Ataraxia

∞|Chapter 12: Fly|∞

After a few hours, the path was shaded black and decorated by raindrops. The contrast of the water had a deep brown when the dry dirt soaked it up. The rain poured down like mad, which instantly soaked my dress and my hair. My dress felt plastered on my back, and strands of hair felt glued to my face. Eowin had stopped at the edge of the path, and pulled out some water, and handed a bottle to me,

"Thirsty?" She asked as she uncapped her own.

"Not really," I answered, "After all I heard I was going to go through, I don't feel like eating either."

"I'm not surprised," Eowin took a gulp from her bottle, "I'm sure at the moment, you're braver than most in Alfhiem. Especially those that have not underwent offensive training, most can only do healing magic and stuff, in other words in this situation, useless."

Eowin recapped her bottled, zipped up her bag, and slung it over her shoulder. She smiled and nodded to me, and strode down the path again. I took a deep breath, and started after her.

When we reached our destination, there was a large crystal clear waterfall that occupied the bare mountain. I stared at its transparency and listened to the crash of the water as it hit the river. Eowin started up the mountain, which wasn't steep enough to have to climb. The number of uses that people had walked along the same path had left a steady trail to behind the waterfall. We walked along the ledge of the cliff; leading to behind the waterfall. As we got closer, I heard the screeches of the dragons that companied the quiet mountain. Eowin stopped at the waterfall, and gestured me in front of her. I hesitated, and pressed my back to the cliff, and squinted my eyes from the droplets of rushing water. I felt along the cliff's side, to guide me past the waterfall. I had déjà vu as I remembered a similar situation that happened at school. A sharp edge of rock tore the fabric of my dress; right below the nape of my neck. I grimaced in pain as I felt my rapid heartbeat from the injury on my back. After a few more steps, I had reached the opposite side of the waterfall, and peeked around the corner. Dragons were roaming around, sleeping, or roaring in complaint from the rain. There were many different colours of dragons; some were emerald green, sapphire blue, burgundy red, and even white. I rounded the corner, until the most obvious question invaded my mind,

"How do I even catch one?" I asked, emphasizing 'catch'.

"Just walk up to one," said Eowin, "If it flies away, then that one's a no-no, if it tries to kill you, then it wants you to be its owner."

I blankly stared at her for what felt like forever,

"Kill me?" I asked, placing a hand on my chest, "Looking forward to it."

I scoffed and peeked around the corner again.

"So what you have to do," Eowin explained, "Is to hit really hard on the spot between their eyes. A strike there will determine them yours, long story short."

I slowly nodded,

"And how am I going to reach there?" I asked.

"Don't worry, they either attack with their claws or their teeth."

I stared at her in unbelief, then took a deep breath and sighed. I cracked my knuckles and stretched my fingers, and in one swift movement, I rounded the corner. A few of the dragons turned to look my way, one took off right off the bat. I inhaled in concentration, and took a few steps toward the closest dragon. It sniffed at me once, then leaped off its feet and took off into the air. I approached another dragon, which took off as well. I sighed in frustration, and clenched my teeth. A dark shaded red dragon approached me, and growled. Assuming its offensive attitude, I thought that this one was the one. I stood in a sideways stance, readying my hand beside my waist. The dragon pitied me, and took off. The air pressure from the takeoff knocked me off balance and sent me to the ground. I nearly fell off the cliff which stood a well 30 feet from the ground. If I fell, I would fall right into the river, and I'd have to start all over agan.

'I'm going to do this on my first try,' I thought, 'I have to. I don't have all day, Alfhiem's in trouble.'

I neared a black dragon, a mid-sized, sturdy creature that had large scales and had two large, beige horns that emerged from the base of its head. It glanced my way, and stood up on all fours. The dragon cried and stood on its hind legs, and thrust the ground with a loud crack. A deep growl rumbled in its chest. I leaned my head to one side, then the other; cracking my neck. The dragon strode forward, and tried to snap at me with its teeth. Long, sharp teeth occupied its mouth, and a narrow, forked tongue rested in the mouth's hollow. That was the right moment, I shot my hand at its head, hitting it in the nose. The dragon shrieked backward, regained its balance, and swung its claw at my frail body.

"Duck!" screamed Eowin over the roar of the waterfall.

I obeyed her, and let my legs give in under me. My body flew to the ground, just inches from getting impacted by the angry creature's attack. I trembled, and stood back up and waited for its next attack. Luckily, it was charging at me head on. I squeezed my eyes shut, threw my hand in front of me, and waited. I felt the strong collision of my hand and its head, and heard the creature settle down. I peeked from behind my hand to find the creature staring blankly at me. I startled in confusion, and landed on my bottom on the ground. I stared at the huge animal, and watched it bow its head to the ground.

"You did it!" Shouted Eowin, running toward me, "Now get on!"

"WHAT?!" I shouted, "After all that I nearly died, and now you want me to mount this thing!"

"Shush," said Eowin, putting a finger to her lips, "Dragons understand English."

Panicked, I stared back at the dragon, who still had its head bowed.

"I never thought about this," I said, standing up, "How can I tell if one is male or female?"

"Did you hear its roar?" Asked Eowin, "There's a huge difference in between a male and female dragon's roar. Yours is clearly male."

I nodded and sighed in astonishment. Eowin whistled a high pitched tune, and a loud screech emerged from the crowd of dragons. A minty-green coloured dragon rose from the group, its wings a dark sapphire blue. It landed heavily in front of Eowin. Eowin walked over to her dragon, and stroked its forehead. The dragon purred and bowed its head. Eowin jumped on, and gestured me to do the same. I stroked the dragon's diamond-hard scales, and sat in the hollow of the base of its neck.

"Just tell it where to go," said Eowin, "They aren't stupid." Eowin laughed at her comment and patted her dragon's neck. She said something to her dragon, and it leaped off the cliff.

I watched in amazement, and told my dragon to follow hers. In no time, the dragon obeyed, and leaped off the cliff as well. The air rushed past my face, and the powerful body of the dragon flew effortlessly in the air. I screamed in amazement and let the horizon zoom past me.