Tetra

Rainbow prisms reflected the sun in a thousand colors that few could envision as her winged body climbed vertically up the mountain ridge. Tetra eyed her shadow, an antithesis of reality, cast on the rocky slope. An oval body, devoid of light, with ridiculous short wings, serpentine neck, and long tail pulsed black up the same mountainside like an evil twin. The sheep in her talons resembled a black bag with kicking feet. The baa’s of panic, feathered by the blast of rushing air, signaled her prizes had survived the journey. Generalissimo, the quartermaster, would be pleased. Tetra was certain the ewe was pregnant.

At ten thousand feet, she broke over the rim of Dragon Crown and viewed the Keep in the green valley centered below. Her wings locked into glide mode as she leveled her flight over the perfect ring of mountain ranges that had protected the Keep, her home, for thousands of years. Dragons Rock lay to the north, where the Enclave of elders held court. The flat granite floor was surrounded by the ten terraces of the elders of the ten species. The terraces rose in a pyramid, with each according to rank. The Dragon Elders at the pinnacle.

To the east were the lairs of the dragons. Cave entries, some large and others small according to their genetics, were marked by red, blue, green, and yellow ribbon banners according to their type. Dragons love ribbons and how they flourish freely in the wind. In the west were the symmetrical caves of the Dragon Dragoons. The soldiers of the Dragons Crown had forsworn all family heritage before the black rock of Aurelius at the center of Dragons Rock. They would not mate. Every dragoon swore to protect the Enclave with their lives against all enemies within and without. Each had succumbed to a neutering fire at the Ceremony of Illumination to seal their commitment. In return, they were awarded the rare and coveted black diamond elixir. Their light armor was impenetrable.

Below the Dragoons barracks and downwind, for cause, were the human slave's quarters that served Dragon Crown. The humans, spoils of conflict or the errant adventurer, were indentured to the Crown. They shepherded the sheep and goats at the valley's center. The less fortunate cleaned the sand pit in the south at every turning of the moon.

Like a massive litter box, the Pit served the needs of a thousand dragons and their need to expel waste.

Dragons hated the sulfurous odor of their own crap. A massive red dragon sat on a rock overlooking the Pit, blowing fire into the slaves pushing turd balls out of the sand. The waste was rolled to a vertical shaft two hundred yards away that channeled it out of the valley.

***

Tetra descended in a slow circle, glided over the bubbling mountain creek, and into the central pasture. Generalissimo, over five hundred years old, had lost his hearing and fire. The scales on his body were intact, but the gravity of centuries left tender points of exposure. He could manage to fly short distances to his cave, but many days he could be seen walking the little used trail to the pasture.

Two sheep dropped on the ground under his horned snout. Surprised, he reared up on his hind legs and spit smoke. Tetra gurgled a laugh.

"Tetra, I should have known. I've warned you the day will come when my fire shall return. If it does, you won't get the count for your finds because I will incinerate them. You know the Elders like their dinner raw."

"Grandfather, lighten up. I'm playing with you," Tetra said.

"Where are you? It's disrespectful not to present yourself to an elder dragon. I don't care if you're the only Tetra chromatic Dragon of the Crown," Generalissimo said. "Do not abuse your invisibility. The day will come when someone or something will be able to see you. You will feel as naked as the rest of the world."

"Yes, Grandfather, my apology," Tetra said and made herself visible to him, "What is with Germaine the Red? He's on duty at the sand pit again and he's blowing fire at the slaves."

"Young lady, stay away from him. You two are trouble when you're in the same space. In school, you defeated Red in the annual Crown race, and he accused you of cheating with your invisibility."

"I didn't cheat," she said. Red was angry over my rejection of him at the Dragon ball and the humiliation of the race. Why would I be interested in a dragon that bullied me for not making fire?"

"Your father challenged Germaine the Red to a Dragon duel for your honor, but the young coward didn't show up. I still think your father's death is suspicious. He would never have flown in a lightning storm without good cause. No dragon flies in lightning. Stay away from the young Red. He's trouble and will never rise higher than Sand Pit duty."

Tetra's colors rose with her emotions at that thought of her father until she was visible like the splendor of a radiant rainbow following a storm. A tear welled in her eye and rolled down her cragged snout. The droplet hit the ground, and a flower sprung up to memorialize her grief. A multitude of flowers sprung from the ground when the General pressed his forehead to hers in family oneness and shared tears.

"Enough Tetra, I know you miss him," he said, "I too, miss my son. Now let's stop before we turn the feed pasture into an ornamental garden."

