Silent Moments

Chapter 6

As soon as the sun touched the horizon we were off, traversing the harsh mountainside, Adalinda doesn’t want to fly in case anyone sees her and reports back to Dephereon, she is our only hope of defeating this demon and rescuing Willow, she is the surprise weapon. I forgot all about that dragon book that I had carelessly thrown across the clearing the night before, I am tempted to ask if we can go back for it, as we haven’t travelled too far, seeming to read my thoughts, Adalinda stops ahead of me and sits down, using her front forearm, she reaches towards her neck, and digs a talon in behind one of her massive scales, pulling out the book I had thrown. “How did you do that?” I ask her incredulously, “Reverse scales,” She replies simply, “they are backwards facing and are useful to carry items in.” fascinated I ask, “May I have a look?” she nods her massive head and gestures to the one where she pulled my book from, I peer inside and see a golden comb, embodied with jewels of every assortment, I reach to pull it out but Adalinda growls and moves away from me. Pouting I follow after her as she moves onwards.

   Hours pass, before I come to the realisation of exactly how hungry I am, “Adalinda?” I ask, “Yes little one?” she responds, “Can we eat?” I ask, “I am hungry.”

“As am I, as am I.”

“Can you hunt?” I ask her, “Can you walk?” she retorted, confused I falter with words, “It is almost like second nature to me to hunt and fly, after all I am a predator.”  And with that she disappears deep into the forests depths. I build a fire, so when she returns I can cook my food. A while passes before she returns with quite the catch, she drops a bundle of assorted meats, I pick out a fat hare, pull out my knife and start skinning it, then I pull out all its organs, burying them so they don’t attract other unwanted predators, my mouth waters as I cook the hare, the juices dripping off the tender meat. I hear a bone snapping crunch, looking over I see Adalinda devouring a deer carcass, bones and all.  I smile at her, wondering what happened to that little demanding little dragon I saw before, with the brilliant blue scales and cold breath. Why has she changed I wondered, as I wait for my hare to cook, I pull out the book from my belt, filing through the pages until I came to the evolution page. I read it to myself curious,

Dragons often transform or evolve throughout their growing stage, not all dragons evolve and the types do vary. It is unclear as to why a dragon does evolve, but it has been said that if a dragon is forced to evolve that the dragon will be a true reflection of its master. A forced dragon evolution can cause the dragon to change colour and powers, they also tend to be more wild and unpredictable, depending on its former state the dragon is most likely to forget who it once was or who their master is.

I pause on that page, reading it and re-reading it over and over again to totally clear on its meaning. I turn back to the dragon classification, to see what kind of dragon Adalinda has transformed in to. Filing through the pages I find no dragon that resembles mine. Until I turn to the last page, only half-heartedly looking at the page I read the title, “The dragon of the Dark” Well I think to myself, this sounds promising, she is a dark dragon. There is no image of the dragon, which I find is strange.  I continue reading through the description that the page holds.

This dragon has not as of yet been successfully recorded or captured. This dragon is the most elusive and cunning hiding in its mask of deception. Do not be fooled by its playful nature or wise words fort this dragon is the most cunning hunter and will devour all who stand in its way to obtaining power.

I look over to my dragon, as she sits in the opening grooming herself in the moonlight, she radiated power, her eyes hold endless knowledge and her gestures are playful, is the book true? Will she devour me if I stand in her way? “What are you staring at?” Her new majestic voice rings in my mind, I fluster for words, I hear a deep throated rumble echo from within her and assume that is her laughing. Warily I laugh with her too, she notices my nervousness, and asks, “Did you read something bad about me little one?” I pause, thinking whether I should tell her or not, assuming that she knows anyway I tell her I indeed did read something about her. “But understand this little one, worried as you are, I showed myself to help and protect you. Not to cause you any harm. That is not a dragon’s duty, it is pointless to, for if you are harmed I am too, and we are connected by our very existence. Now come, we must continue moving; hopefully we can be there by sunrise.”