The Whisperer

Chapter 3 - Meeting Dragons

Inside, it wasn't that bad. It had a small couch, a table, a fold-out bed, a tiny sink and a stovetop. It was all very messy. The table was cluttered with... pictures. They were all images of dragons. Some were flying, some lying down. There was every different size and shape dragon that you could think of. The image on top, (also the largest), was a picture of a large purple dragon. I didn't know how I knew, but I knew that it was just about to breathe fire. This guy's collection was huge. It would have been wonderful, if it hadn't been coinciding with my strange happenings with dragons. The dream, the miniature one, and, come to think of it, the brass knocker on the door of the store. That had been a dragon too.

I suddenly realised that there was real smoke wafting off the tops of the pictures, as if the dragons were alive. I thought I saw one blink. I rubbed my eyes. The dragon was sleeping peacefully. They are not real, I told myself sternly.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" the guy said when he noticed me staring at his collection. I wasn't quite sure I agreed that they were beautiful. I would have said that they were scary, magnificent or proud, but possibly not beautiful.

"Uh, sure," I replied. I looked at the large purple dragon out of the corner of my eye, and I swear I saw its leg shift.

"Hey, I forgot to say," he interrupted before I could say anything about the live dragons, "My name's Arrow." I couldn't say it didn't suit him. With all the pictures of dragons and his liking for black clothing, a name like that just fitted.

"My name's Grace, and this is Max," I said, waving my hand at Max. Soon Arrow had us all sitting on couch with a piece of cake in our hands.

"So where are your parents, Arrow?" I dared to ask.

“Hmm. Don’t know.” He said this as if this happened all the time, “I live here. Dad sometimes come to visit, but my mum disappeared when I was about three.” Arrow had a sad smile on his face.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” I said softly, “That must be awful.”

“It is okay when people come to the campsite,” he admitted, “But otherwise I’m pretty lonely. Except for the creatures and animals.”

“15. I have been living on my own for five years now,” Arrow sighed.

“Oh, well I’m 14 and Max is five,” I informed him, “I also have another brother called Josh.” I didn’t know why I was telling him this, but I felt sorry for this lonely teenager with no friends.

“Do you spend time with your family?” Arrow’s expression was both curious and wistful.

“Well yes, but I do like to be on my own sometimes,” I explained carefully, “I also love spending time with my friends.”

“You’re so lucky to be able to be able to do that,” he said downcast.

“You know, back where I live, not many people like me anyway. I only really have one friend. That’s Olivia,” I admitted.

“Why wouldn’t people like you?” he wrinkled up his nose.

“Because I’m different. I don’t wear makeup, or go out in fancy dresses. I like school. I don’t like shopping. I love reading and drawing. People just don’t accept people like me,” I said sadly.

“Wow. If you think that’s different, I would hate to see how they treated me,” he muttered.

“We need to be going now. We’ll come and visit,” I promised, trying to boost Arrow’s enthusiasm.

“That would be nice,” he replied, a weak smile on his face now.

“Can I come too?” cried Max.

“Sure.” Arrow grinned.

“Okay, time to go. See you soon,” I added. Arrow just nodded, the smile wiped off his face.

Back at our campsite, Mum asked us questions about our fellow camper. I explained our visit, with Max interrupting frequently.

"So you mean to say that he lives there by himself?" Mum stared at us in horror.

"Uh, yeah, I said that," I replied. Why couldn't adults just listen and take it in at the same time?

"The poor thing," Mum sighed, "He must be so lonely."

"I said that too." I rolled my eyes.

"I know," said Mum indignantly, "I just can't believe that his parents would do that." While Mum went on about how sad he must be, I went and sat on one of our camp-chairs, and read my book.

That night I had the same dream as I had had the night before, but it was more enhanced. I could hear running water flowing nearby. It smelled damp, of moss and mould combined. Roaring noises echoed in the cave. The purple dragon appeared at the entrance to the cave. I looked behind me and there was my family, cowering behind me. I turned back to face the dragon. He opened his jaws and I froze. Panic crazed my mind as the red hot fire covered me in a blanket of certain death. Again, I woke panting. Sweat beaded my forehead as I lay back down onto my camp-mattress. The realisation that came to me that freaked me out more than anything. The purple dragon had been the one on the largest picture in Arrow's caravan.

I couldn't get back to sleep again, so I silently got out of bed, and swiftly climbed out of the tent. The moon shone brightly in the black night. Suddenly, I saw a flash of light. It was coming from the caravan. A flash of pale green splashed into the night, and another. White smoke clouded my eyes. Then came a cry like none I had ever heard. It was so piercing that it was hard to hear, yet I could hear perfectly well. The weirdest thing was that a hissing noise came into my head, filling it with a voice so magnificent and old that if that voice had spoken out loud, who knows what would happen.

'You,' it rasped, 'You, whose ancestors destroyed the harmony of us creatures. How dare you walk the earth, knowing what they did?"

"Knowing what?" I whispered, "Who am I?" For the second time this camping trip I asked this question.

You don't know? You weren't told?' The voice screeched in rage, 'You are one of them. The dragon whisperers...' She trailed off into a low snarl. 'Your ancestors, they violated the laws. Captured us. Tortured us for our secrets. Spread dragon kind apart. Divided us.'

"Wait. You're a dragon?" Suddenly my curiosity about my ancestors faded and was replaced by fear. The white smoke faded to a mist, and the face of a pale green dragon came into view. The muscles in her jaw showed her sheer strength and brutality. If she pleased, and was real, she could rip me in half before you could cry out.

'I am a dragon queen, a ruler of creatures. We are a race to be feared. I shall watch, and see you fail my test of strength and beliefs.' With that, she flew right into my face, and my vision cleared. I could see the smoky signs of the dragon. I understood who I was now. Unless this was a dream, I was a descendant of people who had caught and tortured these magnificent creatures. As much as they scared me, I respected them, and wanted to pass whatever test the dragon queen had set for me. I suddenly realised that I was nearly falling over I was so tired. The chat with the dragon had drained my strength immensely. I decided that if I were to get up again, I would have to go back to sleep, and that I did.