To Cut Flames from the Air

Chapter I Part III: Beoralheome

Eric fastened the buttons that ran up the ankles and thighs of his trousers before putting on his traveling boots and fastening them as well. He laced his pouch through a loop at the trousers' waist, which he had filled with sharp stones and a leather sling. Then, he fastened his cloak, a gift from Calder at the thirteenth year after his finding, at his right shoulder. The woolen outside was dyed green with woad and saffron, the inside was lined with stoat and hare pelts, and the clasp was fashioned by Calder himself from the tip of an elk's horn and a thin strip of leather.

Langley stood at the door, his arms crossed, as Eric prepared. "You can't seriously still be considering going out into the woods tonight," he said. 

"I have to. Tomorrow everyone will have begun hunting for the beast that attacked Ackley. If they find the dragon in the process they'll likely try to drive it away from the Clearing, and I'll probably never have a chance to see it again," Eric said. 

"You're going to get eaten by the same beast."

"I told you already, they don't come close to the Clearing Wall," Eric said. "As long as I don't wander too deep it won't come near me."

"And you don't think that finding an actual dragon would be just as dangerous?" Langley asked.

"Maybe this one's friendly," Eric said. "It hasn't attacked anyone yet, as far as we've heard."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Langley said. 

"Well, I may be stupid," Eric said. "But at least I'm not a coward."

Langley frowned, and uncrossed his arms. "There's really nothing I can say to make you stay?"

"Nothing at all."

"Fine." Langley walked to his desk, grabbing his own cloak from where it hung on his chair and opening one of the desk's drawers. 

"What are you doing?" Eric asked.

"Grabbing my lantern." Langley pulled a lantern from the drawer, before placing it on the desk and lighting the candle held within. "I can't see that well in the dark, especially in the woods."

Eric grinned, moving to Langley's side to help him with his cloak's clasp. "You're not going to regret this!"

"Well, it's not like I could let you go out there alone," Langley replied. "That would be stupid."

∘∘∘

Langley had trouble keeping up with Eric, who cut through the woods like an eel through water, winding through the trees on instinct. The forest was quiet, as though holding its breath, save the light clinking of the lantern as it swung in Langley's hand as he walked. Its flame was strong enough only to illuminate the upcoming roots and brambles in his immediate vicinity, though the number of times this had spared Langley from tripping face-first onto the ground was uncountable. Thrice his cloak had been caught in thorns as Eric paused on occasion for him to catch up, not being quite inattentive enough to lose his friend in the woods.

For Eric, finding his way through these woods was as much about looking up as it was about looking forwards. At times, the forest floor could be almost hypnotizing with its repetitiveness, and while the ground held many stumps, stones, and deer-trodden paths to serve as recognizable landmarks, Eric often found the distinct shapes of the tangled branches above to serve the purpose better. The occasional gaps in the canopy, opening to the stars above, formed pictures in his eyes.

"You think Uncle Calder and Asmund have come after us yet?" Langley asked in hushed tones, not wanting to break the silence.

"Nah, neither of them would think I'm dumb enough to sneak out two nights in a row," Eric replied, not bothering to keep his voice to a whisper. "Look, there's the maple tree! We're almost there." 

"We're getting awfully far from the Clearing Wall," Langley said.

"It's just around here, I promise," Eric said. He paused at the base of the maple tree, looking to the left and then to the right. "Of course, it would help if I could remember where I went from here."

Langley caught up to Eric as he considered the directions from there. He lifted his lantern to spread the reach of its light and peered deeper into the woods. The woods made no attempt of its own to reveal the path to them to any greater degree, with the only noticeable movement being that of the leaves being pushed gently by the breeze. 

Then, from deeper within the forest, the silence was broken. A sound, not dissimilar to many loose stones falling from a rocky outcrop or the deep, raspy breathing of the stony ground itself, echoed through the still woods from beyond a forested knoll ten yards beyond the left of the maple.

"What was that?" Langley asked.

"Right! It was to the left," Eric said, heading towards the knoll. "Come on, Lang, stragglers are the tastiest travelers to beasts."

Langley stood by the tree a second longer, momentarily torn. As Eric neared the knoll's peak, Langley took a deep breath, pulled his cloak close, and quickened his pace to catch up. 

∘∘∘

The peak of the knoll proved a favorable vantage of the expanse of forest before them; even in the dim moonlight, the shape that laid beyond was unmistakable. A gargantuan head rested between the pines, its shape between a deer's, a snake's, and a hawk's, red fur growing from under scales that lined a toothed snout tipped by a bone-white beak. Horns protruded from its scalp, one pronged and the other broken near its base. Its eyes were fully shut. 

There was not much more that could be noted, for if one were to look to its neck they'd have seen that it ended quite abruptly, cleaved cleanly from a body that was nowhere in sight. The occasional spray and sprig of undergrowth had climbed up the base of the fallen head, nature ready to absorb the form.

"Well I'll be," Langley said. "You really weren't lying, huh?"

"I... Where's its body?" Eric asked, taking the lantern from Langley and holding it up as though better illuminating the grove would change what was blatantly apparent. 

"Was there a body the last time you saw it?" Langley asked. 

"Well, I didn't get a very good look last time," Eric said. "I actually just kind of glanced at it before I heard Uncle Calder was following me."

"It's in such good condition, too," Langley said. "I wonder why it hasn't decomposed."

Eric reached up to break a branch off of a nearby tree. "I'm going to poke it."

"What? Why?" Langley asked, following behind Eric as he approached the head. 

"To see if it moves," Eric replied. 

"That's gross, it's dead," Langley said. 

Eric walked to the side of the head. Up close, the scope of its size was more apparent, and merely imagining how large the rest of it would have been would almost have been enough to intimidate Eric as he raised the stick, steadied himself, and firmly prodded the side of the dragon's head.

There was no reaction.

"Are we done here?" Langley asked.

"No." Eric prodded the dragon several more times. He waited for a response, and, when none came, he dejectedly tossed the stick to the side. "Okay, now we are."

As he stepped away, the sound from earlier rang out once more; a thunderous stony gargle, emanating directly from the dragon's head. Langley let out a sharp cry and ducked behind a tree, but Eric could only stand in place silently as a giant, golden eye opened and looked down at him.