander were allowed to live, she saw that just across the street Xander and Catherine were sitting close together.
Too close. Damara thought. Her eyes flew open in disgust as she noticed they were holding hands.
She hung back a moment and waited to time her intrusion perfectly, walking up to them just as their attention began to narrow in on nothing but each other. They looked up at her, somewhat startled.
“Hello, Cath,” Damara said. “What are you doing?”
Her pretty friend let go of Xander’s hand, looking away as she blushed to the rosy color of her birthmark.
Don’t forget that’s my brother, Damara reminded her silently. She noticed her brother’s mouth twitch. It gave her a little thrill. He’s not so happy to see me. But I have just as much reason to be in front of the house as he does.
Damara’s eyes searched the flowers tucked into Catherine’s hair. “Those are pretty,” she commented, her voice edged with mockery.
Nonetheless, Catherine thanked her quietly, softly brushing the largest one with her fingertips. Damara wondered if Xander was the one who had put them in her hair.
She sat on the ground in front of them. Maybe I can bore them with conversation until they decide they don’t like each other anymore.
She knew it was unlikely.
“Did you do any pargeting today?” she asked her brother in an interested tone.
“I did,” he answered. Damara could hear him battling the annoyance in his own voice. “Catherine’s father is a wonderful mentor.” As he said her name, he retook Catherine’s hand in his, looking back at Damara, challenging her.
Not everything can be the way you want it, Damara could read the message his eyes were sending her and she gritted her teeth.
“Damara, can you come in here for a moment?” Catherine’s mother called from inside the house.
Now? Damara was dismayed. She’s making me leave them alone, together, now?
She sat there, pretending not to have heard.
“Cath’s mom wants you, Damara,” Xander told her firmly.
She curled her lip, seeing Catherine relax as Damara got back up on her feet to enter the house. She could feel her brother watching her as she went.
“What is it?” Damara asked the lady of the house irritably.
“Sorry, Dear,” Catherine’s mother whispered, pressed flat up against the wall. Damara was confused to see the woman in such an odd position, a giddy spark in her eye. “You just happened to walk in on them at the worst possible time.”
“What?” Damara asked, now more perplexed than annoyed.
The woman hushed her and beckoned her closer. “Look,” she whispered in excitement.
Damara saw that she was looking through a small window. She, too, peered through it, crouching below Catherine’s mother, and found that she could see both her brother and Cath across the road.
Damara’s skin crawled as she saw Xander reach up and touch Catherine’s cheek.
“Oh, he’s the one,” Catherine’s mother murmured. They watched as the two lovers gazed into each other’s eyes. “My goodness,” the older woman purred. “They’re perfect for each other.”
Damara’s heart leapt when she saw Xander take something from his satchel. It was the wooden figurine she thought he had been whittling for her.
Catherine gasped in delight, accepting and admiring the gift.
That should be mine! Damara objected, furiously silent. I’m his sister!
She dug her fingernails into her palms, but the woman above her was exuberant.
“When’s the wedding?” Catherine’s mother joked, elbowing Damara in the ribs.
Damara’s temper flared. She jumped up, nearly toppling the woman over as she pushed herself away from the wall. Breathing through her nostrils indignantly, she clenched her fists.
“Why- what’s the matter?” Catherine’s mother lost her whisper as she grasped the window sill to keep from falling.
Damara screamed out loud, not caring who heard her.
She wanted to hit something. Her arm muscles tightened. She wanted to make her knuckles bleed.
“Hey! Hey!” Xander yelled. Suddenly, he was behind her, spinning her around to face him. “What is wrong with you?!”
She glared up at him through heated tears.
All around, familiar faces peered at her. Catherine and her mom stood at the doorway, worried gazes replicated on both their faces. Xander held her at arms’ length, looking disgusted.
Damara shook his strong hands off her shoulders and stamped out of the house, with Catherine rushing to move out of the doorway.
Damara ran out of town, into the wintry woods.
She split her knuckles on the trunk of a white barked pine and bawled curses at her brother, Catherine, herself.
They were the two people that cared about me! Now they only have eyes for each other…
Feeling more alone and isolated than ever, she pulled herself up into the lowest branches of the tree and kept reaching higher, climbing until the branches got so thin and weak she couldn’t dare trust them. There she clung, swaying with the skinny treetop, hot tears mixing with the sap caught in her tangled hair.
The wind was especially strong and she had to cling to the scratchy bark and prickly pine needles so as not to be blown away. She was like a bear cub, her arms wrapped tight around the flexible treetop that bowed and careened in every direction the wind took it.
I wish I never even met Catherine, Damara thought bitterly, remembering that day in the market when she eagerly helped remove a little monigon from her new friend’s braid. I should never have brought Xander to her family. Then he would never have been apprenticed by her father.
We could still be at the castle, working in the kitchen and the stables, like it used to be.
No, she thought, eyes flying open. Xander should never have taken me away. I could have lived with the dragons until the day I died.
That’s where I belong.
Her cape was torn and it flapped in the winter wind like a flag.
I’m really high up. Carefully, she peered over her shoulder to see the ground below. All around, she could see the tops of all the leafless trees. Aside from the rabid howling of wind, it was eerily quiet. She held on, watching the birds fly up out of the woody branches and past her head.
I must look out of place to them, she considered, then darkly reminded herself, I’m always out of place.
In the distance, Damara could see why her town was called Rookton. One of the Wystilian castle towers was clearly visible against the overcast sky, giving the town’s people an extra sense of security.
That’s all they’re ever concerned about, Damara scorned inside her head. Being safe.
They just go on, leading their boring lives, always fearing that something dangerous, something exciting, might come across their paths.
I can’t live like that.
Somewhere in the distance, church bells pealed. Damara marveled at the ground so far below. She wondered what falling from such great heights would be like. Even more, she wondered what flying would be like. It was amazing to imagine. She closed her eyes again, gently this time, and felt the brisk rush of air on her face.
How easy it would be to let go…and terrifying.
Reluctantly, she tucked her chin into her chest to see her feet. Picking her footing carefully, she stepped down one branch after another, listening for any crack or snap. The mighty trunk grew wider as she descended and she stuck to it, even when startled birds flew up around her.
She hadn’t realized how quickly she had climbed the lanky tree until this tedious decline all the way down. Damara always took pride in her climbing skills, but this was more impressive than anything else she’d ever scaled in her life. By the time her feet touched solid ground, her legs were shaking.
She almost smiled as she saw her blood on the tree’s light bark where she had hit it. She held her injured hand up to the mark, noting how the shapes of red matched.
Xander and Catherine are in love. Damara accepted the fact with a wave of cocky satisfaction. I will never fall in love. I don’t need anyone.
She felt the sense of solitude, letting it wash over her like a waterfall.
This is freedom.
Pine needles rattled as though sick and tired of being blown around. Damara smirked up at the trees’ bare branches.
“You’re obviously not afraid to make yourself bleed.”
Damara jumped as a voice spoke up behind her, brazen and growly. Her lips parted and her eyes widened in pure awe to see an oak grey beast slink out from behind the trees. His neck snaked around the trunk, his head low so as not to hit the branches.
His body followed after him, tough bat-like wings folded to his side and tail sweeping the frosty grass behind. He placed taloned feet on the ground beneath his plated belly as silently as a mountain lion, and stopped, staring at her.
“Hello, Damara,” the dragon purred, baring jagged teeth as he grinned. “Remember me?”
Chapter 3
Damara took two steps backward in terrible shock. Her clammy hands felt for her dress, and she gripped it tightly, willing herself to run.
Her legs wouldn’t move.
The beast eyed her with a sharp look in his narrowed eyes. His reptilian mouth pressed into a smug grimace. Damara thought for sure she was going to die.
“What, you don’t remember me?” he asked, cocking his head with a mockingly hurt expression. “I suppose that’s alright. You were just a little frisk last time I saw you.”
