FLOTSAM

When morning came, Aelwyn stretched and rolled his shoulders. He had slept rather well, considering the circumstances. He looked down, and saw the dragon was sitting on the cave floor, looking out at the sea. It looked like a sentinel sitting there, watchful and wise. As he stirred, the dragon looked at him and squeaked happily. He smiled as he grasped the spear for support and stood. The dragon scampered to him and climbed into his arms as he knelt. With the dragon tucked under his left arm, he slowly, and carefully, headed for the cave entrance.

The fog was still rather heavy as they exited the cave. He looked up, and couldn't make out where the sun was. He glanced around at the shores. All of it was the same sharp, jagged rocks pocked with holes and pools here and there. He sighed and carefully walked across the shore towards the lapping waves. The scent of the sea was heavy as he looked out onto the ocean. The fog hindered his vision, only revealing about twenty yards of water before covering it in its silvery mists. If not for the wound in his side, he would think he was in the Otherworld. The dragon squeaked at him. He looked down at it, and the dragon was looking at something in the water. He looked down, and saw it was a ripped part of the sails of the ship. He set the dragon down and fished the torn fabric out of the water with the spear.

It was heavy wool, treated with oil to be waterproof. He shook it out and looked it over. It would do as a cloak when it dried out. He nodded as he folded it and set it down on the rocks. The dragon sniffed it and nibbled on the cloth. Aelwyn smiled and looked around. There were many pieces of wood from the wreckage that would do for firewood once dried. He fished out as much as he could, being careful not to stretch his tender right side. As he retrieved what he could from the surf, the dragon scampered about, exploring and playing.

"Don't wander far, little one. Stay where I can see," he said as he watched it stop and look at him. He sighed as he felt with his mind.

Now, with whatever had happened, his mind was open to the whole world, it seemed. He focused on the dragon, and used emotion, rather than words, to tell it to stay close. He could feel a dim feeling of acknowledgment from the dragon. He smiled and motioned for it to come back, which it did. He stroked it, and felt the same warm feeling through the link. He then set to looking over what he had been able to find: A stack of wood about as high as his knee, the ripped sail, and a few oddments that had floated out of the wreck. He heard the dragon making a sound akin to a growl and looked over at it. The dragon was holding something in its mouth. He stood and walked over. "What have you found, little one?" he asked as he stooped and tried to pull the thing from the dragon, who refused to let it go.

He smiled as the dragon playfully pulled on the leather object. He chuckled as he finally wrestled it away. The dragon was stronger than its size would indicate. The object turned out to be a leather bag with an antler toggle. He opened it, and reached in. He smiled as he pulled out something cool and metallic. It was a small, bronze tinderbox, delicately enameled in red, blue and yellow spirals. Also inside the bag were a small knife and a few small hoops of gold and silver for trade. He frowned as he returned the items to the bag. No doubt the brigands stole it from someone. If the stains on it were any indication, the owner was now dead. The whine of the dragon brought his attention down to the small creature that was nibbling at his trousers. He smiled at it. "Thank you, little one. This is most helpful," he said as he slid the loops of the pouch over the thin leather belt at his waist. The dragon squeaked happily and followed him as he walked along the shore, looking for anything else of use.

By the end of the day, he had found enough small supplies to make survival just a little easier. He sighed as he sat by the fire he had lit inside the cave, the dragon cuddled up to his side. He had found a few wooden bowls as well as a set of eating utensils, which he kept stored in his leather pouch. He rubbed the dragon's head as it hummed. The dragon had proved it was perfectly capable of catching its own food and surviving on its own. That said, he was not about to have it out in the cold and be alone. He looked up at the sail that had been drying the whole day. Mostly, the items they had found were light things that could float. He would have liked to have found some boots or a tunic, but he couldn't really complain. He sighed and stood, inspecting the cloth. It wasn't completely dry, but the fire had warmed it, and he deemed it good enough.

He settled back down and draped the cloth over his shoulders and wrapped it around him and the dragon in his lap. The dragon squeaked happily at the warm cocoon that enfolded them. He looked at the wide, silver eyes that stared up at him and smiled as he stroked the tiny dragon. He had tried to decipher the feelings that he felt from the dragon through the strange link they now shared. It wasn't always easy, but he had managed to equate certain feelings with responses. He could tell enough to know the dragon felt safe with him. As he looked at the dragon, he tried to impress on it he would protect it. The dragon tilted its head as it stared at him.

The wide eyes seemed to shine for a moment before it squeaked again and snuggled closer, wrapping its tail behind his back. With the little dragon comfy in his arms, he relaxed and let sleep claim him as the sounds of the waves lulled him to sleep.