Tetra flapped her wings until she hovered above Generalissimo.

"I understand you, grandfather," she said, and flew toward her family's cave adorned with a blue ribbon. Attached to the ribbon was a rainbow streamer, the only one in the Crown.

She circled to gain altitude and caught a glimpse of Germaine to the south. He had left his high perch. Curiosity, like that of a cat, consumed her, and she turned south and glided to a rock a short distance from Red, a human slave, and the Pit. The offensive sulfurous odor overwhelmed her as the humans raked the sand.

Emaciated humans pushed the dragon turds down the worn trail to the shaft while Red shot flames at any human's feet that slowed. He won the fire challenge in school for intensity, distance, and accuracy. The Dragoons recruited him, but Red thought they were below his station.

Clouds of flies swarmed their faces as the sand was turned. A blonde-haired slave dropped a turd ball when a pest flew into his eye. The turd rolled across the ground and splattered against Red's foot. A piece of dung landed on his snout. Red roared and jumped back onto his rear legs to full height like he had been mortally wounded. He spread his wings to their full width, and his eyes blazed fire-red. The igniter in his neck glowed hot Red, the methane pouch in his belly expanded to full pressure, and he roared,

"How dare you touch me, you despicable scum. You assault Germaine the Red?"

A jet of fire shot from his mouth to engulf the slave, but the man flew into the air just as the flame incinerated the ground. The slave landed a hundred yards away out of range. Confused, Red pushed his wings into flight to pursue but was struck midair by an invisible blow. Off balance, he landed on the ground face-first in the offending turds.

Tetra appeared on the perch above Red in full color.

"You are a disgrace to dragons, Red," she said, "Only a coward abuses the weak."

"Tetra? You will pay dearly for your assault."

Two dragoons who flew patrol over the Crown had witnessed the altercation and landed between the Tetra and Red.

"Hello Red," said a dragoon, "having a crappy day?"

"Yea, Red, You let a woman whip you?" said the other and they both laughed.

"She assaulted me, and lent aid to a human, our enemy. She touched him. I demand the law be fulfilled. Arrest her."

"Come on Red, you don't want to do that. It's just a misunderstanding. Let it go," said the dragoon.

"I invoke the Dragon Code and demand my right to be heard before the enclave," said Red.

The dragoons approached Tetra.

"Tetra, he has invoked the code. We don't have a choice. Please follow us to the Enclave," said the dragoon.

***

The sun had set, and torches burned around the Enclave to create a dance between flame and shadow. Under a canopy of ten thousand stars, four elders stepped onto their terraces to hear the case before them. A white dragon, Rus, from Persia, was known for his speed. A super-intelligent green pygmy dragon named Tartar from the Isles, a blue and yellow dragon, Sortros, from Slavia, known for his strength, and a bright red dragon, Alomar, from Asia. The Red Dragon, Germaine's father, was famous for his hot temper and enduring fire.

The fifth member, Eldora, the Chief Elder, stepped onto the platform and stood above all others. A Black dragon in the shape of a giant panther with fine armored scales reflected the flame's dance. Yellow cat eyes and a smooth snout blended with her reptilian traits appeared almost feline. She expanded her wings like an eagle. She could move faster on the ground and climb higher in the air than any other dragon. No one could challenge her power, ability or intellect.

"Speak, Germaine the Red. Why have you invoked the code?" said Eldora.

"Tetra, the Chromatic, aided our enemies, and struck a dragon. She is guilty of treason to the Crown," Red said.

"And you can prove this? My understanding is we have had more slaves perish on your watch than any other," said Eldora, "Treason is a charge brought during a time of war. We are not at war with humans and have not been since our self-imposed isolation from the world."

Tetra, half the size of her guards, reared up on her hind legs between the two dragoons that held her prisoner.

"I have done these things. Red the Germaine tortured the humans on his watch. The burns on their legs give proof. The human I saved from him would be dead now and violated the integrity of the Dragon's Crown."

"She lies, she is more Unicorn than dragon," roared Alomar, "Tetra has confessed her crime and the law is clear. You must pass judgement, Eldora, or stand aside."

Eldora's leadership required her to maintain a delicate balance in Dragons Crown. The Enclave remained split between the warmongers and the isolationists.

"Tetra, you have confessed your crime and have violated the Dragon Code. You are hereby sentenced to exile from Dragons Crown and your name from existence. If your presence is found in or near the Crown after sunrise, you will be treated as an invader. Any dragon that lends you aid will also be guilty of treason," said Eldora. "Dragoons, remove the ribbon from her lair."

