Chapter 4

Nightmares and visions. A comforting presence soothes Flame's thoughts.

Chapter 4

 
    It was a restless sleep for Flame, filled with nightmares and visions, both of things that were buried in his memories, and things that he could not even begin to comprehend.  He once again witnessed the vicious murder of his mother, the frightened you dragon that was himself huddled in a hidden part of the cave.  The terrifying face of her killer was branded forever in his mind.  That wicked, maniacal laughter echoed through his dreams.  The picture wavered and faded, the surroundings changing abruptly.  He was grown now.  He saw himself fighting the evil warlord whose face he knew all too well.  But wait…what was this?  He would never have thought of this, let alone dream it!  Humans…he was fighting on the side of humans!  He saw a knight, a king and a commoner.  And lo and behold, they were all coming to the dragon’s aid, charging and slicing their way through the warlord’s army.
    Flame tossed fitfully in his sleep, groaning uncomfortably.  How absurd!  Fighting alongside humans…what a joke!  He thought.

    The wolf appeared out of the shadows, coming from the back of the cave.  He padded toward the dragon on silent paws, taking extreme care not to wake him from his fitful slumber for fear of being scorched again.  Waking a sleeping dragon was definitely not a mistake he wanted to make twice!  He pause for a moment, a heavy mist shrouding him as his form began to shift and change, straightening bit by bit, until an aged sorcerer stood where the wolf was only a moment before.  The old man shook his head sadly, looking upon the dragon with concern.  He detested watching his friend persistently tortured by his nightmares.  With a sigh, he walked over to where the dragon lay.  Placing a hand gently on Flame’s nose, he witnessed the scenes that his friend beheld as the dreams continued.  He knew then what was happening.  He saw the battle.  There destruction and bloodshed everywhere.  Many villagers, yet many more of the enemy were slain.  The king and the warlord were facing off against each other in battle. 
    The sorcerer felt the powerful jolt of shock from the dragon as he came to a sudden realization.  The king and the warlord looked nearly identical, with a few very subtle differences.  While the warlord’s hair and beard were fiery red in color, the king’s was nearly grey and white, with a hint of medium brown. 
    As sword clashed against battleaxe in a shower of sparks, the picture once again changed abruptly.  This time, dragon and sorcerer were seeing a dark robed figure shrouded in a cloak that obscured his features, moving swiftly and silently through a darkened castle.  The figure would glance over his shoulder once in a while, until he came to a particular room.  Opening the door slightly, the figure slipped into the room.  He, or she, went over to what appeared to be a baby’s crib, and, lifting a small bundle out, held it close and slipped just as silently out of the room, and hurried away, a thief in the night.
    The vision changed once more, and they saw the same castle, by the light of day this time, and witnessed a royal couple, deep sorrow etched upon their faces.  The man had his arms wrapped around the woman as she wept.
    The sorcerer felt his friend’s intense pain as his head began throbbing from the sudden onset of a migraine.  With the mental link that he was sharing with the dragon, the sorcerer began to feel as if his head were caught in a vice grip.  He winced in pain, but held his link with Flame.
    The sorcerer closed his eyes and began whispering the incantation of a spell, gently stroking the dragon’s muzzle as he spoke the words.  Never breaking his link, he watched as the nightmares changed to happier dreams.  His breathing and heartbeat steadied, and his head stopped throbbing violently.
    Distant memories came flooding into his mind of a fiery-haired young girl that he had all but forgotten.  She rested against a full grown dragon that Flame recognized to be his mother, and she cradled a young hatchling in her arms as they all slept peacefully.
    Flame sighed softly and smiled in his sleep.  The sorcerer gently stroked the dragon’s muzzle once more with a smile and, content with the improvement that he had made in his friend, left him with his happy memories.  He slipped silently once more toward the shadows, and as the mist once again surrounded him, he disappeared.

