Chapter 5 - The Awkward Arrival
I was sitting alone on the floor in the living room, feeling very slow and very confused, when Selena returned with the fractured Hope. She placed it on the carpet in front of me with a composed demeanor.
"What were you doing when you found that crack," She whirled the question at me with urgency.
"Uh, I think I was talking to it," I replied stupidly. She should have known better than to put me on the spot if she wanted to get a coherent answer out of me.
"Then talk to it. Talk as much as you can. It doesn't matter if you don't make sense, just as long as it can hear your voice."
"Uh, okay?" Selena went to the kitchen and sat down. She became as still as a stone, watching with an intensity I didn't think was physically possible. I fidgeted nervously under her gaze.
Feeling self conscious, I started in an unsure voice. "So, I don't really know what's going on, but, apparently I'm supposed to be talking to you... Nice day out today, don't you think; not that I would know or anything. I've been in here all day long, being used as a key player in the strange plots of a crazy woman," I grimaced at Selena. "I really don't want to do this," I added, still looking in her direction.
"Humor me," Selena replied calmly from the kitchen.
"Oh, I see! This is some form of punishment, right? You want me to amuse you at my expense!" My cheeks burned in embarrassment.
"Have a little faith, Kiara."
"Selena," I reasoned. "Your like a mother to me, and I want don't want to argue with you, but lately, everything seems so strange. I can't make sense of anything!" I was all ready to go into full rant mode when I noticed that Selena was preoccupied. She wasn't even listening! Instead, she stared in awe at the spot in front of me. Annoyed, I turned my glare on the silver... and froze.
The stone was vibrating.
It quivered manically on the carpet, humming loudly with each violent thrash. More fissures slithered across its ravished surface. The rocking increased in velocity with every new line that cut through the ore's plane. The low buzzing sound got louder until it hurt my ears.
Bewildered, I threw a panicked glance over my shoulder, but Selena was beyond noticing me. She was smiling triumphantly at the little headache on the floor. Finally, with one last splitting crack, a huge crevice opened in the ore's side. A slimy object pocked through the hole. The alien creature pulled itself out of the stone and blinked at me with large gray eyes. My heart beat frantically against my ribs.
The creature advanced, its contorted body shuffling towards me. An icy wave of terror held me in place as the thing came closer. Finally it stopped, just inches from my outstretched foot. The thing decided it just wanted to stare at me, which somehow freaked me out more than when it was walking. I found myself locked in its gaze, which was extremely unnerving because it was so piercing.
Like it was looking right into my soul.
"Selena," I pleaded.
I felt her at my shoulder, grabbing hold of my hand. I held onto hers as if my life depended on it. She pulled our intertwined hands up, and then started to pry her fingers from my desperate grasp. Her hand slipped away slowly, only to be replaced with an iron grip on my wrist.
Suddenly, her comforting touch was pulling, forcing my hand towards the monster. I resisted, a feeling of betrayal rising in my throat. I squirmed for all I was worth.
"Touch it," she hissed in my ear. Selena was rarely commanding, but when she was, she was a force to be reckoned with. Abruptly, I was more frightened by her than I was by the creature. "Kiara, you need to listen to me. It won't hurt you, but you need to touch it!" She wrestled harder with my stubborn arm.
"No, no...no, NO!" I dug the fingers of my free hand into the carpet. My nails clawed around for any purchase the rug.
Honestly, I knew I was overreacting, but something about Selena's persistence made everything even more scary. I was being forced into something I didn't understand, and naturally, I was going to do everything in my power to fight it.
"Kiara, I know that none of this makes sense to you right now, but believe me, this is a good thing! I need you to trust me right now. Can you do that?"
My head shook in defiance, but I could already feel my resistance melting. "I trust you," I muttered grudgingly, dropping my eyes. This time, her wrist hold wasn't as forceful. Now it wasn't pulling, but instead, it was guiding. My arm extended slowly by its own power. When the palm of my hand was within an inch of the creature's face, I hesitated.
