A Dragon's Tale: The Dragon's Orb

[my-star-seeker]

Prologue

It was said that hundreds of years ago an age of dragons ruled. They soared the skies and conquered lands, but mankind was not about to fall. They threw swords that would tame the dragons flesh, and would use the dragons remaining organs, blood, and bones as medicines and elixirs to gain immortality, strength, and protection. The dragons soon lost their terrain as they were forced to move into secrecy with other mystical creatures in Dragon Isle, which been remained hidden for hundreds of years, out of mans binding arms and hurtful hands

But one treasure that was long lost and forgotten from the humans was the Dragons’ Orb. A powerful and magical orb that would give you one possession that you yearned to have, but in exchange for the wish, in 50 years you’d have to return to the orb, and become a sacrifice to the dragons, giving them more and more power. If enough sacrifices came, and enough power came to the dragons, the dragons could kill mankind off… for good…

Natural
Into
Super
Natural

Coma
And
Death

My morning was pretty much like this: My alarm clock goes off. I slide in the shower, dry my hair, go down stairs, and Mom has my favorite breakfast: chocolate chip pancakes. It’s just another crappy day. Nothing new.
“Morning!” my mom chirps with her over perky smile.
“Hi.” I mumble. Mom waltzes over and hugs me. Ugh.
“Are you ready for school? Is your homework done, backpack packed, binder cleaned and organized…” I hate it when she does this. She’s a neat freak. Better say yea before she short circuits.
“Yea, yea, yea.” Actually, it’s no, no… and oh, yea, no.
“Okay. You’d better eat before you miss the bus.” Now that’s something I can agree to.

“See ya mom.” I gave her a hug and ran out the door, and while I was running, she yelled,
“Love you!”
“Love you too.” I called back.
I love you… I love you too mom. I’ll always love you.
I was sitting through science when I got the message.
“…So because of the gravitational pull of the sun the planets rotate around the sun making a galaxy, and when the sun is destroyed the planets wouldn’t be gravitationally pulled toward anything so the planets would probably go free flying through the universe until it gets in the…” Why am I listening to her? “…Questions?”
“Miss Caroline?” The secretary said over the intercom.
“Yes?”
“I need Catherine Susans to report to the office.”
“I’ll send her right away.”
“I’m going,” I said as I gathered my stuff and went to the office. What are they blaming me for this time? It’s not like I put snakes in the toilets…again… or rearranged all the teachers files, turned every poster and paper on the wall and cork board upside down, cracked open eggs in the teachers desk, put death threats on the chalk board, stole all the chalk, or loosen the screws in the projector screen…again. I walked in the office and instantly claimed, “Whatever it is, I didn’t do it this time.”
“Hello Cat.” I looked up. I froze and I felt fear creep in my heart and lightning race up and down my spine. From the moment I looked up at her I knew something was wrong… something warned me of danger, and I was right to fear.
“Aunt…Lois?” I couldn’t believe that Lois was here. She’s single mother with a preschooler, two toddlers and a pair of infant twins, she would never come here unless something bad happened.
“Cat, there has been an accident. We’ll go get your brothers, and I’ll tell you about it all at home.”

I can’t believe that this is happening. My eyes welled up with tears as I held back the scream that I urged to yell. I shook and I cried, I moaned and choked. My parents are pretty much dead.
My dad smoked a lot, in fact, about 2 ½ packs a day. We knew he did, and we just… pretended that it wasn’t really anything bad. I mean, yea it’s bad for you, but we never really thought that anything bad would happen to us. Every once in a while, he’d have a coughing fit, and everything would be fine. Well, now he had a coughing fit, and nothing big happened. All he did was cough. But this time, he didn’t just cough.
My mom and dad were driving to the hardware store to get some parts for our broken lawn mower, but while dad was driving, he had a really bad coughing fit. He lost control of the car on highway, and went swerving in the other lane. He went crashing into 5 other cars, making a small chain crash. Nobody was seriously hurt, except for my parents. My dad was dead. He had a 4x4 truck slam in his window. He couldn’t have survived. But the truck hitting them sent the car on a spin, and Mom’s side was hit by an SUV. She was in coma, and because of the seriousness of the hit, she’d probably never wake up.
I’m being sent to my Grandparents who live in Montana, with a cattle ranch. I have to move thousands of miles away, unable to see my father’s grave, unable to visit my mother and know if she’s recovering, unable to go to my friends to reassure me, and unable to go to my house or room for comfort. I’m going to be stuck, alone, surrounded by big, fat, ugly cows. I’m so happy to be alive.

