Mind's Eye

His world was made of pain and cold. He knew nothing other since falling from his bedroom window into the frigid waters of the river that ran across the town, right under the castle.

Fell?

After having been hit senseless by the invaders, after having seen his mother and twin sister disappear in a gory shower of blood, he had been thrown out, no rightful heir to the throne remaining to lay claim to the city and kingdom.

It mattered not he was only 9 seasons old, he was a threat that had to be disposed of as quickly as possible.

He wasn't sure how or why he had survived, all he knew was that he had found himself awake in the mud, freezing, numb, his head a leaden ton. He was pushed by an instinct he didn't understand or control, to find light, to find warmth, but the forest was dark and filled with brambles, it was a despairing labyrinth, just his own private hell.

He kept walking, more out of automatism than anything else, until he fell from exhaustion.

The flame of life was flickering towards darkness, there was nothing for him here, nothing left to fight for, only visions of death and sadness, only cold and pain.

Just when he was about to close his eyes, he felt her presence. A dark figure in the soft moonlight, as he had collapsed in a clearing that allowed some of the light from the sky to filter through.

A monster, the kind his mother told him stories about. With teeth and fire and wings... She had been digging in the earth and hadn't seen him: what poured from her was grief, grief as powerful as his own.

And in this instant, their minds seemed locked, as one, and she looked more afraid than angry.

He expected death only from her kind, but to his surprise and puzzlement, she ran away, her thin wings flapping in panic although she could not take off because of the forest.

The astonishment was short-lived and the exhaustion took over the adrenaline.

He fell in a slump on the ground and expected never to wake up again. Looked forward never to wake up again.

But he woke to warmth the likes of which he had never felt before.

He remembered from the stories his mother told him that the monsters were cold, breathing fire, evil, eating boys and girls for breakfast, but suddenly he was right next to her skin, in a pouch, so warm, soft fur pressing him from all sides, making him feel secure in a way he had never felt before.

He also felt her in his mind, this wave of kindness and care, blowing away all the cold, all the pain.

In this warm pouch, he felt safe, and fell asleep...

With time, he began to make the differences in feelings. The language was completely different from what he had begun learning; it was made of images and powerful emotions. He couldn't follow the intricacies but his 'mother', for there simply was no other word for her, always took extra care to make him understand the concepts, so he could progress.

His brain had not yet fully developed to be hopelessly ingrained by the speech demands of his species and he was able to learn a primitive form of the language his adoptive clan used. Even those who never liked him, even those who always showed disdain towards him , if not downright aggressivity, had to admit eventually that he was unusually skilled.

That was the biggest problem for him. That he would always be seen as the outsider, the one who was different, ' one of them' . He barely remembered his birth family and species and what he recalled composed his worst nightmare. The only place he felt safe was with his 'mother'.

In the forest, as dark as it could get in the dead of night, he feared nothing. Nothing except what hid behind his eyelids.

" Why do I have to learn this? " Declan grunted , forming the words carefully, so as not to disappoint his 'mother' .

/ You cannot forget your heritage, where you come from. Eventually, you will return / she answered, not looking up from a circle of rocks she was polishing.

" I will never go back there, never, he denied. My life is here now, with you, with my real family, "

He hated when she 'projected' like that ( for there was no other way to describe their language, as it simply imposed itself in his mind, almost blotting out his own thoughts if he didn't re-assert his own personality. He hated thinking he came from monsters. How he would have loved to be like her, to have thin gossamer-like wings that reflected moonlight... ten times his strength, at the very least, graceful and pure... but he was unfortunatelu only human.

The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of it.

/We are an old species, Declan, the world has changed. Nothing is as it should be, nothing will be as it was/

" You see this with your Mind's Eye? " he asked. This fascinated him.

Although the others were never candid about any of their abilities, his 'mother' was different. Her kind could sense the future of those whose minds they could touch. Sentient beings, pure beings... most of which her kind had predicted the extinction.

Unicorns, Sirens, Faeries,to name but a few, for those who had names that had some meaning to him... all of them had met their demise to the most brutal of all species, and the few who survived had to hide in a world that was no longer theirs.

