The Cry of Dragons

The Cry of Dragons

 

            The solarium at Highwoods Detention Center was getting more crowded by the day it seemed and that wasn’t going well for Dramaris Bailintin. He’s never done well in crowds. In fact, it’s the very reason he’s in here. If only those guys in the library at school could’ve listened and left him alone, he would be out in the world free as the breeze and two of the three wouldn’t have gotten hurt. He tried to warn them not to crowd him.

‘There are plenty of seats open to you. I would advise you to choose from them” he said in a normal suggesting tone but the leader of the threesome stepped up into Dramaris’ face. 

“Then I suggest you move to one of them, putz-face” the heavy-set boy replied. Dramaris rolled his eyes and took a breath, “I’m afraid I can’t do that. You see, I’m with my class and you’re not in this class. I doubt the teacher will allow me to move away and you join in, but I can ask him if you like.” Dramaris had surprised himself at his calmness and he was enjoying the fact that his sugar-coated suggestion was getting under the boy’s skin as his cohorts snickered. The boy chest-butted Dramaris.

“I wouldn’t recommend you do that” Dramaris said softly, cutting his eyes to where the teacher had been sitting. The chair was empty now and he assumed Mr. Townson was on his way over. The boy breathed in Dramaris’ face, “really, what are you going to do about it, boy?” Dramaris glanced around quickly and when he didn’t see Mr. Townson in sight and no one seemed to be watching, in the blink of an eye, he double-fisted the boy in the chest hard enough to throw him off balance and backward against his buddies. All three boys fell against tables and chairs making an awful racket. Dramaris had everyone looking now. The three boys scrambled to their feet and charged him.

“Please don’t make me hurt you,” he said quickly but the boys kept coming. The large boy swung at Dramaris’ face but he leaned back just in time and the boy nearly fell again. The second boy charged in, tackling Dramaris around the waist with the intention of dragging him down but Dramaris only stepped back until his back pressed against the wall. With one hand, he pinched the boy’s shoulder in just the right spot that nearly paralyzed him, sending him to the floor hissing. The third boy decided to take his shot while Dramaris was busy but somehow, Dramaris reacted without even noticing the boy’s effort.  He threw his hand up before he even lifted his head and caught the boy’s fist in his palm. Barely touching the boy, he let out a yell as if he had just been knifed.  He pulled his hand back and held it, crouching and bouncing as though he were in great pain.

            “What did you do?” he yelled with tears in his eyes, “how did you burn my hand, you freak?”

            “I didn’t burn you. Do you see any fire?” Dramaris answered solemnly. “I warned you not to bother me.”

Everyone was out of their seats and had made a circle around the fight until Mr. Townson came running through. He immediately checked the boy holding his hand and crying. Holding his wrist, the boy showed the teacher his palm, expecting there to be a bloody burn mark but there was only a slight redness of the skin. 

            “What is going on here?” Mr. Townson demanded, looking from one to the other until he reached Dramaris. That’s when he sighed and shook his head. “Dramaris, trouble again?”

            “Mr. Townson, I----”

            “I don’t want to hear it here. We’ll talk about it in the Principal’s office. Go on down and I’ll be there shortly. As for you three, where are you supposed to be right now? You’re not in my class so, what were you doing in this section of the library?”

            “We weren’t doing anything, Sir. We were just trying to get to that bookshelf over there and that guy started messing with us” the heavy-set boy answered.

Mr. Townson looked toward his class, “did anyone see what happened here?”  Everyone shook their heads or answered aloud, ‘no’.  “Okay” Mr. Townson replied and turned back to the boys, focusing on the boy rubbing his shoulder and still wincing in pain, “can you make it to the Nurse’s office?” he asked, and the boy nodded and started to walk away. Mr. Townson instructed the other two to follow and get checked out. “And when you finish there, I want all three of you to make a report as to what took place here and turn it in to the Principal’s office.”

