The Beast of Hollowing

A ring of death stood before the Beast, ash raining down from the pillars of smoke at the edges of the clearing. Tall posts, scorched but still erect, were driven into the ground at the border of the circle, each with a small figure tied to them. The figures, too young to be so still and quiet, faced inward toward a poorly assembled altar of stone. Upon the altar rested an even smaller figure.

The Beast slowed its advance. The bed of ash beneath it helped to dampen its footsteps, all the vegetation on the forest floor burned away. With care and reverence, the Beast shifted its enormous head above the tiny figure on the altar, examining it closely.

A shuddering breath, hardly a whisper, came from the abandoned child. Though the Beast held the same hope that any person would for a child so hurt, terrible understanding saddled the Beast with dismay. Hope was as lost as the child. It was the most horrific sacrifice that could be made.

It was senseless.

As the Beast stared at the altar, rage and confusion surging inside, it contemplated the horror of what the humans had done. Having lived for many centuries, it had seen many terrible things. The Beast was even to blame for some awful events. But the humans were always capable of more. They could imagine things that the Beast could not. They could do things the Beast could not.

A quiet, shaky plea from the edge of the clearing made the Beast snap its head in that direction. Another child, slightly older and taller, coughed with obvious agony. It was a boy, no older than five summers, held standing by the pole he had been tied to for the ritual sacrifice. He looked weak, and even through the ash coating his skin the Beast could see the shadows of the boy’s ribs.

“Please, ” The boy begged, his words nearly incomprehensible due to the dryness in his throat. The Beast freed him, gently lowering him to the ground. “Please. ”

“Hush child, ” The Beast said, slipping long fingers under the boy to lift him. “Do not fear me. You are safe. ”

“No, ” The boy rasped. “Not me. Help her. ”

The boy’s entire arm trembled as he tried to lift it. His head turned away, toward the center of the clearing.

It was some relief to the Beast when the boy looked away. After what had been done to the boy, the Beast could not look him in the eyes. Even if the Beast could shed its shame and horror, it was impossible.

“Calm now. I will find you water. Something for your wounds. Rest. ”

“No! ” The boy tried to shout. He pointed insistently, shaking his finger in the direction of the altar. “My sister. ”

The boy’s voice trailed off.

The Beast looked back to the child. She was far weaker than the boy. What had been done to her was even worse. If there was one mercy that day, it was that the boy could not see her.

“I will help her, too. ”

The Beast left the clearing smoothly so as not to disturb the boy. It had to move far away to leave behind the macabre scents of the burned circle, to find instead the scent of water. Still, no animals or creatures bothered the Beast or made calls from nearby.

Delicately, the Beast gave the boy water from a clay bowl it had fashioned quickly. When the boy had wet his throat, he immediately asked whether the Beast had seen to his sister first. Reassuring him, the Beast helped the boy drink more water. Long moments passed before the boy’s strength began to return. Once the boy could hold the clay bowl on his own, the Beast moved to salvage scraps of cloth for bandages from the clothing of the other children nearby.

After wrapping the boy’s sister at the altar, the Beast wrapped the boy’s wounds. When it was done, the Beast pulled itself up and looked down to inspect its work. A strip of cloth covered the boy’s eyes, wrapped around and knotted at the back of his head.

“We must leave this place now, ” The Beast said. “I will take you to a place that will help mend your wounds, a spring with healing waters. Then I will take you home. ”

“Home is gone. ” The boy replied, his tone flat.

The Beast thought to itself.

“Then we will find a place where there are humans who will take care of you. Somewhere safe. ”

“Nowhere is safe. The priests find us anywhere we go. They hate us. ”

The Beast fought to keep the growl out of its voice as it replied.

“Then I will make a place where you can be safe. The priests will never touch you again. ”

“What about my sister? ”

The Beast looked back to the stone slab where the little human still laid. It was easier to look at her after she had been wrapped in cloth. It was almost as if she was swaddled in a comforting blanket. The Beast wished it were so.