Oh, just do it, you coward, I told myself. Taking in a large gulp of air, I turned my face away and thrust my hand forward, expecting it to be bitten off in a second.
Instead, I was electrocuted.
In my dream, I saw the red cardinal again. This time, instead of flying free with the bluebird, it was in a cage. It watched in envy as the bluebird circled up above him, trying to find a way to rescue him. The cardinal squawked and squawked for help from the bluebird, but every time it tried to get near the cage, it was deterred by an invisible wall. My vision did a ninety degree pan to show another cage beside the cardinal's.
In it was a sleeping green hummingbird.
When I woke up, I was surprised to see Selena kneeling beside me. I was propped up on a chair in the living room. Golden sunlight filtered into the room from the huge window and highlighted Selena's salt and pepper hair. Curious, I watched as she wound a long bandage around my right hand.
"Ugh, what happened," I moaned, putting my free hand to my throbbing scull. Along with the splitting headache, I had the odd sensation that my head wasn't attached to my shoulders anymore. Like it was floating away in empty space.
"You don't remember,"she whispered, surprised. I shook my head. Suddenly, Dune materialized on my other side, hugging my arm.
"The baby marked you Kiara," he stated matter of factly, as if that was a completely normal thing to say. I gawked at him.
"The... baby... marked me? Selena, what is he talking about?"
"Even though your... ah, injury... wasn't inflicted on purpose, it will still leave a permanent scar."
"So why didn't Dune just say that I had a scar? You don't need to sugarcoat it for me Selena, I can handle it."
"Not just a scar, it's a special scar," Dune told me severely.
"Okay then, a special scar." I rolled my eyes at his serious expression. "Did it, like, bite me or something?"
"No, it didn't bite you," Selena said, shaking her head. "This is a hard thing to explain, so I will just say it as best I can." She threw a cautious look at Dune. "This thing that you keep referring to: It is called a dragon - "
"You say that like it holds some sort of importance for me," I snorted.
Selena once again sighed at my ignorance. "A dragon is a very rare and powerful creature. They have been unheard of for centuries, and many believed that they were completely destroyed. Your dragon has been dormant in its egg for at least twenty years, maybe more. They are intelligent beings, make no mistake of that, and will not hatch until they sense the person that is destined to be their rider. When a future rider touches their dragon for the first time, a bond is formed with that chosen person. In this case, that chosen rider, is you. That is what Dune meant when he said that your dragon marked you"
Then Selena unwrapped my bandage and let me see the scar on the palm of my hand. A gedwëy ignasia was what she had called it. I gasped at it, flexing my hand, studying it's silver, spiraling pattern from every angle. Like the dragon's egg, and it's scales, and everything that seemed attached to the dragon, the gedwëy ignasia was incredibly beautiful.
And even though my head was spinning from the surreal tales she was spinning, and even though everything rational inside of me was accusing her of lying, I realized that I believed every word that she was saying.
"When can I see him again," I asked, trying to disguise the excitement in my voice. Selena laughed mirthfully and gestured for me to proceed.
Even before I opened the door to the basement, I could hear the dragon scuffling around the room. It sounded like one wild child, especially since Ailith had showed up just before and told me to bring it food, or else it would take my shoes as a substitute.
I opened the door cautiously and peeked inside the dim room. It was still only the afternoon, so there was plenty of light that flooded down the stairwell. As soon as I placed a foot on the first step, a sudden thunder of crashing sounds shook the walls. It made me think that maybe there was a chance that the dragon was just as excited and nervous as I was.
As I continued down the stairs, a strange feeling enveloped my mind, like my brain was literally being touched by something intangible. Curious, I pushed against the pressure, trying to understand it.
Did I used to be able to push against things with my mind?
