Where The Mind Is With Fear

Part 15

Soup bowl still in hand, I went out of the cave for the first time, only to realize that the cave was buit at the edge of a cliff. A few steps away from the cave, and you'd be falling deep, down. I stood out there for a long time, taking in whatever lay in front of me. It was beautiful, serene. 

First, there was a layer of forest. The whole scenery was tress, wood, and small fires burning from cinder wood. I distinguished between clumps of bamboo and pine tress. Here and there, if you squinted your eyes, a squirrel could be seen running on the boughs of the tree. Somewhere deep in the forest, I heard a woodpecker pecking frantically at wood, ready to build it's little shelter. These small birds had so much hard work to do, building a little home. The strenous way that pigeons collected twigs, the way woodpeckers kept pecking at hard, solid wood, and the way tailorbirds stitched their nests, all made me gasp in praise. 

How these little birds could do so much, was beyond me.

But, what got me enchanted most, was the outstretch of blue water that lay beyond the forest. Deep, blue waters of a sea, that was probably a beach, without the shore in sight. Above the vast stretch of water, I saw a group of vultures flying together, some with pieces of meat in their mouths.

"Wonderful, ain't it?", Belinda's voice startled me from behind.

"Yes, indeed it is", I murmured. Belinda smiled and I noticed she had a dimple on her left cheek.

We stared silently at the serenity ahead of us. 

"I just don't udnerstand why anybody would build a cave at the edge of a cliff!", I said, breaking the moment.

Belinda chuckled and replied, "Askook is a dragon, remember?"

I didn't understand her, so I lamely shook my head.

"Well, he flies!", she said again, straining the word 'flies' as if I would understand when she said it.

Looking at my still blank expression, she said, "Well, if we have to go anywhere, Askook merely flies out of the cave and I sit on his back!"

"Really?", I asked in bewilderment.

"Yes. It is a great experience, flying high in the sky. You can look at the enitre world from up there", she said pointing at the sky, "and everything seems so tiny."

II smiled to myself, and stared straght at the sea. It was simply beautiful. 

"The Nevada", Belinda said.

"Hmm?"

"The water. It's our holy sea, where The Lord comes every 4th day of the week and performs few rituals. They aren't the typical religious ones. He does them only for more power and strength."

I was shocked by how much there was yet to learn about magic. Which reminded me, I'd even left behind my handy guide book!

Belinda and me gazed silently at the beauty and savoured each moment. 

"Tonight. Tonight I will show you the most beautiful thing ever on this planet.", said Belinda.

"What exactly is it?"

"Here, at the same spot, we will come tonight and you will see the prettiest landscape ever. Askook and me are the only one's who have ever witnessed it."

"Sure!", I was truly looking forward to it.

Suddenly, Beinda looked up at the sky and I saw a kind of sadness in her eyes. It looked like she was trying to tear her gaze away from the sky, but couldn't bring herself to do it.

I was about to ask her what the matter was, when I heard a distant screech, not too loud, not too soft. 

"Askook's here. He'd probably like his soup out here, with you. I'll get it in a minute", Belinda said, and hurried inside the cave.

I waited patiently for my Godfather to return. My heart was beating fast and I was really excited to meet Askook. It was almost a month since I'd last seen him. 

After a few minutes, I saw the familiar, large orange body come in view, and again, a low screech echoed off the outer walls of the cave. In an instant, I knew Askook had come back.

Slowly, his whole body came into view, him flapping his wings and pushing back the wind to move forward. Askook neared the cave, hovered around in the air in front of me, and looked at me.

And then, he stepped onto the ground, folding back his wings. 

He had not changed a bit from when I last saw him.

The same old warm smile spread over his face, the same old gleam in his eyes, and the same old him. After FizzFire, he was the closest person(technically, dragon)  to me since we'd run away and ended up in Venice.

Askook looked at me for a minutes, and then I could hold it no longer. I ran to hug him. Well, I just had to take three steps because the place was small, and half of Askook's body was out, not on the ground. He hugged me back, by wrapping his wings around me.

Okay, it wasn't a hug because my arms barely stretched over his belly, but it felt nice touching him again. It was like his wings had formed a circle of protection for me. Where no one could harm me. 

I felt like the same old Courtney again, who wasn't an orphan, who had loving parents and whose mother hugged her everyday before she was off to school.

I felt safe, secure and warm in Askook's arms. I felt at peace, away from all the dangers and 'desires' and 'hagons'. I felt like I'd been thrown into a pit of freedom. I felt that finally, I was loved and cared for.

Above all, I felt at home. 

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Guys, this is the second time I wrote this whole scene again, because my first draft was deleted accidentally =P

Hope you like it.

Thanks for reading! =D