Flame woke with a start, breathing heavily.  His heart was pounding, though the pain he had been feeling in his head during his fevered dreams had subsided.  He looked around the cave, his blue eyes filled with confusion.
    “What the bloody hell was that?”  He gasped.
    Nothing that he had dreamt made sense to him.  It was like a puzzle, with pieces missing and jumbled.  He struggled weakly to his feet, and walked slowly over to the mouth of his cave.  He peered down upon the kingdom, straining his eyes to see the people moving about far below.  He was hoping to see if he could possibly recognize any of the people from his dream, but unfortunately from this height the figures looked more like tiny ants.  He craned his neck and squinted, trying to get a better look, but to no avail.  It was just no use from where he stood.  He shook his head and sighed, turning to enter his cave once more.
    He chuckled softly, as the realization of what he had been thinking in that moment suddenly struck him.  He snorted in disbelief.
    What utter nonsense!  It was only a dream…  He thought to himself.  You are a fool, dragon!  To think, me, a dragon amongst humans!  How very absurd!  They would never respect me, nor would they ever be my friends…it was humans that murdered my mother after all!  I could never show love for their kind!  But wait…I did love a human once…
    He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as the memories began flooding back to him.  Memories of that same fiery-haired girl from the last scene of his dreams.  The human girl that cradled him in her arms, singing to him as he slept.  This human had showed him and his mother love, and they loved her in return.  She was his mother’s dearest friend, and his mother had named her as his godmother.
    ‘Lona’ he would always call her.  She was the only human that Flame had ever known or loved, and he was heartbroken when she left, and he had never planned on giving up hope that she would one day return.
    “Mother, where did ‘Lona go?”  He would ask.
    “I do not know, my son.”  She would reply, pain etched on her face.
    “Will she ever come back?”
    “I wish I could tell you, dear.”
    Flame sighed, tears beginning to form in his eyes.  The memories were nearly too painful for him to bear.  After years of watching and waiting for her return, he had finally given up any hope that he would ever see him again.  He had loved the young girl with all of his heart, but when she didn't return, he began to hate her for abandoning him.
    Taking a deep breath and fighting back the tears, he thought of all the good times when Elona and his mother were around.  He walked once more over to the mouth of his cave, and gazed back down upon the growing kingdom with deep sadness in his eyes.  These humans were going to build their kindom regardless, he only hoped that they would just leave him alone.
    The dragon lay down at the mouth of the cave with a sigh and, as he watched the humans continue their hard work, he drifted back to sleep.

Author's Note

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Reviews

[~The Queen~]

Once again, It's Me!! Yay!!

Ok, down to business:

1. Little did the dragon know, but his dreams would soon prove to become a reality. Way too revealing way too soon. You need to catch the reader and pull them in. If you tell them now that the dragons and humans fight along side each other then we can guess how the book ends. They won't care about the middle part. It's the end everyones wishing would come sooner. So would strongly suggest to delete this sentence or at least save it for another time in a different context.

2. "With the mental link that he was sharing with the dragon, the sorcerer began to feel as if his head were caught in a vice grip." Very well written. I like the feeling that you had on this one. Very nice. Very nice.

3. "it was humans that murdered my mother after all! I could never show love for their kind! But wait�I did love a human once�" This is a bit misleading. If he loved one human, would he not long for the day she would return, or would he hate her for leaving him. There are so many possibilities here and you need to think of a way to grip the reader in 'a vice grip' (thought I could use some comedy here) and keep them there until after the book is finished. Keep me interested. (Don't hate me >

[SakuraGirl]

Well done! I liked this too.

As about comments, I shall again second The Queen in all her remarks.

The characters are indeed staring to take shape. And I'm glad we have also a sorcerer on the side of Good :)
So far I got a good idea about the relations and "origins" (so to say) of the characters. I'm curious to find out more about Sir Bradwyn, the misterious girl, this new sorcerer and why (oh why?) King Lorret does not have a son. Or does he? :) - my bad here, I see now I confused his name and called him Lottar in a previus comment. appologies to His Majesty :)

Patiently waiting for more.