The Frozen Flame
In The beginning, there was light.
Diamond white light cut through the shadows of the darkness as Rodrakath breathed flames into the small passage. The walls glittered with black crystals, like one thousand eyes urging us to turn back; but there was no turning back, not this time. All that was left of our beautiful home were hot coals, red eyes placed behind us as they slowly burn out, like eyes closing for their final rest. We were warned not to go down this cave, even if it meant death; but seeing as how there was nothing left of our world, we must move on to the other world to survive.
Smoke started seeping into the cave as we moved forward, slowly suffocating and engulfing us in darkness. I franticly scratched at the walls, crystals broke off under my hands as the walls started to shake violently; threatening to crumble and fall around us. The light at the other side of the cave came from the other world, but it was starting to grow weak now, with each breath I choked on thick smoke and grew more faint and more dizzy.
"We must keep going Delania, we mustn't give up. To get this far and not make it..." Rodrakath pushed me from behind with his snout.
"No, I have to rest. Just for a bit. I can't breath" I pleaded between coughs as I sat on the gritty ground. Shaking feverishly from suffocation, I pulled a crystal off the wall and felt it's cool burn on my skin. Anything to distract me, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the other world. This would be my end, in this dark cave.
Rodrakath was saying something, I could feel his booming voice in my chest, but my ears failed me. I felt his searing hot breath on my skin, he must have been just inches from my face, but my eyes failed to see his face. I felt as his claws wrap around me as a burst of blue light sent pain through every inch of my body. Then there was nothing. For a long time there was nothing. Then there was something.
A warm breeze sifting through the leaves of a tree near by. Birds singsong singing drifting through the sky. A soft snoring in my ear. The smell of flowers in the fresh air. I open my eyes to see Rodrakath sleeping in a patch of wild flowers, in the form of a big hairy dog, the dragons' favorite thing to be other than a dragon. I was home again, lying on the soft grass under the old willow tree.
What a nightmare, it felt so real. I can even still smell the smoke and feel the impending doom creeping up to stab me in the back. Thinking to myself, I stood and walked over to Rodrakath and reached down to pat him. As I reached down he started with a yelp that turned into a deep growl, the growl of a dragon, jumped up and morphed into his dragon form and flew off into the setting sun.
"It was only a dream Rodrakath! Come back!" He continued to fly away as I shouted at him. His deep violet scales reflecting the sun set as his powerful wings carried him off into the dimming sky. A tear escaped my eye at the beauty of his magnificence. His form shimmered and he disappeared completely as he cloaked himself from unfriendly eyes. Leaving me alone in this wood, to walk home in the night.
I kicked at the dirt as I walked, not far from the tree I bumped something solid with my toe. I bent down and picked it up. It was a crystal the size of my hand, a shade so deep red that it was almost black.
Smoke started seeping into the cave as we moved forward, slowly suffocating and engulfing us in darkness. I franticly scratched at the walls, crystals broke off under my hands as the walls started to shake violently; threatening to crumble and fall around us. The light at the other side of the cave came from the other world, but it was starting to grow weak now, with each breath I choked on thick smoke and grew more faint and more dizzy.
"We must keep going Delania, we mustn't give up. To get this far and not make it..." Rodrakath pushed me from behind with his snout.
"No, I have to rest. Just for a bit. I can't breath" I pleaded between coughs as I sat on the gritty ground. Shaking feverishly from suffocation, I pulled a crystal off the wall and felt it's cool burn on my skin. Anything to distract me, I knew I wasn't going to make it to the other world. This would be my end, in this dark cave.
Rodrakath was saying something, I could feel his booming voice in my chest, but my ears failed me. I felt his searing hot breath on my skin, he must have been just inches from my face, but my eyes failed to see his face. I felt as his claws wrap around me as a burst of blue light sent pain through every inch of my body. Then there was nothing. For a long time there was nothing. Then there was something.
A warm breeze sifting through the leaves of a tree near by. Birds singsong singing drifting through the sky. A soft snoring in my ear. The smell of flowers in the fresh air. I open my eyes to see Rodrakath sleeping in a patch of wild flowers, in the form of a big hairy dog, the dragons' favorite thing to be other than a dragon. I was home again, lying on the soft grass under the old willow tree.
What a nightmare, it felt so real. I can even still smell the smoke and feel the impending doom creeping up to stab me in the back. Thinking to myself, I stood and walked over to Rodrakath and reached down to pat him. As I reached down he started with a yelp that turned into a deep growl, the growl of a dragon, jumped up and morphed into his dragon form and flew off into the setting sun.
"It was only a dream Rodrakath! Come back!" He continued to fly away as I shouted at him. His deep violet scales reflecting the sun set as his powerful wings carried him off into the dimming sky. A tear escaped my eye at the beauty of his magnificence. His form shimmered and he disappeared completely as he cloaked himself from unfriendly eyes. Leaving me alone in this wood, to walk home in the night.
I kicked at the dirt as I walked, not far from the tree I bumped something solid with my toe. I bent down and picked it up. It was a crystal the size of my hand, a shade so deep red that it was almost black.