"The penalty for treason is death," roared Alomar, "She attacked my son."

"We are not at war," said Eldora, "In the name of Aurelius the great dragon, I have spoken."

***

Tetra stood at the edge of her family's lair. Generalissimo and her mother stood by her.

"The dragoons will be here soon to escort you from the Crown. I will miss you my daughter," her mother said and touched her forehead to Tetra's, "I lost your father and I cannot bear to lose you to the stars. You must go."

"These are troubling times. The Enclave is divided," said her grandfather, "Many want to return to dominance over the world and its humans. They seek war and death for those who oppose them. Do not return here, my granddaughter. I wish you peace and a long life."

Eldora glided across the valley floor with a few flaps of her eagle-like wings and landed on the lair's ledge.

"I need to speak to Tetra alone," she said, and spoke to her in the ancient language of Dragons, Aurelian.

Eldora folded her wings back, and her yellow cat eyes widened in compassion.

"The night you were hatched, the dragon constellation illuminated brighter than anyone had seen in centuries. When the dragon nurses witnessed you were Tetra chromatic, some wanted to kill you as an abomination. Creatures hate what they cannot see and choose to destroy what they do not understand. Your mother and father pushed them away and brought you to the Enclave for protection, which I granted. The oracles of Aurelius say that a day will come when peace between humans and dragons will be saved by a child and a rainbow. You, Tetra, are the rainbow. Like humans and dragons, the sun and the moon must coexist and stay balanced. If not, the world will end.

"How can I save anything? I can't even make fire,' said Tetra.

"Follow the stars and you will find your path," said Eldora. "I wish you Dragon speed and a long life."

The black dragoon commander approached the lair and hovered in front of the cave.

"Tetra, of the Blue clan, you are sentenced to exile from the Crown. Forfeit your ribbon and follow us. As the sun rises in the east, you will no longer be protected by the Dragon Code."

"Goodbye mother, grandfather, and Eldora," she said.

Tetra launched from the lair, followed behind the dragoon, and didn't witness the growing patch of flowers springing from the ledge.

***

The rise and fall of two moons had passed, and Tetra grew ever lonelier. She knew how to hunt wild sheep in the hills and avoid humans. A great sadness enveloped her. Flowers of many colors were left on her trail and each night's cold cave. Bored and banned from other dragons, she became curious about humans and their existence at lower elevations. She found herself cloaking her appearance with invisibility to spy on them.

On the third day, a man with a bundled blanket and a woman walked up the grade toward Tetra. The village was below the mountain ridge and allowed her to watch from afar. The humans, like bees, buzzed from the fields to the center of the village, to their thatched roof cottages, and back again. She could hear laughter and speech but not their words. Tetra became braver, or some would say more careless, and moved closer and perched on a boulder.

Can they see me? She thought.

The two stopped below her.

"Please, we can't do this, Gerald," the woman said.

"We don't have a choice," he said, "no one would understand."

"Walken is our son," she said.

"I don't know what he is," Gerald said, "we have hidden him inside the cottage for three years and now he is speaking languages we don't understand."

"I will teach him to control his speech," she said.

"Speech is the least of our problems,” he said, and pulled the blanket back to reveal a three-year-old boy, "If this abomination is discovered, we will all be burned at the stake. We are sparing him this way. I have been reinstated as a King's Knight and will not forfeit it."

"You are a coward, Gerald. You are sparing yourself," she said, "He is invisible, and no one can see him."

"Nature created this abomination and we are giving it back," he said, "My grandfather betrayed humanity with the Dragons decades ago, in an attempt to make peace. I have spent my whole life under the blight of his execution. I will be a knight again and return to my place of honor. Let the bears have him and we will live on. I shouldn't have listened to you and done this years ago."

Tetra's breath inhaled in shock as a multicolored boy stood before his parents. His beautiful translucent skin radiated colorful pastels like a rainbow. Gerald tied the boy to a tree.

"Daddy, what are we playing?" said the boy. The woman cried. "No!" and he struck her with his fist, and she fell to the ground.

"Stand back, or I will leave you here too," he said, pulling a knife from his belt.

I must intervene, Tetra thought. It's just a young boy. Her conscious argued.

The dragon code forbids you from human contact.

I no longer live under the code.

You will be discovered by humans and hunted.

Tetra hesitated.

Gerald sliced a shallow cut down the boy's arm with the knife. Blood ran down the toddler's arm to his hand and dripped on the ground.

"Ow, you hurt me daddy," the boy cried, "Mommy, daddy hurt me."

The woman wailed, "Please don't do this."

