Burning Flame

Chapter Three

Blaze pranced fearlessly around the cave, his fiery eyes bright with innocent joy and excitement. It had been a few years since he had first hatched and he was showing signs of becoming a strong and adventurous young dragon. His muscles were growing day by day and the small horns on his head grew longer and sharper, too. His claws and teeth became dagger-like with each bite and scratch. He leaped onto small ledges and squeaked his triumphs to the world, which was only the cavern and a little ways outside of it at this point. Nonetheless he thought his home was full of adventures and risks as he explored every nook and cranny.
He would chase down rats, climb as high as he could without falling off of the cavern wall, and flap his still growing wings as hard as he could to see if he could fly like his mother and father.
His mother was always proud of him and she would croon and encourage him constantly, while his father, on the other hand, would just watch him when he had the time to be around him. It was mostly silent approval but many times he would growl at Blaze to try harder or to do something again. He would not tolerate mistakes or signs of weakness from his son, and Blaze learned that lesson quickly enough.
One day Blaze's mother, Magma, was out hunting and his father was left to watch over him. Blaze was climbing up onto ledges and exploring cracks in the rock when his father suddenly spoke up.
"Climb as high as you can, son. Don't stop until I tell you to stop."
His father was pacing silently across the length of the cavern, but his eyes were locked on Blaze as the young dragon nodded and heaved himself up onto the next ledge.
Blaze kept climbing until he got about halfway up the wall of the cave. Then he began to panic as he looked down at the seemingly endless space between him and the ground.
His head whirled and his chest tightened. His eyes widened as his breathing became shallow and fast. He glanced back and forth from his father to the next ledge but he couldn't find the courage to move.
Fear bubbled up in his chest until he let out a terrified shriek.
"HELP!!!" he cried, " Father! I'm stuck!Please help!"
His father watched him squirm and squeal for a moment before he stopped pacing and walked over to the cavern wall. His head was level with Blaze.
"What did I tell you before?" he growled. His eyes suddenly locked onto Blazes' and his son struggled for words.
"What did I say?"
His growl was even more severe and his eyes burned.
"Don't stop until you tell me to... but father..."
"No! You keep climbing. Being brave is what dragons do. We are strong, and therefore you must act strong, Blaze. Now climb."
Then his father walked back to the middle of the cave and he watched his son with a steady and unfaltering gaze.
Blaze cried out again but it was no use. He knew his father wouldn't help him now.
Fearing the worst, he gingerly hooked his claws onto the next ledge and hauled himself up and over.
He wobbled a little, but otherwise he remained up high on his small perch.
He looked to his father for approval and he nodded.
Blaze felt a bit of courage fill his heart again and he turned back to the task at hand.
The ledges got smaller and smaller until they were only tiny juts in the rock that Blaze could barely just hang onto. He kept listening in earnest for his father's voice telling him to stop, but after each haul and heave he was disappointed to hear nothing but the sound of his own labored breathing. His muscles burned as he neared the top and he was afraid that he couldn't move anymore, no matter how hard he tried. Then he heard the familiar and welcome voice of his father from below.
"Stop, my son. You've done well."
Blaze waited for him to say that he was proud, like his mother always did, but it never came.
"How do I get down, father?"
Without responding, his father walked back over to the cave wall and looked up. Suddenly, he reared up onto his hind legs and stretched his neck so that his head was right next to Blaze's body. He propped his front legs against the wall to steady himself and Blaze cringed as he felt the small vibrations from the impact.
"Hold onto my neck,"he growled.
Blaze obediently did as he was told and he twisted his body so that he could hook his front claws under the scales in his father's neck. Then he twisted the rest of his body around and pushed off from the wall so that his hind claws could also find purchase without his front claws pulling out from underneath of the scales.
Then his father lowered himself back down onto all fours. Blaze felt the impact in his bones as his father landed with a powerful and seemingly careless THUD.
He lowered his head and neck to the ground and Blaze quickly detached himself without a word.
Then his father studied him carefully as he drew back his head.
Blaze watched his father's coiling muscles in awe, only now realizing that he had been almost the same height as the cave and he had lifted him down using only his neck.
"Have you learned your lesson?"
"What lesson?" Blaze asked curiously.
THWACK!
The tip of his father's tail smacked against the side of his face before he could blink. He squealed and crouched down, his eyes closed and his body tense.
"There was a reason why I told you to climb without stopping on your own!" his father snarled, " It was to show you that you don't back down from orders and you don't act scared. Now open your eyes and look at me!"
Blaze reluctantly did as he was told and it was like he saw his father for the first time.
He saw a powerful and strict male dragon with an intelligent face, and yet there was a hard glint that lingered in his eyes. But Blaze loved him and trusted him, because he was his father.
Suddenly he heard the sweet and familiar sound of his mother's wing beats in the distance.
"Inferno! Help me drag this in please!" she called from outside of the cave, " It's been a long hunt!"
His father glanced at the entrance and then turned back to Blaze.
"Lessons are over, for now," he muttered.
Then he walked away and joined his mate outside of the cave, leaving Blaze to think over his first lesson.