In response to this thought, another pulled at my consciousness, but it wasn't mine. The presence was extremely foreign, and I didn't understand where it was coming from. Suddenly the pressure got much stronger, and with one slow dawning revelation, I realized that the thoughts were coming from the dragon!
Eager to see the acclaimed trouble maker and mind reader, I skipped the rest of the stairs in one powerful bound.
I landed with a thud. There was a skittering sound, and then the room was absolutely silent.
"Hello," I called timidly. "Where are you little guy?" I can't say I was surprised that I didn't get a response.
Great, now it's hiding from me.
I scanned the room with a cautious eye, advancing as quietly as I could. Just when I was about to give up – to go back to Selena and ask if she was playing a joke on me - I spotted iridescent gray eyes peeking out from under Dune's cot.
"Hey, there," I greeted it, tentatively. I crouched down in front of the bed and dangled a piece of meat in front of the shinning eyes, hoping to entice it out of hiding. I waited patiently for some sort of acknowledgment, but the dragon seemed decided against showing itself. Then, with a flash of movement, the meat was suddenly gone from my grasp. A gurgled cooing was the only thanks that I got for the meat.
"Okay, I see how you want to play this." I pulled out another strip of meat from my pouch and dangled it closer to me this time. This way, the dragon would at least have to reveal its snout in order to get the meat.
I studied the eyes for any sign of pursuit. The dragon's intent gaze was focused on the meat, then it flashed suspiciously to my face, then back at the food. It seemed truly stumped this time.
Then, abruptly, the meat was gone.
"Whoa, you're good," I exclaimed. We continued with this game for what felt like hours, and yet I never got tired of it. I was nearly out of meat, though, and, well, I was anxious to see it. Maybe it was time for a different tactic.
I concentrated on the mental link, trying to bury my whole being inside the small area of contact. I was instantly rewarded by the dragon's answering curiosity. Good, it was listening.
It's okay, I'm a friend, I stressed through the link. At first I was afraid that it couldn't hear me, but after a small pause, the dragon responded with a weak sense of understanding. Pushing myself further, I sent a few calming thoughts toward it via 'dragon link'. Within a few minutes of this newly found method of communication, the dragon finally padded its way from under the bed.
The noble creature poised in front of me was almost incomparable to the slight, squirmy thing that I had first met. This was a dragon; not a thing, not a monster, not an unnamed creature, but a small, magnificent, focused and intelligent dragon. It was about the size of a cat, equipped with over sized wings disproportionate to the rest of its body, sharp, white teeth, talons, and awe-inspiring silver scales. They reflected the dragon's surroundings like nature's own home-made mirror. A line of thin spikes rose from its back.
Oddly enough, it still managed to look fierce and majestic despite its rounder face and stubby appendages. Its big gray eyes watched me with an awareness I have never seen displayed by another animal.
The dragon advanced cautiously at first, sniffing deeply for more meat strips. I held as still as possible, not wanting to scare it back into hiding. However, that didn't seem to be a problem as soon as it found out that I had more food. The dragon became bolder in its movements, and, to my intense surprise, it even curled up beside me. More than unsure of what to do, I gingerly placed my hand in the arch of its neck. The dragon made a strange gurgling noise that I guessed was the equivalent of a purr. I ran my hand along its tiny neck spikes thoughtfully.
"Come on," I said after a while. Careful not to move too quickly, I scooped the silver mass up in my arms. It squirmed for a second, then calmed down enough for me to venture a few steps up the stairs. "I bet you hate being trapped down here, I know I do."
The dragon let out a loud snort of agreement, and with that, we set off to spend some quality bonding time together.
A/N: I was just wondering what everyone would like to see in this fanfic. I assume that a big thing is Murtagh, but, along with the rest of the Inheritance series bunch, they will not be appearing for a while at least :(
So...what do you want to see more of? Suspense? Humor? A certain scene that you have in mind? Let me know in either a review or private message and I will try my best to include it in the future!
Thanks again!