Waking Other Lives

The dragon roared painfully when Sierra’s body hit the ground, blood spraying all over her. The dragon grabbed Elvan with its claws, raised her up in the air, and threw her down so ferociously, so harshly over and over again, her bloodied and bruised body lay on the ground like a crumpled piece of paper, her bones all broken, her shoulders heaving with the effort to draw another breath to her body. She was not likely to survive the beating.

Seth’s dragon tore the bullet out of Sierra’s body, the harsh claws making it worse, fresh blood pouring from the bullet hole which had ripped into her body so brutally a few seconds ago. She shuddered with the pain, her whole body shivering violently. She felt her whole body go numb, the air feeling extremely cold and fresh against her skin as she gasped for air. When she was drawing her last breath, the lights she had absorbed all left her body, and flew away like dust particles in the air. Many withered and died, unable to find their host body in the vicinity. All, but one. That one light found its home, settling deep inside that body, moving like blood around the bones, breathing new life to this one girl whose life stood on a delicate balance.

Somewhere close, Dante’s dragon scented its wounded mate it had been searching for since she had been seized. It flapped its wings in joy to fetch her. Though its body was still on the mend, it now felt whole, again. It sang to her as it took the journey towards her, its voice loud and clear, as if to display its worthiness as a mate.

Meanwhile as Elvan held onto life with the help of the light, Sierra’s heart had stopped, and during the few precious seconds just after her death, the world stopped, darkness settled heavier and thicker, not only in the sky, but also in the hearts of all. The inhabitants of the universe felt like crying as if mourning a loss, but the reason evaded them. Seth’s dragon grieved, lamenting the death of its beloved, a loss so deep that it clawed its own body, tearing its own skin, completely numbed to the pain. It grabbed Sierra’s lifeless body and soared to the sky, heading for the one and only one destination, a place known to so few, the only place which offered hope when one was carrying one’s dead mate, the secrets and mysteries of the place kept as tight as though they were held in a corked bottle.

As the dragon was flying, the pulse beating in the center of Sierra’s palm was already moving secretly, silently in a snake like motion, finding its way to the middle of her chest, towards the left of Sierra’s breastbone, where her non beating heart lay. It stopped right there, cementing itself on top of Sierra’s heart. Seconds were precious as Sierra’s organs were slowly giving in.

Tic tac tic tac. Tic tac tic tac. Rawonia’s heartbeat, slowly, rhythmically in between her left and right lungs, beating in place of Sierra’s heart that had already failed her. And, with vigor and perseverance, it pumped oxygen and blood to her body. Though it was only a third of the size of a full heart, it would keep her alive.

All of this though evaded the dragon’s attention, which was too embittered to notice the subtle differences taking place in her body. This was probably for the better as otherwise, it would have stopped. It would have taken her back to its cave to lick her wounds, it would have slept by her side, waiting patiently for her to heal. And then all would have been too late, as Rawonia’s heart was no substitute for her whole one, and her life was still ticking away.

But because it didn’t see that, it headed straight to the mountains of Dragoon Land, where Amphiptere, the mother dragon of all races, of all times, resided. She was a thousand years old, and held a wisdom that no other dragon held. The dragon flapped its wings across the rough turf, gorse, and wind-torn stunted vegetation stretching across the steep cliffs overlooking the violent ocean. The waves were coiling and swelling, and spitting their foam on to the ragged needle-sharp rocks, as if to display the turmoil within the powerful dragon.

The dragon no longer spewed its flames to ease the agitation of its mate, it believed its mate to be dead, her body and soul already walking the passage of the Ever After. It roared bitterly once more with the memory of what trespassed. The wind had risen, bringing a bite to the temperature, whipping color into her otherwise pale cheeks. But, this was all lost in the pitch black darkness.

The dragon pushed on, rising up and up, targeting the cave which stood right at the top of the volcanic mountain. There was a crater filled with steam around the very top of the smoking mountain, as if it signified the hidden powers of the mother dragon. The dragon entered the cave, its steps hurried as it advanced in the corridor which widened into a large airy cave room. Inside, it was bright as morning as though it was lit with sunlight of the world beyond the cave, beyond this universe where the sun always shone in the mornings. And, so was the power of the mother dragon. Her scales could accumulate the sun rays during the days of the sun and then emit them back when it was all darkness, yet again. There in the middle of the cave room stood a golden dragon, its scales shone like they’d been shaped from glass, its emerald green eyes held an unfathomable knowledge in their depths. Power and magic oozed from the mother dragon as it yawned, stretched and slowly rose up to greet its guests which it had been waiting for. The time had finally come.

Seth’s dragon slowly released Sierra’s body on the floor. Now that she no longer had the cheek slapping wind from flying at break-neck speed, Sierra slowly opened her eyes. It was a challenging task, the slow pumping of blood was making her weak, fatigued. Her eyes held a mind reeling confusion, where was she, what had happened to her?

