The Unbound Dragon

Chapter One: The Great Dome

"The greatest powers are death, blood, and dragons. Greater than those is water. And above every thing is the Great Dome."

Madam Bardas looms in front of our class, her grey dragon draped on her back like a cloak with eyes. We are inside the vast chamber beneath the Great Dome. Madam Bardas points up to the Dome. Her dragon's wing first mirrors the movement, then he extends it with a sharp claw. Most eyes follow the direction they point and look up.

Up four storeys to the dizzying height of first concourse. Windows bring in light to illuminate the grand mosaics that recount the tales of long dead gods. Up another four, past more windows to the nauseating height of the second concourse. More mosaics telling complex legends of the greater gods that fathered and mothered the lower gods. Four more storeys to the vomitous base of the Great Dome. Beyond the Great Dome, stars and planets spiral their lazy courses across the night sky.

My eyes are down where things don't spiral out of control. I'm more fascinated by the miniscule cracks in the steps leading over the Canal. The different patterns in the floor mosaics call to me. I sketch part of the mosaic on the margin of my notebook. Earth tone tiles depicting a winged hero battling a demigod.

The eyes of the dragon sweep across the class. Sees me. Tells her.

"Eyes up, Miss Irene." Even then people mistook me for my sister. I think to correct her. To tell her that I am Elena. The first born.

I ignore the knowing looks of the other disciples. Instead, I stare at the dragon's eyes -crystalline, reptilian- until he looks away.

Madam Bardas continues.

"Repeat after me, everyone: Above everything is the Great Dome. " Her dragon jets a small blue flame towards the Dome, an exclamation mark.

We echo her. Some with a bit too much enthusiasm. My enthusiasm was more than lacking. It was non-existent.

"That's correct. Above everything the Great Dome." A small, satisfied smile on her lips as she tilts her head back to gaze at the Dome. Her dragon tightens his grip on her shoulder and hip leathers. She spreads her arms. Mirroring her movements again, the grey dragon unfurls his wings.

The class is hit with a wash of air as the pair rises above us into the chamber. She must have secured permission months in advance to fly inside the Great Dome. Her dragon is hovering with a subdued rhythm four meters above us. Madam Bardas is relaxed in his grip, confident in their Bond.

I watch the other disciples as they gaze at her. A mixture of awe, envy and boredom. Beyond the disciples, in the alcoves circling the walls, other eyes watch the pair as well. Dragon mothers guarding their nests.

Eventually I look up too. A small part of me gets it. The amazing nothingness of the glass. Unmarred. Impenetrable. Flawless. But everyone marvels at the Dome. Lovers bring blankets and gaze up past it to the sights beyond. In daylight, clouds with dizzying heights; at night, stars to infinity.

My neck hurts. I return my gaze to the steps and the simple mosaics laid there. This is the good stuff. Cracks that hint at spiderwebs. Others that look like rivers. That one over there with the slightly different colored grout from a recent repair could be branching lightning. Each crack a unique and special flaw. Curse the Dome. There's nothing interesting about invisible perfection.

Madame Gail Bardas goes on and on about the Dome. We're not supposed to know any of the teachers first names, but someone always finds out. We call her Breezy. Not because her classes are a breeze, but, well curse, just listen to her:

"The Great Dome is the largest dome in the known world. The people from the west call him Sancta Duomo. Those of the South call her Diomus Aya. To us, she is the Holy Jewel of the Empire: Balaur Draguli. The Dragon's Jewel.