Blue

image: https://cricketdiane.wordpress.com/2008/03/10/195/

The golden aura of this world quickly dimmed, until everything was dark as night.

There was an exception in the sky: two spirals, a bit bigger than the dragon’s head, twinkling like jewelry made of stardust. It was a wonderful yet unsettling sight.

A glowing blade of black hair danced amongst the grassy knolls. It leapt like a teasing curtain, coming nearer. Monarch butterflies encircled it, streaming black and orange hues all around. From behind it appeared a face.

It was Maylin!

Her piercing yellow eyes met his.

Rowan gazed at her longingly. His heart pounded against his chest. His hands trembled.

Suddenly, the butterflies flew away and he could see all of her: a long white dress hung loosely on her tall figure, and her feet were bare. Glassbell, her cow from the stable, treaded behind her. She held a sapphire flochin to her lips, and a soothing melody played as she walked up to Rowan.

He briskly closed the gap between them. “Maylin, are you okay?” he asked, beginning to embrace her, but to no avail as she and her cow casually passed him and walked toward the dragon.

Rowan’s eyes followed her every move. Though she looked radiant in her white gown, something looked off about her, like she was locked in some kind of trance.

“I can’t believe that’s her,” Rowan said quietly.

They looked on in silence.

“The dragon likes her song,” Hawthorn said with subtle joy in his voice.

The dragon’s big eyes drooped and his head fell to the ground, creating a loud tremble that almost shook the boys off their feet. Quickly they found their balance again. They looked on, mesmerized. In the dark her white gown glowed, like a floating ghost. The melody was like a calm faerie dance. It took Rowan back to the times they had together under the willow tree, breathing in the sweet scent of bluebells as the ducks swam around in the pond.

The scene was much different now. The eerie sways of tall grass amongst the darkness gave him chills. The faerie song still played as Maylin stood tall and brave in front of this strange new creature.

Rowan started toward her but Hawthorn stopped him.

“Wait, Rowan,” Hawthorn said, putting his hands in front of his brother.

Rowan almost objected, but the way Hawthorn’s eyes lit up with some kind of wisdom made him pause. As Hawthorn’s red hair blew lightly in the coastal breeze, he smiled, and Rowan’s muscles loosened.

“Look, Rowan,” Hawthorn said, “She’s magical.”

Squinting, Rowan saw a bright streak of aqua blue protrude from Maylin’s hands and pierce the dragon’s forehead. It stunned him for a moment, but then again his giant head arose and he looked at her menacingly, with just a miniscule bit of gentleness in his now darker crimson eyes. He let out an earth-shaking cry, displaying in all glory the insides of his mouth, then exhaled a flurry of bright orange flames from his nostrils.

The flames engulfed Maylin. Adrenaline consumed Rowan as he pushed Hawthorn’s hands aside and ran to her. They had been quite far away but it felt like only a second had passed. Rowan watched in horror the billows of smoke and flame threaten the otherwise peaceful vibrations of the night.

But! A spiraling funnel took the place of the fire enclosure, and Maylin flew straight up like a wind-up toy, twirling and spritzing out water like a sprinkler, bright aqua blue like the magic she had used earlier. The fire below was quickly distinguished. Drops of the aqua water splashed on Rowan’s face, but he stood still as he looked up in awe. The dragon shook the water off his face and furiously blew out another round of fire.

Maylin slowed to a still, and the water spritzing stopped. Her hands clenched, like she was gathering energy and drawing it to that area. They began to glow. The sky was still pitch dark, and since she had drawn all her energy to her hands, her hair had stopped glowing. Now it looked like just a glowing ball in the sky.

The glowing ball broke and tons and tons of aqua water poured onto the patch the fire below, the dragon’s head, and unintendedly Rowan. The high pressure of the waterflow pushed him backward. He yelped. He brushed his drenched hair off of his eyes and laughed hysterically.

A girl in the sky. A girl whom he had been attempting to save, from god knows what, winning a fight with a dragon. Had he known this girl before? This was Maylin, the unassuming girl who liked to wade in the duck pond and stargaze with him under the willow tree. From the time he ventured to this land, that was all he knew. Despite his exciting adventures with Hawthorn exploring every cave and path, the memories that stuck out the most to him were with her on the simplest of days.

Maylin landed gracefully to the ground. She faced the dragon and played the soft fairy song on her flochin. The dragon looked at her. He was out of breath and tired. She rest a gentle hand on his snout. He huffed and closed his eyes. From her hand shot a glow of blue that flashed for a minute throughout the dragon’s entire body.

The dragon disappeared in thin air.

Rowan let out a breath he had been holding in as he had watched the last confrontation between the girl and the dragon. He hadn’t noticed Hawthorn, Champ, Hunter, and Glassbell standing beside him. Hawthorn looked relieved and forlorn as he rest his head on Champ’s neck.

Then something amazing happened. Maylin stood where the dragon just was, atop the high cliff. The two sparkling spirals in the sky joined together to form one circle and moved down to frame her. It shone bright gold in the night sky as aqua blue formed a hue along Maylin’s body.

With her back facing the sea, she raised her arms and a gigantuous wave came thrashing up behind her. In the dark it looked vaguely like a giant’s cape. Seafoam curled at the tips. She thrust her arms higher, and higher the wave rose, then she sent it crashing with a drop of her arms, playing with the sea like a puppet.

Mist lightly tickled Rowan’s skin. He sensed that he was unable to comprehend what was actually happening in the moment. Perhaps something bigger was happening, like the whole world had gone away and this was a dream that had gotten stuck in time. Or maybe something smaller was happening, like him and Maylin were still in their little place splashing each other with pond water, and this was a nightmare, or something had gone wrong with his mind. That thought really scared him. Was this really Maylin? He felt that it was, it had to be, her presence and spirit were the same. She was curious, so she had intervened in his battle. She was strong, so she had defeated the dragon. She was playful, so she had played with the sea. Yes, this had to be Maylin.