The Will to Kill a Dragon

Chapter 2C - A Stranger Child

"I sang a poem for my mother
But I could never sing it for my brother
What I would give for just one other..."

In Dartchester there were the circle of mountains, some light woods and trees, a waterfall nearby, and the village itself. The area was so secluded from the rest of the world. Ambrose, sat on his familiar pedestal rock, looked up to the skies. Why couldn't humans walk upwards? Or, at the very least, leap greater distances than a few inches? Going underground was simple enough - all you needed was a well-made shovel. And dragons could fly; why wasn't Ambrose allowed to fly? 

Ambrose raised his head from the poem he was writing and looked to the waterfall. A few people gathered water in clay ceramics to take back to their homes, while two boys were frolicking in the body of water. He had already washed his hair once today - should he do it again? The boy felt his hair, which still seemed a little too fresh from the last time he had washed it. 

Was this the only waterfall in existence, he wondered? No one called the cascade anything except the waterfall. At least the passage into Dragon's Land had a name: The Corridor. Ambrose then began to wonder how lucky he might be living beside the only waterfall in existence. It wasn't a grand, overbearing structure, though. It had a few flowers dotted on the rockfalls, and in many ways, it was like the village - just there to convenience the druids. Was that all everything was then? A convenience? 

"Melodia!" shrilled a familiar voice "Is that Melodia?" 

Ambrose sincerely hated the pet name Eliana had given him. Melodia - a fairytale dragon that was known to be very musical and once sang to a group of humans in dire need. The story HAD been one of Ambrose's favourites. It wasn't anymore. True, the author had said Eliana was a very respectful and pleasant girl. Respectful, that is, to her elders. Eliana treated Ambrose as if their 'love' was another one of Ibrahim's fairytales. Perhaps Ambrose would have been more open to the idea, had Eliana not tried to force herself upon him after hearing about their arranged marriage. 

"Melodia!" Eliana repeated, oblivious to Ambrose's frustration "What are you doing here? Were you going to rewash your hair today? But, well, it is already rather clean..." 

Eliana pointed to Ambrose's poem. 

"What's that you got there?" 

Ambrose panicked, scrunched the paper and threw it to the ground. 

"It's nothing" Ambrose exclaimed. 

"But why are your hands all covered in blue?" Eliana wondered as she saw Ambrose's open palms, "You don't normally like to get this dirty..." 

Blue hands always came with writing on paper, Ambrose thought. Being covered in ink wasn't a pleasant feeling, but it was worth it to escape Dartchester once in a while, mentally. But he couldn't tell Eliana that; most villagers couldn't understand how to write, let alone the purpose of writing. Ibrahim knew, but he only voiced his stories and never read off one of his manuscripts. 

"I was trying to make patterns on a sheet of paper Ibrahim gave me," Ambrose lied. It was a bad lie, but it was better than going into details of drawing and writing. 

"Oh okay," Eliana responded as if there wasn't much more she could say. She knew that Ambrose didn't like to open up to her. She knew that Ambrose didn't like her very much at all. But they had been picked out of a group of villagers to be wedded together - wasn't that worth appreciating? Eliana watched him as he gazed into the waterfall. Ambrose didn't hate Eliana per se, but he didn't want her in his life either. So did Ambrose not wish to be loved? 

"Where do you want to live when you're older, Melodia?" Eliana asked casually. She also knew the name was irritating to him, but it was also the best way for her to convey her feelings to him. 

"Where do I want to live?" Ambrose pondered, "Where can any of us live? We're stuck in this forsaken village. Why can't we see what's out there first?" 

"You know why," Eliana retorted "It's dangerous beyond Dragons Land!" 

"I know but..." Ambrose began to consider the situation seriously "If we lived in... for example... a shack for the rest of our lives. If someone told us never to leave the shack, even if we had all the food and water we needed, would life still be worth living?" 

"That depends, " Eliana replied "would it be dangerous outside? Who would tell us its dangerous?" 

"It's not the danger..." Ambrose explained, "It's the choice to set foot in that danger. Shouldn't we have the choice to go further if we want to?" 

"Even if we die?" 

Ambrose sighed. 

"You're right," he said, "maybe living in a hut with someone you love isn't so bad." 

Eliana smiled, feeling as if she had finally got through to Ambrose. Everything, absolutely everything, was fine as long as you had someone to love. The two continued to talk to each other, held hands, and once or twice, Eliana even made Ambrose laugh. And yet, behind all the smirking and attempts at conversation, Ambrose realised only one thing would genuinely make him happy. He had to run away from this forsaken life. Tonight, a day before his twelfth birthday, he would make a run through The Corridor to Dragon's Land.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

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Author's Notes

So I know I don't post as often as I used to, but I hope that doesn't irritate any of you excessively. It's not like I hate writing this story, but there's a lot happening at university and at life which just makes TWTKAD a chance to escape, and not an epic scripture where I'm expected to treat my work like a machine. Thanks for your patience - won't give up on this narrative anytime soon. :)