Soon, they developed a routine. Every day, they would go out to fish and gather whatever they could find from the wreck that had washed up. As the days passed, the dragon grew at surprising speed. In a week, it had already grown to be as high as his knees. This startled him, and he quickly tried to think back on anything he could think of about dragons. What he remembered was mainly focused on the brave deeds of wise and noble dragons, not on their size or how they grew, which was what he needed to know. In his lands, dragons had been gone so long, hardly anything about their life cycle was known, save for the fact they hatched from eggs.

XXX

One day, almost two weeks after he had found the dragon, he heard a strange bellowing from outside and ran to investigate. He started when he saw a huge walrus rearing and roaring, the dragon hissing and stamping at it, wings flared. He gasped as he grabbed his spear and dashed towards the fight. The dragon had grown to the size of a large dog, but was still outmatched by the walrus. Fear gripping him, he rushed in, spear raised as he yelled as loud as his lungs would allow. The walrus turned and the dragon lunged, attacking the side of the creature. The walrus roared and turned to strike the dragon with its tusks. Aelwyn threw the spear as hard as he could, aiming for the neck. The spear struck, but the blubber acted as armor, and kept the wound from being lethal. As it flailed, he climbed up and onto its back and grasped the spear and pulled it free, stabbing and jabbing as hard and as fast as he could.

The dragon attacked as well, biting at the walrus with serrated teeth. The walrus lunged with surprising speed at the dragon, who only evaded by flapping its wings and flying backwards. Aelwyn was forced to keep as firm a hold as he could as he desperately tried to kill the beast. He thrust the spear into the neck again as it roared. As it reared back, he knew he was in trouble. If it landed on its back, it would crush him like a bug. He gripped the neck of the walrus tightly as he thrust the spear blade under the long tusks and pulled, slashing into the throat. The walrus gave a strangled roar as he slashed again and again, cutting through a new layer of blubber with each frenzied stroke. The dragon shrieked as it lunged and bit into the left flipper of the walrus. Aelwyn frantically cut with the spear, showering the shore and all three of them with bright red blood.

His heart was pounding in his ears as he cut and cut, slashing and thrusting with the short spear. Suddenly, the walrus fell forward, the dragon leaping away. Aelwyn was sent flying a short ways away and lay there on his back, panting. The spear was gripped with a white knuckled hand as he looked up. The walrus twitched, but didn't move. He heaved a sigh and rolled onto his side and stood. The fight had lasted less than a minute, but it had seemed an eternity. The dragon growled softly from beside him. He frowned as he looked at it. "Are you quite insane?!" he asked loudly. The dragon stared at him. "That monster was twice your size! What were you thinking?!" Aelwyn was shaking as he fought to stay upright.

The dragon looked away. He could feel sadness through their link. He sighed and dropped to his knees, wrapping his arms around the dragon's neck. "I was so frightened . . ." he whispered. The dragon gave a low moan and wrapped its wings around him as it nuzzled him. He wiped the blood from the dragon's face as he stood. "Don't do that again, all right?" He received an affirmation and nodded, patting the dragon. He looked at the dead walrus and gave an exasperated sigh. "This is going to take a while to carve up . . ." he said as he took in how large the creature was.

That night, he sat in thought about the fight. Although he had been scared out of all rational thought, he was also amazed. The dragon moved like lightning. He shook his head and looked over at the dragon, who was feasting on the shoulder of the walrus. He chuckled. At least he had procured more food for the dragon. Now that it was washed clean of blood, the dragon's silver scales shined brighter than ever before, as if each was a bright silver gemstone. He blinked as he watched it, remembering the fight. The dragon had been like a silver blur in motion. His eyes had barely been able to follow its movement. The dragon looked over at him as he smiled. He stood and walked over to the dragon, kneeling beside it. "You did good. I'm sorry I yelled at you, my friend," he said softly.

The dragon hummed and tilted its head into his hand, sending a warm feeling through the link. He smiled wider. "You moved so gracefully and swiftly. After what I saw, I decided on something . . ." The dragon looked at him, wondering what he was thinking on. "I can't very well just call you 'dragon', now, can I?" he asked with some humor. He looked the dragon squarely in the eyes as he spoke. "The name that I give to you . . . is Arianfyw. 'Quicksilver' in my people's tongue." The dragon seemed to like it, but there was something on its mind about the name. He chuckled. "Too long?" The dragon stared at him with eyes as intelligent as his. He nodded. "Fine, then. Arian you are."