“She might not make it. ”

“We have to bring her! ”

The boy rose on unsteady legs, steadying himself against the very pole that he had been tied to for the ritual. Even badly wounded, and unable to see, he bared his teeth at the Beast in protest.

“I will bring her, ” The Beast promised. It turned and took two steps to get back to the altar, scooping the girl up tenderly. “But the journey ahead will be difficult. I can carry her, but not both of you. ”

As the Beast spoke, it began to shrink. Its form shifted, adjusting from a sprawling posture to an upright stance. Scales receded, melding to become skin. Hair crowned the head where horns had once been. The Beast walked back toward the boy on two legs, cradling the girl in its arms, taking far more steps to close the distance than it had taken to create it.

“I don’t care, ” The boy said, confidence strengthening his voice. “I can walk. I’ll make it. ”

The Beast took the boy’s hand.

“I will help you. What is your name? ”

“I’m Sunil. My sister’s name is Rani. ”

“Let us go, Sunil. We have far to travel. ”

“You’re the dragon of Sitsa Forest, ” Sunil said, his fingers tightening around the Beast’s. “Aren’t you? ”

“Yes. ”

Sunil nodded. The Beast took a step forward, lifting Sunil’s hand up to guide him over a burnt log. Together, they left the site of the ritual and ventured further into the forest.

The darkness in Sunil’s eyes made it difficult to walk through the forest. Every step or two felt as if small animals reached up to snag at his foot or stood in the way so he’d trip. Despite Sunil’s stumbles, the stranger stayed dedicated to helping him walk without falling. Whenever a root snagged his foot, the man kept him up. When an obstacle stood in their way, the stranger warned him and gave him instruction on how to get past it.

It was hot in the forest, made hotter by the exertion of stepping high to avoid hazards. Sweat ran down the young boy’s skin. He thought that probably the trees would be sweating too, because of the humid air. The moisture made him itch, but it was a tiny sensation compared to his pain.

Sunil forced the pain down into a deep place. He had tried to cry earlier, but it didn’t happen. His eyes weren’t working, and the darkness kept his tears inside too. There was a strange numbness to his pain. He should have hurt more, but he didn’t have time to let himself feel that way. His sister and the stranger were both counting on him to make it to the spring.

The stranger’s hand felt weird in Sunil’s own. There were many creases in the stranger’s hand. The skin felt thin and stiff, like paper. The stranger’s grip was strong, but somehow his hand still felt like it was brittle.

Once they were on a level trail and Sunil could focus less on how he was walking, he turned his head to look at the stranger. He felt foolish for trying to look, because both the darkness and the bandage still covered his eyes. Despite his embarrassment, Sunil asked the question that was on his mind.

“You are very old, aren’t you? ”

The stranger was quiet. Sunil thought that the man was probably taking time to think. Old people did that a lot. Even if sometimes they had very little to say after all that thinking.

“Yes, ” The stranger said, his voice scratchy like a village elder’s. “I am very old. I have been alive for much longer than any human. ”

There was a tone of sadness in the stranger’s voice. Sunil couldn’t tell if the man was feeling regret, but it seemed so. It put more questions in the boy’s mind, but he needed to know something else first.

“No, ” Sunil said, shaking his head. “I mean, you are very old right now? You became old, right? You changed. ”

“Yes, Sunil. I have become very old. When I want to, I can change into something else. Sometimes I am a dragon, and that is when many humans call me the Beast. Sometimes I am an elder, and that is when your people call me the Old Man. ”

“Oh. ”

That was good enough for now. Sunil didn’t know why the stranger would want to be an old human, since they were so weak, but it didn’t matter. The Old Man had lived for longer than the elders, which meant that he was even wiser.

What was more important was that the Old Man was kind. He kept Sunil and his sister Rani safe. Since Sunil had to rely on the Old Man, he didn’t want to question the choices the man made.