/ I have to travel soon, she expressed. My kind has a special season, and mine has finally come back. I may be a mother once more, I see this here / she explained, waving her clawed, irisdescent hand over the rocks.

Divination was not an art he had any aptitude for but Declan watched in rapt fascination as the rocks started glowing, emitting a soft hiss and crackle. Words and whispers of the Earth, he knew, but his ears had not been meant to hear and understand those pure sounds.

" You will come back, won't you? " he asked. Her eyes were glazed over, she seemed to be contemplating something that was difficult to see; a tear of pure sapphire was pearling at her eye. She brought her hand back to her, caressing her ventral pouch absent-mindedly.

/ I told you many times, the Mind's Eye does not function this way for us. We only See the fate of others, never our own. I was thinking of my youngling, I still mourn him/

He nodded, she had expressed this many times. Her species was old and long-lived but very few younglings now survived their first few years. The scent of the world had changed, times were different. Before finding him, she had lost to plight her third youngling in all her years of life.

The disease was a calcification process that usually occurred upon her species' death, rendering their bodies to stone for eternity, but in recent years, it had affected their offspring far sooner than it should have... and the mothers were left to bear the terrible sorrow for long long years.

He wanted to hug her and take her pain away, if only he could make her happy again! As always, he felt her smile.

She always said his emotions were so powerful sometimes, they blotted out everything else. A testament to the strength of his race.

/Thank you, you already have/ she expressed, getting up and extending her wings to their fullest.

She would go soon. He saw from her thoughts that she would be gone by morning.

He felt her absence very strongly. None of the others tolerated him very well, he was the outsider, always a source of scorn, although they would have claimed they did not lower themselves to these petty emotions.

They said he projected his thoughts upon them, that they were merely Observers of the world, as they had always been.

That it was not their place to judge.

Without his 'mother', Declan didn't know how he could have survived. Only she understood him and made him feel like he belonged. Only she made him forget the trauma that had brought him to this area of the forest, left untouched by his species.

For now...

After a few days, he kept looking for signs of her in the sky. A projection, anything that would help dispel the gloom. That feeling in the pit of his stomach, he could not contain it anymore; he knew something bad had happened to her, that she would never come back.

To seek an 'audience' with Framdim, the leader of the clan, terrified him to the highest point. But to think he would never see Sardenka again, never bask in her love, made him bolder than he would have thought possible.

The old Being barely raised his eyelids to greet him. He knew the boy was coming, of course, long before Declan decided to work up the courage to face his fear. For a member of that species, his mind had become a powerful thing.

The old Dragon seemed almost calcified already. At a certain age, their kind could decide to leave the realm of the living and enter dormancy, seeking calm and further enlightenment away from the bustle of life.

It seemed the process had already begun with him.

" Do you know? " Declan asked.

Their connection was much stronger. If he could feel something was off, then they must have known every detail already.

The old Being sighed, the breath smelling vaguely of sulphur. Not a word was said, but suddenly Declan was transported far away.

His skin covered in goosebumps as he thought he recognized that place. Home...

And the goosebumps became cold sweat when he saw, in his mind's eye, Sardenka, chained to the ground, her wings weighed down by huge shackles that had been fastened to rocks the size of boulders. Just to try to get away would have ripped her wings away, they were strong but delicate things.

Her muzzle was also tied restricted by tight chains, her paws manacled as though she was a beast, and presiding over her capture was the man, the one-eyed face that had haunted his every nightmare, the man who had killed his father and murdered his mother and sister.

He was dizzy and nearly collapsed to the ground when the vision halted. For a moment he felt blind. But maybe it was rage that blinded him for he was animated by only one intention after seeing this.

" When do we leave? " he asked.

The old Being popped one of his eyelids half-open in surprise.

/ Leave to where?/

" Find her. Free her. Save her. " Declan said, trying hard to remain calm, as his agitation was drawing everyone in the group. But he could hardly believe their nonchalance.

Didn't Sardenka matter to them? She had been in their lives for an eternity!

He couldn't imagine the world without her presence and they barely seemed to care!