Damara breathed rapidly and shallow, staring into his face like it was death itself. He arched back his neck with a loud, harsh laugh and she jumped.
“Look at you!” he marveled. “So terrified, like a deer about to be eaten. Oh, but don’t flinch like that. Can’t you trust an old friend?”
Damara opened her mouth, though her throat was dry. “We-” Her voice cut out and she swallowed, trying to stop her trembling. “We used to be friends?”
“Of course,” he replied charmingly, warm vapor pluming from his lips. “I’m Chasm. Your brother and I had our differences, but we got along fine.”
Damara’s head swam as she tried to recall this huge, male adult crouching before her, but she’d lost too many memories. How she even knew his gender was beyond her.
“I can’t- I can’t remember,” she stuttered.
The dragon snorted. “My, how easily you humans forget. And look how long it takes you to grow! I’ve nearly doubled my size since the last time we’ve talked, but you- you’re a little lamb.”
Damara didn’t like him comparing her to easy prey as she saw every twitch of his muscles.
How easily he could pounce on me. I wouldn’t be able to run in time.
“Really now, I wish you wouldn’t be so tense.” The dragon, Chasm, frowned. “You must not be used to dragons anymore.” He lay back with two meaty foreclaws stretched out in front of him, and looked expectantly at her, now at her eye level.
Damara took far too long to process his words, mind racing on with survival instinct. Still, her body felt paralyzed in place, with only her dress and shredded cape fluttering. Even her hair seemed to stiffen in fear as the dragon stared at her.
You must not be used to dragons anymore. His words finally made sense to her.
“Yeah-ah, it’s been awhile,” she choked out.
He gave her a tiresome expression and sighed, resting his great bulky head on his forefeet. “You’re scared of me,” he noted cheerlessly. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
Something clicked in Damara’s head.
This is what I’ve been wanting.
“Happy?” she echoed, beginning to breathe properly again. Tentatively, she smiled. “I didn’t think that I’d actually get to speak to a dragon again.”
His eyes looked up. She could feel them searching her all over.
Relax.
“You didn’t think you’d get to, yet here we are,” he said, looking especially self-satisfied.
“How did you find me?” Damara asked.
It’d be impossible to find one single person in an entire kingdom, she thought. Even for a dragon. He must have come across me by some coincidence.”
Or maybe it’s a miracle.
Chasm smirked. “I remembered your scent,” he answered simply. “Even after all these years, you still smell the same.”
“You tracked me down?” Damara was amazed.
He’s unbelievable!
“Why did you come looking for me?” she questioned further with increasing exaltation.
He gave her a handsome smile. “I have a request of you,” he said, lifting his head back up and readjusting his foreclaws.
“What is it?” Damara asked eagerly. Her limbs loosened completely, as though a spell was lifted from her.
“I want you to help me clear the dragons’ name.” He frowned. “You must have heard that there was an attack on a town. Swaineford, was it?”
Damara nodded. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought all the dragons were good.”
“Not all of us,” Chasm admitted, shaking his head with eyes closed. “But that doesn’t mean we should all be slain.”
He leapt to his feet and Damara jumped in surprise, yet marveled up at him.
“We need to prove that dragons and humans can be at peace, Damara,” he pressed.
“Yes!” she agreed. “We can prove it to them!”
Chasm grinned charmingly. “I have a plan,” he said. “If your people were to see you on my back as I soar over the kingdom, then they’d know they were wrong about us.”
Damara held still, stupefied and speechless.
He wants me to ride him?
She couldn’t believe it. It was daunting. Terrifying even…but dazzling. To hold onto such a magnificent beast and slice through the sky, with everyone watching from down below, was beyond Damara’s most foolish fantasies.
“Well?” Chasm asked, powerfully shaking his great scaly mass, ridding himself of the dirt that clung to his grey belly plates. He took on a daring grin. “Are you game?”
Damara tingled all over. “Yes,” she breathed. Delighted, an idea hit her. “We can do it during the Parade of the Troops! It’s happening on Saint Morehice Day!”
“Perfect. Now, of course we’ll have to practice before then. You’ll probably need something to help you hold on. Can you get that for yourself?”
Damara knitted her brow, trying to think of where she could get some rope. “Yeah, I think so,” she said. Her eyes ran over the rippling muscles of Chasm’s back. “But I don’t know all that I need.” She swallowed apprehensively.
“Could you tell if you climbed on my back?” Chasm offered.
“Yes, please!”
He exposed his side to her with a smirk. Quivering, she stepped forward, pausing with her hands up, wondering what to grab onto. She spotted his wing shoulder.
If I put my hand there, she considered, but decided it wouldn’t be enough for her to pull up on.
“Um…could you crouch down a moment?” she asked nervously. The dragon stooped low to the ground.
Perfect. She placed her foot carefully on the bend of his foreleg and stepped up, grabbing his wing with one hand and his neck with the other.
Her lips pressed firmly together to stop herself from squeaking as she labored to scramble up. At last, she managed to swing one leg over his back and straddle the base of his neck.
Damara couldn’t help but gasp as she looked up from where she sat. It was as though she’d grown twice her height. It reminded her of the time when she had tried to climb one of the horses in the castle stables, as a little girl. Chasm was about the same size as that horse, Damara guessed, though the steed had been exceptionally large for its kind.
‘Damara, stop!’ She remembered how quick Xander was to get her down from the horse once he had noticed her.
Oh, the things he’d shout if he saw me now! she thought, humored at first, but anxiety twisted a knot in her stomach as she imagined it.
“Ah!” A sound escaped her mouth as Chasm stood up and she planted her hands to steady herself. She grimaced as she felt the ridge of his spine dig into her rear. It hurt even more as her weight shifted about.
How am I ever going to adjust to this? She wondered in dismay.
“Do you know what you need now?” Chasm asked from underneath her.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” she stammered, looking down at herself.
I’ll have to get something to sit on. And definitely some rope.
“Yeah, I think I’d like to get down now,” she called.
Ow! His scales pinch!
“Here, let’s try walking first,” Chasm replied, taking a few steps forward.
Damara held her breath as his mighty shoulders swayed under her. She doubled over and clung to his scaly neck as his casual ambling nearly caused her to fall off.
“No- I don’t think I can hold on much longer,” she pressed anxiously. “Can’t you let me down already?”
“Alright, but you’ll have to get used to it at some point.”
“I will, I will,” she told him, holding tighter as he dropped back down.
“Aa-ah!” she cried aloud as she tumbled off him, landing on her rear end with her head against his chest.
Chasm laughed. Her neck craned back to see him. He was staring down at her, looking thoroughly humored. Immediately, she leapt up and held her arm in insecurity, feeling lousy.
“Now you’re even dirtier,” Chasm commented.
She sniffed unhappily. “Yeah, well, I’m used to it.”
“Let’s go our own ways for now,” the dragon said, looking around. “Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is directly above your head. Can you remember this place?”
Damara looked up at the rare, white pine she had climbed. It was the tallest tree in the area.
“Yeah,” she answered, a chilly wind kissing her face. “I’ll find you.”
“And if you can’t, then I’ll find you,” Chasm said. “I could recognize your scent anywhere.”
“I better be getting back,” Damara murmured, rubbing her arms for warmth. “Please don’t forget me.”
“Of course not- and don’t forget to bring what you need.”
I get to ride a dragon! The thought coursed through her head as she returned back home. Once there, she apologized to everyone for running off and let Catherine tend to her split knuckle.
She couldn’t get herself to fall asleep as she lay, playing everything over in her head and anxiously awaiting the events tomorrow would bring.
Chasm, she repeated his name silently to herself. With him, I can finally prove that I was right even though everyone mocked me.
A dragon wants to be friends with me again. It’s the best thing I could ever hope for.
Damara took two steps backward in terrible shock. Her clammy hands felt for her dress, and she gripped it tightly, willing herself to run.
Her legs wouldn’t move.