The sounds of the forest scared Sunil more than usual. When he had been home with his family, his parents would not let him or Rani go into the forest very often, and they were never allowed to go in on their own. Sunil’s parents had told him many stories of the animals and creatures that lived there, and how Sunil would have to watch out for many that were dangerous.

While walking with the Old Man, Sunil heard many animals moving around them. There were many that moved high above in the tall trees, shifting branches and rustling the leaves. Sunil hoped they were monkeys, because monkeys did not often hurt people even though they were mischievous. Sometimes they were even funny. But there were other animals around them, too, moving through the bushes nearby. It was scary for Sunil to think that he would likely hear them coming for him but would not be able to see how they would strike at him.

It was somewhat reassuring that the Old Man was a dragon, but at that moment he was old and weak. Also, he had to carry Rani. If a tiger or a panther came to attack them, the Old Man would have to put Rani down and transform. Sunil and Rani would be defenseless, relying entirely on the dragon to protect them. Even though Sunil trusted the Old Man, it was still scary. It confused Sunil to feel trust and fear at the same time.

As they walked, Sunil began to learn that certain sounds were good and others were bad. Or sometimes, quiet was bad. When Sunil stepped on something, good things would make a sound. Good things would break or shift beneath his feet, which meant that they did not push into his feet and cause him pain. Old branches would crack as they broke apart beneath him. Smooth stones would scrape as they shifted somewhere else as he tread past. But bad things would stay silent or make quick sounds as they poked his feet. The sharp things were sneaky or startling.

Even though the Old Man tried to help Sunil avoid all the things on the ground, Sunil still found them with his feet. That was because they were on a trail, where things fall or move all the time, and not on a road that was kept clean. Sunil understood and did not blame the Old Man when he found bad things with his feet. He was still grateful for the help.

The heat in the forest rose and fell as the day passed, while Sunil’s breath grew heavy. The Old Man’s breath sounded ragged too. They had worked hard for a long time to get through the forest, although Sunil suspected they had not gotten as far as the Old Man wanted. Sunil was sure the Old Man could have gotten very far if he had been on his own. What worried Sunil, however, was that he could not hear Rani’s breathing. He had hoped that she would have been getting stronger by then, recovering somewhat on her own.

He worried whether they still had time to get her to the healing spring.

“Is my sister okay? ”

The buzzing and chirping of insects filled the space between Sunil’s question and the Old Man’s reply.

“Her wounds are very severe. ”

“Will we make it to the spring in time? ”

“I hope so. ”

By the time the Old Man spoke again, Sunil could tell that the sun was going down. He no longer felt the overbearing heat from all around him, and his sweat no longer felt sticky and gross. More bugs were starting to make their calls, growing louder.

“Sunil, I must ask. Why have the priests done this to you? ”

“Mother and father said that the priests, nobles, and their soldiers hate us because we are impure. The priests say that we were born dirty in the eyes of the gods. That is why we must serve the priests and people with royal blood. ”

“This makes no sense. You serve them, but yet they hurt you. Your family. Your whole village, as well, yes? ”

“Yeah. The priests and their soldiers came to the village and started killing us. They said it was to keep the land pure, for the gods. Then they burned a lot of people’s huts. Then they grabbed some adults and took them away. ”

“Your parents were not among the taken. ”

“No. The soldiers killed them. After I watched them take my neighbors away, they marched me and the other kids to where you found me. Then... ”

“I’m sorry, Sunil. Your parents didn’t deserve to be killed. And you don’t deserve what they did to you. Or Rani. ”

Sunil had heard adults speak with anger enough times to be used to it. He could tell that the Old Man was angry, but he knew it wasn’t because of anything he had done. The Old Man was mad at the priests and the soldiers, like Sunil’s father had often been. Mother had often been sad.