My name is Catherine, but everyone calls me Cat. I’m 14 years old, I have brown hair that goes to my waist, brown eyes, and my parents are pretty much dead, and I’m riding in a car with someone I’m glad I never met.
“You shouldn’t worry dear,” my grandma cooed, “All is well, all is well. Ya motha’ will do fine! Jasmine was always strong. She will pull throw’, she’ll pull throw.” I hated, hated my grandmother’s accent and her habit of repeating her sentences. What I hated more was how she was always happy. She was never angry, sad, frustrated, or upset, only happy. Isn’t that grand? “Just five mar’ ‘hou’s and we’ll be ‘ome in Montana.” Great. I’m overfilled with joy. Montana. Yippee.
I turned my head and stared out the window watching the hills and grass roll by. I saw them all come and go, rippling like water, all of it just flowing by. I felt a well in my eyes and a pain and clench to my heart. It felt so empty now. I felt hollow and cold. It felt like it wanted to be warm but it was too alone to warm itself. But right now, the hollowness was all I could feel. I felt one tear fall but before it hit the ground I wiped it away. I held my head higher, straitened my back, sucked in my gut, and squared my shoulders.
Nothing can hurt me.
“Grandma… I hungry…” Joseph, one of my younger brothers wined.
“I want McDonalds!” Isaac, Joseph’s identical twin yelled.
“I want McDonalds! Joseph chimed.
“Kitty, what do you want dear?” Grandma asked.
“I want to die.” I scowled under my breath.
“What?”
“Cat said she wants to die!” Isaac jumped.
“I’ll kill you!” Joseph volunteered. He then pulled out his pop gun and aimed it at my head. “Say cheese!”
“Swiss.”
“Close enough.”
“Joseph! Not in the car.”
“But Grandma…”
“No buts. Not in the Car, Not in the Car.”
“Awww… But Cat wants to die!”
“Kitty was kiddin’, Kitty was kiddin’, weren’t you Kitty?”
“Sure I was. I was only pretending to want to die.” I’m also pretending to want to live too.
“See? See? Kitty was kiddin’. Let’s go to McDonalds.”
“Yippee!” Joseph and Isaac chirped.
“Yippee.” I mumbled. I looked over at my brother. Not one of the twins, but Jacob. He is the oldest. He was always quiet, like Dad. Never talked unless spoken to, and even when he was spoken to, he was reluctant to speak, and with Dad dieing he felt even worse than normal. It would be hard for him to get over dad, especially since he was a splitting image, accept Jacob isn’t balding or fat. Jacob had Dad’s square shoulders and broad chest, he had his perfectly chiseled jaw and his hard, brown eyes. He also had Dad’s black hair and his hard stare. I felt bad for Mom, he felt bad for Dad. Joseph and Isaac were the 5 year old unbreakable twins who didn’t know their loss. Only Jacob and I seem to suffer, for not even Grandma and Grandpa shed a tear. We were alone, but too independent from each other to support or help one another. We knew what we were going through, but we went through it alone. Everything about us seemed to be alone. Both the same side of the story. Both of us the same except with those small differences that make us who we are. I guess the one thing that made us both alike was that no one ever cared for us, so we return the favor.

“We’re ‘ome!” Grandma said as she pulled in the driveway. Home? All I saw was cows. Black and white cows. I won’t stop seeing spots for years after this.
“Cows!” the trouble twins yelled.
“Ye! Cows! Cows!” grandma giggled. Cows. Everywhere you looked, cows. Nothing but cows. Cows. At least I know who I’ll be talking to.
“Grandpa!” Isaac and Joseph yelled as they ran out of the car. They ran up and jumped on top of him at the same time. From the car you could see that they were all laughing and happy. It was like they thought this was like a family vacation. Our parents pretty much died and they’re having the time of their lives.
They disgusted me, but even so, I wish I could be happy. I wish I was back home. I wish I had my parents back. I wish for so much… So much I can’t get… I wish…

 

[my-star-seeker]

