Moonbreak

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

At least that’s what the elders told us. As long as I’d been alive the dragons had held unwavering reign over the jagged, snow-tipped peaks and all that lay below. Their piercing screams could be heard at any hour for any reason that we could surmise, and their keen teeth and claws were a constant threat to any living creature within their territory.

Everyone who dwelled in the valley knew that a dragon call could potentially mean an attack, but my family had found sanctuary within the narrow walls of the numerous, tight ravines that had been carved through millennia of rainfall and snowmelt through coarse granite. Rivers and streams ran dangerously through them in the warm months, but they were deep, and the upper reaches of their walls rose high above our heads. The broad shoulders and thick heads of the predatory reptiles would not allow them access to the ones we chose as homes, and the cave systems which had been hollowed out along the water’s path were immense and intricate enough to provide further shelter if any danger threatened from where the ravine emptied.

Still, there were many times when I dreamt of leaving these frigid, soggy fissures… to feel the sun on my skin for more than an hour each day… sometimes I even dreamt of meeting one of the scaley beasts face to face. More often than not, however, I didn’t dream at all.

The shadows that filled the crevasses during the day, and the abysmal pitch of the caves where we slept at night lent themselves to restlessness for some, and tranquility for others. I was of the former. Even the soft glow from the phosphorescent algae thriving in the caves was sometimes not enough to soothe my restless mind. On those nights where I found myself particularly fitful, I’d venture out to bask in what moonlight was available.

It was one of these nights when I experienced my first full moon.

I’d heard stories of how the moon would rise over the crown of mountains that surrounded us, bright and glorious as unimpeded as she could be from the shadow of our world. Never had I been privileged enough to witness her traverse our night sky myself.

We were warned as infants of the dangers of gazing too long at a full moon, of moon-blindness, and the madness that could set in. Most were far too tired to find themselves still awake and about once the sun had left the sky. It all seemed so trivial to me… what could come of observing something for so brief a time?

In this moment, when the full moon’s splendor met my eyes, I’d finally understood.

As the moon’s entirety shone through the lush vegetation overhead, I was struck instantly by the sensation of flying from my own body and hurtling through the sky above my home in the ravine and above the valley itself. I saw the bony ridges of the mountains that held the valley so safe from the outside world, and the verdant forests that reached for the peaks as though attaining them were some prize to be won. I saw small fires where other families were keeping warm, and I saw herds of prey animals, both wild and domestic, running wildly before me as though my mere presence had awoken some primal fear in them.

At that realization, excitement filled my body, and warmth kindled in my gut. A near frenzied roar broke free of my chasmal maw, shattering any peace the night may have previously held. I dove downward, my wings tucking tightly against my body as I zeroed in on my prey – the largest of a herd of wild elk trying to flee my pursuit. They’d never reach the safety of the thick forests they sought in time. I was too fast, too smart, too much for them to outrun.

Hel…

A tiny voice in the back of my mind poked at my consciousness like the soft pressure of stepping on a pine needle on the chasm floor. I ignored it, intent on my prey as I readied my talons to meet flesh.

Hel.

It came again. Louder, more insistent this time. I felt myself becoming more self-aware.

“HELAKKA!” my mother’s voice pierced through my thoughts as my body crashed into the terrified elk, its frantic bugles still filling my ears as I came rushing back into my own body and my mother’s terrified face came into view. I could still taste my prey’s deliciously warm blood as it pooled on my tongue, but everything else from my hunt was beginning to fade away.

“Mom?” I asked, disoriented, “What’s going on?”

“What have you done?!” she screamed, clutching my face in her worn hands, searching my eyes for answers I didn’t even know the question to.

“What do you mean?” I asked, trying to ground myself in my own body. What had just happened?

“It’s too late,” came a frail, warbling voice, “It will be on us before sunrise.”

“No,” my mother cried, silver tears tracking down her dirty, freckled cheeks as she frantically brushed my damp hair out of my face, “No, it can’t be. It can’t.”

“You must take her away. You know the rules,” Elder Viisas breathed as she knelt beside us. Her brittle hands reached for my mother’s, pulling them away and clasping them gently.

“You knew the rules when you came here. We cannot risk the safety of the entire clan for one child,” the old woman spoke with finality. My mother seemed to search her eyes for some other answer, a clue to a riddle that was not there.

“Someone please explain to me what’s going on,” I asked desperately. Panic was beginning to rise in my chest, along with some other sensation... something warm and stimulating. Excitement?

“There’s no time,” Elder Viisas shook her head, “Helakka Varjost, you are exiled from the Stone Clan. You must leave immediately.”

“What?” I said in disbelief, a frown creasing my forehead, “Mom?”

My mother averted her gaze, her body language betraying something akin to shame. I took a step back, shaking my head in confusion and desperation as I huffed in exasperation. This had to be some kind of joke... a cruel prank meant to teach me a lesson for leaving the shelter of the cave at night. Right?

“You must leave Hel,” my mother said, still resisting my attempts to make eye contact, “They’ll kill you if you try to go back inside now.”

“Mom... I didn’t mean to cause any trouble, I just couldn’t sleep!” I cried, feeling the hot rush of tears as they spilled from my eyes, uninvited.

“Go, Hel. With any luck, the beast won’t find you. You may survive,” she said as she wrapped her arms around herself and shrank away into the shadows of the ravine.

I stood there, dumbfounded and dizzy with the wild range of emotions that were swirling through my body. I simply could not believe that one of my night ventures had led to this... I was exiled? Never to return to the one place I knew as home? That simply couldn’t be...

But it is, morsel. Just the worst, aren’t they?

The voice was sudden, intrusive, and completely unexpected. I gasped and leaped backward as though that might save me from whomever was speaking to me, but there was no one there. The whisper had come from within my own mind. Suddenly, getting out of this place seemed like a better plan.

I bolted. The only way out of the ravine was the mouth... a place I’d only been to a handful of times. The path was rocky, wet, cold, and confusing. As much of a maze as the cave system we called home, but worth the traverse if I wanted to get out of here.

And now, suddenly, I did.

With speed and dexterity I didn’t know I possessed, I bound down the chasm, leaving no trace of my presence behind. My lungs filled and expelled the cold, damp air expertly as I moved, and I felt as though I was flying once more. My toes felt like they barely tapped each stone as I passed over them; my path, and my mind, were suddenly clear.

Freedom.

This was what freedom felt like. I was no longer bound by the laws and ways of the clan. I may be hunted... even killed, but this would all be on my own terms now.

This is what you’ve always wanted.

The voice came again, but this time it felt less repulsive… less intrusive. Almost like it was something that was supposed to be there.

I slid to a stop just as sunlight broke through the vegetation overhead, speckling the water and stones before me with golden flecks. My heart raced, but I wasn’t tired, not yet. I wanted more… something more to make my heart pound the way it had this night.

A massive rush of wind buffeted the trees overhead, tearing some from the earth and bending others beyond their ability to recover. I ducked instinctively, coughing and flinching as branches, dirt, and other debris rained down over me. A brief glance upwards revealed a colossal expanse of black scales. I lost my footing as the massive beast landed, dumping me into the cold rush of the stream and soaking me thoroughly.

A chuckle echoed through my mind as the creature turned to face me, its long, cat-like body covered in spines and scales that shone like black opals as the sun hit them. Its emerald green eyes met mine as I lifted myself out of the water, doing my best not to look like a drowned rat.

Finally, he chuckled, I finally meet my Kohtalo, and it’s this puny little human. I hope you’re ready, little morsel.

“I’m ready.”