“The way they left you and the other children, ” The Old Man said, helping Sunil descend a small slope carefully. “I have never seen anything like it before. Did they say why the children were chosen for such a vile ritual? ”

Sunil nodded.

“They said it was to lure you away from the city and closer to the impure villages. ”

“Why lure me away? What threat was I, during these years of wandering? ”

“The priests think that you are a lowly beast, even if you can copy the shape of a man. They say you are tempted by the flesh of children. They claim the Dragon of Sitsa Forest is a destroyer, because you kill soldiers and eat priests. But all of the people in the country know that is wrong, because you are a protector. ”

“I have not done a very good job, ” The Old Man said, his voice as sad as mother’s ever was.

“It’s okay, ” Sunil said, squeezing the Old Man’s hand to comfort him.

“No, ” The Old Man replied wearily. “It’s not. ”

Despite disagreeing with him, the Old Man squeezed Sunil’s hand in return. It felt good. Sunil thought it strange but comforting that a dragon’s hand could be so gentle, like a human’s.

Behind them, a branch snapped.

The Old Man’s hand suddenly pressed against Sunil’s chest, pushing him back against a large tree. Before Sunil could ask what was happening or tell what was going on, the Old Man transferred something soft into Sunil’s arms. It was small, wrapped in bandages. It was Rani, quiet and unmoving.

“Don’t move, stay down, ” The Old Man commanded. “Hold her for me. I will protect you. ”

“What’s happening? ” Sunil asked. He was scared. It seemed impossible to him that a dragon would ever need to sound worried.

“We were followed by men, either soldiers or bandits. I see them moving through the trees, surrounding us. I will have to fight. ”

Sunil heard the Old Man moving away from him, then the sound of something shifting on the ground. Leaves were falling. He couldn’t tell what was happening anymore. The sounds were too unfamiliar, and he thought he could hear the bandits nearby as well. The further away the Old Man got from Sunil, the less safe he felt.

“Wait! ” Sunil called.

The Old Man hushed him. Sunil was too scared to disobey, so he stayed quiet. Many sounds arose from all around him, impossible to interpret. Men grunted in the distance. Others shouted orders. Somewhere behind him, in an elevated position that might have been a small hill, boots scuffled. The low roar and constant crackling of torch flames grew louder. The smell of burning pitch grew stronger. Something warm came near Sunil’s face.

Someone hurtled into the tree next to Sunil, cracking the bark. He let out a startled cry, unable to help himself. Clutching Rani, he shrank back and huddled his body around her as best he could.

“Sunil. ”

It was the Old Man’s voice. A frail, shaking hand clutched Sunil’s shirt. Sunil leaned back toward the Old Man, the scent of blood filling his nose. He cried.

“What’s happening? ” Sunil asked again, sadness and desperation squeezing his voice tight. “Are you hurt? Are the bad men gone? ”

Already, Sunil could hear that the men were not gone. Running footsteps and more commands let Sunil know that the men were regrouping. As he sent a questing hand up the Old Man’s chest, seeking the comfort of touch, he felt something wet.

“Why don’t you change? ” Sunil asked, confused. He was more terrified than ever. “You’re strong! You can beat them all if you just change! ”

“I can’t, Sunil. ” The Old Man said, resigned.

“What do you mean? ” Sunil shouted, not understanding. “Yes, you can! I know you can. Please do it. Please. ”

The Old Man struggled upward, sliding his back against the tree, standing again. Sunil clutched at him, scared he would go again. More afraid that he might not come back.

“I can’t. But I will try to protect you. If I am overwhelmed, if they are going to kill me---”

“No! ” Sunil cried, interrupting the Old Man.

“If I am about to die, I will shout to you to run. You must run if I say so, Sunil. You must, even if you cannot see. Run and then hide. It is the only chance you will have. ”

“Please, no. ” Sunil begged. He wasn’t even sure what exactly it was that he was pleading for. The idea that the Old Man might not return, might not get him and his sister to the healing spring, it was too much. He wanted the dragon to be around when they got better. They had to get better.