A Dragon’s Tale

I never seen a Dragon before… and I never believed that they existed, but I do believe one thing: Never trust a dragon. My Mom told me this when I was little. I always believed her. I knew that everything she said wasn’t a lie. She never lied. She use to tell me stories of dragons, of how they were deceitful, lying, evil, and menacing. She told me tales of princesses that would be captured and then killed by the dragons. How knights would be slain when all they were doing was strolling the plains. She told me stories of dragons that would backstab the people they promised to help. I know that these stories sound like children’s tales, but every time she told me one, it seemed so real. So life-like. It didn’t seem even close to a fairytale and now, it seemed more real then ever.
But now Mom’s almost dead, Dad is dead, I’m in Montana, and I’m face to face with a dragon. I have absolutely no idea what to believe in now.
“I know how to make all your dreams come true…” the dragon cooed.
“Oh really? Let me guess… you use; a dash of pixie dust, a hair of an elf, and snot of a dwarf?”
“No… that’s… that’s just disgusting…” At least he isn’t gruesome… “Actually, there is something called that Dragons Orb…”
“Ewe…. It better not be a dragon…thing…” maybe he is disgusting…
“No… It’s the source of magical power of all dragons.” (Relief)
“You see, the Dragon’s Orb, it’s like a tree, the only difference is that it isn’t alive. A tree gives fruit to all the animals of the woodland, and the Orb gives all its magic to the dragons. It gains magic and power and it’s the source of all dragon’s magical powers. Without it, all we’d be are fire breathing lizards. No talking or thinking included.
“You see, Dragon’s once ruled the lands and even helped save the world once, but before we saved the world, we were slaughtered by man. Because of our magic, people would kill us, slay, us, take our bones and grind them into medicines, take our scales and use them for luck, take our teeth to rule away evil spirits, and drink our blood to gain strength and immortality. Now, of course, only few of these things will actually help, but you never needed to kill a dragon to get then. All you needed to do was ask for a tooth or a scale and you’re good to go.
“But then man began to blame dragons for bad things that would happen just to gain these things. They would accuse us of killing livestock, setting barns ablaze, and cursing peoples’ homes and lives. They tried to kill us from things they’ve done to themselves to take what’s ours and make them their own. They got rich from killing us, and we dramatically shrank in numbers. It also wasn’t just us that were being attacked, but all magical beings. Man soon became either jealous or angered by Magicks, the magical beings, and cursed them from ever returning to a human sanctuary.
“All Magicks then got together and with all of our combined powers we created a second earth on Earth, or in fact, under it. 1000 feet below your feet there is a continent that almost exactly mimics the Earth you and I stand on. This earth below Earth is known as Aranica.”
“Aranica?” I asked. I don’t know about you, but this is starting to sound a little crazy.
“Yes. All of the magic that the Magicks used together created almost a complete reflection as what happened up here. Down there, the sun shines in the same spot, the stars burn just as brightly, the wind blows just as strong, the water tides just the same. Down there everything is the same as it is up here. The only difference is that the countries are formed differently and we don’t have a complete copy of every tree that grows here or a copy of every bird to be hatched.”
“So what does this have to do with me?”
“You see, they only gateway there is for any mortal or Magick to go through without teleporting is though the Crystal Caves in Dragon Isle, and before the gate way there is a separate cave that leads to the Dragon’s Orb.”
“Dragon Isle is also where several of the magic beings that didn’t want to part with Earth went. They rarely leave the underground mountain unless there is something important for them to do or unless they are sent by the Magick Council.
“We’ve been hidden for over 5000 years, and all knowledge of magical beings were lost in a library that burned in Egypt.”
“In the Alexandria Library?”
“Yes. Once man chased away magical beings they wanted to get rid of the knowledge of their existence, but apparently you can see how well that went. There’s still stories of the elves, unicorns, dragons, and phoenixes still today.”
“Okay, what’s the catch? I mean, I don’t think that Dragons would just be willing to give out their source of power.”
“Well… there is one thing. You see, if the Dragon’s Orb grants you your wish, you must sacrifice your life fifty years after your wish is granted, and if you die sooner then your life is sacrificed then.”
“So you’re saying that I can have any wish I want, and any wish I want to come true, come true, and be able to live my life for fifty years?” Okay…
“Yes.”
“But why do the dragons sacrifice their power for humans?”
“If a lot of humans are sacrificed… well… dragons can gain enough power to overthrow humans.” Nice.
“So my wish can put human life as we know it in jeopardy? Why would I make one wish for that in exchange?”
“Because you get your one desire.”
My one desire…I didn’t have just one. There is a lot I want. So much that I want to have… I guess if I had to explain it in the simplest terms possible, all I wanted could be put in five words. I want my life back.
“How would we get there?”
He then turned around with his eye on me and said, “Hop on.”
“No!” I heard a yell from behind me. I turned around and then I saw Jacob racing from the cover of the trees on the other side of the fence outside the field.
“Jacob?”
“Cat, don’t do it. Remember what Mom said?” Well he does have a point. Mom did say not to trust dragons.
“Yes, but this may get us Mom, our home, and our life back…” Counter attack. Boo-ya.
“Or it’s all one large lie that can get us all killed.” Crap. Cornered. But…
“Jacob… this may be my only chance, our only chance for things to be put right… I don’t think that I could give this up.” I looked at the back of the dragon, and the face of my brother. One I just met, the other I knew all my life. One was trustworthy, and the other had an offer that I couldn’t refuse.
“I’m going. It’s not like I wanna stick around here anyway.”
“Then I’m coming with you.”
“No way. You’re staying here. This is my quest…thingy…”
“I can carry two.”
“You’ll have to ‘cause I’m not leaving Cat alone.”
“I’m not your defenseless little sister you know. I can take care of myself.”
“I know, but I’m not your irresponsible brother.”
Your just doing this because you want to go on an adventure, not because you’re responsible or protective, aren’t you?”
“Yea.”
I Sneered. “Thought so.”
“Let’s roll.”
I stretched onto my toes as I grabbed the base of his spikes; I put my foot on his elbow, pushed myself up, swung my leg over, and then held fast. Jacob stood on his toes, stretched to the top of his back, (but not to the spikes), put his foot on the dragon’s knee, lifted himself up, then fell. Three times.
“You could help him you know,” The dragon said.
“I know, but I don’t feel like it.”
“Help me up Cat,” Jacob demanded. I then reluctantly gripped my brother’s hand as I pulled him on the dragon.
“Hold onto my spikes. They are easy to grip onto, but it’s easy to fall off if you let go.”
The dragon then stretched out his large leathery wings and thrust them harshly to the ground, lifting us above the earth. We hovered for a moment then shot off into the sky.
At that moment, our journey began. At that moment, our lives changed. At that moment everything we once knew meant nothing, and at that moment we were put onto the ride of our life.
But the largest question was… Can we trust the dragon, Morrack?

 

[my-star-seeker]

Sea Sick

Okay, I’m sick of riding this dragon. I’m getting strange saddle sores, sea sick, my face is frozen from the freezing wind, and this dragon doesn’t really smell like roses. Everyone thinks riding a dragon is mystical and lovely. Well, that’s not completely true. I pretty much hate it, and I’m about to puke. And also, sitting in the same spot for hours, literally unable to get up, is very dull and painful too.

