Chapter Two
Chapter Two
AS MEERKESH WALKS DOWN THE CENTER
of the village
towards his hut, he finds Tallian waiting for him at his door, as he has done for years. Tallian always waits for Meerkesh to tell him he is going to visit Emerald Wildfire, a dragon he found when he was eight-years-old. They have been inseparable since that day. Tallian never told Meerkesh, or anyone, for that matter, about finding his dragon. However, Meerkesh discovered his secret.
Being a protective parental figure, Meerkesh followed a wandering eight-year-old Tallian. He waited until Tallian was alone to confront him. “So, what did you name your dragon?”
Flustered by the question Tallian, answered with a nervous crack in his voice, “Emerald Wildfire, well—Emerald for short.”
Meerkesh’s response puzzled Tallian more than the question. He quickly responded, “That is a fine name; although it is not purely a dwarf name, it makes sense, nonetheless.”
Meerkesh seemed to know a great deal about dragons, but he never told Tallian why. He merely told Tallian to be back at a reasonable hour when he visited his dragon. “The night is not a good time for a young boy to be off so far from home on his own,” he stated. Tallian understood and swore to be home by dark each day. Even after he started working in the mines at age twelve, he would leave work early so he could go see Emerald and be back by dark. Only since he became old enough to be required to work all day was he allowed to be out after dark, but Meerkesh limits him from being out every night.
Meerkesh walks up to Tallian as he waits. “I am going,” Tallian says.
Meerkesh told him years ago to never tell anyone about his dragon or to say his name. He does not want anyone, including Killmesh, to ask questions about Emerald.
“Wait, Tallian. Come inside first. I have something I want to tell you before you leave.”
Tallian follows Meerkesh through the slit in the animal skin, which acts as a door. Sitting, Meerkesh places both hands on the table, interlocking his fingers. “Tomorrow instead of going to see Emerald, I want you to go to West Furin and talk to Brisken. Here, in East Furin, we are ready to go to Caskin, but they may not be ready yet, being a new mining burrow. So do not stay out too late. You will leave in the morning, and the trip should take you all day.”
“What should I ask him?”
“Simply ask him if he is ready to make a trip to Caskin. If he says no, ask how long until they will be ready.”
“And if he is ready?”
“Then ask him how soon they can be ready for banquet and how long it will take them to haul their jewels to East Furin for the banquet. Then tell him I will send you back to tell him the day of the banquet.”
“I will see it gets done.”
Tallian stands to leave when Meerkesh stops him once more. “Tallian, there will be time for you to visit with everyone over there—not a lot of time, mind you, but do spend some time with the people. Brisken is my best friend. It would not hurt you to find a friend for yourself.”
Tallian starts to speak “I alr …”
Meerkesh cuts him off. “I mean a human. You need more human friends.” Tallian lowers his head and nods in agreement before turning and walking away.
After leaving the hut, Tallian passes the last hut of East Furin, and he runs as hard as he can. He runs over a mile before he can’t take anymore and slows to a brisk walk. While he walks the rest of the trip, he thinks back to the day he found Emerald. He still doesn’t fully understand how it happened.
He walked through the woods as he often did. The walk started like any other, but around dark, when he would normally head home, he felt as if he was being drawn somewhere. Something told him,
Walk this way, go through there, and just a little bit further.
Tallian walked past field after field and woodland after woodland. He crossed streams and hills. It was bizarre to him, but although it had become dark and he was not allowed to be out after dark, he continued to walk for miles before coming to a large stream known to him as Dronin Stream. Then the voice in his head said,
Continue down the stream
. He followed the stream until the voice said
, Now walk directly away from the stream.
He walked in that direction for nearly a mile through a thick, dense wooded area, before he came to a field with green grass that reached Tallian’s waist. The voice that had led him suddenly stopped, leaving Tallian to believe he had reached his destination.
Whatever I’m here for is in this field,
he thought, but it was well into the night and pitch black, and he only had moonlight to aid his search. Tallian walked a few steps into the tall grass and looked carefully for something hidden. He carefully surveyed the field for anything out of the ordinary. In the middle of the field, he heard a group of birds, which caused him to turn his head. In the dark, he could not see clearly, but he then saw what seemed like shadows of the birds flying off as if they were spooked.
Tallian slowly walked toward the middle of the field. As he got closer to the spot from which the birds ascended, he closely examined the green grass. Nothing stood out at first, but as he got a little closer, Tallian noticed two bright green dots in the grass. In the dark, they were like fireflies dancing on neighboring blades of grass.
He walked closer, and as he got closer, his suspicions proved to be true. The green dots seemed to move through the grass, flickering in the shadows as they crossed each large stalk. Tallian slowly moved closer trying to catch the dots, but they moved faster, and large portions of grass shook, revealing that the dots were possibly part of a larger whole. He hopped at the bright dots just to be surprised by the dots taking a huge hop towards him.
He quickly sat up, when he saw a beautiful, green creature bouncing and hissing in an attack position. It only came to Tallian’s thighs standing on four legs, but it had glowing green eyes with small, gem-like talons and small spikes from the top of its head all the way down its back to the end of its tail where they branched out in every direction. Its teeth even resembled a green emerald as they sparkled in the moonlight.
