Saturday, October 15, 2005

Dragons Dance

Well as you know I play on Zoetrope, we get these cool picture prompts and then write stories. I swear, I can see the stories right there in front of me. Of course very few ever like them, but I do! So here is my most recent one. Dragons Dance..its a fantasy; Sorry the formatting just disappears, but you get the idea.. enjoy it, I did..

Dragon Dance
“Careful my sister. I feel them close by. I see the ships, the spheres they travel in to your right.” The guardian roared in defiance as the bubbles passed close by them. The ships maintained their pace, luckily they were still unseen.
“I see them, she answered, but they will not escape. It is up to you and I now to rescue the egg.” Again the guardian roared, they could tell she felt the presence of her offspring. Telepathically she called to it. The distant humming they felt was its answer. They were close now. The three moved silently through the clouds, their guardian gliding effortlessly closer to the city. Below them almost hidden in the clouds lay the city of Abhor, city of the dead. Without a guardian of their own, they had become totally evil. Horrid looking creatures now totally controlled by forces deep below the ground, the Abhor. A hundred feet down, deep inside the earth, below the rocks and dwellings lay the egg. Carefully guarded by creatures of this dark void. The egg thrummed and rocked side to side then settled back in silence. The tall figure of a man approached it, thumping it’s shell. “Be sure to call me when it cracks, for it is I that it shall see first. No one is to touch this. No one! For if any eyes meet its sight before mine, they will die! I did not steal this creature to loose now. I have killed to retrieve this and will not hesitate to do so again!”The hunchbacked looking guard covered its face bowing to the robed figure. “As you wish sire, as you wish. No one will touch it..” And backed away from the huge egg. The hooded man turned from the egg and moved down the hallway. Now all that remained in the dimly lit room was the creature and the egg. The egg began to hum and rock slowly again. Hurriedly the creature ran from the room. Screaming for assistance. For a moment, a split second, the huge egg glowed ever so bright, then slowly took on a soft gentle hue. The rocking ceased.The huge beast gently folded its wings and glided to the outcropping of rock below. Sarafhina quickly dismounted and slipped her blade deftly into her palm. Valmara nodded, “I feel ittoo. It is almost time, we must hurry! Time is against us my sister.”The dragon’s hide began to glow softly, its great golden eyes swirling with delight. She could feel her tiny one. It’s mind called to her. She cooed softly, gently soothing the egg with her will. She could feel it respond. Her huge form began to glow even brighter.“Easy dear friend, don’t let them see us yet. We will find her but you must help. She is below us, find a way for us to get there quickly and above all with no sound. No one must see us as we approach.” Her hide gentled back to its green blue hue.Valmara rubbed the huge eyelid and touched her bony crown of spikes. “Yes guardian, take us there. Take us to your child. We will save her and have revenge for our sisters whose lives were given to protect her. We must give them back their honor. We have sworn this to you and to our people.” She unsheathed her own blade and nodded to her sister, Sarafhina.The dragon began to circle the two women, the gentle thrumming becoming deafening. The two forms becoming a blurr as the dragon moved faster and faster until all that could be seen was a empty ledge. A sudden burst of light and they were gone. Sarafina knew what was happening as did Valmara but it still took their breath away. Within a heartbeat it was over, there before them, lay the egg.Sarafhina looked quickly to her left and right using the guardians form for cover. The egg lay just beyond the corridor. The glowing light of its form casting shadows on the cave wall. Valmara quickly moved to the entrance, her flowing head piece giving the illusion of a giant bird in the shadows. The guardian followed, her huge tail swaying right and left in anticipation of its child.Suddenly the room exploded with fire. The hooded figure stood there hands raised, between them and the egg.“I think not foolish ones! This guardian is mine! A thousand years I have waited, no one shall have her but me! I thought you all dead, weak women of old, you can not stop me now. I give you your lives, just leave here now!”Valmara raised her hand as if to salute the figure, her knife hidden behind her wrist. Then as quick as a breath she threw it towards him. A laugh, a hideous laugh echoed in the room. His smile was that of evil. “You can do me no harm! None of your kind can. Leave now, take your pitiful dragon thing with you! You are no match for me. This is your final warning!”Behind him the egg began to rock and sway. He turned to see it, to catch a glimpse of the creature as it took it first breath of life. For a heartbeat he looked away.A crack began to form along the top. Like an earthquake tremor, the rippling of its shell began to open. He dropped his hands, he had to see it, had to make contact withit’s eyes to see it first.Sarafhina put her fingers to her temples and closed her eyes. Her thoughts penetrating the entire room. Valmara joined her in the transmissions. The egg began to open, shell fragments exploding around them. The guardian began to scream as her thoughts called for the egg, her child.At first it was just an eye, a swirling ocean of colors beyond imagination. Then the head still wet with fluid, blinked and looked up at the huge beast beyond the man. She screamed a small reply to her mother, reached down and hit the hooded man with her muzzle.His scream was hideous, like the last cries of a Namor beast. The guardian snatched him midair as her child flung him towards the ceiling. With one quick swallow, he disappeared. His screams silenced with one great snap of her jaws. No longer a threat to her forest folk or her child.Valmara touched the small green head, its eyes still swirling with delight. The guardian reached her snout to the small creature, gently stoking it.“We have won my friend! Our sisters have been revenged, you and your child are again one. Let us take your child home now. Take us back to our ledge sweet friend. The night is young and many await our return.”Again the blur, motion beyond motion, the dance of the dragon and home.

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