 

            It was a case of three strikes and Detention becomes your home for several days or until the resident Psychiatrist says you’re fit for release. Highwoods was becoming more of a home than home. Mom didn’t even come down this time. She told them by phone to do whatever they had to do it was out of her hands now. Dad has never been a part of his life. He skipped town a few days after Dramaris was born. He stayed long enough to name him. 

            Highwoods didn’t seem so bad this time. He had actually made a friend this around. Someone who was more like him. She seemed to understand him, relate. And she wasn’t bad looking either. She wasn’t an inmate. She was an assistant in the office and helped out with the nurse’s aides once in a while. She monitored the solarium and helped entertain inmates with board games, card games, and arts and crafts. She never liked it until she met Dramaris. She was a couple a years older and in her second year of college. Dramaris was nineteen, a Senior at Douglas-Seton High. He had been held back a grade due to an involuntary commitment to a mental hospital when he was fifteen. Mom was sure he was on drugs when he kept telling her that he had superpowers, that he could fight like a trained Ninja and he could hear things that no one else could. The day he claimed he could hear dragons calling him at night, she had him committed kicking and screaming. He went in drug-free but he came out a year later on several prescription medications. 

            He sat nervously in the solarium, his eyes shifting constantly around him, ready to move to another secluded space should someone approach. Dr. Clifford, the resident Psychiatrist, had taken him off his meds a week ago and he was just today starting to feel the results. The anxiety was almost to panic level and his ears buzzed like a swarm of bees had gotten inside his head. It was a familiar sound and he kept waiting for the dragons to call to him again. He didn’t dare tell the Doc about the buzz or what usually followed, he would surely keep him a lot longer. The chatter and activity in the solarium were starting to get to him so, he closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He hadn’t noticed that the magazine he was looking through was now a crumpled mess between his palms.

            Melinda had been watching him through the glass at the nurse’s station for almost an hour and was becoming concerned. She would’ve already gone to him but she couldn’t leave her station until her relief came on duty. She pulled his chart to see if Dr. Clifford had prescribed anything for him yet. She had been checking every day because she thought it strange that he would cut Dramaris off from everything all at once without giving him something to ease him into the transition. The prescription line was still blank. He wasn’t to have even an aspirin.

            “What are they trying to do to you?” she whispered to herself.

            “What’s that?” came a voice behind her.

            “Oh, Cassandra, I’m so glad you’re here. Can I ask you a question about a patient?”

            “Sure” her relief replied.

            “Dramaris Bailintin, Dr. Clifford took him off all his meds a week ago and he still hasn’t prescribed anything new for him. Isn’t it normal to give them something to wean them off, to help them stay calm?”

            “Has he been causing trouble again?” Cassandra asked as she searched the room for him.

            “No, no, he hasn’t been doing anything wrong, I was just wondering about it. His is the first chart I’ve noticed like that.”

            “Oh, well, it is unusual but then you have to consider who we’re talking about---the boy is unusual. Dramaris is strange, Melinda. I feel sorry for him, actually. He comes from a broken home and his mind is all over the place. His Mom doesn’t seem to care anymore. I don’t even think he wants to leave this place now.”

            “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well, my shift’s over but I promised Dramaris that I would play a couple of games with him.  Oh, I wanted to ask you, I have my iPod and earbuds with me, is it all right if I let him listen? I know they’re not allowed to have electronics but does that still apply if they are being supervised?”

Cassandra was biting her lip as she listened, giving her a look that said the answer was ‘no’, but when she heard the desperation in Melinda’s voice, she couldn’t say it.

            “Well, since Dr. Clifford has already left and I’m the only one on duty tonight, I’ll let you. Just don’t make a habit of this, okay? We could both get into a lot of trouble.”

            “Thanks, Cassandra, you’re the best.”

 

            Dramaris cut his eyes toward the movement to his right and instantly smiled. A feeling of relief chilled over him. He looked up and watched her make her way between the several tables. She was smiling at him too. He stood as she neared him and reached to pull her a chair. She couldn’t help but think what an old-fashioned gesture for such a young man. No man had ever pulled a chair for her before. That was almost a thing of the past.