* * *

Riding a dragon is the best thing that could ever happen to someone! I wonder how happy Cat is. She must love this. I feel the beating of the Dragons wings under me, the feel of the wind against my face. The feel of being airborne and weightless is one of the best things in the world. I’d wish to live like this forever.
We’ve been flying for about 4 hours, and every second was wonderful. Everyone thinks that dragons have thick, scaly armored skin, but that’s not true. They’re skin is rather soft. It feels more like leather than rock or metal. The only scales that were that tough were his spikes or the scales on his face.
The dragon also told the truth about his spikes. The have a suction cup effect on your hands, and if you try to rub your hands up the spike, your hand will become glued. The only way to take your hand off is by pulling it away. It seems like a weird safety thing too. I wonder why it does that.
I’ve been thinking about the wish too… and I wanted to include Dad in it. I know that he’s dead, but maybe we can change the wish from having Mom wake up to having the whole thing never happening. Maybe we can have the whole family together for how long we should be together. We could be a family again with all this terrible stuff from ever happening to us.
But the one problem was… who would make the wish?

We began to descend, and when we hit the ground the first thing Cat did was roll off. Remember the suction spikes? It worked. She was dangling from the spikes of the dragon.
The look of her surprised face when her arms stayed stuck to Morrack was priceless, and the anger she held when she kicked with her red face was worth even more. I couldn’t help but laugh as loud as possible.
“Hold on,” I said between laughs. I pulled her hands away from the scales as she fell down the side of the dragon and on to the ground. I snickered and grinned.
I slid down the tail of the dragon, trying to get to the ground, without jumping seven feet. I landed on the ground as I saw the sun set.
“Why did we stop flying? It’s night; we have more cover in night than day. Why would we stop?”
“Because dragons are like snakes. We are cold blooded. We’ve been heading south west. We’re close to the desert, and at night the temperatures drop very low. Even though we’re on the outskirts, the temperatures are too low for me to fly in. We’ll rest for tonight.”
“What about food?” Cat said. “Unlike snakes, we eat daily, and after not eating for hours, I’d like to eat.”
“I’m… unsure of what humans eat, so I don’t know what food you’d plan to eat. I could bring you something, or you could search for food yourself.”
“Even though I love the thought of a dragon bringing a bloody animal carcass for my to eat, since It’s still about an hour before twilight, I’m gonna go look for edible food. If we’re not back by dark, you may have to find us.” Cat then walked towards the forest, and I shortly trailed after.

“Why are you so mean to Morrack? You seem to really hate him. Why?”
“I’m sorry if my blisters and saddle soars and sea sickness isn’t apparent to you. I don’t want to ride that thing again. I’m sick of dragons. Yea, he’s a weird magical lizard thingy, but I really don’t care anymore. We should just ask him to take us home,” she said in disgust.
“You hated it? I loved it. Nothing is as cool as riding on a dragon.”
“Yea, yea, yea. Whatever.”
“Aren’t you the one that said that you wanted to come here in the first place?”
“Yes, but I didn’t think that it would be this painful or long.”
“But we shouldn’t have much longer to go right? I mean, we can ride for like another day, get there, and maybe even get a transportation spell back. If you ask me, we’re getting a bargain.”
“Well… I don’t know. I just don’t like Morrack. If you ask me, he’s up to something.”
“Well I didn’t ask you, and I don’t think anything is wrong with him.”
“You never think that anything is wrong with anyone! Apparently to you everything is happy and dandy with cheerful magical fairies and unicorns guiding your way. I bet there are even rainbows and flowers, candy and cakes-”
“Cat, shut it.”
“Puppies and ponies-”
“Cat, Shut it!”
I turned toward her in my anger only to see her scowling. A moment passed of silence, but then I barely heard her murmur, “Everything was always easy for you.” And all though I didn’t say it, the thought ran though my mind, I know.
We walked through the forest, watching the sun as the air kept chilling, soon I thought about turning back.
After too much silence, I said, “What about Mom? I also know a way that we could get Dad back too. You might give up hope, but I’m not. We have a shot on getting our family back, and I want noting better than to have them back.”
Cat stopped walking as she stared at the ground in consideration, then responded, “I can’t leave without you, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to enjoy the ride.”
I looked at her in confusion, unable to understand what was up with Cat. She was supposed to be the magical thing fanatic. She never cared for any real things. Everything real she hated, or scowled out, downsized or rued. I never understood why. I think it’s because things just never worked out for her. Everything the got she worked hard to accomplish, and everything she lost vanished before she knew it left… like Mom. If anything, I’d think she’d love this adventure, finally getting rid of all of her real worries, and just being able to live in a fantasy world.
I really couldn’t understand why she didn’t care for Morrack. He is our hope. Our family now lies in taters, but this dragon can make our wildest dreams come true, and I will risk anything to have it back again. Anything.

We left 30 minutes ago, and so far found no civilization. We decided to head back. There was nothing in the woods, so we decided not to eat that night. We could wait.

