Step Four: Fly As Long As Your Heart Desires

Humans have fragile minds. Their ideas and beliefs are attempts at trying to sustain a living wonder within. When these minds are tormented constantly and berated time after time, what will stop it from making a final attempt at life by ending the spark of another? Something scraped along the floor. Narn awoke with a start and slid down a ways. She grabbed a handful of the 'ground' suspecting it to be dirt. She drew her hand to her face and saw gold…bright, glittering gold. She dropped it back and looked in front of her. There sat 12 dragons, each a different color and a different height. They all stared at the small, helpless forms below them. Narn reached for her sword and realized she did not possess it. She fumbled for her other weapons and found she had been stripped. Bredi was next to her, bleeding badly. He tried to muster a smile but couldn't move. The dragons' breaths sounded like beating drums but helped to sooth her mind…until one spoke. It's voice sounded like a low bell clanging to and fro. Narn put her hands to her ears and screamed. She stood up and screamed back at it. The dragon was alarmed. While he conversed with the others in their odd bell sounds, Narn went to Bredi. "Here, let me help," she said but she had nothing to cover the wound with. She looked for her clothes but found them not. She turned back to the dragons, who were once again silent. "He needs help. I can help him. Let me." One of the shinier dragons stepped forth. His voice was not the clanging bells but it was low and melodious. "I am Kitzer, Grand Bronze. What were you doing on the Blue Jewel?" "Blue Jewel?" "I believe you call it an ocean." "I was exploring." "Then why did you possess three of the seven sacred jewels of the Hall?" "Excuse me, but I do no know anything of your noble race. What Hall?" Kitzer seemed to sigh, for a great, hot breeze knocked Narn into the gold pile again. "Human know that what you have done is a serious crime. The penalty for this…" The gold dragon seemed to speak to Kitzer. Narn's heart was afire. She was talking to dragons. Kitzer smiled, if you are permitted to call it that. "Human, we are in need of a new Mistress. The existing one is rather…plain. Since you are what our Grand One had been hoping for, you will not serve the penalty. However, that one there, who is very near death anyway, will pay it." Two human-like soldiers came from amidst the mass of scales and climbed the gold. Narn laid upon Bredi and wouldn't let them take him. "He is my friend. I will not let you kill him! Murderers!" Kitzer seemed sad and lowered his head. Then the oldest one among them spoke in a faint tone. "We are not without heart dear. Look at your friend. Do you think he would really have a better life if he lived? He is suffering now, and we do so hate to see that." Here, the black and red dragons made light bell sounds. They were laughing. The shining ones all turned their heads to them and stared. Soon, the two were just smiling. "So please, let him go quickly and peacefully." Narn turned to her friend. He smiled and reached out to her. His cold fingers met her warm flesh. She began to cry. In a hoarse whisper, he uttered, "Be strong Narn…I have seen so much…because of you. Goodbye m'lady. May our God be…with you." He winced as human's took him away. Narn watched them go. But the soldiers stopped before the dragons. The black dragon, a reeking mass of stench, began to speak. "Knight, it is honorable to end one's suffering by your own hand. Here is your sword. May it serve you well in this last task." Bredi smiled, taking up his sword. Narn was horrified. She started to slide down the heap of glitter, screaming his name. But before she had reached the bottom, Bredi had stabbed himself…in his heart. Narn's mind replayed it over and over, her breath stopped, and she fell to her knees. No sound came, everything seemed silent. The bronze dragon put a wing out and covered the body. "May you rest in eternal peace…" The dragons tolled their bells as the silver muttered something to the soldiers. Behind Kitzer's wing, they proceeded to take Bredi away, to a separate place where he was to be buried. Narn seemed as a statue as the young green dragon tolled, "Seems she has died in place Elder. What are we to do now?" "She is not dead. This loss is too hard for her to bear. Kitzer, you being the Grand Bronze, you are charged with her care." Kitzer sighed, "Why me…yes, of course Elder." He folded his wings and proceeded to turn into his human form…with wings. The black and red dragons left, conversing quietly so they wouldn't be heard by the elder. The green crawled down the side of the rock and took off from there. The blue dove into the ocean as others left, by themselves or in pairs, until the giant cave was silent and empty. Narn was still kneeling in the gold as Kitzer climbed to her. "M'lady?" Narn turned her head, her eyes empty. "Come down from my hoard please, you're making prints on the gold." He smiled and reached a hand out to her. She just sat and stared. Kitzer