            “Thank you, Dramaris” she said as she sat down. “How are you feeling? I’ve been watching you from the nurse’s station for a while and you seem a little anxious. Everything all right?”

            “Sure, now that you’re here. Are you here to play a board game or have a session with me?”

Her brow cinched and her eyes narrowed on him. The smile faded fast. He felt like he had just fallen down a flight of stairs.

            “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that---what I meant was, are you here to discuss how I feel---no, that’s not what I mean either. I-I’m sorry----.”

She reached over and placed her hand on his, “it’s okay, Dramaris, breathe. I think I know what you meant and no, I didn’t come over to pretend to be your doctor. I didn’t even come over to play a board game. I have something better for you. You like music, don’t you?”

He smiled and relaxed again, “music. Sure, but---” he started to protest when she pulled the iPod from her pocket and handed one end of the earbuds to him.

            “It’s okay, I got clearance to do this. Put the earbud in, I have a particular song I want you to hear.”

Again, he gave her a big smile and twisted the earbud in his right ear as she moved closer to him and put the other earbud in her own ear. She started the song.  He listened with his head down for a moment and then turned to look at her. She could see in his eyes what she had hoped to see. He loved it. It was touching his heart. It was soothing him all the way to his core. This was better than any drug they could give him. She smiled.

            “What’s it called,” he said softly, in amazement.

            “Cry of the Dragons. Do you like it?”

The look on his face was more than she expected, way more. Tears began to well in his eyes. She leaned closer to him, taking his hand, “tell me, Dramaris, what does it make you feel? What are you thinking?”

            “It’s beautiful and it makes me feel at peace. It makes me think about what I hear.”

            “And what’s that?” she asked.

            “The sound the dragons make---that crying sound. Even though it’s a pitiful sound, it’s still beautiful. It’s how they communicate with each other and to me.”

            “To you? Where are they, Dramaris? Can you see them?”

            “Yes. They’re hiding in the mountain peaks where it’s mostly rock and snow. They like it where it’s cold.”

            “Why?”

            “Because they have thick skin and some, the older ones, they have scales over their thick skin. And they have fire inside them. Did you know that once there was a mountain top that was mistaken for an active volcano because people saw the fire spew from it and when they investigated, there was no fire? It wasn’t a volcano. They couldn’t explain it---called it a weather anomaly. It was them---it was the clan of dragons relieving themselves of pent-up fire. Then they moved on because they knew someone would come. They’re that intelligent, Melinda.”

            “I’ve never heard of that happening, Dramaris, but it sounds exciting. Where did you hear it?”

            “From them----the dragons, they told me.”

            “So, they don’t just call your name, they talk to you---like I talk to you?”

            “Not exactly. They have their own language but I can understand them, and in my head, I can speak their language but I can’t say it out loud. Believe me, I know how this sounds, how I sound. I know I sound looney and that’s why I’m in here. But it’s true. It’s all true. I can’t help it if you or no one else believes me.”

            “Dramaris, I do believe you. Here, listen to it again and tell me more.”

He stared at her as he plugged the earbud into his ear. She started the song and again, took his hand, “talk to me, Dramaris. Close your eyes and listen and tell me what you see and hear---what you feel.”

The song waved through him like a soft warm breeze blowing against him. In his mind, he opened his eyes and there before him was the largest creature he had ever seen. It’s nostrils hardly ten feet away. Its chin resting on the snow-covered ground. The warm breeze was dragon breath as it breathed steadily. Dramaris stepped to one side and looked up at the rest of the dragon’s face. His stomach filled with excited butterflies. He could feel himself smiling, so glad to see this monstrous, beautiful being slumbering in peace.

            “Dramaris? What are you seeing? You’re smiling. Someone there with you?” Melinda asked.

            “I’m with Devon, Melinda. Quick! Start the song again---quick, Melinda, before he fades away completely.”

Melinda rushed to restart the song and set it to replay automatically.  “Dramaris, who is Devon?”