Tallian slowly made his way back to his feet in a manner that wouldn’t spook the amazing creature. Tallian took a few small steps toward it whispering soft words. “It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. He gently extended his hand. The creature snapped at him, but Tallian didn’t withdraw his hand. He took another step, and the animal looked confused as he allowed him to touch the top of his head. He gently caressed his head for a short time, and that was all it needed to become attached to Tallian.
It rubbed Tallian’s leg as it rolled around, displaying its partially plump stomach, while it played with him. Tallian looked into its eyes and asked,” What are you?” That is when the voice came back, and with that voice, this creature made all the sense in the world. The word the voice lodged into his mind changed his life forever. He looked at the creature once more and smiled because he knew he would never call it a creature. Then, the voice came back again, answering his question. With a giant smile on his face, he said with excitement,” You are a dragon!”
As he approaches Dronin Stream and nears his walk’s end, he looks for Emerald, but does not see him. He continues to walk toward the field where he originally found Emerald. Meerkesh told him to stay near the field because if he and his dragon see someone, they can easily hide in the tall grass.
Tallian still does not see him. He reaches the field and walks out into it slowly as he looks around. Once he reaches the exact spot where he found Emerald, he stops and spins around to look at the tree lines. Still, he sees nothing. This is common for Emerald. Although he is an adult sized dragon now, he is still young and playful. Emerald often hides from Tallian, wanting him to look for him. Tallian looks to the trees, but he sees no glowing, green eyes. He looks to the tall grass of the field, but he sees none there either. He continues slowly in an attempt to play along, but still nothing. He tries to listen for any revealing sounds, but hears nothing to reveal Emerald’s location.
Then, several green fireballs explode around Tallian forming a circle of fire, burning the grass all around him. Tallian smiles. He does not yet see him, but he knows Emerald is near and airborne. While the fireballs are a new surprise, the color of the flames is unique to his dragon. It is the only green flame he has seen in his life.
All of a sudden, the fireballs hit Tallian and cover his body in flame, but he feels no pain. Tallian stands in the flame, and with a big laugh, he screams, “You got me!”
Emerald approaches Tallian, and while landing, the gusts from his wings put out the mighty green flames. As he lands, Tallian looks him over carefully. He is amazed at how mightily Emerald has grown. His muscular structure is well defined, replacing the former plumpness. His chest is broad, and he has strong jaws. His hind legs are incredibly powerful, and his tail has grown to be long enough to wrap around to his head.
Tallian greets him with a big hug, and Emerald wraps his neck around Tallian. After a long, heartfelt hug, Emerald takes Tallian in his mouth and throws him to the ground. He holds him on the ground with his foot and chomps on him. Tallian can only laugh and let out a loud cry, “Stop Emerald! That tickles!”
Emerald’s teeth are dull to the bite to Tallian’s flesh. His talons hold the same dull effect on him as well.
After the playing is done, Tallian looks Emerald in the eyes and says, “Let us fly.” In a flash, Emerald jumps up, whipping his tail around, which creates a step for Tallian. As he steps on the tail, Emerald’s dagger-length tail spikes draw back into his flesh. Emerald lofts Tallian into the air, and Tallian flies over Emerald’s back and watches as Emerald’s large spikes draw back into his body, leaving a place for Tallian to ride.
While carrying Tallian, Emerald has no spikes other than two large spikes on each side of Emerald’s neck. When Emerald lands, two more additional spikes emerge from his side, one behind each knee and in front of each ankle, which act as natural stirrups.
They fly across the field and over the dense wooded area before reaching the stream. They then fly down the river zipping back and forth, left then right. They spin with their bodies working together. They stay low to the ground until, in a sudden bolt, they jet straight up toward the moon. After reaching an elevation to rival the Furin Mountain peaks, they level off.
As Emerald glides, Tallian lets go of his spike handles and sits up with outstretched arms. After enjoying the wind for a while, Tallian takes to his feet and runs down Emerald’s back to his tail and jumps, summersaulting off the very end. He flips and spins. The fall takes several seconds, and as he approaches the ground, he looks down with no fear.
He plummets closer and closer to the ground. Still, no fear crosses his mind. At twenty feet from the ground, his thirteen-foot dragon flies under him, catching him. They turn and fly back along the mountain toward East Furin.
Emerald follows the mountain to a mile shy of the burrow in order to keep anyone from seeing them. They take a few moments to say their goodbyes. “I had a good time today, Emerald. I cannot come to see you tomorrow. Meerkesh is sending me to West Furin.” Emerald drops his head. “I know boy. I wish I could, but Meerkesh has been kind to me. I will not disobey him.” Emerald immediately wraps his neck around Tallian, and in return, Tallian wraps his left arm around Emerald’s neck while petting him with his right hand. “Till next time my friend.” Tallian turns and runs toward the village.
The run is over in a matter of minutes as he slows at the edge of the burrow. He enters the hut as quietly as possible, hoping not to wake anyone—an act, for which he has become exceptionally stealthy.