A Boy & A Dragon

So, finally, I wrote something else! Well, in fact, I have been writing but it's been for my book (actually, in fact, my second book *grin*). This is just a short story I wrote in one sitting. No proof reading has been done so forgive any mistakes. I thought it was cute, so enjoy!

The small boy knelt in the dirt. Large, questioning brown eyes turning from one side to the other. He remained alone. The forest remained calm; chattering birds, the soft shuffle of a squirrel, and, of course, the occasional snort from the dragon beside him.

He stood. Slim, lithe, the form of a child not yet fifteen. The bow on his back almost matching him in height. He swallowed a breath of air and turned to his silver-clad beast.

The dragon tilted her head, fierce eyes watching as the boy approached her side and, with a little effort, pulled himself onto her back. She stood taller than any horse--with a wingspan twice that of her length.

She snorted a curl of smoke and raised her wings. With a single, powerful stroke, they lifted effortlessly into the air. Quickly rising above the green of the forest and drifting toward the east.

Three days. Four nights. Their journey would soon reach it’s end.

Aerie--The City in the Sky. Home of the legendary Dragon Lords. Guardians of the nine realms. Rulers of the Seven Kingdoms. This place was their destination. And the only way to get there was by dragon-wing.

Silver lifted higher, sensing the eagerness of her young companion, and burst through the thick of rain-laden clouds. They blinked, clearing their eyes, and seeing a golden-white expanse beneath them and nothing but blue sky above.

Chad smiled.

Free. They were finally free. Free from the orphanage. Free from the hunters who would rather sell Silver’s scales than venture above the clouds.

This. This is Dragon country! He threw his arms wide, Silver catching onto his joy and winging faster--twisting through sun-illuminated wisps of cloud. She hummed a song of joy. He laughed along with her.

And there it was. Rising from among the clouds, white as a pearl, glistening in the sun. The City in the Sky. Small on the horizon, but ever growing in size as each thrust of wings drove them closer.

“We’ve made it,” Chad breathed, patting Silver’s smooth shoulder.

Bursting from the cloud cover beneath them, a dragon six times Silver’s size rose in their path. Cloud-mist streaming from its amber scales like water, churning around it’s powerful wings.

Silver writhed in the air, desperately halting her momentum, drawing back from the massive fire-breather in their path.

The dragon remained there, suspended between sky and cloud, the wind from it’s wings buffeting Chad’s face as he blinked in awe.

“Who enters the Dragon’s Realm?” A voice called from the dragon.

A man stood--stood--on the creature’s back, shrouded in a cloak matching that of the dragon’s scales, a feathered helm on his head, a long golden spear in his left hand.

Silver rose higher, giving Chad a better view of the man. He leaned forward on his dragon’s back, blinking wind drawn tears. “My name is Chad. I’m going to Aerie.”

“And what brings you the the Sky City?” The man did not yell. His voice calm and calculated, the voice of one who does not have many fears.

“My dragon brings me,” Chad called, his voice feeble in the wind.

“Your dragon? And what have you done to earn the right to call her your dragon?”

He blinked, tears rising again, “N-nothing?”

The amber dragon lifted higher, and Silver rose with it. The dragon’s rider took a step forward, motioning toward the City.

“You cannot chose your dragon. She must choose you.” He pointed toward the clouds--and earth--beneath them. “You will release her. If you are to be among the Dragon Lords you must let her decide if you are worthy. Get off.”

Chad’s heart thundered in his throat, eyes growing wide in terror. “W-what?”

“Climb free and fall. If you are worthy, she will catch you.”

He peered past his knee, toward the fluffy clouds beneath. “And what if she doesn’t catch me?”

The man didn’t miss a beat. “Then you fall.”

Chad glanced toward the horizon--at the pearlescent city gleaming above the clouds--then at the amber dragon hovering in their path. He patted Silver’s neck. “You’ll catch me,” he swallowed, glancing down again, “right?”

Silver released a puff of smoke, a gurgle deep in her belly.

“I sure hope that doesn’t mean you’ll eat me.” He laughed softly, nervously, then pulled his feet free of the stirrups, tipped to the side, and fell.

In a blink, he seemed to fall into the clouds, for a moment losing all sense of direction. Then he broke through, dropping beneath the clouds, his wide eyes taking in the patches of green, blobs of brown mixed with strings of blue creating the earth beneath him. It was glorious for a moment, he could almost convince himself that he had become a dragon, soaring through the sky.

But the lurch in his stomach knew he was falling.

He would scream but the wind in his face stole his breath away and his heart thundered louder than the rush in his ears.

His wide eyes wouldn’t close. The ground was there. Ever greener. Ever closer.

Then a flash of sunlight against scales and Silver was flying beneath him, her head turned to look up at him, an amused trail of smoke winding from her nostrils, her tongue hanging out of her mouth.

Chad laughed.

His belly hitting the saddle on Silver’s back as she rose up under him and lifted him back through the clouds. He laughed as the amber dragon raced Silver toward the gleaming city. He laughed as the man removed his helm and welcomed Chad with open arms into the Aerie.



© Copyright Charity K, 2015