            “You’re not going to believe me when I tell you, but Devon is my brother, my older brother. Devon is a dragon, Melinda, and he’s sleeping right here in front of me.”

            “Where are you?” she asked.

            “I don’t know. All I know is it’s beautiful here----cold, but beautiful. There’s snow and the sky is a soft blue with white clouds that look like cotton puffs. There are mountain peaks all around---peaks of sharp rock and flat rocks. There are other dragons here too, but they all seem to be asleep.”

            “How many dragons?”

            “I don’t know. They are so big I can’t see past the four filling in the gap between the peaks. They’re massive, Melinda, bigger than any building I’ve ever seen.”

            “They don’t know that you’re there? They can’t sense your consciousness?”

            “Doesn’t seem so. Wait. Let me try something. Don’t speak to me for a few minutes.”

Melinda waited, watching his face intensely and keeping an eye on the iPod to make sure the song kept playing. Then a thought came to her, ‘how did I know that this song would have a positive effect on him? How did I know it would be something special? Why is it so easy for me to believe him? It’s like I already know this or something. It seems so weird that I don’t fear for him. It’s like I know he’s safe with them. I wonder what he’s doing?”

            Dramaris moved closer to the dragon, close enough to place his hand on the side of the dragon’s snout. In his mind, he called out, ‘Devon, my brother?’

The dragon’s eye popped open and shifted immediately to the ground. A slight puff of smoke came from his nostrils, blowing up the snow. Groggily, he lifted his head and tilted it to look at Dramaris. And to Dramaris’ surprise, he answered.

            “Dra�"mar--is” he said, long and drawn out in a deep voice. “You have finally come. But you are alone. How is this possible?”

Perplexed, Dramaris answered, “I don’t know what you mean? Who was supposed to be with me?”

            “Why the Sorceress, of course. Only she can give you the magic you need to be here.”

            “Who is this Sorceress? I have a friend, Melinda, she brought me a song to listen to and asked me questions about it and before I knew it, I was here. I mean, I’m not really here, just my mind is. My body is back there with her. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

            “I most certainly do, little brother. She must be your Sorceress and the song is her magic. Now all you have to do is get her to use her power to send you to us a complete package. Then, we can begin our work. Time is running out, Dramaris. We’ve waited a long time for you. We are nothing without you.”

            “I don’t understand any of what you’re talking about. What work? Why do you need me? I’m not a dragon.”

            “But you are, Dramaris. You are the dragon that will complete our body. Apart, we are only several dragon forms and you the single human form that commands us. Together, we are a single unit and you are the brain that leads us. Our work is to survive while we search for our mates. If they are alive as we are, then the Heavens have blessed us. If they have perished, then you and your Sorceress will have the power to revive them. If we can complete this mission, we will be granted entry into the Empire Realm where our kind awaits their King and Queen.”

            “And you are the eldest, Devon, so, you are the King?”

The dragon chuckled, “me? King? Oh, good Heavens, no. The King would be you, little brother. King Dramaris, the wanderer and seeker of knowledge. You are entangled in so many powers, my brother, you don’t even know of them.”

Dramaris’ mouth was still hanging open at the thought of being King of anything except maybe trouble. He certainly held the corner market on that. But powers? He knew nothing of that, well, except maybe the fighting techniques he couldn’t explain. He finally swallowed and wet his lips. He looked up at Devon, “do you know who the Queen is to be?”

Devon chuckled again, “oh, come now, Dramaris, surely you know who you will marry. You have met her, have you not?”

            “I’m not in love with anyone if that’s what you mean” Dramaris answered sarcastically.

Devon lowered his tilted head until his eye was nearly touching Dramaris. When he blinked, Dramaris felt the whoosh of air. Devon’s green eye turned slightly red and then blinked again, turning back to its natural green. His head backed away and it seemed he was grinning.

            “What was that about?” Dramaris asked.

            “You are indeed in love, little brother. I sense it. I can even smell it on you.”

            “What? You don’t know what you’re talking about---smell it on me?”