The sounds of fighting began again, much closer than before. Men screamed, gurgled, groaned. Heavy thuds hit the forest floor. Each one made Sunil think it was the Old Man, dying. He wanted to run, but he didn’t want to leave the Old Man behind. He shook.

After a long time, what felt like hours, the fighting stopped. One last body hit the forest floor, then silence. Someone limped toward Sunil and Rani. The man’s breath was rattling and weak, like someone exhausted who was on the edge of passing out.

Sunil held his sister and waited for the end.

“It is safe now, ” The Old Man said, gently lifting Rani from Sunil’s arms.

Sunil cried, even without tears. The hollow places behind his bandage ached, but his heart ached more. He clung to the Old Man, holding him while they rested at the base of the tree. They stayed that way for some time.

When morning came, the heat of the forest rising once again, they continued their trek to the healing spring. The Old Man was much slower than before. Sometimes it was Sunil that helped the Old Man move about, rather than the other way around.

Sunil could tell that the Old Man’s injuries from the fight were bad. The scent of blood was still fresh. The rhythm of the Old Man’s steps was different, too. He was limping heavily on his left side, but Sunil couldn’t tell what happened to his leg.

“Why didn’t you change? ” Sunil asked as they walked.

“I can’t. To make the journey, this is the form I must take. ”

“But why? You’re a dragon. You’re supposed to be strong. I didn’t think anything could hurt you. ”

“In my other forms, that is true. But to help you, Sunil, I had to become vulnerable. ”

“Why? You’re hurt now. Isn’t that bad? Why would you want to get hurt? ”

The Old Man gently ran his thumb along the back of Sunil’s hand. It was a soothing gesture, one of fondness. It reminded Sunil of how the village elders had treated him.

“I didn’t want to get hurt, ” The Old Man told him. “I had to be vulnerable for you, though, and sometimes getting hurt is a natural part of being vulnerable for somebody else. When I saw you, I knew your pain was great. To be able to understand that pain, and thus understand how to help you, I put myself into a position similar to yours. ”

“Oh. ”

Sunil thought it was a wise answer, but it didn’t make him feel good. He wondered why. The Old Man hadn’t said anything wrong, but it still made him sad.

“I feel bad you were hurt, though. ” Sunil replied. “It’s not fair that you were hurt while trying to help us. ”

“No, ” The Old Man agreed. “It’s not fair. But what happened to you was also unfair. Sometimes, when others are treated unfairly, we must make sacrifices to correct that. Anything less is not of true help. Protecting someone comes with a cost. ”

Sunil nodded. He thought about it for a long time. As the Old Man guided him through the darkness in his eyes, he used the strength of his legs to help the Old Man weather his pain and carry their burden.

“I think I understand, ” Sunil said, nodding again.

“Good. ”

Later, Sunil heard a babbling stream. He smiled, knowing they were close. The forest opened wider and became less arduous to walk through. As they approached, the Old Man gathered Sunil closer.

“We’re at the healing spring, Sunil. I will take you in. Please relax and trust me. I will guide the waters to your wounds and keep you afloat. ”

Sunil did as he was asked. The waters were cool, almost making Sunil shiver. The sounds of the world dulled as Sunil’s ears went below the water. He floated on his back, feet tingling with a pleasant sensation as the current in the pool dragged lightly across his soles.

Sunil felt the Old Man’s arm underneath his back, a hand cupping his neck and the base of his skull. The angle that the Old Man held Sunil’s head at kept the boy’s nose and mouth above the water, while the crown of his head and forehead were submerged. Slowly, the Old Man lowered Sunil’s head back a little further.

Cool water rushed beneath the bandage covering Sunil’s eyes. It was an entirely new sensation, like a gentle prickling that spread slowly as if crawling. The water was softer than anything he had ever known, comforting even as it went places it was not supposed to go.