* * *

Aren’t you hungry?” Jacob asked Morrack. Since when did Jacob care about a dragon?
“Why would I be?”
“You didn’t eat at all today, so I was wondering if you’re hungry.”
“Hey Jacob, Lizard Boy here eats like a snake: once a month.”
“Oh. I was just checking.” Why does Jacob care for this beast? For all we know this could be a trap.
“The sun is about to set, and you need to find a shelter to sleep in. It gets really cold down here, and you don’t have enough furs to stay warm,” the dragon informed us.
“A…get with this century… its clothes…” How dumb can these things get?
“I’m sorry, my lady…”
“You call me lady again and trust me; you’ll be extinct before you know it.”
“Then what do you wish for me to call you?”
“Cat. My name is Cat.”
“You were named after a feline?”
“You’d better shut up right now Lizard Boy or I’ll-”
“Cat, cool it. Morrack, we couldn’t find any civilization anywhere. I mean, we didn’t see anything from a few miles back when we were riding here.” Good job Jacob. Point out the obvious.
“Yea, Lizard Boy. How are we going to… you know…live?”
“Well… I’m unsure if you’ll uptake my proposal… but…”
“Come on. Don’t have all day.”
“I could curl up as a ball, and you can sleep inside of the ball I form.”
“As if! If you think I will risk my life with a dragon your crazy. I’m just going to die from freezing. Good-bye.” I turned on my heel and started to walk away. What was he other than crazy? If he thinks that we will-
“I don’t mind.” Jacob said.
“What?!” I exclaimed as I turned back.
“I don’t mind.”
“You remember what Mom said? You only met this… this thing a few hours ago and you’re putting your life in its hands?”
“What’s your problem Cat? You’ve been acting like a jerk to Morrack ever since we left Grandma’s house!”
“What do you mean by ‘what’s your problem? You think I’m just going to become its best friend?” Then I said in my fakest kid voice I could muster and said “Sorry if I hurt your feelings Morrack, now give me a biiiiig hug!”
“You seem to hate Morrack and I don’t understand why.”
“Really? Couldn’t tell. Jacob, if you hadn’t noticed, Lizard Boy here is and evil, man-eating creature that is not to be trusted, yet you treat him as a mom or dad.”
“That’s because he’s the key to getting Mom or Dad back. We can get our parents back, and I’m willing to risk my life to get them back. In fact, you seem like you don’t care, Kitty.”

* * *

“What, did you say?” I did it now. If she can’t see how dedicated I am to getting my parents back, then she deserves this. She always hated being called that. Why? Because a little kitten is a defenseless cat, unable to do anything and can’t do anything on its own. Cat never wants to be compared to a kitten.
“Oh, wait, you don’t like to be called Kitty. I’m so sorry. I don’t want my little sis to feel bad. I’m sorry Kitty.” That done it. She then charged at me with her fist in the air, ready to strike. I saw rage flare in her eyes as she threw her fist at me. I stood fearlessly as a curtain of dragon skin separated us. I saw the dent of her fist colliding with the dragon wing, and then I saw the dragon look at us, glancing over each side of its wing to see us.
“I don’t wish do disturb your discussion, but I’m afraid that the temperature will drop soon. The sun will be almost completely set in less than a few minutes. May I raise my wing with out a fight forming between you?”
“If Picasso stops drawing this portrait of his face be ripped open slammed as well as cracked on the ground, then all hell won’t break loose.”
“Fine with me.” The Dragon glanced at us once again as he slowly raised his wing and folded it against his body. He glanced at us again as he curled up, leaving a small space between his snout and tail for us to walk through.
“It’s time to rest. All of us need it.”
“Well I’m going to the closest Comfort Inn. Good night,” she stated as she turned and trailed into the forest.
“Good night.” I called to her.
“Are you really going to let her go?” Morrack asked.
“She’ll come back, or she’ll die.” Morrack sighed as he unfolded his wing and laid it on top of himself creating a make-shift roof.
“Good night, then.”
“Good night.” I curled towards his stomach feeling his large heart beats and deep breaths. I felt warmth from his stomach and felt no need to worry. For once I felt perfectly safe. Cat will come back. She will. I know she will.

 

[my-star-seeker]

Early Dragon gets the sheep.

I’m not going back to that traitor and lizard. I will survive the night without them. I can do anything on my own. Anything.
Jacob is a traitor and a cheat. He is siding with a dragon, for Pete’s sake! He is risking his life for something that could be a big lie. He is a fool and an idiot. He probably never lost everything from risking everything he had before. He doesn’t know the danger he’s getting himself into. I know. I know what he’s getting himself into. I also know what I’m getting myself into, but I’m playing it safe. Rather be really cold in the night then wake up dead in a dragon’s stomach tomorrow morning. That thing will eat him whole, and Jacob would let him. There is no point in hoping. All hope been lost. We should just give up and go home. We shouldn’t have come. It’s all a lost cause.
I paused in my journey as I stared at the moon and the stars that lined the sky ever so perfectly. How could this world with so much beauty hold so much pain? I felt a tear stream down my face as I stood tall and held my head high. I can to whatever I want… I can do anything on my own.
I’ve been traveling for about 45 minutes, and it’s about 30 degrees. If it gets much colder, I may get Hypothermias, and that might not be real pleasant. I’ve been traveling further than Jacob and I traveled before, and hopefully I’ll, find civilization.