The beast eyed her with a sharp look in his narrowed eyes. His reptilian mouth pressed into a smug grimace. Damara thought for sure she was going to die.
“What, you don’t remember me?” he asked, cocking his head with a mockingly hurt expression. “I suppose that’s alright. You were just a little frisk last time I saw you.”
Damara breathed rapidly and shallow, staring into his face like it was death itself. He arched back his neck with a loud, harsh laugh and she jumped.
“Look at you!” he marveled. “So terrified, like a deer about to be eaten. Oh, but don’t flinch like that. Can’t you trust an old friend?”
Damara opened her mouth, though her throat was dry. “We-” Her voice cut out and she swallowed, trying to stop her trembling. “We used to be friends?”
“Of course,” he replied charmingly, warm vapor pluming from his lips. “I’m Chasm. Your brother and I had our differences, but we got along fine.”
Damara’s head swam as she tried to recall this huge, male adult crouching before her, but she’d lost too many memories. How she even knew his gender was beyond her.
“I can’t- I can’t remember,” she stuttered.
The dragon snorted. “My, how easily you humans forget. And look how long it takes you to grow! I’ve nearly doubled my size since the last time we’ve talked, but you- you’re a little lamb.”
Damara didn’t like him comparing her to easy prey as she saw every twitch of his muscles.
How easily he could pounce on me. I wouldn’t be able to run in time.
“Really now, I wish you wouldn’t be so tense.” The dragon, Chasm, frowned. “You must not be used to dragons anymore.” He lay back with two meaty foreclaws stretched out in front of him, and looked expectantly at her, now at her eye level.
Damara took far too long to process his words, mind racing on with survival instinct. Still, her body felt paralyzed in place, with only her dress and shredded cape fluttering. Even her hair seemed to stiffen in fear as the dragon stared at her.
You must not be used to dragons anymore. His words finally made sense to her.
“Yeah-ah, it’s been awhile,” she choked out.
He gave her a tiresome expression and sighed, resting his great bulky head on his forefeet. “You’re scared of me,” he noted cheerlessly. “I thought you’d be happy to see me.”
Something clicked in Damara’s head.
This is what I’ve been wanting.
“Happy?” she echoed, beginning to breathe properly again. Tentatively, she smiled. “I didn’t think that I’d actually get to speak to a dragon again.”
His eyes looked up. She could feel them searching her all over.
Relax.
“You didn’t think you’d get to, yet here we are,” he said, looking especially self-satisfied.
“How did you find me?” Damara asked.
It’d be impossible to find one single person in an entire kingdom, she thought. Even for a dragon. He must have come across me by some coincidence.”
Or maybe it’s a miracle.
Chasm smirked. “I remembered your scent,” he answered simply. “Even after all these years, you still smell the same.”
“You tracked me down?” Damara was amazed.
He’s unbelievable!
“Why did you come looking for me?” she questioned further with increasing exaltation.
He gave her a handsome smile. “I have a request of you,” he said, lifting his head back up and readjusting his foreclaws.
“What is it?” Damara asked eagerly. Her limbs loosened completely, as though a spell was lifted from her.
“I want you to help me clear the dragons’ name.” He frowned. “You must have heard that there was an attack on a town. Swaineford, was it?”
Damara nodded. “I didn’t want to believe it. I thought all the dragons were good.”
“Not all of us,” Chasm admitted, shaking his head with eyes closed. “But that doesn’t mean we should all be slain.”
He leapt to his feet and Damara jumped in surprise, yet marveled up at him.
“We need to prove that dragons and humans can be at peace, Damara,” he pressed.
“Yes!” she agreed. “We can prove it to them!”
Chasm grinned charmingly. “I have a plan,” he said. “If your people were to see you on my back as I soar over the kingdom, then they’d know they were wrong about us.”
Damara held still, stupefied and speechless.
He wants me to ride him?
She couldn’t believe it. It was daunting. Terrifying even…but dazzling. To hold onto such a magnificent beast and slice through the sky, with everyone watching from down below, was beyond Damara’s most foolish fantasies.
“Well?” Chasm asked, powerfully shaking his great scaly mass, ridding himself of the dirt that clung to his grey belly plates. He took on a daring grin. “Are you game?”
Damara tingled all over. “Yes,” she breathed. Delighted, an idea hit her. “We can do it during the Parade of the Troops! It’s happening on Saint Morehice Day!”
“Perfect. Now, of course we’ll have to practice before then. You’ll probably need something to help you hold on. Can you get that for yourself?”
Damara knitted her brow, trying to think of where she could get some rope. “Yeah, I think so,” she said. Her eyes ran over the rippling muscles of Chasm’s back. “But I don’t know all that I need.” She swallowed apprehensively.
“Could you tell if you climbed on my back?” Chasm offered.
“Yes, please!”
He exposed his side to her with a smirk. Quivering, she stepped forward, pausing with her hands up, wondering what to grab onto. She spotted his wing shoulder.
If I put my hand there, she considered, but decided it wouldn’t be enough for her to pull up on.
“Um…could you crouch down a moment?” she asked nervously. The dragon stooped low to the ground.
Perfect. She placed her foot carefully on the bend of his foreleg and stepped up, grabbing his wing with one hand and his neck with the other.
Her lips pressed firmly together to stop herself from squeaking as she labored to scramble up. At last, she managed to swing one leg over his back and straddle the base of his neck.
Damara couldn’t help but gasp as she looked up from where she sat. It was as though she’d grown twice her height. It reminded her of the time when she had tried to climb one of the horses in the castle stables, as a little girl. Chasm was about the same size as that horse, Damara guessed, though the steed had been exceptionally large for its kind.
‘Damara, stop!’ She remembered how quick Xander was to get her down from the horse once he had noticed her.
Oh, the things he’d shout if he saw me now! she thought, humored at first, but anxiety twisted a knot in her stomach as she imagined it.
“Ah!” A sound escaped her mouth as Chasm stood up and she planted her hands to steady herself. She grimaced as she felt the ridge of his spine dig into her rear. It hurt even more as her weight shifted about.
How am I ever going to adjust to this? She wondered in dismay.
“Do you know what you need now?” Chasm asked from underneath her.
“Huh? Oh, yeah,” she stammered, looking down at herself.
I’ll have to get something to sit on. And definitely some rope.
“Yeah, I think I’d like to get down now,” she called.
Ow! His scales pinch!
“Here, let’s try walking first,” Chasm replied, taking a few steps forward.
Damara held her breath as his mighty shoulders swayed under her. She doubled over and clung to his scaly neck as his casual ambling nearly caused her to fall off.
“No- I don’t think I can hold on much longer,” she pressed anxiously. “Can’t you let me down already?”
“Alright, but you’ll have to get used to it at some point.”
“I will, I will,” she told him, holding tighter as he dropped back down.
“Aa-ah!” she cried aloud as she tumbled off him, landing on her rear end with her head against his chest.
Chasm laughed. Her neck craned back to see him. He was staring down at her, looking thoroughly humored. Immediately, she leapt up and held her arm in insecurity, feeling lousy.
“Now you’re even dirtier,” Chasm commented.
She sniffed unhappily. “Yeah, well, I’m used to it.”
“Let’s go our own ways for now,” the dragon said, looking around. “Meet me here tomorrow when the sun is directly above your head. Can you remember this place?”
Damara looked up at the rare, white pine she had climbed. It was the tallest tree in the area.
“Yeah,” she answered, a chilly wind kissing her face. “I’ll find you.”
“And if you can’t, then I’ll find you,” Chasm said. “I could recognize your scent anywhere.”
“I better be getting back,” Damara murmured, rubbing her arms for warmth. “Please don’t forget me.”
“Of course not- and don’t forget to bring what you need.”
I get to ride a dragon! The thought coursed through her head as she returned back home. Once there, she apologized to everyone for running off and let Catherine tend to her split knuckle.