"The grizzlies have scented the blood now and are coming. We have to go," he said.

The man grabbed the woman by the arms and dragged her from the clearing.

"I hate you," were the last words Tetra heard as they descended the mountain.

"Mom…my, Dad…dy!" Walken wailed and sobbed. "Mom…my, my arm hurts."

Brown bears, taller than a man, entered the clearing from three sides. Tetra spread her wings and dropped to the ground from her granite perch. Her talons struck the first bear in the chest, and he rolled down the slope into a tree. The second, she clipped with her tail, and he rolled after the first.

The third bear, confused, charged into the forest and over the subsequent rise.

Tetra turned to the boy. He stared at her, silent.

He can see me, she thought. No one can see me, but he does, and I can see him.

"Doggy?" said Walken in Aurelian.

Tetra moved closer and sniffed the boy. The odor of human feces filled her nostrils, and she gagged.

Walken stretched his hand to her snout and laid his tiny fingers on hers. A pure spark like a hot spring undulated through her body to create an instant bond of completeness.

A tear of emotion sprung from her eye, and a pink flower popped from the ground.

"Pretty," said Walken. The peaceful, transcendent moment was interrupted by a roar. The two bears, irate, charged up the mountain toward the boy.

Tetra turned to face them and stood between them and their target. She felt the urge to make fire.

"I can't make fire," she spoke aloud. The urge became more vigorous, and she felt the energy rise cold in her throat.

The bears closed the distance, and Tetra gave in to the wasted urge and opened her mouth.

"Aurelius' the Dragon of old, help me."

A cold white fire spewed from her mouth and encased the bears in ice. Like statues, they stopped in full stride, frozen. Within the ice, an orange flame erupted and consumed the bears until they turned into a black pile of carbon. The encasement dissipated like dry ice, leaving a pile of black ash on the ground.

"I have fire!" Tetra said and danced around the clearing, "The white fire of the ancients that we were told was a myth."

"Doggy," said Walken.

Tetra fashioned a basket with tree boughs and severed the rope from the tree. She placed Walken in the cradle and took to the air.

"We must leave here, Walken," she said, "Unwanted by our own, we are each other's destiny now."

"Doggy," said Walken as Tetra carried them over the mountains toward the sea.

***

Twenty years later.

Tetra watched Walken chase the mountain goat up the narrow washout. He had grown into a man and would not allow her to help him when he hunted for food. She didn't understand his craving for a goat when lamb's meat was far tenderer.

Two days later, she understood it wasn't the food he chased but the horns when he displayed a handmade saddle with grips.

You are a fully mature dragon now, and it has become harder for me to ride bareback. You have limited your maneuverability for my sake," Walken said.

"I am willing to compromise for you, my son," she said.

"Compromise will be the end of us, mother," he said, "My dreams speak to me. We will not always have the peace of our lair. The era of tranquility is not forever."

That night Tetra slept a deep sleep and dreamed.

She entered a great cave that opened into an opulent lair. A massive black dragon with blood-red horns sat on a stone throne at the far end of the cathedral-like cavern. Her father stood on his right. Eldora stood to his left. Tetra couldn't speak as her father approached and put his forehead to hers. He spoke to her mind.

"Tetra, bow before Aurelius' the great Dragon of the stars. Listen to his words and follow his commands," he said. Remember, I am with you forever.

She bowed before the great throne, and Aurelius' voice rumbled.

Tetra, of many colors, you have been faithful to the tasks placed before you. Hear me now. The Dragons Crown has fallen from within. Eldora has been slain by poison, and they seek war with the humans. The balance of the world is at stake because of their arrogance. Alomar and Germaine, the Reds, seek this conflict while Sir Gerald of the humans is scouting the plains of Catchers Keep. The dragons plan to ambush the humans and start a war. Go, and end this madness.

Tetra woke Walken, and they flew into the night to ponder her dream and talk. The stars glittered in the night sky as she leveled off above the clouds. The curved earth below shone under the full moon's luminescent glow and the dawn bursting over the horizon.

"Why must we intervene? We are happy. The Dragons Crown exiled me, and the humans left you to the Brown bears.

Why is this our fight?" she said. Dozens of shooting stars streamed across the sky and linked the moon with the sun breaking over the horizon. Tetra thought of Eldora and recited to Walken her words.

"The sun and the moon must coexist and stay in balance. If not, the world will end. A day will come when peace between humans and dragons will be saved by a child and a rainbow. You, Tetra, are that rainbow."

"You Walken, are the child," Tetra said.

"We must follow our destiny, Mother," Walken said.

