Fire Realm

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

No sooner had we run into the cave than loud explosions could be heard around the top of the mountain.  Mekka and I jogged away from the entrance, deeper into the cave where there were more rooms stemming off.  As we raced down one hallway, lined with the natural walls of stone, two younger dragons bounded past us.  I paused to watch as the two similar dragons went by, one of them orange with black markings, the other quite the opposite.  They were probably both from the same nest.  I watched as they went over to a large stone and worked as a team to heave the great rock across the floor to cover the cave entrance.  Mekka noticed that I had paused and ran back toward me.

“We need to go join the war meeting.  At least, you do,” he smirked.

I glared at his remark and followed him into a large room at the end of one hall.  A loud snarl echoed from the room, followed by several loud bangs.  I frowned and hurried inside.  An older dragon, with green and yellow flecked scales paced the room on all fours, growling loudly and lashing his tail as my father explained.

“Rowan, we cannot go to war!  You heard Ghislaine’s report yourself, there are five legions of fairies marching directly toward this mountain!  We don’t even have half the supplies, let alone the number of warriors we would need to defeat an army like that,” he shouted.

The dragon’s spine-quills shot up in anger as he swung around to pace the other direction.  When he turned, his tail swung out at a decorative pot placed on a pedestal in one corner of the room; but that was not what caught the most of my attention.  The warrior had a scar slicing diagonally from one curled lip to the top of his cheekbone, passing very closely to the corner of his bright golden eye.  The eye fell on me for a moment, the pupil eerily growing in size like it was trying to suck me in.  In that moment I took in all that he was; it was like breathing in the essence of this battle-hardened dragon.  Something about him told me that he put on a mask of greatness, and that in his heart he was actually not as tough as he seemed.  The pupil retracted again and then turned away from me as he turned to reply to my father.

Rowan let out a loud hiss before he began his reply.

    “We must fight back!  If we remain idle they will mow us down and move on to the other Realms.  They are merciless, and they do not obey the human war-laws of fairness,” he said, spitting out the last word.  

    My father nodded slowly.

    “I was not suggesting that we sit here and watch them slaughter us one by one, but I will not have you fighting against them either.”

    “Are you suggesting that we run away?” the warrior interrupted,

    “Yes.”

    The dragon paused his restless pacing for a moment before a snarling roar escaped his yellowed teeth.  It was then that I noticed my mother sitting at the head of the long table which my father also sat at.

           “Be quiet,” her voice was a little more than a whisper, but even for its softness it silenced the raging dragon, “Complaining is not going to help anyone.  All it will do is make everyone more uneasy.  We can all see that the situation is not good, but let’s come to a conclusion on what we should do about it.  Callie, if you would please take a seat,” she said, directing me to an open seat between her and my father.  I sat down quietly, then watched as Mekka moved to leave.

           “Mekka if you would please stay, I think you will be involved in this as well,” my mother said.

           Mekka quietly shut the thick wooden door and then leaned against the wall.

           “According to what I’ve heard from both of you so far,” my mother began, “it sounds too dangerous to fight the fairies immediately,”

           Rowan opened his jaws to protest and received a stony glare from my mother.  He shut his mouth and allowed her to continue.

           “However, as you said Rowan, it would be cowardice not to fight.  Callie, what do you think we should do?”  She asked me.  It always annoyed me when she asked these questions, because she knew what the answer was, and there was only one ‘right’ answer.

           I considered the circumstances carefully before deciding on a compromise between both propositions.  It was not a happy compromise.

           “We will leave the mountain,” I choked, “We will leave here and seek the other Realms for assistance,” I said, speaking with as much authority as I thought I should have.

All motion stopped as I finished speaking.

    “Good.  That seems to be appropriate for the situation,” my mother nodded.

    “But-”  Rowan interrupted,

    “We will begin our journey early tomorrow morning.  Please ask Ghislaine to survey the nearest Realms and find out whether the fairies have already attacked them as well.  Please also ask Serafim to announce all of what will be happening to the others," she stood up at her last word and strode out of the room.  

    Rowan’s muzzle slowly closed as he realized that any further argument would be useless.  I stood up gradually as tears began to mist my vision and held back a sob as I walked out of the room.  I glanced around the hall, making sure that no one was there to correct my manners, and ran down the corridor until I fumbled open the door knob of my room, blinded by tears.  I slammed the door and collapsed on my bed, screaming into the pillow until my lungs burned.  Now I swore at myself for even replying to my mother’s prompt.  Because of what I had said, we would be leaving this beautiful place; possibly forever.

    I took a deep breath, coming to the realization that I could not take back what I had said, and that my mother’s command was final.  She never took back anything she said; there would be no chance of her doing it now.  Rolling over to stare at the blank stony ceiling, I thought back to the spring we had spent here, the tall grasses of the surrounding meadow, the unreal blue sky.  At least I had some memories to hold on to of this place, even if I could not keep the place itself.  As I imagined what the other Realm could be like, I drifted off into a restless sleep.