The Loyal

Sharing Worlds

The first thing Dain could smell when the golden claws unleashed him was fire. He fell broken again to the ground, every bone aching. The creature gazed at him with intelligent eyes, it was smaller than the other dragon and was bright blue in colour. It had large arched wings which were folded gently over it's body. Dain prepared to die.

But the burning death wasn't inflicted upon Dain. The beast was still watching Dain, with, he realised, curiosity. It fell back upon it's haunches and stared straight into his eyes, unblinking. Dain didn't dare move in case he provoked it, but after awhile, this was proving quite difficult.

Finally a decision forced itself on Dain as a dragon-like lizard crept into the room. It's eyes were focused on Dain, it's yellow tongue lashing out. He bit his lip and stepped back, now, he was between a calm dragon and a hungry reptile, neither way was a very good option.

Dain flinched away from the bright orange eyes, feeling hopeless and empty. was this really how it was going to end, even after he climbed the cliff? Dain was about to curl up into a ball and curse the gods when the dragon roared angrily.

Unmistakable words could be heard echoing in the room, "be gone!" in Havian, from the dragon's mouth.

Suddenly, Dain's known world was blown to pieces within those priceless seconds. The dragons weren't beasts, but actual, speaking creatures. "H . . . hello?" he took the bravest leap he'd ever taken. The dragon stepped back from him, confusion written clearly upon it's face. "Who . . . who are you?"

The minute that followed was tense with hesitation, fear and disbelief. The dragon spoke in a kind, feminine voice, ringing through their small cave. "Sirath,"

Dain had never heard of a name such as this one before. To his tongue, it was slightly difficult to pronounce, but after running it over several times, Dain guessed he got the hang of it. "I'm Dain," it also intrigued him to find Sirath didn't use a last name, but then again, it didn't surprise him.

Silence fell once again between them, neither knew what to say, as this encounter had never been recorded by the gods before. Sirath slowly asked, "what are you doing in the dragon highlands,"

To Dain, this was the strangest question he'd ever heard, and knew it would be very difficult to answer, never the less, Dain told the dragon what he knew, " well, it was like this . . ."

Night had fallen over the dragon highlands and Dain had finished narrating his story. Sirath had moved to the mouth of the cave, staring intently at the purple-blue skies scattered with glowing stars. Dark dragon-like shapes had flown by several times, and Dain wondered if it was always this busy. He decided to chance another question.

Sirath answered, even if slightly hesitant at first, "tonight is the firelight moon festival. Moonstones fall from the galaxies and we collect them. They make excellent irons and the drakes simply adore catching them. The counsellors give speeches about what's happened or it happening."

Dain heard several unusual terms and didn't know who, or what, they applied to. He sat beside Sirath on the edge, several metres away, trying hard to spot something interesting. The wait was worth it. Red flashes streaked the sky, shooting towards the lands. Figures leapt into the air, catching the moonstones. Dain felt excitement fill his heart, know that he'd never again see such a beautiful miracle.

"The gods. . ." he gasped, "why do they bless you so?"

Sirath turned to Dain, her eyebrows furrowed in a frown, "gods?"

"Yes, what god sends these stones? Dare I say Elena?"

"No, we have no gods. These stones simply break off the sun and by the Fireday (first day of summer, the dragon's new year's eve,) it's hot enough for them to break into the atmosphere and reach here by the next night."

No gods? Dain had heard of civilisations far from any Haven that were cursed by the Haven gods but never had he heard of no gods. "Do they ignore you?" he queried.

"We don't any gods, they don't exist for us."

Dain didn't understand. Sirath obviously realised this and then said, "sleep, I'll watch for any dragons. Tomorrow we'll plan what to do."

Curling up in a thicket of leaves, Dain suddenly realised how hungry he was again, also thirsty. Not wanting to disturb his sleep pattern, Dain turning his thoughts to what Sirath meant by planning. What would Dain do now? where could he go? How would he get out of the highlands alive, much less the cliff-face?

Dain sunk restlessly into a stressful dream.