The sun is now completely down, and there is not color left in the sky. It’s so cold I can clearly see my breath. My skin feels cold and I’m starting to get some small blue and purple dots on my arms. I feel dizzy, and can’t walk strait. The floor is moving vertical, and now it’s touching my face. I feel, sleepy. I will close my eyes for a little. I think I see a… kitty. It’s a gray blurry kitty. It’s a big kitty. I think the kitty is going to lick me. I’m so sleepy…

* * *

I slowly opened my eyes as strange, fresh aromas filled my nose. All I could see was brown dirt and the sun. I sat up and stretched as I felt groggy yet happy. I glanced around and soon found the dragon, flying in circles that were low to the ground.
“Morning, Morrack!” I called to the Dragon. He then looked at me and landed. I now saw how dragons land. They put their feet in front of them and land on their hind legs, with their wings flapping to keep them balanced until they drop onto the ground. I knew that that wasn’t how he landed when Cat and I were on him. Speaking of which…
“Where’s Cat?” Now dragons have scales, so they can’t smile, frown, or show their gums, but I could tell that he was grim.
“That’s what I was looking for. She never came back.”

* * *

I was spinning in splashes in color, and then it all turned red. I heard the wing-beat of a dragon. I gasped and ran but the red swirls captured and enclosed me. The dragon then lifted me with his hand enclosed me with his talon enclosing on my neck.
I then took out Pandora’s locket and opened it towards him…

* * *

We decided to go north and search for her, and at first we flew low, but we knew that to save her we’d have to find her soon and it’d take too long to search small parts of the forest from down here. We had to find her…she might be dead, but if she’s not, she’s almost dead, and suffering. We have to find her.

* * *

The dragon’s eyes rolled and turned white and he let go of me as he fell through the red while it slowly turned black, and in the far corner, I saw an almost transparent blue glowing ball. Behind it was an evil looking snickering Dragon, who looked at me and laughed. He pointed in the orb and I saw me inside of there, begging for escape, banging the walls with my fists, crying to be free…

“Wake up, wake up child.”

The dragon then jumped in front of the ball, throwing licks of fire at me. He spat fire and laughter at me as I tried to dodge him…

“Cat… Wake up.”

He then hit me and I fell, but he snatched me and held his thumb against my neck, his talon ready for anything.
“No,” I moaned…

“Cat, I’m afraid you must wake up.”
“My child, wake up…”

The monster giggled as he shook me violently. I yelled and kicked as I lurched forward and opened my eyes.
Opened my… A dream…
“Cat! You’re awake!” I turned and saw Jacob smile as relief went through him, but behind him was a strange old lady, with tattered clothes and brown matted hair.
“Cat, we were afraid that you wouldn’t ever wake up!” I turned my head towards and open window with a dragon head stuck through, looking at me filled with joy.
“Where… am… I?” I finally looked around and saw a lovely wooden cabin, with a dirty but still pretty throw rug on the floor, and a wonderful wooden table with pieces of cloth and scissors on top. There was a fire place with smoldering coals and I was on a couch where the frame was on the outside, tucked with soft pieces of cloth that formed cushions. But even in the comfy home… something seemed out of place.
“We’re in Harriet’s house. She’s a hermit that lives down here, and her wolf stumbled upon you when you were getting delirious,” the dragon said. I then remembered the large gray blob that I thought was a large cat, when it was actually a wolf. I the looked down at the corner of the room and in a cloth stuffed basket was a gray wolf, with its tail wagging gently. I got off of the couch and walked down to the wolf, gently petting and praising him.
“Thank you,” I whispered in his ear. His tail wagged a little harder in approval.
“When my wolf found you,” the Hermits crackly voice called to me, “he brought back a seemingly lifeless girl. I was afraid he killed you.” She then giggled with wheezing breaths in between. “I then found out you were alive, and you poor thing was covered with frost-bite. I warmed you and then your friends came here to find you.” She then held a small grin and said, “It’s been many years since I saw a dragon.”
I then saw what was so out-of-place. There was a dragon in her window and she didn’t mind, in fact barely noticed. You know what? Who cares. This story is getting really messed up, and I don’t care anymore. I felt dazed and a little dizzy, but I knew that we couldn’t stay for long. There was too much to do. We had to go home, and soon, and if we didn’t hurry our grandparents might send police searching for us…and when they find out we’re not in Montana… I shook away the thought and ignored my dizziness as I rose to my feet and then said “I’m ready to go.”
“I’m sorry dear, but you’re too sick to do that.”
“What?” Jacob and I chimed.
“Because of the frostbite and hyperthermia, you’ve become really weak and walking or flying can put you in a possible life threatening situation. If you’re to get well, your friends need to go and get some items for me,” the hermit wheezed.
“What is it, my lady? We’ll send for it right away.”
“What a kind dragon. Why, you need a handful of clover, two morning glory flowers, five petunia petals, one hibiscus bud, five coffee beans, one liter of white vinegar, and one pound of sugar.”
“Can you write that down?” Jacob asked. Harriet then got a piece of cloth and a pen, and scribbled in a spidery hand writing the list.
“Thank you my lady.” The window dragon praised.
“You’re very welcome.” The dragon slipped his head out of the window and Jacob ran out the door and soon they lifted off the ground.
“Why weren’t you scared of the dragon?” I asked Harriet.
“Because. I grew up around dragons for 200 years.” I looked at her with interest as she pulled her matted hair behind her ear. Her pointy ear. “Strange. For a girl who’s used to seeing a dragon, you seem to never have seen an Elf.  