sighed again and picked her frail body up. He carried her down and placed her on the giant rug lining the floor. He fetched a blanket for her and placed it about her shoulders. Finally she spoke, but her voice was a faint whisper. "I have lost everything, save my son. Yet I failed even him. What am I to do…please tell me." She looked at his beautiful face…and it broke his heart. He knelt beside her and gently put his arms around her shoulders. Into her hair, he muttered, "I know your troubles…your pains m'lady. I have watched you for a long while." She closed her eyes and leaned her head into him, burying her face into his shirt. She put her arms back around his neck and cried silently. Kitzer put a hand to her head and undid the old hair band. Her hair fell in long, red, curly locks down her back. Kitzer's eyes brightened. She was more beautiful than he thought. Her pale, white skin was covered in sweat from the hot cave and also in dirt. So, Kitzer left to get a pail of water. He came back with a green robe and a soap bar, his tail pulling the bucket behind him. His tail made Narn laugh. She stopped crying and took in all the details of where she was. First, she noticed she was very high up. She could see the ocean outside the very large mouth of the cave, no land in sight. She spied a dragon darting among more of the rock pillars. "Kitzer, is this…are these rocks your home?" "No…just this cave is my home. These rocks make up Niunkni Nigli or High Home. The ocean and these rocks are the Draconian Isles as you would call them. He set the water down behind her and sat down himself. "What are you doing?" "I'm going to wash your hair. You were at sea a long time." He smiled and conjured the water up and out of the bucket. Narn watched in amazement. The water hung in the air as Kitzer dipped his hand in. It seemed to be like jelly. Narn's mouth gaped open. Kitzer smiled and began working. He saw Narn reach out to touch it. He laughed when she smiled and drank it from her fingers. Kitzer made the water into the form of a dragon and took a little part for a human. They both looked very life-like. "How did you do that?" "Tis very simple. The water loves to play so we play. Tis an understanding we have." Narn nodded. She understood perfectly. But it seemed her hair didn't want to understand Kitzer. His fingers met opposition every time he tried to run his hand gently through it. He let out a laugh and conjured a bottle from a dragon sized cabinet on the far wall. But the size of the bottle grew as it slowly floated over, from a potion vial to a cauldron. Narn wondered what was in it. It smelled very strongly of dandelions and mint leaves. Kitzer got up and clambered up and over the side. Narn saw his tail holding the edge. He began to hum a silly tune and the cauldron made him sound like a church choir. Climbing out, he sent the pot back. In his hands, he held a small bowl that smelled the same. Kitzer winked at her and again, sat down and worked the green liquid into the air. He scooped big handfuls out and worked it into the mass of tangles. Narn joined in his song and by the end, her hair was shining and smelled wonderful. "Now, here's the water," he said as he replaced it in the bucket, "and here's some soap. The robe is there for you when you are done. I must take my leave of you now, but I shall return. Please, please feel free to look around in the cabinets but there is one rule. Stay away from my hoard…the gold that is." He sighed when he reached the mouth of the cave. "I shall have to call her…" he murmured as his dragon shape resumed and dove out of the cave. Narn watched him swerve to miss another dragon and dissappear behind a far off pillar. When all was quiet and she was sure no one else was about, she took her first bath in three months. When she was dry and clean, she pulled the robe over her head and put her hair back in a bun. She decided to look around, but was careful of the gigantic gold pile in the corner. She noticed her stomach was growling and decided to try to find some food. He had permitted her to look in the cabinets, so she decided to go to the smallest one and look. Luckily, there were ladders that slid along the edges. She climbed one and nudged the giant door open. Inside, were chests on shelves…covered in dust. "Good Lord! I thought dragons were neater." She picked a shelf and walked along it's edge. Opening a chest, she found that it did hold food, of all sorts. There was fresh bread and cookies in this particular one. She opened the one beside it and found raw meat inside. She hurriedly shut that one. The on e on the other side was full of apples. She wanted to eat one but, even though she probably could, Kitzer had only said look. So she shut the chests and looked in others. Before Kitzer got back, she had discovered more clothes of all sizes, gems stuffed in crates and bones under a giant armoire. Near the back, she had found a fire pit and many pots and pans. She was poking among these when Kitzer swooped in. "Narn? Come to me please." She padded over to him, her feet bare. Bowing