She couldn’t get herself to fall asleep as she lay, playing everything over in her head and anxiously awaiting the events tomorrow would bring.
Chasm, she repeated his name silently to herself. With him, I can finally prove that I was right even though everyone mocked me.
A dragon wants to be friends with me again. It’s the best thing I could ever hope for.
Chapter 4
“You’ve been especially happy lately,” Catherine mentioned to Damara as they went about doing their chores. Catherine turned to her with a grin. “You found a boy for yourself, didn’t you?”
Damara’s smile broadened. Not the kind you’d expect, she answered silently, increasingly satisfied with herself.
“My, isn’t that something!” Catherine’s mother exclaimed, overhearing them. “Damara found herself a boy and now Xander can be the one to get all riled up.”
“Mom!” Catherine laughed, turning to her.
“What?” her mother replied, beaming with an all-knowing grin. “It’s what siblings are like- They want to manage each other’s lives. Why, I remember when your father had eyes for my sister. You can imagine how envious I was about that!”
“Dad was in love with Auntie?”
“Yes, but I won him for myself in the end, didn’t I? I remember how I used to…”
Damara blocked out their conversation as she began to think about Chasm again.
The sun is nearly above my head, she noted and sought for a way to slip out.
“I have to go,” she said, putting on her newly mended cape, and escaped out the door without looking back.
“Off to find her sweetheart.” Damara heard Catherine’s mother whisper to her daughter.
Their giggling ebbed in the distance as Damara hurried up to the head of the road, relieved to have not been called back. She found the rope and blanket she’d hidden for herself under a bush and took them with her into the forest.
It didn’t take her long to spot the pine that punctured the overcast sky with its highest needles. She stared at the brightest spot in the clouds, checking to make sure that the sun was directly above her head, and anxiously awaited Chasm’s arrival.
Her eyes fell to the rope in her hands as she fiddled with it nervously.
How am I going to situate this? she wondered, imagining herself having to close her arms around Chasm to bring the rope around his neck. Feeling a little queasy, she folded her arms close to her stomach. Everything’s going to be fine, she promised herself. I’ll get used to riding him soon enough.
“Oh, good, you’re here already.”
Damara started as Chasm’s voice came from behind.
That’s the second time he’s caught me off guard. She willed herself to not be so skittish. How can such a large beast move so silently?
The dragon’s eyes peered down at the rope and folded blanket in her hands. “I see you brought some things to help you.”
Damara nodded sheepishly. He doesn’t need anything for when I ride him. Why can’t I be more adaptable like him?
“I think I have to tie this around you,” she uttered, lifting up the rope, “so I have something to hold on to.”
Chasm smirked. “Then do so,” he replied, exposing his side to her as he had before.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Feeling especially self-conscious, she reached over his hefty back muscles to drape the rope over the base of his neck. Stepping back to look at him, she wondered what to do with it next.
If only there was special gear already made for this, she thought. But then, she supposed if there was any, she wouldn’t be the first dragon rider. She knitted her brow determinedly. I can do this.
“Um…” She looked up at Chasm. “Could you maybe…lie down on your side for a moment so I can tie it?”
The dragon frowned. “No need for that,” he said. “Just climb under and tie it from there.”
“Oh.” Damara ducked her head in embarrassment. She got down on all fours, feeling as though she couldn’t get any more awkward, and shimmied her way directly beneath him. She goggled at Chasm’s chest plates, knowing she’d be crushed if his strong legs were to buckle. She tied the rope as hastily as she could and wormed out from under him, pine needles stuck in her short hair. But then, realizing it wasn’t quite right, she climbed back under and did it again.
“Are you done yet?” Chasm growled just as Damara finished tying what she hoped to be her last knot.
“I think so,” she said, tugging on the rope to make sure that it was secure. “Let’s give this a try.”
The great dragon crouched down as she placed the blanket in the crook of his neck. Not quite so nervous anymore, she mounted him much more gracefully than before.
Positioning herself on top of the blanket, Damara was pleased to feel the huge improvement in comfort. Wobbling a little, she hooked her legs under a loop of rope. Another loop went around his neck and she gripped it tightly.
It still feels strange, she thought, feeling her legs shift under the rope. I’ll just have to get used to it.
Chasm began walking without asking if she was ready first. Instead of fighting for her balance, she let herself roll with the swagger of his gait, discovering that, by loosening her body, she could override the transitions of movement.
“That’s better,” Chasm snorted. “You’re not clinging to me so much this time.”
“I think I’m getting the hang of it!” Damara was delighted, looking down at herself, then lifting her head to gaze around as they moved forward. She ducked quickly as tree branches swept into her face. “Can you try not to walk me into the trees?”
“You can handle it.”
Damara spat bitter-tasting leaves out of her mouth. Irked, she took one hand off the rope to block the branches from her face as they brushed past.
Damara shielded her eyes as clouds parted way, allowing a few sunrays through to shine on a clearing in the woods. The trees thinned, opening up to her and Chasm a place free of any blockades or obstructions.
“Perfect,” Chasm grunted, outstretching his wings as if to embrace the breeze that met them. “Hold tight.”
“What?!” Damara yelped, unable to brace herself in time before he struck the earth and beat his powerful wings to rise, a thick mass of muscle and scales gliding low above the ground.
Tucking the gathered hem of her dress under her thighs, Damara laughed nervously as she realized she’d held on alright. She reminded her legs not to be so tense and let herself relax, learning how to keep her balance at each stroke of his wings. Their shadow glided over the plains as effortlessly as a pedal carried downstream.
“Yes!” she shouted out in overwhelmed excitement. She flung her arms out, as though they were her own pair of wings carrying her over the gentle air currents. “We’re flying!”
Chasm tilted upward for the sky, ascending with ease.
Damara felt her rear end slip back and her thighs press against the pumping shoulders of his wings. Her body started to peel away from him and she pulled herself in close to hug Chasm’s neck. In that position, air rode over her, no longer prying her off of the dragon’s back.
Damara stared with her cheek pressed against Chasm, watching as the forest shrank. Spotting her town down below, she called to the dragon, “They might see us!”
The wind whipped his reply away and her ears could not catch it. Still, they climbed higher, until Damara grew short of breath and they shot through the clouds.
Clouds! She gasped in the thin air, striving to fill her lungs. I can barely feel them. The most she could distinguish was a chilled moisture on her face as they sliced through the overcast. It almost smelled like rain.
A canopy of clouds, she thought, enticed. Her teeth chattered in the cold. Tiny bumps were forming on her arms in reaction to the cold but she couldn’t pull her flapping cape over them to warm herself.
A pop sounded in her ears and she frowned. What is that?
She tried to inhale, but her lungs failed to take in a satisfying amount of air. Again, she inhaled, but still the air was too thin.
“Chasm,” she heaved, alarmed as her ears popped a second time. “Chasm, I can’t breathe!”
The dragon bent downwards, filling her with wonder as a sense of weightlessness lifted her. Slowly at first, but with intensifying decline, Chasm dove, plunging faster and faster. Panicky, Damara clawed at his neck but couldn’t pull herself in. With wind roaring in her ears, she cried out as her legs slipped out from under the rope. She couldn’t hold on.
Like a leaf whisked from a branch, Damara broke away from Chasm.
Free falling.
“Chasm!” she shrieked, limbs flailing as she was turned over and over. Land and sky whirled around her, until her cape wrapped around her face and she could see nothing. She was screaming now, into the cloth, envisioning bone-crushing ground one last breath away.
Then- she was wrenched to a halt.
The fabric fell away from her eyes.
Chasm had her in his talons.
Breathing rapidly, Damara saw her feet dangling. Beneath them was the ground. A long way down.
He caught me! She sighed, relieved to be in his clutch, though her heart knocked furiously within her chest.