Framdim rose from his crouch and there was some definite unnatural creaking. The process of turning to stone was well on its way.

/ That is not our way/ he expressed, and there was deep sadness and resignation in the message.

Declan was waiting for more, but the old Being simply walked off, a few strides, before settling down again on the forest floor.

' That's it? But she needs us! They will hurt her, they will kill her, don't you understand? "

/ That is what your kind does,/ another dragon intervened. He had lost one of his front paws to an attack from hunters and it was literally taking forever to regrow. It was now a stump with budding claws; when Declan was a child it had been a simple stump. In 200 years perhaps it would be useful again.

/ You murder, you attack, you destroy. I warned her it was too dangerous, that she should wait. But Sardenka was always full of hope, and this is where it led her. She and her child will perish from your kind/

" Child? " Declan could hardly believe the image imposing itself in his mind. A brother. He was going to have a brother again.

/ Our females are very vulnerable at that stage. Sardenka could not escape them. Her hope was her downfall / the dragon concluded.

" No, I will save her, Declan declared. I will get her out. I won't stay here one minute if I can help her. "

/ You cannot, /the wounded dragon scoffed. /You are weak and but one against many. You will die./

" If you help me, we can storm the castle and save her! You have more power than any of them! You could crush them to a pulp! Why would you let her die like this, be humiliated like this? And if she carries a baby!"

He could feel them wincing because his words were too loud. They were so ineffective, heavy and slow, how could he wake them up, make them see the obvious?!

/ We would not become them, / Framdim expressed with a finality that left the boy breathless.

They would sit around and sleep while their friend, their sister, the best of their kind was tortured.

" I will save her, " he said spitefully.

/ If you leave this Sanctuary, you will never come back/ Framdim expressed, and there was an underlying level of threat the likes of which Declan had never felt before. Predicting his death? Had he seen it in his Mind's Eye?

But what did it matter?

Only his 'mother' made life worthwhile and bearable in this 'Sanctuary'.

" Good, he said. Then you be rid of me for good. "

He didn't have any possessions to speak of. He had never been in a battle since his childhood. He had never trained for war.

He had spent his days hunting with makeshift weapons he had carved out of wood and stone himself. He was not a warrior, but strangely he was not afraid for himself.

He only felt fear for Sardenka, if he did not manage to get to her in time.

For the voyage would be long on foot; he did not have wings to fly.

Sardenka's eyes snapped open suddenly. She had been chained to the ground for months now and had begun to doubt what she was sensing. Doubt there was still hope.

She knew she could not expect any rescue from her kind, as this was not their way, nor their calling, but nonetheless, she had not started the calcification process, because there was hope to be safe again.

Every day peasants came by and threw rocks on her or kicked her: she had not eaten in so long even her metabolism was becoming almost irrevocably crippled.

She didn't need or want rescue for herself... the hope was different, for the future...

And that night she felt it come back full force.

Her eyes were a bit glazed over from lack of water - it hadn't rained in nearly a week. But she would have recognized him anywhere.

If not from his appearance, from his mind, unable to contain the joy at seeing her again.

Followed by unconceivable rage at what she had lived, what they had done to her.

Her mind expressions felt rusty even to her as she tried to soothe him. The time was not right for useless emotions that would cost them time.

To his credit, Declan started working on the locks, keeping his anger in check, boiling under the surface.The chains were massive and the locks were rusty and gigantic but he was very gifted with such puzzles, a sort of vision of how to move whatever object he could stick inside to master the tumblers.

Within a few minutes, Sardenka was free, and stretched as much as her weakened body allowed her to. Her wings were useless, cramped and rigid; she wouldn't be able to fly for weeks.

Not that she had the energy to fly... and she had much more pressing concerns on her troubled mind.

/Here, through here, if it is not too late/

Declan hugged her as tightly as he could, his emotions unsettling her in her resolve to get moving as quickly as possible. The emotional relief he felt having found her was understandable but far too premature. Nothing was certain yet.

/It might be too late, I need you with me/ she expressed.

