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Tamer of Dragons - Part One
by
JAS
Mel shivered,
pulling her cloak closer as a cool breeze tousled
her hair. She hopefully glanced over at
Prince William, but he paid her no heed. With a
sigh, she finally spoke. “Please can we go?”
William
merely glanced at her. “Will-”
“Hush,” he murmured. “Here it comes.” The sound of
flapping wings could be heard; a strong wind
sent them stumbling back. Mel’s hair whipped her
red cheeks. To keep a scream from erupting out of
her
throat, she bit her lower lip until the salty taste
of blood reached her tongue. A large green scaly
beast
came flying over them. Mel wanted to run, to get
out of there, but her legs felt like blocks of
wood. She
was glued to the ground.
William, on the other hand, stared at it in awe and
amazement. He’d seen it before, he knew it
was coming. Mel hadn’t believed him. Dragons
weren’t supposed to be here. They were supposed to
have
all traveled back to their world long ago. As soon
as the dragon had passed, William looked back at
Mel
with a proud grin. Seeing her expression, his grin
faded, replaced by worry. She was still staring at
where
it had been, her face milky white, and her eyes
opened wide with fear. She looked frozen, unable to
move.
She appeared not to even be breathing.
“Mel,” he began hesitantly, running toward her. He
stopped, surprised, as she turned toward him,
her eyes unblinking. He sighed, relieved she was
still alive; for a moment it had looked as though
her
heart had burst in her fear. Still staring at him,
she collapsed. The first time he’d seen the dragon,
he’d
thought it beautiful, a wonderment. He was surprised
and panicked by her reaction.
Hastily, he ran through the sparkling white snow to
get to Mel. Crouching beside her, he gathered
her up in his arms. Slowly, his legs wobbling, he
stood. He was only slightly larger then she, and as
he
began the long walk back to his palace, he began to
wonder if he’d make it.
“How old are you, boy?” asked a sudden voice. In
surprise, William let go of the large bundle in
his arms. For a fleeting moment, he glimpsed a
woman under the snow. In wonder, he crouched down
on
the spot he’d seen her and brushed the snow off the
frozen lake that had running water to
swim in, in summer. He brushed away more snow,
searching for the white face. An icy hand touched
his
shoulder, so cold he could feel it through all the
thick layers of clothing he wore. It sent a shiver
up his
spine and made his hair feel as though it were
standing up on end.
“Answer.”
William hesitantly turned his head. It was
a woman, her skin as white and sparkly as
the snow around them, her hair, which was piled on
top of her head, the same color. Her bright violet
eyes pierced into his. She didn’t appear to be dressed
appropriately for the weather at all, however, this
didn’t seem to matter to her. She wore a thin dress
the same color as her eyes. Her expression was
unreadable as well as her age. She looked both old
and young at the same time. She was lovely and
unwrinkled, though old beyond her age.
“Thirteen years of age, lady,” he answered meekly.
“Two more years,” she murmured, her eyes never
leaving his. Suddenly, she turned her head,
giving back William’s will to look away. She turned
toward Mel who still lay in the snow and walked
toward her. Her stride was fast paced, graceful,
and smooth. One of her icy hands reached toward
Mel’s
face, she set it upon her forehead. “Your sister,”
she spoke evenly, “is dead.” It took William a few
moments to process what she’d said. Mel was dead.
“No,” he breathed. Reaching out to her, his hand fell
short. She wasn’t moving; she looked stiff, as
stiff as his old cat had been when she died a year
before. Her chest had stopped moving. William knew
she was right, though at the same time wouldn’t
believe it. He fell upon the snow next to his
sister,
brushing her cheek with a trembling white hand. He
brushed her auburn curls out of her eyes, which were
open though unseeing.
He opened his mouth to call for the white lady, to
demand that she help, but all that came out
was a loud sob. The uncontrollable sobs continued
to come, he couldn’t stop himself. Hot tears
trickled
down his cheeks. He threw himself away from Mel,
not wanting to see her, not wanting to see the look
of
death upon her face. He buried his face into the
snow.
William had no idea of how much time had passed.
He’d finally been able to stop the loud wailing,
and he
had run out of tears. His eyes were become red and puffy, his sight blurred. Finally, he forced
himself to
walk to Mel, to lift her up once more. It was
harder then this time to lift her, the crying had
taken away
most of his strength.
A strong wind blew him a few feet backwards.
Peering up, he saw the great green dragon.
Gasping, he turned to run. He had to get away, but
he couldn’t possibly, carrying such a heavy load.
It
landed a few feet in front of him. It blew smoke
out of its nostrils in annoyance. William could
only stare.
He wasn’t frightened really, just full of shock.
The dragon snorted again, sending rings of smoke
drifting
toward him.
Smoke filled William’s lungs; coughing, he tried to
wave it away. The grand dragon’s emerald
green eyes stared at him expectantly, as if waiting
for something. Biting his lower lip, William also
waited. The dragon cleared its throat and for a
moment William wondered if it would speak. It did
nothing
else.
“Dragon,” William began in a hoarse whisper.
“Prince,” the dragon’s voice came out in a deep
rumble. William stepped back, even more
stunned. “You called.”
“No,” William replied, stumbling backwards, shaking his head. The dragon moved his head
up and down, as though nodding. “No...”
“Yes,” the dragon replied, “I was surprised, there
are few dragon tamers left.”
William shook his
head. This was preposterous! He’d heard of dragon
tamers before, they were able to make dragons obey
them. But the last of them had died off many years
ago. He could not be a dragon tamer, and that was a
solid fact.
“Why would I call you?” he demanded. “Even if I
were one! Why would I call you here? Answer
that!” He was screaming and he didn’t even notice.
The dragon didn’t seem to notice either.
“Isn’t it obvious?” he wanted to know. “The girl,
she is dead. You wanted me to save her. It is too
late.” William shook his head ferociously. “I
didn’t call you!” he yelled, “And - and she’s not
dead!” He
absolutely refused to believe it, she wasn’t dead.
One of the palace mages would heal her.
“I have a few words of advice, lad,” the dragon said.
“You must’ve seen the woman already, she
knows.” But William was hardly listening. “Have you
ever wondered where the dragon tamers all went?”
“No!” he yelled, “I don’t care! Leave me alone!” He
had wondered of course, they’d all wondered.
But he wanted the dragon to leave, why was it still
here?
The dragon went on, as though he hadn’t heard. “It
wasn’t just a coincidence they all disappeared
near the same time. No, she’d had enough of them.
Beware of her. If she can help it, she won’t let
you
live.” But William had scarcely heard a word the
dragon spoke, he was still denying the fact that a
dragon
was standing but a few feet in front of him, that
Mel was dead.
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