Chasm descended in a wide, banking spiral until they pierced through the leafless branches. With solid ground but a few feet beneath Damara, Chasm dropped her and she fell to her knees, shaking all over. She bent down and gripped handfuls of grass, a delirious fit of laughter stirring up inside of her until she could not contain it. Turning over onto her back, she stared up at the overcast sky through teary eyes as the laughter continued to spill out.
I touched those clouds!
Chasm looked down at her, his signature smirk marking his face. “You would’ve died just now, had I not caught you.”
“Well,” Damara wheezed, sitting up, “I wouldn’t have fallen off if you hadn’t dived with me on your back!”
Chasm grinned. “You’ll learn to like it,” he told her.
- - - - -
By the next week, Damara had mastered the techniques of riding a dragon. So quickly, in fact, that she prided herself in having a natural gift for it.
It had been over a month since the dragon attack on Swaineford and everyone seemed more at ease, as though assuming it was just a one-time occurrence.
Everyone that was, except King Chadwick, who was still gathering men for his army. Damara’s urgency to prove her point with Chasm became even more prominent in her mind. Though the Parade of the Troops seemed forever away, she could barely wait to show off to the people of Wystil- to prove that humans and dragons could be at peace with one another.
Going about her morning chores, Damara was feeling especially giddy.
“What’s making you so happy?” Catherine, slicing vegetables for that day’s stew, asked her yet again.
But Damara’s only response was, “You’ll see.”
“Damara, stop!” her friend laughed, exasperated as she shook the table in over exuberance. “You’ll make a mess!”
Damara stepped back but fidgeted in impatience, wanting to move onto their next chore. Just then, Catherine’s parents entered the house. Catherine’s father raised his eyebrows at Damara’s energy and she calmed herself, embarrassed.
“Finished with those?” Catherine’s mother asked, peering at the vegetables from over her daughter’s shoulder.
“Almost.”
Damara turned her head to the door as Xander entered. He paused in the doorway, glancing around the room as though unsure of what to do. Damara cocked her head slightly at him.
His eyes met hers and she grinned. The smile he returned was subtle and hesitant.
Something’s definitely wrong.
Catherine must have noticed too, because she asked her mother to take over her work and went to give him a hug. “You alright?” she asked him.
Damara could see her searching his eyes.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” he murmured. Obviously distracted, he cleared his throat and looked around at everyone inside the house. Damara noticed his eyes skip over hers and she braced herself.
This can’t be good.
“I have something to tell you,” Xander addressed the room, still standing close to the doorway. “I’ve been…called to fight.”
What?
Everyone rustled in place.
“I have to fight in the war, for King Chadwick,” Xander clarified further.
It was as though the room itself took a deep, collective breath.
Having said that, he approached Catherine’s father. “They’re interrupting my apprenticeship for now,” he told him. “They’re training me to be an archer.”
No! Damara thought. The King can’t just take my brother like that!
“Not to worry, Son.” The burly man clapped a heavy hand on Xander’s shoulder. “There’ll be plenty of time for pargeting after you come back.”
“Thank you,” Xander said.
Catherine came up behind him, slipping her hand into his. He turned to hug her again.
She’s not even going to protest? Damara thought. Doesn’t it horrify her that they’re making him go to war against-
No.
There will be no war.
Chasm and I have already decided that.
Suddenly, she realized everyone in the room was looking at her.
They want to see how I’ll respond.
“Damara, you know I have no choice,” Xander spoke, trying to reason with her even though she hadn’t said anything.
Damara scoffed and looked away, blowing the hair out of her face.
Doesn’t matter. Training will be in vain, you’ll see.
- - - - -
Out in the woods the next day, Damara was still distracted by Xander’s announcement. The whole time she flew on Chasm’s back, thoughts about her brother ran through her head.
Would he fight the dragons if he got the chance to? The thought disturbed her. Would he loose arrows on the very dragons that cared for us?
She didn’t even have to pay attention as Chasm went for another dive. Her body responded by habit, clinging close to him and pressing her legs into his sides so as not to slip.
Recalling how quick Xander was to accept his call to fight, anger began building up inside of her. Doesn’t he remember what we owe the Colony for taking us in? Doesn’t he have any loyalty?
What has my brother become?
- - - - -
Next thing she knew, flight practice was over and she was walking down the dirt road to her house in Rookton.
What is Xander thinking? The hem of her dress got wet as she kicked through a puddle. I’m out with Chasm, working towards peace, while he’s out there drawing arrows on fake dragon targets!
Lifting her eyes, she saw that someone sat hard at work, just outside the house. It was Xander, back from his first day of training.
I thought his apprenticeship was being interrupted for now, Damara thought. Yet there he was, crouched over a half-finished pargeting mould, carving away. She remembered how dizzy she’d become whenever she watched him work. So steady was he. So precise. He claimed it helped him to relax.
Damara tried to slip past, but he looked up and smiled.
“Hey,” he greeted, taking a moment to sit back. “Long day.”
Long day learning how to kill someone, you mean? Damara fumed. She stopped and leaned against a wall beside him, glowering up at the grey clouds overhead.
“I make a lousy archer,” Xander laughed good-naturedly. “I thought my artist hand might be just as steady on the bowstring as it is with pargeting tools, but-” he dropped his sentence, shrugging. “At least I’m not the only one who missed my mark.”
Damara gave him nothing but icy silence. Through the corner of her eye, she could see him turn his head to her.
“Why do you always insist on being like this?” he asked, standing up with arms crossed. “Do you enjoy making everyone around you uncomfortable?”
“What does it matter?!” Damara flared suddenly, fastening her eyes on him. “I didn’t ask to be talked to! Why should I have to waste my breath on pointless, petty conversation?
“And besides,” she ranted on, “how can you criticize me when you’re the one learning how to kill dragons? Don’t you care at all about the ones that took us in? If it weren’t for them, we’d still be calling to our weak-minded mother for help as our drunk father beat us senseless! Have you forgotten about all that, Brother?”
Xander glared back at her with dark brown eyes. “I was the one who insisted the Colony bring you in,” he spoke in a low voice. “I was the one who snuck back into the house to retrieve you. Do you really not remember that?”
“No!” Damara shouted. “I don’t! I can barely remember anything and you won’t tell me anything!” She felt her stomach muscles contract. Hot tears ran from her eyes and dropped to the dirt at her feet. “You won’t tell me anything…” she repeated quietly.
With her vision obscured, Damara couldn’t see his expression, but felt him touch her shoulder. Without another word, she shook his hand off and fled.
- - - - -
That night, Catherine came up beside Damara and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Damara furrowed her brow. “Sorry for what?”
“I just know how much you care about the dragons,” her friend explained. “And if there really are a lot of them out there, I’m sure there must be at least some that don’t deserve to be…well,” Catherine cut herself off. “I just know you must be upset with this whole war coming close…”
Damara looked up at her, amazed.
Maybe I’m not as misunderstood as I thought.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling in sincere gratitude.
- - - - -
In the morning, Damara felt so pleased with Catherine that she wanted to return the friendly gesture.
She doesn’t hate the dragons just for what they are, she thought to herself. Friends trust each other with their secrets. Why shouldn’t I trust Catherine with mine?
She remembered that Chasm had asked her to meet her in the morning.
“Catherine, I want to show you something,” Damara told her. “Will you come with me?”
“Sure,” Catherine said, and got up to follow.
Damara secured a gourd of water to her waist and slung a small satchel over her shoulder. Then, taking her friend by the hand, she led the way, saying cheerily, “It’s a secret so, besides me, you’re the first person to know about it.”
“Oh?”
Suddenly, Catherine halted. Xander was coming their way.
No, Damara groaned inwardly. She hadn’t spoken to her brother since the previous day. No doubt their fight was still fresh in his mind, as it was hers.
“Hey, Catherine,” Xander greeted. He nodded to Damara but she ignored him. “Where are you going?”
Catherine opened her mouth to reply but Damara cut her off.
“It’s a secret,” she said curtly, tugging at her friend’s arm. “Come on, Catherine.”