***

Cloaked in their invisibility, Tetra and Walken glided across Catchers Keep. To the north, the red dragons and black dragoons had massed on a mountain ridge overlooking the Keep. To the south, Sir Gerald, with a contingent of knights, wound their way down a mountain slope on horseback toward the valley floor.

"We will deal with the dragons first," said Tetra, and dove toward the high ridge.

Tetra landed undetected in front of Alomar and Germaine the Red. She illuminated her colors to their shock.

"If it isn't the rainbow dragon witch making her appearance while aiding a human," said Germaine, "I knew you were a traitor. Now I can kill you just like I murdered your meddling father."

Walken placed his hand on Tetra's neck to calm her.

"We have a mission, stay calm," he said.

"I speak for the great Aurelius'. Stop this madness and return to the Dragons Crown and peace," Tetra said. "In the name of the dragon code, I accuse you of the murder of Eldora and my father. Alomar the Red and son, I challenge you to a duel for Chief Elder of the Enclave."

"Blasphemy," cried Alomar, "You should have been executed years ago. Dragoons, take her and enslave the human."

"Father, let me kill her. The vengeance is mine and has been owed to me for two decades for her insults," Germaine said.

"Be quick about it," Alomar said.

The young Red rose in the sky, and his body generated a fire to destroy Tetra and Walken. The fire stream spewed from his mouth as Walken raised his hands in the air, and a clear domed shield enveloped them. Germaine's fire ricocheted off and set a pair of trees afire.

"What evil trickery is this?" shouted Germaine.

"Now," said Tetra, and as Walken dropped the shield, she shot a stream of cold white fire and encased both Alomar and Germaine with the hot ice. Frozen in place, their eyes were locked in disbelief. The fire within ignited their massive bodies and consumed them to black dust.

Tetra turned to receive the expected attack from the black dragoons. The commander bowed to his knees, and the others followed his lead.

"We acknowledge the challenge and recognize you, Tetra, as Chief of the Enclave. Justice has been served. By the stars and the great Dragon Aurelius', I swear to you my allegiance. Your wish is our command."

"Return to the Dragons' Crown and prepare for a grand meeting of all dragons. There will be changes," she said, and issued other orders.

***

Tetra landed with stealth in the middle of Catchers Keep, and Walken jumped from the saddle to the ground.

"What should I do, mother? Walken said.

"Follow your heart, and you will not fail, my son," Tetra said and flew from the valley.

Sir Gerald had set up camp in the valley's center, and Walken entered his tent unnoticed. His father had grown old with age and looked weary. Walken illuminated his body to complete visibility, and a shocked Gerald pulled his sword from its scabbard to thrust it into Walken. The blow glanced off his invisible shield. The force threw Gerald onto the ground.

"What apparition are you? Have you come to seek vengeance for my guilt?" Sir Gerald said.

"I am Walken, the son you abandoned and left to the bears," Walken said.

"Have you come to kill me?" Gerald said, "I forgive you if you do, for it is the justice I deserve. An hour after I abandoned you, I realized my madness and returned to undo my mistakes. But you were gone without a trace. I have searched for you since that day in the hope your mother would forgive me."

Gerald knelt before Walken and presented his sword in obeisance.

"Rise, father, I do not wish you ill, nor seek vengeance. It has been my destiny. Your penance is to take this message to your king and my mother."

"For the King, you seek that which should not be sought, dragons and magic. There are two realms that must remain separate, like the moon and sun. One should not seek the other or both will be destroyed. This way, both will exist in peace. I am a bridge between the two realms and with my power will keep them apart. Do not test me."

"For mother, tell her, I am happy and have found peace."

***

Rainbow prisms reflected the sun in a thousand colors that few could envision as her winged body climbed vertically up the mountain ridge. Tetra eyed her shadow cast on the rocky slope with Walken in his saddle. At ten thousand feet, she broke over the rim of Dragon Crown and could see the Enclave in the green valley centered below. Her wings locked into glide mode as she leveled her flight. Thousands of multicolored ribbons adorned every lair and terrace as she landed on the Chief Elder's terrace. She had ordered the dragoons to ban all individual colors, declare all dragons equal, and all slaves freed. Flowers sprung up at her grandfather's and mother's feet below as the crowd chanted, "Tetra, Tetra, Tetra!"

In the excitement, Tetra and Walken illuminated into an emotional chromatic display. The raised cheers from The Dragon's Crown echoed off the valley walls and were amplified into the stars.

"They can see us now, Walken!"

Tetra, the Unicorn dragon and her son had come home.