The dragon seemed to like this, humming louder at the name. He smiled as he rubbed behind Arian's head. With that settled, he wrapped the cloak around Arian and himself as they snuggled down for the night. Arian still rested in his lap, although the dragon would very soon be far too big for it. He chuckled as the dragon, now almost as big as him, curled around him, the great tail wrapping around him protectively. It was good to have a friend again.

The next day, he heard Arian give a strange noise. He jumped up from the meat he was curing and ran to see what was the matter. He stopped at the sight. A body had washed up on the rocks. He warily approached. It had been a man with dark hair and a beard. As he used his spear to turn him over, he recognized him. It was the guard who he had killed first in his escape from his cell on the ship. He could see where he had broken the man's temple. The man's tunic was still intact, as was the short sword on his belt. Aelwyn removed the belt, tunic and shoes of the man. He sighed as Arian sniffed the corpse. He unsheathed the sword and looked it over. It was barely as long as his arm, but it would do. The sword had no guard at all, just a handle of hardwood, wrapped with leather. It was of the typical leaf-shaped blade common on short swords in his lands. If he had to fight, it would be handy to have. He sheathed it and looked at the tunic.

Just a light brown tunic, nothing special. He smiled as he wrung it out. Once dry, it would be a welcome addition to his garb. He shook the water out of the soft leather shoes and tried them on. They fit very well, already molding to his feet as he wore the wet leather. He hummed as he looked at the corpse of the man as Arian sniffed it. "I wouldn't eat that if I were you . . ." he warned. Arian looked up at him as he stood with his hands on his hips. He couldn't just leave the corpse there to rot, the stench would be ghastly, not to mention it would bring all manner of scavengers looking for a meal. With a grunt of effort, he shoved the body back into the sea. He wiped his hands as he stood and then buckled the belt and sword around his waist, letting it hang by his right hip. With that taken care of, he picked up the tunic and headed back to the cave, Arian following. He was very grateful to Arian for the discoveries the dragon had made.

XXX

So it continued, each day they would hunt or fish, and each day Arian grew larger and stronger. Before long, Arian's shoulder was level with Aelwyn's elbow. It had hardly been a month, and already the dragon was bigger than a pony. As well as the dragon's size, it's appetite grew almost, if not more rapidly. Now, Arian was able to pluck small walrus and leopard seals out of the water as the graceful dragon skimmed the sea. However, no matter how hungry the dragon was, it always was willing to share its meal with Aelwyn if need be. It was this closeness he cherished. He talked to Arian as he would a person, feeling the dragon was able to understand him, if not exactly the way a human would. The dragon seemed to drink in his words, listening and learning. He also would sing, which Arian liked very much.

Even though the dragon was now too large to sleep in his lap, they never slept alone. Arian always slept curled around him, as if shielding him from any harm. The dragon was also very affectionate towards him, never missing a chance to nuzzle him or have him pet it.

Even if he couldn't speak as directly to Arian as he could a person, he still could understand how the dragon felt, and was comforted by the link they shared. He often wondered at the strange white mark on his right palm. None of the legends had ever mentioned such a thing. He guessed it was some kind of dragon's magic and left it at that. He oftentimes watched as Arian flew over the water, catching large fish or seals. Sometimes, the silver dragon would dive under the water like a great spear and swim under the water, coming up with mouthfuls of fish or a seal.

He could feel Arian's love of the ocean through the link. It was fine hunting ground, and suited the misty dragon perfectly. Despite the dragon's shiny color, it blended well with the mist and fog, often blending in with the rocks in the mist. He had once passed by the dragon, perched on top of a rocky spire in the mist, and never knew until it snorted at him. Despite the dragon's size, Aelwyn was never intimidated by the beautiful creature. If anything, he felt safer in its mighty presence.

As Aelwyn sat with his back against Arian's side, he reflected on the month that had passed. He sighed as he lay back and began to drift off to sleep. As he did, he heard something.

Aelwyn. It was soft as silk, and almost a whisper. Tired as he was, he thought it just the edges of dreams as he covered himself with his cloak.

"Goodnight, Arian . . ." he murmured as he drifted to sleep. The dragon curled its long, silver neck around and rested its head next to him.

Goodnight, Aelwyn. Pleasant dreams, little one . . . .

Author's note:

I deeply apologize for taking so horribly long to update this, but at the time I first wrote this, things were already changing in my life, and Kyle and Sophie's story flowed better. Thankfully, I still had this saved on an old USB drive. Please keep in mind much of the first few chapters is unchanged, and shows many of the changes I have undergone as a writer, but I left them in to remind me how far I have come.

I hope you will enjoy the story as I at last return to fantasy.