Damara saw Catherine give Xander an apologetic smile before giving in. Damara picked up the pace, wanting to leave her brother’s sight as quickly as possible.
Catherine looked more puzzled the farther out of town they got, until they reached the outskirts of the forest, where she stopped. “Damara, we aren’t allowed in the woods,” she protested.
“It’s a secret so it has to be hidden,” Damara urged her. “I’ve been here more times than I can count and I’ve never been caught.”
“Really?” Catherine looked concerned, but gave in anyway, allowing Damara to lead her in by the hand. “Let’s not get lost,” she said, gazing around at the plentiful trees that closed in on them.
“Just trust me,” Damara replied.
I’ll show her, Damara planned with a wary glance around, and then tell Chasm that I’m ready to fly in front of everyone else. Why wait for the Parade of the Troops? We can stop this war today!
As they came upon the great pine, Damara stopped and Catherine stood with her.
“Is this your secret?” her friend asked. “The woods? It’s beautiful, but I think we should be heading back.”
“No, just wait.” Damara promised her, “There’s more.”
There was the sound of rustling leaves and Catherine spun around to face it. Damara could see Chasm’s form slinking behind the trees, watching them. Beside her, Catherine drew in a sharp breath.
“You’ve brought a friend along,” Chasm rumbled, revealing himself. He eyed Catherine skeptically.
The young woman’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Don’t worry, Cath,” Damara said when she saw the look of horror on her face. “He’s my friend. You knew that dragons couldn’t all be bad, didn’t you? Like what you said last night? Well, look!” She skipped to Chasm and put her hand on his side, beaming. “We’re friends- just like you and I are!”
“Damara!”
She froze at the sound of her brother’s voice. From the brush he stepped out, eyes wide in awe-filled fear of the beast that stood with her. Catherine rushed to Xander’s side, trembling as she clung to his arm.
Xander stared at the dragon.
“Chasm.”
Damara could just barely hear him utter the name.
He remembers Chasm! Her heart jumped in envy. He must remember more from that life than I do.
“Damara,” Xander spoke and stepped forward, though Catherine cried out, trying to hold him back. He walked to Damara and grabbed her by the wrist.
“Let go of me,” she said, panicky as she stared into his eyes. The clench of his hand was painfully tight. “Let go of me, Xander!”
His eyes were intense with fear. “Come this way,” he spoke slowly, beginning to pull her, gently but firmly, towards Catherine.
“No. No, Xander,” Damara breathed. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”
It scared her to see him like that, with a frenzied, haunting gaze that gripped her just as much as the hand that gripped her wrist.
Then, Chasm brought his massive head within a foot of Xander’s face. Yet Xander stood his ground, staring back at the dragon, whose hot breath ruffled his hair.
“Let go of her,” Chasm rumbled in a low voice, baring his teeth.
With another cry, Catherine started to run forward and Xander let go of Damara in alarm. His hands flew out to stop Catherine, just as Chasm’s head snapped towards her.
The young woman halted in terror.
“Careful,” Chasm hissed, leering down. “Or you’ll trigger my hunting instincts.”
“Chasm!” Damara yowled, horrified to hear him threaten her own friend. Taking her chance to escape her brother, she clambered up the dragon’s back. “Please, let’s just leave.”
“Damara,” Xander implored, anxious eyes gazing at her from below, willing her to listen. “Chasm can’t be trusted. If you go with him now, I can’t protect you. Don’t do this.”
For a moment, something inside of her was frightened to hear him say those words.
But then…there was the power of Chasm’s back muscles moving beneath her. She was reminded of their combined strength- a human with a dragon. Her eyes lit up as she remembered their plan and grinned down at her brother, feeling as though she had just beaten him in a game.
“No. You don’t understand. Watch as I do what you should’ve done years ago,” she boasted as Chasm unfolded his wings. “I’m going to prove to the whole kingdom that humans and dragons can live together in peace. Soon, everyone will know that I was right!”
With that, Chasm struck the air and Damara watched as her brother and Catherine were swallowed by a thick cross hatching of shivering branches.
“You’ve been especially happy lately,” Catherine mentioned to Damara as they went about doing their chores. Catherine turned to her with a grin. “You found a boy for yourself, didn’t you?”
Damara’s smile broadened. Not the kind you’d expect, she answered silently, increasingly satisfied with herself.
“My, isn’t that something!” Catherine’s mother exclaimed, overhearing them. “Damara found herself a boy and now Xander can be the one to get all riled up.”
“Mom!” Catherine laughed, turning to her.
“What?” her mother replied, beaming with an all-knowing grin. “It’s what siblings are like- They want to manage each other’s lives. Why, I remember when your father had eyes for my sister. You can imagine how envious I was about that!”
“Dad was in love with Auntie?”
“Yes, but I won him for myself in the end, didn’t I? I remember how I used to…”
Damara blocked out their conversation as she began to think about Chasm again.
The sun is nearly above my head, she noted and sought for a way to slip out.
“I have to go,” she said, putting on her newly mended cape, and escaped out the door without looking back.
“Off to find her sweetheart.” Damara heard Catherine’s mother whisper to her daughter.
Their giggling ebbed in the distance as Damara hurried up to the head of the road, relieved to have not been called back. She found the rope and blanket she’d hidden for herself under a bush and took them with her into the forest.
It didn’t take her long to spot the pine that punctured the overcast sky with its highest needles. She stared at the brightest spot in the clouds, checking to make sure that the sun was directly above her head, and anxiously awaited Chasm’s arrival.
Her eyes fell to the rope in her hands as she fiddled with it nervously.
How am I going to situate this? she wondered, imagining herself having to close her arms around Chasm to bring the rope around his neck. Feeling a little queasy, she folded her arms close to her stomach. Everything’s going to be fine, she promised herself. I’ll get used to riding him soon enough.
“Oh, good, you’re here already.”
Damara started as Chasm’s voice came from behind.
That’s the second time he’s caught me off guard. She willed herself to not be so skittish. How can such a large beast move so silently?
The dragon’s eyes peered down at the rope and folded blanket in her hands. “I see you brought some things to help you.”
Damara nodded sheepishly. He doesn’t need anything for when I ride him. Why can’t I be more adaptable like him?
“I think I have to tie this around you,” she uttered, lifting up the rope, “so I have something to hold on to.”
Chasm smirked. “Then do so,” he replied, exposing his side to her as he had before.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. Feeling especially self-conscious, she reached over his hefty back muscles to drape the rope over the base of his neck. Stepping back to look at him, she wondered what to do with it next.
If only there was special gear already made for this, she thought. But then, she supposed if there was any, she wouldn’t be the first dragon rider. She knitted her brow determinedly. I can do this.
“Um…” She looked up at Chasm. “Could you maybe…lie down on your side for a moment so I can tie it?”
The dragon frowned. “No need for that,” he said. “Just climb under and tie it from there.”
“Oh.” Damara ducked her head in embarrassment. She got down on all fours, feeling as though she couldn’t get any more awkward, and shimmied her way directly beneath him. She goggled at Chasm’s chest plates, knowing she’d be crushed if his strong legs were to buckle. She tied the rope as hastily as she could and wormed out from under him, pine needles stuck in her short hair. But then, realizing it wasn’t quite right, she climbed back under and did it again.
“Are you done yet?” Chasm growled just as Damara finished tying what she hoped to be her last knot.
“I think so,” she said, tugging on the rope to make sure that it was secure. “Let’s give this a try.”
The great dragon crouched down as she placed the blanket in the crook of his neck. Not quite so nervous anymore, she mounted him much more gracefully than before.
Positioning herself on top of the blanket, Damara was pleased to feel the huge improvement in comfort. Wobbling a little, she hooked her legs under a loop of rope. Another loop went around his neck and she gripped it tightly.
It still feels strange, she thought, feeling her legs shift under the rope. I’ll just have to get used to it.