Sunil stayed that way, floating peacefully in the pool, for a long time. He might have slept, but he wasn’t sure. He didn’t care anymore. For a time, he felt serene.

When the Old Man finally pulled Sunil out of the water, he did not want to go. Still, he remembered that Rani also needed that time in the spring. The Old Man, too, needed to recover. They had all gone in with pain to heal.

“How is Rani? ” Sunil asked, wiping water off his skin.

The Old Man pulled the makeshift bandage from Sunil’s face. Straining to open his eyes, Sunil blinked rapidly and squinted. The darkness pulled back to the edges of his vision, but the world in the center of his eyes was still too blurry to recognize. The Old Man was a dark blur before him, holding another dark shape nestled in one arm.

The silence after Sunil’s question was worrying. It happened whenever he asked about Rani. Adults always paused whenever they didn’t want to tell a child something. He wished he could see Rani for himself.

“Your sister’s wounds are grave. The waters can help, but they can’t undo everything that was done to her. Some pain runs too deep. ”

“But she’ll get better now, right? ”

“I can’t promise that, Sunil. ” The Old Man said, his voice turning husky with sorrow and regret. “I’m sorry. ”

It is the singular prerogative of children to hope for that which can’t be hoped for, and so Sunil shoved down his dismay. Rani had to get better, because Sunil had done everything he could to help her.

“Where do we go now? ” Sunil asked, looking up at the Old Man. Even though Sunil couldn’t see the Old Man’s face, it was nice to finally look at him.

The Old Man turned and looked away, into the distance.

“The capital. We go to make a new home for you and the others who have been hurt by the priests. ”

Sunil’s sight was improved by the time they reached the gates of the city. Though he still could not see in great detail, he could see more than shadows and shapes. Rani was a bundle of bandages and rags, unmoving. She was held in the arms of a giant, clad in black armor.

He was the one the priests were most afraid of, the third and final form of the dragon. He was the Knight.

The gate guards challenged them as they walked close. The Knight stopped and turned to Sunil, handing Rani to the boy.

“Stay behind me. ”

The Knight’s voice was deeper, stronger than the Old Man’s. He reached up and grabbed a handle resting between his shoulder blades. Somehow, the Knight’s armor shifted and gave up a black sword that was nearly as tall as a man.

The guards screamed desperate orders, warning the Knight to stay away. Even as they shouted and threatened, they ran in the other direction. They knew what was coming.

A priest met them at the gate, outraged at their insolence and the cowardice of the city’s elite soldiers.

“You cannot enter! ” The priest declared. “Do not bring those filthy children into the city, Beast! ”

“You do not deserve them. ” The Knight answered.

Then the Knight showed the priest what the Dragon of Sitsa Forest could do.

A sphere of roiling flame coalesced before the mouth of the Knight’s helm. With a piercing shriek, a beam of pure white light shot from the sphere. The beam streaked through the city, rising to the height of the grand temple upon its many steps. As it struck the building, the beam cut through the temple and cleaved it in two.

The Knight stepped into the city, sending more beams of destruction through the air. More temples exploded, along with the estates of nobles. When soldiers came, the Knight cut them down.

Once the destruction was over, the priests and nobles had lost everything. The people did not blame the dragon. Not after they had seen and heard what the priests had done.

In the following months, the Dragon of Sitsa Forest stayed to help the people rebuild. When more soldiers came, the Knight protected them. When they needed help building, the Beast lifted their burdens. And when the people met to plan for the future, the Old Man was there to guide them.

When the repairs were done, and the Dragon had gone again to the forest, the people decided the capital needed a new name. They named it Rani, for the child that they had lost. It made Sunil smile with both sorrow and joy.

Once a year, Sunil went into the forest to thank his friend. Together, they went back to the clearing to plant or tend flowers. Sunil listened to the wisdom of the Old Man, treasuring it. And whenever the Old Man struggled to stand up after gardening, Sunil was there to help him.