He had never seen or felt her so desperate, so driven. Something was pushing her beyond reason or madness... because as soon as he let her go, she started towards the fortress that was the castle, and not the outer walls for easy escape.He didn't hesitate more than a half-second and already, despite her weakness, she had several meters advance on him.

He couldn't let her face the guards alone, she had been captured once.

" Where are we going? " he asked in a low murmur.

/I'm sorry/ she expressed, scaring him, for he had never sensed anything but benevolence from her.

And now her feelings were dark, darker than the night itself.

The escape had not gone unnoticed and soldiers were shouting and bringing arms, preapring to counterstrike and bring down the beast.

Sardenka drew in a breath and instinctively, Declan plunged in the nearest horse water trough to avoid the devastating blast wave.

He had seen small flames coming from them but they never let their true fire escape.

He screamed inside the water that was evaporating around him. The blast wave was so powerful it incinerated wood and men without distinction, and warped iron as though it was tin.

He emerged from the trough to a scene out of a nightmare, the castle was burning... and Sardenka was gone, abandoning him to his fate to enter the castle.

He had never seen her so enraged, he had never known she could be... feral.

He was actually terrified of what damage she could be doing, he had expected a reprimand on her part for coming to rescue her since the others had abandoned her to her fate.

He had thought he was the monster... but that was a question of perspective.

Entering the castle under the now crumbling archway, he followed the smell of smoke and the screams. She was going up, moving with surprising speed for her bulk and poor state.

But the castle was made for human sized people and she had to destroy many archways to be able to push forward, whereas he could scurry through without problem.

They arrived to the Throne room at the same time, Declan scurrying under her front paws to actually emerge first.

A lot of people had gone to hide in that cathedral like room, thinking that the King's power could somehow protect them from harm; the Royal Family itself was present, barely cowering in fear.

The Queen looked terrified, clutching her children in her arms, but the King and his oldest son managed to look defiant.

And this stopped Declan cold. He knew he could meet the murderer of his family, going to save his 'mother', but he was not prepared.

He had wanted to slip in and out, getting her out of danger as quickly as possible. Given her gentle nature, he hadn't expected her to want revenge.But now here he was, in front of the man who had destroyed his family, wrecked his life... and he was seconded by one of the most powerful beings on this Earth, fueled by rage the likes of which no one had ever seen or witnessed.

The King didn't recognize him. 15 or so years had changed him from a boy to a man, and in any case, the King's attention was riveted on the beast, sulphuric flamelets spewing out of her nostrils with every breath she took.

Her voice was so rumbly, it seemed to make their bones tremor to shattering point. All these years and Declan could never have guessed she could actually articulate words like his kind could.

" Give him back, " She wasn't exactly threatening, but it was hard to deny the damage her fire had already done.

One breath and they would all be roasted.

The King whistled after sparing a look at his son. Declan was sure this was a trap of some kind but the emotional relief coming from Sardenka prevented him from thinking about it more thoroughly.

For a creature had scampered in at the sound of the whistling, slender and limber, looking like a tiny version of its mother. He was already 6 feet tall, but seemed fragile somehow. Declan was entranced by the sight of his 'brother', and he could feel his 'mother' pressing him to come over and join her.

What was wrong with him? He barely reacted to her beckon, his mind was so... silent. He glanced at the King, and only then did he hesitate towards his mother, looking uncertain as to her intentions.

So silent, Declan had never been around a Being, a dragon that was so... empty.

He could feel Sardenka's relief, and fear; she had noticed the silence herself, but kept encouraging her child to come forth and join her. Next to her, away from the influence of the humans, she would bring him back on the true path.

The baby slinked next to his mother, looking deep in her eyes, her kind, sad eyes, and uttered a sort of purr that seemed to break all of Sardenka's resistance.

Declan hadn't known they could cry; her tears were pure blue, looking like jewels out of her eyes.

The King let out a sharp bark, breaking the moment, and suddenly the youngling was biting his mother's neck ferociously, going for the weak spots. It seemed to know instinctively where to strike.

Sardenka tried to blow out fire but her offspring had cut off the access, the connection in her throat. And slashed through major arteries, making red blood that smelled like sulphur spill out on the floor.