Chasm began walking without asking if she was ready first. Instead of fighting for her balance, she let herself roll with the swagger of his gait, discovering that, by loosening her body, she could override the transitions of movement.
“That’s better,” Chasm snorted. “You’re not clinging to me so much this time.”
“I think I’m getting the hang of it!” Damara was delighted, looking down at herself, then lifting her head to gaze around as they moved forward. She ducked quickly as tree branches swept into her face. “Can you try not to walk me into the trees?”
“You can handle it.”
Damara spat bitter-tasting leaves out of her mouth. Irked, she took one hand off the rope to block the branches from her face as they brushed past.
Damara shielded her eyes as clouds parted way, allowing a few sunrays through to shine on a clearing in the woods. The trees thinned, opening up to her and Chasm a place free of any blockades or obstructions.
“Perfect,” Chasm grunted, outstretching his wings as if to embrace the breeze that met them. “Hold tight.”
“What?!” Damara yelped, unable to brace herself in time before he struck the earth and beat his powerful wings to rise, a thick mass of muscle and scales gliding low above the ground.
Tucking the gathered hem of her dress under her thighs, Damara laughed nervously as she realized she’d held on alright. She reminded her legs not to be so tense and let herself relax, learning how to keep her balance at each stroke of his wings. Their shadow glided over the plains as effortlessly as a pedal carried downstream.
“Yes!” she shouted out in overwhelmed excitement. She flung her arms out, as though they were her own pair of wings carrying her over the gentle air currents. “We’re flying!”
Chasm tilted upward for the sky, ascending with ease.
Damara felt her rear end slip back and her thighs press against the pumping shoulders of his wings. Her body started to peel away from him and she pulled herself in close to hug Chasm’s neck. In that position, air rode over her, no longer prying her off of the dragon’s back.
Damara stared with her cheek pressed against Chasm, watching as the forest shrank. Spotting her town down below, she called to the dragon, “They might see us!”
The wind whipped his reply away and her ears could not catch it. Still, they climbed higher, until Damara grew short of breath and they shot through the clouds.
Clouds! She gasped in the thin air, striving to fill her lungs. I can barely feel them. The most she could distinguish was a chilled moisture on her face as they sliced through the overcast. It almost smelled like rain.
A canopy of clouds, she thought, enticed. Her teeth chattered in the cold. Tiny bumps were forming on her arms in reaction to the cold but she couldn’t pull her flapping cape over them to warm herself.
A pop sounded in her ears and she frowned. What is that?
She tried to inhale, but her lungs failed to take in a satisfying amount of air. Again, she inhaled, but still the air was too thin.
“Chasm,” she heaved, alarmed as her ears popped a second time. “Chasm, I can’t breathe!”
The dragon bent downwards, filling her with wonder as a sense of weightlessness lifted her. Slowly at first, but with intensifying decline, Chasm dove, plunging faster and faster. Panicky, Damara clawed at his neck but couldn’t pull herself in. With wind roaring in her ears, she cried out as her legs slipped out from under the rope. She couldn’t hold on.
Like a leaf whisked from a branch, Damara broke away from Chasm.
Free falling.
“Chasm!” she shrieked, limbs flailing as she was turned over and over. Land and sky whirled around her, until her cape wrapped around her face and she could see nothing. She was screaming now, into the cloth, envisioning bone-crushing ground one last breath away.
Then- she was wrenched to a halt.
The fabric fell away from her eyes.
Chasm had her in his talons.
Breathing rapidly, Damara saw her feet dangling. Beneath them was the ground. A long way down.
He caught me! She sighed, relieved to be in his clutch, though her heart knocked furiously within her chest.
Chasm descended in a wide, banking spiral until they pierced through the leafless branches. With solid ground but a few feet beneath Damara, Chasm dropped her and she fell to her knees, shaking all over. She bent down and gripped handfuls of grass, a delirious fit of laughter stirring up inside of her until she could not contain it. Turning over onto her back, she stared up at the overcast sky through teary eyes as the laughter continued to spill out.
I touched those clouds!
Chasm looked down at her, his signature smirk marking his face. “You would’ve died just now, had I not caught you.”
“Well,” Damara wheezed, sitting up, “I wouldn’t have fallen off if you hadn’t dived with me on your back!”
Chasm grinned. “You’ll learn to like it,” he told her.
- - - - -
By the next week, Damara had mastered the techniques of riding a dragon. So quickly, in fact, that she prided herself in having a natural gift for it.
It had been over a month since the dragon attack on Swaineford and everyone seemed more at ease, as though assuming it was just a one-time occurrence.
Everyone that was, except King Chadwick, who was still gathering men for his army. Damara’s urgency to prove her point with Chasm became even more prominent in her mind. Though the Parade of the Troops seemed forever away, she could barely wait to show off to the people of Wystil- to prove that humans and dragons could be at peace with one another.
Going about her morning chores, Damara was feeling especially giddy.
“What’s making you so happy?” Catherine, slicing vegetables for that day’s stew, asked her yet again.
But Damara’s only response was, “You’ll see.”
“Damara, stop!” her friend laughed, exasperated as she shook the table in over exuberance. “You’ll make a mess!”
Damara stepped back but fidgeted in impatience, wanting to move onto their next chore. Just then, Catherine’s parents entered the house. Catherine’s father raised his eyebrows at Damara’s energy and she calmed herself, embarrassed.
“Finished with those?” Catherine’s mother asked, peering at the vegetables from over her daughter’s shoulder.
“Almost.”
Damara turned her head to the door as Xander entered. He paused in the doorway, glancing around the room as though unsure of what to do. Damara cocked her head slightly at him.
His eyes met hers and she grinned. The smile he returned was subtle and hesitant.
Something’s definitely wrong.
Catherine must have noticed too, because she asked her mother to take over her work and went to give him a hug. “You alright?” she asked him.
Damara could see her searching his eyes.
“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” he murmured. Obviously distracted, he cleared his throat and looked around at everyone inside the house. Damara noticed his eyes skip over hers and she braced herself.
This can’t be good.
“I have something to tell you,” Xander addressed the room, still standing close to the doorway. “I’ve been…called to fight.”
What?
Everyone rustled in place.
“I have to fight in the war, for King Chadwick,” Xander clarified further.
It was as though the room itself took a deep, collective breath.
Having said that, he approached Catherine’s father. “They’re interrupting my apprenticeship for now,” he told him. “They’re training me to be an archer.”
No! Damara thought. The King can’t just take my brother like that!
“Not to worry, Son.” The burly man clapped a heavy hand on Xander’s shoulder. “There’ll be plenty of time for pargeting after you come back.”
“Thank you,” Xander said.
Catherine came up behind him, slipping her hand into his. He turned to hug her again.
She’s not even going to protest? Damara thought. Doesn’t it horrify her that they’re making him go to war against-
No.
There will be no war.
Chasm and I have already decided that.
Suddenly, she realized everyone in the room was looking at her.
They want to see how I’ll respond.
“Damara, you know I have no choice,” Xander spoke, trying to reason with her even though she hadn’t said anything.
Damara scoffed and looked away, blowing the hair out of her face.
Doesn’t matter. Training will be in vain, you’ll see.
- - - - -
Out in the woods the next day, Damara was still distracted by Xander’s announcement. The whole time she flew on Chasm’s back, thoughts about her brother ran through her head.
Would he fight the dragons if he got the chance to? The thought disturbed her. Would he loose arrows on the very dragons that cared for us?
She didn’t even have to pay attention as Chasm went for another dive. Her body responded by habit, clinging close to him and pressing her legs into his sides so as not to slip.
Recalling how quick Xander was to accept his call to fight, anger began building up inside of her. Doesn’t he remember what we owe the Colony for taking us in? Doesn’t he have any loyalty?
What has my brother become?
- - - - -
Next thing she knew, flight practice was over and she was walking down the dirt road to her house in Rookton.
