Safehaven

Chapter 13

After several carefully aimed pancakes, launched forks, and a near fatal attack with a syrup bottle, Badon finally managed to calm the crowd down.  He slowly explained that there was nothing to be worried about and that there were doughnuts in the next room.  That seemed to clear everybody’s mind, and they cleared out of the room as fast as they could.  That left only Jada, Holly, Antigone, Quinton, Sage, Badon and I in the mess hall.  He spun to face us, a giant grin split his face.  “I knew you could do it!”  He breathed.  “After all these years, it finally happened.  They have returned!”  Badon started to slowly walk in circles, muttering things to himself and gesturing with his hands.  I could only make out a few things like “…Praise Galloren”, or “…Going to pass out!”, and finally, “That’ll show Morian to be careful where he should stick his…”.  All together, I thought that Badon might have a heart attack from all his excitement.  As he ranted on, my friends and I decided to take a closer look at the creatures we had just summoned.  Quinton’s golden lion playfully darted around while the boy tried to catch him.  Jada and her unicorn stood off to the side, circling around each other, as if studying what the other would do next.  The griffin would have nothing to do with Antigone.  It fluttered up the rafters of the chamber and there it stayed.  Finally, Sage and Holly whispered excitedly to each other, as the many tailed fox and Pegasus kept their distance from the gaggling girls.  The two beasts seemed to be communicating amongst themselves, much like their masters.  As for me, I stayed a good many feet from the dragon.  It just sat there like a dog, cocking its head and staring at me with those huge chocolate colored eyes.  Now, I had a good chance to get a closer look at the dangerous animal.  It had silver, sheen scales speckled with a few bronze ones.  It had huge cat like ears that could swivel in either direction.  What was the most odd, though, was the tuft of pale copper fur that rested between the creatures ears.  It looked like the dragon had a mohawk, sweet!  As I stared at the scaled thing in front of me, the dragon, too, did likewise.  Its eyes were like glassy orbs.  They roved everywhere, taking in everything.  After several minutes, the dragon and I got bored of glaring at each other.  I glanced at my friends.  Holly and Sage still gibbered on, oblivious to the fact that their animals had curled up in the nearest corner and had fallen asleep.  Behind the two girls, the lion, probably a nemian lion, and Quinton still were playing tag.  The cat seemed to be enjoying it, but its master was starting to stoop.  Quinton was loosing to an animal!  Anyway, the griffin had finally come down from the rafters and was now perched next to Antigone, who was stroking its lush feathers.  I looked back at the dragon.  It wasn’t there!  I spun around, only to find myself face to face with it.  It looked me in the eyes and nuzzled against my neck, making a purring sound.  As soon as its nose and my skin made contact, there was a burning sensation around me neck.  It grew and grew.  I finally cried out and backed away from the dragon.  It eyed me with concern.  I raised my fingers to my neck, and found that the stupid necklace was red with heat.  The once gold chain had turned a startling silver, and the red stone that had been hanging from the middle now had a dark cloud in the center of it.  As I watched, the cloud took the shape of a rearing dragon, forever caught in the ageless cage of stone.  Around my neck, wherever the chain had touched, my skin was a vibrant red. It was tender to the touch.  I looked back to the dragon.  “That really hurt.”  I pouted, somehow knowing that it could understand me.  It leaped to its feet and came over to my side, putting its head once again on my shoulder.  This time, there was no sting, only a faint tingle.  Cautiously, I raised my hand and began to scratch the beast behind its ears.  “You know,”  I began, staring off into space.  “you need a name.”  At this, the dragon perked up.  Still rubbing its head, I though of all the names that would suit this dragon.  It had to be strong, defiant, and fearless, just like the thing itself.  A name popped into my brain.  It was perfect!  “How about I call you Gwindol?”  The creature raised its head, staring into my eyes.  Something clicked.  I knew the dragon agreed.  Gwindol is a fine name indeed.  The voice echoed in my head.  It had the rich tone of an adult, but it rang with glee and mischief, like that of a child.  I will bear this name with honor.  I leaped back from the dragon, almost tripping over my cloak.  Had it just spoke?  The dragon seemed to smile, I swear.  Yes, sweet child.  After all those years in your dreams and wishes have given me the power to communicate with your thoughts  Wait, this beast, Gwindol, had been homing in on all my dreams for my whole life?!  Man, that was just weird!  That is nothing to be ashamed of, Shiloh.  You too have felt my dreams  It was true.  When standing on a tall hill or when the breeze was just right, I sometimes had the urge to leap into the air and let it take me away.  Now that I thought about it, those thoughts hadn’t been mine, but Gwindols.  He had been a part of me for as long as I could remember.  At that moment, Badon came out of his trance, out of breath but still with a smile.  “Alright then.”  He sighed, brushing his hair back.  “I guess that we must bond with the animals before it’s too late.  Let’s start with Holly.”  The fox had woken up and was now standing beside Holly.  Badon approached them and started to circle them, gathering all the details he could.  He muttered a few odd words, like kitsune, which I guess must be what the fox was.  Then, the man moved on.  Within several minutes, he had viewed us all.  He stood back and gave us a look of satisfactory, like a mother would after her child had tied his shoes for the first time.  He sighed, and then spoke.  “So this is how it goes.  Everyone knows that Shiloh is descended from Galloren, hence the dragon.  But the rest of you probably don’t know a thing about your lineage.”  There were a few mutters of agreements.  The man droned on.  “Way back when, when Galloren ruled the castle, there was a group of special people that were called the Elders.  They were the most gifted of the folk and Galloren favored them highly.  Together, the king and the gifted ruled together.  The Elders were in charge of making sure that everything was in order.  Their duty was to ensure the preservation of the knowledge of Safehaven, while Galloren protected it.”  Badon stopped and surveyed my friends.  “You are born directly from the line of the Elders.”  There was a pause, where all I could hear was the faint grunts of Quinton’s lion, who was snoozing on the floor.  Holly broke the silence.  “So we’re from the original Elders.  So what?”  Badon frowned.  “So you have a large part to play if Morian comes knocking.  You all and will be the first people he targets.”  “Why us?”  Antigone asked, defiantly.  The man clenched his fists and sighed, probably irritated by our ignorance.  “Because,”  He explained coolly.  “you all have carried on the gifts of the original 5 Elders.  Once you learn to control them, you will be quite dangerous.  Each sould mate gives its master a physical gift, something that is useful.  But only those that come from the elders receive spiritual gifts from their animals.  And you, my dear children, have those mythical animals.”  Badon let that sink in.  Then, out of nowhere, Quinton whooped.  “You hear that Morian?!”  He hollered.  “We’re going to kick your rear end!”  Badon had to smile at that, though it was weak.  As my friends started giving each other high fives, I could see him staring off into space, a sad look on his face.  I had seen that look before.  It was the look that parents made when they found out that their child wouldn’t be coming home.  It was the look of grief, pain, and regret.  I glanced at Gwindol.  He too seemed to understand.  When we went into battle with Morian, no matter how strong we were, it wasn’t likely that we would come back out, alive.  We had been handed a death sentence.