            “Yes, I can. I smell your blood and even now, she is near you, touching you.”

Dramaris knew that the only one with him right now is Melinda and she was holding his hand. He didn’t realize he was smiling at that thought until Devon chuckled again.

            “The Queen is your Sorceress and that would be very fitting. Our King and Queen should have powers above all others. It will be your powers that give us power. Finally, we will see home again and leave this forsaken planet to its mortals. It won’t last long under their rule, trust me. If they could find us, they would destroy us on sight, not realizing that we could make life so much better for them and save this beautiful planet. They kill what they don’t understand, Dramaris, and what they don’t like, even each other. It was not what the creator intended. We were meant to be the protectors of this world and all that lives upon her from those who may come from distant places to harm them. Little do they know, they have already been visited many times and when the time is right, they will return in full force and these mortals will regret being so ignorant and futile. It is why we hoped you would come at our call, lest we die with them. You know what must be done now, King Dramaris. We will be here when you return. Please, do not be long.”

Dramaris felt the sinking dread in Devon’s request. He reached up and rubbed his brother’s snout, “I will return as soon as I can, brother, as soon as I can. Until then, take care of yourself. Stay hidden” and with that said, he faded away.

            Dramaris jolted upright, scaring Melinda half to death.

            “Are you all right?  You were so quiet but you said not to talk to you. I was getting worried.”

He turned his whole body toward her, pulling out the earbud and handing it to her, “I don’t know how to thank you for what you just did for me. That was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me. Incredible. Before you hit me with a barrage of questions, I have one for you. Did you have any idea that listening to this song would get me all the answers I’ve been looking for, for so long? I mean, do you know that you have powers?”

            “That’s two questions and the answer to both is ‘no’---well, that’s not entirely true. I did have some kind of feeling that the song would mean something to you. What happened to you? Why did you get so quiet?”

            “Never mind that right now, I have something else I have to ask you. If I was to get out of here, would you like to stay in touch, maybe go on a date with me?  I’m being forward, I know, but you are really important to me, I mean, I really like you. We seem to click. You understand me, what I need and just when I need it. You’ve changed my life, Melinda. You’ve given me purpose and ----and----what? Why are you looking at me like that?”

            “What happened to you in there,” she asked, tapping the side of his head.

            “Melinda, if I tell you that right now, you’re going to run out of here so fast and never look back.”

            “I’m not going to run anywhere, Dramaris. Tell me.”

Cassandra was just about to call Melinda over the intercom system when she saw the two of them huddle closer together, so close, their foreheads were nearly touching. She noticed they were holding hands. She moved her hand away from the intercom button and sat back and watched. She wasn’t sure why she changed her mind. She knew she should be breaking up the physical contact between them. Physical contact was forbidden in the solarium, but for some reason, something was telling her to overlook it this time, just like she did the iPod.  Suddenly, the door to the nurse’s station opened and Melinda came rushing in. Cassandra shook her head and realized she must’ve dozed off for a second.

            “Everything okay with Dramaris?” she asked.

            “Perfect. Why?”

            “Wow, you seem suddenly chipper----after being so worried when you went in there. What did you do, use your magic touch?” Cassandra giggled.

Melinda turned to her as she was slipping into her coat, “yeah, you might say that. And tomorrow, Dramaris and I will be taking a little trip, so, if you don’t mind, will you see to it that he gets to bed early?” She smiled and wrapped her scarf around her neck, grabbed her purse and headed out the door. Cassandra wears the perplexed look now as she looks back to Dramaris who is still sitting at the table, staring straight ahead with a very satisfied smile on his face.

Reviews

[BlackRose]

This is surely a story I would read. Full of imagination and wonderment, a magical journey you've taken me on so far. ...and away for a bit from reality of the world. Can't wait to read more. I very much enjoyed this spectacular piece.

[Shep]

This story was worthy of becoming a novel that I would read. I love Dragons and how they make the world seem magical. the imagery in this short story was a breath of fresh air that I simply enjoyed reading it. thank you for sharing it with me. please return the love.