What is Xander thinking? The hem of her dress got wet as she kicked through a puddle. I’m out with Chasm, working towards peace, while he’s out there drawing arrows on fake dragon targets!
Lifting her eyes, she saw that someone sat hard at work, just outside the house. It was Xander, back from his first day of training.
I thought his apprenticeship was being interrupted for now, Damara thought. Yet there he was, crouched over a half-finished pargeting mould, carving away. She remembered how dizzy she’d become whenever she watched him work. So steady was he. So precise. He claimed it helped him to relax.
Damara tried to slip past, but he looked up and smiled.
“Hey,” he greeted, taking a moment to sit back. “Long day.”
Long day learning how to kill someone, you mean? Damara fumed. She stopped and leaned against a wall beside him, glowering up at the grey clouds overhead.
“I make a lousy archer,” Xander laughed good-naturedly. “I thought my artist hand might be just as steady on the bowstring as it is with pargeting tools, but-” he dropped his sentence, shrugging. “At least I’m not the only one who missed my mark.”
Damara gave him nothing but icy silence. Through the corner of her eye, she could see him turn his head to her.
“Why do you always insist on being like this?” he asked, standing up with arms crossed. “Do you enjoy making everyone around you uncomfortable?”
“What does it matter?!” Damara flared suddenly, fastening her eyes on him. “I didn’t ask to be talked to! Why should I have to waste my breath on pointless, petty conversation?
“And besides,” she ranted on, “how can you criticize me when you’re the one learning how to kill dragons? Don’t you care at all about the ones that took us in? If it weren’t for them, we’d still be calling to our weak-minded mother for help as our drunk father beat us senseless! Have you forgotten about all that, Brother?”
Xander glared back at her with dark brown eyes. “I was the one who insisted the Colony bring you in,” he spoke in a low voice. “I was the one who snuck back into the house to retrieve you. Do you really not remember that?”
“No!” Damara shouted. “I don’t! I can barely remember anything and you won’t tell me anything!” She felt her stomach muscles contract. Hot tears ran from her eyes and dropped to the dirt at her feet. “You won’t tell me anything…” she repeated quietly.
With her vision obscured, Damara couldn’t see his expression, but felt him touch her shoulder. Without another word, she shook his hand off and fled.
- - - - -
That night, Catherine came up beside Damara and gave her a hug. “I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Damara furrowed her brow. “Sorry for what?”
“I just know how much you care about the dragons,” her friend explained. “And if there really are a lot of them out there, I’m sure there must be at least some that don’t deserve to be…well,” Catherine cut herself off. “I just know you must be upset with this whole war coming close…”
Damara looked up at her, amazed.
Maybe I’m not as misunderstood as I thought.
“Thanks,” she said, smiling in sincere gratitude.
- - - - -
In the morning, Damara felt so pleased with Catherine that she wanted to return the friendly gesture.
She doesn’t hate the dragons just for what they are, she thought to herself. Friends trust each other with their secrets. Why shouldn’t I trust Catherine with mine?
She remembered that Chasm had asked her to meet her in the morning.
“Catherine, I want to show you something,” Damara told her. “Will you come with me?”
“Sure,” Catherine said, and got up to follow.
Damara secured a gourd of water to her waist and slung a small satchel over her shoulder. Then, taking her friend by the hand, she led the way, saying cheerily, “It’s a secret so, besides me, you’re the first person to know about it.”
“Oh?”
Suddenly, Catherine halted. Xander was coming their way.
No, Damara groaned inwardly. She hadn’t spoken to her brother since the previous day. No doubt their fight was still fresh in his mind, as it was hers.
“Hey, Catherine,” Xander greeted. He nodded to Damara but she ignored him. “Where are you going?”
Catherine opened her mouth to reply but Damara cut her off.
“It’s a secret,” she said curtly, tugging at her friend’s arm. “Come on, Catherine.”
Damara saw Catherine give Xander an apologetic smile before giving in. Damara picked up the pace, wanting to leave her brother’s sight as quickly as possible.
Catherine looked more puzzled the farther out of town they got, until they reached the outskirts of the forest, where she stopped. “Damara, we aren’t allowed in the woods,” she protested.
“It’s a secret so it has to be hidden,” Damara urged her. “I’ve been here more times than I can count and I’ve never been caught.”
“Really?” Catherine looked concerned, but gave in anyway, allowing Damara to lead her in by the hand. “Let’s not get lost,” she said, gazing around at the plentiful trees that closed in on them.
“Just trust me,” Damara replied.
I’ll show her, Damara planned with a wary glance around, and then tell Chasm that I’m ready to fly in front of everyone else. Why wait for the Parade of the Troops? We can stop this war today!
As they came upon the great pine, Damara stopped and Catherine stood with her.
“Is this your secret?” her friend asked. “The woods? It’s beautiful, but I think we should be heading back.”
“No, just wait.” Damara promised her, “There’s more.”
There was the sound of rustling leaves and Catherine spun around to face it. Damara could see Chasm’s form slinking behind the trees, watching them. Beside her, Catherine drew in a sharp breath.
“You’ve brought a friend along,” Chasm rumbled, revealing himself. He eyed Catherine skeptically.
The young woman’s hand flew to her mouth.
“Don’t worry, Cath,” Damara said when she saw the look of horror on her face. “He’s my friend. You knew that dragons couldn’t all be bad, didn’t you? Like what you said last night? Well, look!” She skipped to Chasm and put her hand on his side, beaming. “We’re friends- just like you and I are!”
“Damara!”
She froze at the sound of her brother’s voice. From the brush he stepped out, eyes wide in awe-filled fear of the beast that stood with her. Catherine rushed to Xander’s side, trembling as she clung to his arm.
Xander stared at the dragon.
“Chasm.”
Damara could just barely hear him utter the name.
He remembers Chasm! Her heart jumped in envy. He must remember more from that life than I do.
“Damara,” Xander spoke and stepped forward, though Catherine cried out, trying to hold him back. He walked to Damara and grabbed her by the wrist.
“Let go of me,” she said, panicky as she stared into his eyes. The clench of his hand was painfully tight. “Let go of me, Xander!”
His eyes were intense with fear. “Come this way,” he spoke slowly, beginning to pull her, gently but firmly, towards Catherine.
“No. No, Xander,” Damara breathed. “Let go, you’re hurting me.”
It scared her to see him like that, with a frenzied, haunting gaze that gripped her just as much as the hand that gripped her wrist.
Then, Chasm brought his massive head within a foot of Xander’s face. Yet Xander stood his ground, staring back at the dragon, whose hot breath ruffled his hair.
“Let go of her,” Chasm rumbled in a low voice, baring his teeth.
With another cry, Catherine started to run forward and Xander let go of Damara in alarm. His hands flew out to stop Catherine, just as Chasm’s head snapped towards her.
The young woman halted in terror.
“Careful,” Chasm hissed, leering down. “Or you’ll trigger my hunting instincts.”
“Chasm!” Damara yowled, horrified to hear him threaten her own friend. Taking her chance to escape her brother, she clambered up the dragon’s back. “Please, let’s just leave.”
“Damara,” Xander implored, anxious eyes gazing at her from below, willing her to listen. “Chasm can’t be trusted. If you go with him now, I can’t protect you. Don’t do this.”
For a moment, something inside of her was frightened to hear him say those words.
But then…there was the power of Chasm’s back muscles moving beneath her. She was reminded of their combined strength- a human with a dragon. Her eyes lit up as she remembered their plan and grinned down at her brother, feeling as though she had just beaten him in a game.
“No. You don’t understand. Watch as I do what you should’ve done years ago,” she boasted as Chasm unfolded his wings. “I’m going to prove to the whole kingdom that humans and dragons can live together in peace. Soon, everyone will know that I was right!”
With that, Chasm struck the air and Damara watched as her brother and Catherine were swallowed by a thick cross hatching of shivering branches.
Copyright © 2015 Delaney Walnofer