Dreaming of Dragons

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. That’s what everybody says anyway, but I always remember there being dragons. They would roam in the darkness, their teeth protruding from their mouths, too long to fit inside, and their eyes soulless. Nothing but black pupils, dark and unblinking. Nera is constantly chittering in my ear about how amazing the dragons are, with their venomous glands, talons stronger than diamonds, wings razor sharp and all that. I don’t really get what she sees in them, I mean, they are horrifying and weird which technically makes them very amazing but they are also the main reason I haven’t slept in three days and am not paying attention.

“Aza! Pay attention!” Lurching my head off my chest I immediately regret listening to my companion as I come face first with a tree, proceeding to be shoved off my steed and landing in a heap on the rotting leaves.

“Watch where you’re going, human!” The Ent shook out its arm, trying to shake off the fresh bloodstain in the middle of their forearm as I press my fingers against the throbbing cut on my forehead. My fingers slip against my skin; great, blood.

“Watch where you stick that thing out,” I snapped back, ignoring the Ent’s glare as I wiped the blood off on my trousers and attempted to stand. As the grumpy tree creature pulled their roots out of the ground and stomped off into the forest my companion joined me at my side, their golden eyes glowing in the descending moonlight.

“You know, for someone who only goes riding at night, I would think you’d be a little bit more,” cocking their head at my failed attempts to remount them, “self conscious.”

“Well we can’t all be beautiful creatures of the night, Emery.” Successfully remounting, I stroked Emery’s black mane, the rough strands grating against the calluses on my fingers. It’s strange how something so wild and powerful could be so friendly and gentle. Taking my silence as the end to the conversation, Emery begins the journey back towards the castle, taking care to stick to the shadows where their black coat would blend in perfectly. They would never admit it but Emery enjoys the chance to stalk and prowl on our nightly rides just as much as I enjoy getting out of the castle. As the stone towers came back into view I rested my head against Emery’s neck, letting them take full control as my body attempted to rest.

“The dragons been getting to you again, Aza? This is three nights in a row,” Emery paused as the guards opened the gate for us. “And while I do enjoy the company, humans don’t typically spend this much time with a Pooka, especially at night.” Her golden eye stared into mine from where I was gripping her neck.

“Of course the dragons have been bothering me. Nera won’t stop going on and on about them as we clean and you know that every time she gets into one of her obsessions I am bound to be sleep deprived for at least a week.” My mouth stretches open in a yawn, a small pop releasing the tightness in my jaw as I yawn again.

“Well maybe you should get yourself a different Familiar,” Emery mutters as she trots into her stall.

“I heard that!” With a frustrated grunt I jump off Emery and wack their behind, running indoors before the angered Fae could reach me. How dare they suggest Nera is the problem! She is my Familiar, my closest friend, I could never just throw her away. Snatching a discarded rag from the kitchen I press it against my forehead, attempting to staunch the blood still flowing from the cut and scrape off the parts that have already dried.

“It’s the dragons fault,” I whisper to the stone walls. The various fae hiding between the cracks and in the abysmal corners laugh in response. Only humans suffer at the hands of dragons, it’s one of the million reasons Nera finds them so fascinating. Giving up on the stained blood, my efforts more painful than successful, I throw the rag into a corner; I can get it tomorrow. Sliding between the thick door and ice cold wall, I enter my room, smiling to see Nera fast asleep in her sheep lined bed, her cup of blood stained a deep maroon but empty nonetheless. She had eaten, finally. No matter how sleep deprived I was I always made sure she was properly cared for. Unlike other familiars, Nera was an Agathion, humanoid in all ways except soul. Figures that the one creature in my life closest to being human is interested in the one thing that sets humans and creatures apart. But I love her and always would; dragon obsession or not.

Curling under the layers of purple wool I let my exhaustion overwhelm me. I usually reached a point around day three where I was too tired to dream, the rare nights when I was free; that wasn’t the case tonight. There were rolling waves of black, each strand joined together as a pair of glowing yellow eyes came from the depths. I was stuck in a staring contest I knew I wouldn’t be able to win; Emery would never allow it. My voice vibrated with screams as the rays of glowing light began to burn my skin, small flames spreading across my skin as the fire nymphs danced erotically, taking no effort to hide their voluptuous bodies. It was with a sigh of relief that I was pulled into the mountains by a Snow Wasset, the cat-like creature proceeding to bury me in snow before burrowing away, probably to snatch another poor soul and bury them in the snow. With the fire nymphs extinguished my skin began to crawl, turning blue quicker than it should. I had to get out. Everything was too white, too quiet, too suffocating. Scraping the snow away until I was free, I left a trail of blood behind me, my fingernails having been scraped off by the icy edges of each snowflake in my escape. The pinkened trail continued as I climbed down the mountain toward the sea of green below.

All too soon I was laying amongst the tall grass as the faeries danced in a mushroom ring, chanting to draw some silly child away from their family. I let the chanting wash over me, carried by the spring-like breeze. The shuffle of grass provided a pleasant harmony until I realized the faeries had ceased their singing and dancing. Holding my breath I tilted my head towards the sound as it grew closer. Through the individual grass blades a shimmer of dark green scales shone through. More and more of the plants were crushed beneath the beast’s weight, each death showing another part of the body. Claws thick and a shimmering white. Teeth twice the size of my body, jutting out and slicing through each flower they pass. Eyes that are just black depths, as though staring into the caverns of the sea. And the wings, rigid and thin with brown bones piercing through the skin until the scales break away, the edges sharpened by years of hunting. Daring to try and get away, I kick out into the foliage, my heart seeming to stop as my toes push against something solid. Pushing away from the horrible beast I know will be after me, I begin to run, the ability to ignore the growing numbness in my foot growing more difficult with each stride. I must have pushed off a tooth, the venom eating its way into my skin as I continued to kick out into the sea of grass, the rustling of the creature not far behind. I scream as the end of their tail twitches above the plant line, too close for me to be safe.

As the lake came into sight I reached towards a curtain of hanging vines, knowing I would survive if I could just escape the land and swing myself far enough into the water, but then I felt it. The loss of feeling in my legs. The venom had done its work, ceasing my desperate sprint and pulling me to the ground. I was so obvious against the grass, my red hair like a beacon. The last of my air pushed from my body as I cried. I was going to die and there was nothing anyone could do. As my final breaths pushed the weeds further from my face, I watched their stems disappear into a flaming orange, two black holes materializing amongst the destruction as the dragon came to claim its prize. I couldn’t feel anything except the heaviness that comes with falling, even as the ring of fire surrounded me. Closing my eyes, the loss of vision brought little comfort as I felt each massive tooth pierce my body, my tongue coated in metal and my stomach torn apart by claws. The fire seared every part of me with pain until there was nothing I could do but screech, swallowing all of the fire’s smoke until there was nothing left.

As suddenly as it appeared the dragon vanished. My body was frozen but I was back in bed. Nera was snoring beside me, unaware that I was even there. I couldn’t move, the venom still flowing through my body as it would for the next hour or so. Until then, all I could do was sob, wishing that this nightmare would just end. There weren’t always dragons in the Valley between Dreams, but now that there were, they were here to stay, and there wasn’t anything anyone could do to get them to go away.