[my-star-seeker]

Harriet the Elf

She then did her wheezing laugh as she put her matted hair over her ear again. “My, my, my. It must have been a real long time since I told a human I’m an elf. It must have been a real long time for a human not to be surprised to see an elf as well.” She wheezed as she laughed, and it sent strange shivers down my spine.
“Elves… exist?” Well duh. Lizard boy even told me that dragons and elves as well as other mystical creatures lived in Aranica.
“Of course they exist,” she wheezed, “I wouldn’t be here if elves weren’t.”
“Well…uh…yea…anyway, is there anything to do in this house?”
“Why yes, there is. It’s called cleaning, and even if you’re not well enough to travel, you are well enough to clean.”
“Crap.”

* * *

I felt the pulse of the wing beats on my legs as Morrack strode to the edge of the forest nearing the mini mart. It might not have been the best place to go shoplifting, but we only needed the vinegar, and I didn’t bring any money with me, so I guess I’m shoplifting.
After we get the vinegar, Cat and I could go to Dragon Isle…but maybe…maybe we don’t need her. After all, she’s just holding us back, right? She doesn’t even want to go. If we leave her here, she’ll be happy, we’ll be happy, I’ll save Mom and Dad, and then we can all go home. Right? I can do it by myself anyway. I know it would be mean and stuff but, she’s not really into this anyway. Morrack and I could get down there and back in maybe a little longer than two days tops. No problem. Cat will heal, have mom and dad back, I will save the day, and Morrack will accomplish the mission the Magick Council sent him. Everything will be said and done. Right?
We landed a quarter mile away in the forest, and I hiked to the mini mart and walked into the building as the cashier looked up.
“I’ve never seen you before. You a traveler?” the man said.
“Yes, my mom sent me into get something.”
“Really? What is it?”
“I think I see it,” I said as I walked in the aisle. I pulled my arm out of the sleeve of my sweatshirt and put my arm inside my sweatshirt so the sleeve was empty, and I grabbed a liter of vinegar and hid it in my empty sweatshirt sleeve, and put the end of my sleeve in my pocket so the vinegar appeared to be my arm. “Never mind. It’s not there. Oh well.”
“What are you looking for? I can help you.”
“Never mind.”
He then walked towards me and laid his hand on my armless sleeve. When his hand touched me, he yelled and winced away in confusion. Then he got angry.
“What did you steal?” I then ran as fast as I could, past the field, and towards the forest’s edge. “Come back here!” the determined cashier yelled.
“Morrack, now!” Then, from behind the shade of the trees a large scaly creature came crawling. The cashier came to a complete stop as he gazed at me leaping on the dragon for my life. “I’m on!” I then felt a large pulse from the wing beat as we soon left the ground in speed, and gazed at the scared stiff cashier with his mouth open wide enough to catch flies in.
“Bye” I called to him. He gazed at me with frightened eyes, and watched us go over the plain.

* * *

I rubbed the polish in the floor, my hand rubbing in a smooth circular motion. I rubbed and rubbed, covering over three quarters the floor, then stopped to give my unfortunate hand a break, and that’s when the two metal buckets caught my eye.
“What are the buckets for?” I asked.
“Oh, my, I almost forgot.” The dish washing hermit said with remembrance. Her face turned from a rosy cheeked happy to a pale white with seriousness. “When you were dreaming, I could sense something was wrong, and even my wolf noticed too. You must tell me what you were dreaming. I believe it is vital to your future.” I looked at her and the wolf, whose eyes were focused on me. Okay…awkward. Anyway, I guess I didn’t have a choice, so I told them. I told them about the colors, the fire, the fear…everything. I repeated to them my dream as all of it seemed to recur, tormenting with the spell it cursed me with.
And apparently it also cursed Harriet, for the fear that sprung on her face was so strong that even a blind man could see it plain as day.
“So, I’m guessing that this is bad?”
“My, my, my… I… don’t know…” She then brought the buckets to me, and handed me a sponge. “This sounds weird, but I want you to lean into one of the buckets and kiss the water, and in the next blow into the water harshly.”
”…What?”
“It sounds stupid, I know, but you have to do it.”
”…Uh… Why?”
“Just do it.”
Okay, crazy lady. I’m going to kiss the water. I shook my head in disbelief as I looked into the bucket of water, and bent down. I felt the water touch my lips as I kissed it gently. The water then turned warm and made a strange light ring when my lips left it, and the water that was on my mouth rolled back into the bucket. I then bent to the next bucket, went close to the waters edge, then blew on it, pushing it away from me. The water turned cold, and the splashed water that was left on me strangely froze on me, I brushed off the ice from my face as I looked at the elf in confusion.
“Okay, what just happened?”
“When you kissed the water in one bucket, it felt warmed by your touch and wants to befriend you, be kind to you, and help you. The water you blew in now hates you, wants to hurt you, wants to stop anything that you want from happening from happening. This will help us unravel your dream.”
“How?”
Harriet walked up to the buckets (of course ignoring me, the polite hermit) and put a sponge in each.
“Now I want you to stand anywhere and squeeze the water from the bucket you kissed in bucket out of the sponge and on to the floor. I stood up and squeezed the water on the floor in front of me. “Now turn around and take five steps forward.” One… two… three…four… five. I turned around and looked at the ground and saw a trail of water follow me.
“Now come over here and do the same with the other bucket of water, but pour it at least one foot away from where you put the first water at. “ I then spilled the water and it went strait to the window. The elf looked surprised and I tried to figure out what was so amazing about water being spilled on the floor. I then saw it. The water flowed to two different directions. She then went to the water pump and pumped water into a pitcher and spilled three parallel water lines in the room, and it the water stayed pretty much exactly where it was poured.
“Yes. Something is wrong.”

