The Eclipse

The dragon sensed an eerie presence emanating from the forest. The feeling sent a shiver down the enormous creatures hard, scaly back. Hesitantly, he rose. The dragon shuffled down from his cliff and into the forest. The trees were widely spread. His kind has been traveling through this forest for many ages, and the trees had learned where not to grow as to allow them passage. He trudged through the quiet forest, leaves crunching below his massive feet. He wasn’t sure what he was doing, really; the presence that he felt simply called to him. The thick canopy far above shaded him as he lumbered on without a clue as to his destination. Then he felt a darkness swallow his heart, and he had arrived. Jarred and prepared for a fight, he was surprised to find no apparent threat facing him. At the base of a tall, thick tree sat a small human child. His skin was dirty and his hair was the color of clouds on a sunny day. The boy was silent, but he made direct eye contact with the dragon. Despite the fact that this boy, who was smaller than any one of the dragon's teeth, sat in his shadow, he showed no signs of fear or discomfort. Rather, it was the dragon who felt intimidated. The boy's sharp eyes pierced him in a way that no mortal blade could. He repressed a shiver as he thought. The boy was hardly more than an infant. He wasn’t sure why he felt such a haunting aura emanating from him. Perhaps it was simply that there hadn’t been a human in these woods in many, many years. Or perhaps his senses had begun to dull in his isolation. Either way, this boy couldn’t be a threat. He couldn’t leave him. Suddenly, the boy stood. The dragon almost jumped. The boy stood expectantly. Somehow, he had anticipated the dragon's next move. Without hesitation, the boy followed him through the forest.

The two strolled through the forest, the boy hardly a speck next to the colossal dragon. As they progressed, the forest changed. The trees turned darker and darker; soon, they were black as night. Their thick, black bark had evolved over time to resist dragonfire. This part of the forest was where the dragons dwelled, aside from this one. The air was much warmer here than among the rest of the forest. His friends still slept as he entered the opening. At the sound of his footsteps, they slowly began to wake. There were a dozen of them, each the size of a mountain. Yet, he was still the largest. He had inherited the position of leader many years ago. The dragon’s scales each held different colors; purple, blue, red, green, gray- his own were obsidian.

“My friend!” The green dragon rose. “What brings you here so early?”

“I apologize- I had forgotten the hour. I’ve brought a visitor.” The other dragons, eyes still reflecting the dreams of a sleep prematurely interrupted, noticed the boy at this point. He stood next to their leader, face still blank and skin earth-stained.

“A human?” The green one asked.

“I believe so.” The mighty dragon was not sure if the boy could speak, but it would make no difference. Dragons did not understand human speech, nor did humans understand dragon speech. “It has been centuries since I’ve seen one last, so I can not be certain. I sensed him in the forest.”

“I see. What are we to do with him?”

“I’m not sure. I did not know what else to do with him, so I brought him here.”

“I understand.” The green dragon bent down so that it was nose to nose with the boy. He stared into his eyes. The boy looked into his eye, a mild expression of surprise surfacing. Not surprised at the dragon's giant eye, but at the reflection of himself which he saw in it. The green dragon was amused. “We will look after him. In time, we will decide what's best.”

“Thank you, my friend.”

“Of course. You are the leader, after all!” The dark-scaled dragon chuckled.

“I haven’t filled that role in ages. We are each our own leader.”

“We will follow you nonetheless.”

He trudged back through the forest towards his cliff. He had stopped living in the forest several years ago. His was the only fire that was hot enough to burn the trees, and after several incidents he had decided to relocate. He wondered how the boy had come to be in the middle of the forest, and why he was alone. He was curious, but he was content with the fact that he would likely never know. Once he reached his cliff, he looked out over the vast, blue ocean that faced him. Then he looked back over the forest, and thought about the boy.

The boy got along quite well with the dragons. They were peaceful creatures, despite their reputation. It took a while before he learned to smile, but the dragons were patient. They fed from the ocean; most days, they searched for a school of fish from above and scooped them up by the mouthful. Some days, they would bring back giant, terrifying creatures, but the boy showed no fear. Perhaps he had never learned the emotion. As the days went on, his cloudy hair grew longer and his body grew taller and more muscular. Often he would visit the leader on his cliff, or the leader would pay a short visit to the forest. There was magic in the air that came out of the black-barked trees. Wherever there were dragons, there was bound to be magic after all. With every breath he took, this magic became a part of the boy.

A year passed, and the boy began to wander about on his own more frequently. The dragons did not know where he went, but they never worried. He had become very competent. They always welcomed him upon his return. He would bring them gifts, and climb on their backs, and roar in imitation of them. They were a family. The leader listened to their roars from his cliff and smiled. He had grown very fond of the boy, and was glad for his well being. And yet, the same eerie feeling that drew them together in the first place lingered.

It was several months later when the dragons started smelling other humans in the forest. They had not entered in hundreds of years; it was only a matter of time before they forgot why and began to explore once more. Humans were violent creatures by nature, but the boy had shown them that they were not so different. They began to consider a world in which they lived together as friends.

These dreams ended on a still night, while the dragons slept. An army of humans entered the forest and attacked with all of the force they could muster. Shielding the boy, the green dragon sustained many injuries. The dragons had no choice but to fight back. There was no defeating them, of course. Their scales were thicker than any shield, their teeth sharper than any sword, their claws bigger than any ten horses, and their fire burned like the blazing sun. But they mourned for the lives that they had to take. The next night, another wave of humans attacked in a fit of rage. This forest had been home to many generations of dragons since long before humans ever walked the earth. They would not abandon it. After the third attack, they knew that they would not end before a dragon had died or their home had been destroyed. As the leader, the black scaled dragon took it upon himself to eliminate this threat. He left the forest, flying over the neighboring towns. His fire was the hottest, and the blue flame reduced the human settlements to ash in a single breath. He returned to his cliff to find the boy waiting. A grin covered his face. He danced with joy at the great dragon's impressive feat. It was him, of course. He couldn’t understand his words, but his gut had been warning him all along. The boy was bad news. Looking into his eyes now, he thought that the boy had always held some sort of magic. The boy was outcast by his society, and his parents left him for dead in this ancient forest. This is what he thought, but he had no way of knowing. Humans did not understand dragon speech, and dragons did not understand human speech. But many humans had died, and word would spread. Dragons and humans would be enemies for many centuries to come, and the boy had caused it. Looking at his smiling face, the dragon let a breath of fire well up in his throat. He readied himself, but he swallowed. He couldn’t do it. He had come to think of the boy as family. He heard the green dragon's cries as he suffered from his wounds, and he shook his head grimly. Then, without warning, he grabbed the boy with his claw and took off into the sky, over the deep blue ocean. He flew through the sky, heart filled with regret. He had no idea how long it was before he reached the distant land. He set in an open field and released the boy. The look that they shared was very similar to that of their first meeting. They stared at each other blankly, and then he flew off into the sky once more. The dragon's massive, pitch black shape blocked the sun as he rose, casting a shadow across all of the land. The beast that touched down that day would be feared as a god for centuries to come.