slightly, he turned back to his tanned human state. "No need to bow. I forgot humans need to eat at least three times a day. Forgive me, I haven't had a human in my home in a long time, save the half-lings." He eyed her hair in the tight bun and sighed. "Do you mind?" he asked as he reached up and pulled it out, the fire of it falling among her shoulders. She became embarrassed when he smiled at her. "Well…I uh…" At that time. A rather plump and short girl lazily misted in. She dusted the magic dust off herself, coughing. Kitzer shook his head and put a hand to his forehead. He felt sick already. "Rosa, no otra vez…(Rosa, not again)" "Ah Kitzer! (Oh Kitzer!)" "Apenas no golpear prueba mi tesoro sobre esta vez, bueno? (Just try not to knock my hoard over this time, ok?)" "Bueno, bien. (All right, all right)" The girl, a little older than Narn who was thirty, conjured a broom from thin air. She began sweeping the dust into a pile. Looking around at the rest of the cave, she noticed Narn standing next to him. "Otra chica Kitzer? Realmente, usted es mulo. (Another girl Kitzer? Really, you are evil.)" "No para comer mi estimado, (Not for eating my dear)" as he tuned and muttered, "though I would love to eat you…" Narn followed Kitzer to the back where she had been. He sat on a pile of cushions and tried to get comfortable. He ended up turning into a smaller version of his dragon self. Narn sat down in a seat as Kitzer yelled out, "Limpios los gabinetes por favor! Eso es su trabajo tambien… (Clean the cabinets please! That is your job as well)" He received no answer. He sighed, looked at the ceiling and uttered a few words. Narn was completely silent. She knew not of what they had said. Kitzer smiled as he said, "Now…Narn, oh yes! Are you hungry?" "If it's noe to much trouble, I kind of am." He nodded and whisked an apple from the air. "I believe you liked this one?" "How do you do that?" "What?" She whooshed her hands around, trying to imitate his hands…or paws. He laughed very loudly, deciding to be human again. "Magic my dear…that is all. Now, about your stay here…" "Stay?" "Yes, you are to stay and live with us. Not that we don't trust you, but we have long awaited a motherly figure, such as yourself, to get the nerve to venture your tiny lands. We need you to do something for us." Narn bit the apple with a surprised look. "You…need me?" She took another bite. "Yes, as you can see, Rosa," he shuddered, "isn't exactly a nice lady. Her dragon half didn't even show through." "Dragon half?" "You really know nothing of dragons do you m'lady?" She shook her head with a smile. He snickered, "Well, then I shall teach you. But first, I shall tell you what we need." He searched for appropriate words, for it would be hard to explain. "Dragons can do a lot of things, correct?" She nodded. "But sometimes our knowledge of the outside world isn't correct, our hoards get dirty from lack of time to clean and many races call upon us to do battle. So, our ancient elders captured a human woman, one that was a promising mother and bared wonderful children." "Wait, wait, wait…you need me to have a kid for you?" He awkwardly smiled. "It would seem you are the one the elders chose. Whom they want the half to be…is being decided now." Narn stood up, still munching the half of the apple, and paced around. "So, let me get this all correct. Dragons needs me to have a…" "Daughter…preferably." "A daughter to help them out?" "Precisely." She finished her apple while Kitzer patiently waited. "What about Rosa?" "She'll be put near a village, dressed as a traveler, and she'll think she has been dreaming. Believe me, she'll be all right." "What happens if I refuse?" Kitzer's eyes went wide. "Please! For the love of all that is clean and beautiful…don't refuse." She sighed and knelt next to him. "Would I possibly get a say in who the dragon would be?" She smiled at him and his heart melted. "I would try most willingly for you m'lady. Thank you for doing this." "Can she hear us?" "no, she wouldn't even try to anyhow. I imagine she began cleaning the chests and stumbled onto the cookies again. Her magic won't teleport her anymore if she keeps getting…larger." Kitzer took a pan and filled it with water from the spring. He put it over the logs and blew a beautiful red flame onto them. When the water was hot, Kitzer threw leaved into it and stirred them around. Soon, they were talking and having tea, while Kitzer made something for Narn to eat. It was night by this time, so Narn made herself a place to sleep comfortably with Kitzer's help. Before she closed her eyes, Kitzer lit a few torches and turned into himself. Then, with a smile, he turned to her and asked Narn, "Who did you have in mind…just wondering." She smiled at him and rolled over, pulling the blanket over her. He quietly snickered and closed his wings. The elder was flying towards him. He waited patiently until he alighted. His grin was grand as he held himself on the edge strongly. "My friend, the dragons have chosen…" He looked deep into Kitzer's eyes and walked in, turning human.