 

[my-star-seeker]

Dreams

Plenty of times, when you have a dream, it means nothing. Other times, it can mean anything, or everything. But the only time you can really tell if it’s a real thing, is if you drop water. When I dropped the water, it must’ve said that the dream was true, and that something seriously bad was going down, because the hermit fainted. She looks so peaceful.
She stayed fainted for a while, and it was a few hours till sunset, so I very carefully and gently screamed into her ear.
“You awake?” I asked when she jumped up screaming. She clutched her heart and took deep breaths, and calmed down as she stared at me in surprise. She then shook of her shock and began to stand up, steadying herself along the way.
“You need the potion. Then, you can leave.” She got a bowl and a pounding block and turned the stuff Jacob fetched into a puke-brown goop. “Take this and all will be well.” Just before I could drink the…potion, she whispered in my ear, “Trust only you, and be strong.” I then drank the goop and I can tell you that nothing went well. I almost threw up, became really dizzy, and I fainted. She was right. I shouldn’t of trusted anyone.

* * *

After Cat blacked out in Harriet's Cabin, we put her on Morrack’s back, attaching her hands securely on Morrack’s spikes. We’re going to fly west, hit the edge of California, and then we would go across the desert, down south.
“We’ll rest here for the night, and head south in the morning.” The dragon yelled over the rushing wind. We landed on the ground, and gently got Cat off of Morrack. She was still sleeping. She slept through the whole trip. I don’t think the Hermit would of poisoned her, but this doesn’t seem like a normal Cat thing, she was never one to sleep for long. She is always on her toes. She’s always scared, ready and waiting for the worst to happen, and half the time the worse does. I never was like that. For me things were easier. I never had to be afraid. I could always sleep in, close my eyes and turn my back on strangers, have what was important to me in the open. Cat always thought I was stupid for being so careless with what was important to me. I never really thought much about it though. No one ever tried to hurt me before. Everyone tries to hurt Cat.

* * *

I was walking on the grass, and saw Mom in the house, waving to me. I ran up to her, ready to embrace her, but a dragon landed between us. Mom fell, dieing infront of me. I went to aid her, but then Morrack flew between us, keeping mom from my view. He reached out and grabbed me, his talons sticking into my sides. I tried to get out of his grip, and then I saw Jacob on his back.
“Jacob! Help me! If you don’t help me I’ll die!”
“He won’t kill you. I trust him. He will get our parents back!”
“What if he’s lying?”
“He can’t be. I know he’s telling the truth.”
“Never trust a Dragon.”
“Never. I trust this Dragon, whether you like it or not!”
“I won’t die from your mistake!”
“Then you will die from yours!” He looked at me and yelled something in another language, one that seemed so strange and foreign, one that I never heard of before, and the dragon dropped me. I fell, thousands of feet to the ground. I hit the bottom, and died.

* * *

She’s still sleeping. She screamed in her sleep when we landed. She was covered with sweat and when we went to make sure she was okay, she was sleeping, with the shallowest of breaths and slowest of heartbeats. She was going to die. I felt restless and fear, but after a dreadful few hours, I finally slept.

I was at home, and I saw Mom at our house. I went to run to her but then she fell down, and I raced to help her up. Cat then ran in-between me and Mom, keeping me away from her.
“No.” she said.
“Move Cat! Get out of my way.”
“No”
“Why not?”
“We can’t save her.”
“Yes we can!”
“No.”
“Morrack, Get her!” I hollered. Cat then turned around and ran to Mom, but then Morrack dropped from the sky and pulled into the sky as I quickly jumped on his back.
“Jacob! Help me! If you don’t help me I’ll die!”
“He won’t kill you. I trust him. He will get our parents back!”
“What if he’s lying?”
“He can’t be. I know he’s telling the truth.”
“Never trust a Dragon.”
“Never. I trust this Dragon, whether you like it or not!”
“I won’t die from your mistake!”
“Then you will die from yours!” I looked at her then yelled to Morrack to drop her, and the dragon did. She fell, thousands of feet to the ground. She hit the bottom, and died.
“Never mess with me. I’ll get Mom and Dad back, whether you like it or not.” Then I heard the dragon snicker as he went diving to the ground, at uncontrollable speed. I knew that I had to let go of the Dragon, but I trusted him. He wouldn’t hurt me, and felt more fear creep into my heart then I ever felt before, only the strange sure-fire hold of his spikes keeping me from dieing. He crash landed into the ground and as soon as he was steady I let go and fell off. I looked up at the snickering Dragon as he lurched at me… and killed me…