Declan didn't have the time to scream for her that he was on the move, climbing atop the baby and using his knife to sever muscles, which made it cease the attack to try and defend itself.

The baby dragon wasn't a real Being, he was nothing but a sad, broken creature, feral, lost, obeying the very man who had destroyed his one chance at a happy life.

Both of them waltzed away from Sardenka as they fought, the baby clawing at Declan as much as it could to get him off, the boy slashing and ripping everything he could until he hit the throat cavities, where the fire was formed.

Sardenka collapsed on the floor and that produced a tremor worthy of an earthquake. Everyone who had been transfixed by the fight now realized the predicament they were in.

Especially when, in rage, Declan aimed the baby's near severed head towards the throne and blew out a small geyser of fire.

Sardenka's blood acted as a stimulant to the fire and within seconds, the room, the castle in its entirety was engulfed in scouring, scourging flames.

She was lost in her thoughts as she buried her youngling, already hard as stone. So young, so fragile, her hope carried away... but was there any hope left?

She didn't perceive the threat until it was too late, didn't feel the presence until they were almost face to face.

The child was feverish, bleeding, broken, his mind faint and so filled with pain...

For a long second, she simply stared at him, recognizing herself in that pain, that drive to let go and lie down... and give up.

She gasped as the realization dawned upon her, and ran away as quickly as she could, seemingly running away from the tiny child.

The others were alerted to her alarm long before she got to them, and they all gathered around her to understand what this new threat was about.

/ What is one of them doing here?/asked Grettyr, who had lost a paw to a group of hunters some years before, said with obvious agitation.

/ I don't know, but, I touched his mind/ she said hurriedly.

/ They have none/ Grettyr argued.

/ He has, it is full of pain, but I touched it, I can project and see... through the Mind's Eye. Our fate. I need your help to stabilize him, he is in so much pain/

They gathered around the boy, who had fallen unconscious. He reeked of despair and pain, but they all had to acknowledge that they could touch the bud of his mind... and project through their Eye to see the shape of things to come. For his future, and theirs.

The vision of the flames engulfing the castle, the deaths of everyone inside, was still blazing in their minds when they emerged from the EnVision dream.

Sardenka was especially shaken up; she could barely find her breath.

/This will be our Fate/ Framdim said. He did not sound surprised. Just resignated.

They didn't need to speak their minds, they were all much too aware of their lack of options. They had known for a long time that the world was changing. But this showed to what extent their time was over.

/It is time/ Framdim said; the process had already begun for him, but they could all join him, and accelerate the calcification.

/Our time may come again, but long after their species has moved on/

The dragons settled down in the clearing, sighing in a low rumble, letting go of the breath that kept them connected to this doomed realm.

/ But the child?/ Sardenka expressed sadly.

/ He is strong and determined, his Time is here. His species is resilient/ Framdim rumbled, letting his head settle on his paws. He closed his eyes without remorse; sleep was what he needed, eternal sleep if he could manage it.

Sardenka stifled a sob; she wasn't sure she felt sad for her unborn son, her dead one, or the boy collapsed in a faint at her feet.

Did it matter?

Their Fate was sealed.

The child woke with a foreboding feeling that seemed to persist even more so than the pain afire in his limbs.

He saw by the moonlight that the clearing was filled with strange rocks, boulders, towering over him. How had he not seen them before?

But the fever made his focus swim in any case; he could barely stand up without becoming dizzy.

He thought of lying back down and closing his eyes again, but a glint in the moonlight caught his eye.

Curiosity somehow got the better of him and he wobbled to the rock-boulder that was the closest to him.

From up close, it looked like a statue, resting in peace, a dragonlady that somehow fascinated him... and her eyes were half-closed, and from one of her eyes was the bluest sapphire he had ever seen.

A tear, ready to fall...

The boy extended his hand to grab it but his fingers were weak, his grip slippery, and it fell, shattering into a thousand shards at his feet.

He felt great sadness at this, not that he could explain why, not even to himself.

But the thought of lying down had gone from his mind.

On legs , feet and toes he barely felt, he kept walking forward... walking towards his Fate, whatever it would become...

THE END