Her eyes took it all in, Seth’s dragon, the golden dragon in the cave, and she remembered the shooting, and dying. How was she even alive, what had happened to Elvan? Seth must have killed her, she thought sadly. After all she’d tried to do, it had all gone drastically wrong. She attempted to move, mustering all the energy in her body, but she could only get on her knees.

Her mate cried in joy when it felt the evidence of life in her yet weak body.

“What happened to me, where am I?” she asked. She was not really expecting an answer, so it was a shock when in fact she received one.

“You are in Dragoon Land, in my cave. I was expecting you child,” the golden dragon spoke, her voice heavy, slow, her language seemed drawn-out as though her talking was rusty.

“How? You can speak?” Sierra asked, in shock.

“Indeed, I can,” the golden dragon said.

Sierra looked at Seth’s dragon which was not all reacting to the alien speech, it was because it was hearing everything in dragon language, which relied only on sounds and not words to convey the message. Thus, Seth’s dragon was hearing every word, but only as vibrations of sounds.

“What happened to me?” Sierra asked, the effort to speak sapping at her energy. It was as though all her energy was gone; her legs began to tremble and she found it hard to stand on her feet, though she did try.

“You are weak child, do not overexert yourself. You have been dead, and you are barely alive now.”

Sierra’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Who are you?” she demanded.

“I see you are confused, it is my heart which keeps you alive. I am Rawonia’s heart, or the Land of Dragoon’s heart in this universe. I am the mission.”

Sierra gasped in understanding. “Holy crap, are you telling me I made it? I found the heart? Where is it? Am I free to go?” she cried in exuberant joy.

“The heart resides within me, and I’d be happy to give it to you. It will make you stronger as you make the journey back home. With two thirds of my heart, you’d be like your old self. But, I have to warn you Sierra. Your death in here was unexpected. You see this is the last alternative universe, and any deaths in here will have repercussions on earth.”

“Uhm, what exactly are you saying?” Sierra asked, her eyes almost drooping from exhaustion.

“When you find my other piece of heart on earth and free me from my sister’s magic, you will no longer have a heart to sustain you.”

“Are you saying, I will die?” I stammered.

“Yes, I’m sorry child.”

Seth’s dragon roared in fury at the news, beating its huge tail on the cave ground.

What the hell? That was so damn unfair. After all this, I was going to die? What about Seth and me? I so deserved to have a life with him. I hadn’t asked for any of this, and this was my reward in the end? What a joke!

“Did Elvan die?” I asked, still trying to deal with the news.

“No, you released her light before you died, and that kept her alive. She will live.”

“Oh, thank God,” I muttered. “At least she will have her forever with Dante. Okay, I’m ready to go, and see Seth’s human self. At least I can make the most of the little time I have with him, that is not too much to ask, is it now?” I snapped at the dragon. I was mad, and I was not going to pretend otherwise.

“I can see you are angry child. I am sorry, but I wish I could say the mission is completed. But, it is not.”

“What do you mean? What else do you need, me to die again?” I shouted. Seth’s dragon had approached, and was nuzzling me in affection. Though it was not human, I could feel the love pouring from it.

“No, Sierra,” the dragon spoke in hushed tones. “But, though Seth’s dragon has accepted you as its mate, it is yet to understand the importance of the dragon human mating bond. The mission will only be complete when you awaken its human self. Then I’ll be happy to give you my heart, once more.”

“Are you out of your senses? How can I do that? Unless you noticed, none of the dragons can shift in this universe. You should know better, you are a dragon.”

“You see Sierra, the balance is delicate, but important. In this universe dragons have forgotten their human self, just like on earth where they had forgotten about their dragon self. In Rawonia, they had both, but then their dragon self was endangered by their ignorance. Unless both parts are kept in harmony, we cannot win this war.”

“Fine, then tell me how to do it,” I said, angry.

“I don’t know child. It is in him, the human part of him will respond to you, coax him, draw him out.”

“What? Is that all you are going to say? That is your freaking advice? Coax him, draw him out? How, for God’s sake?”

“Well, you’ll know how.”

“Great, that is simply great!” I said, gasping for breath, I was too damn tired. “I hate this darkness, I want to get out,” I said like a spoiled child.

“It is the dragons which are inhaling the light from the sun. They suck it all in since they can’t receive it from the humans, which forces the sun to shrink at a very fast rate. In the end, it’s what makes their dragon form even more dominant.”

The darkness, the dragon form, all related. Got it! None of this made my job easier, though.

“Why can’t he just switch to his human self? Why can’t you tell him?” I asked.

“It is an animal, it’s a magnificent but ferocious beast, Sierra. It is the most powerful dragon in Dragoon Land, apart from me. Something like that does not work on order. It has to be instinctual. And, you are the only one who can appeal to its instinct, draw out its humanity which is buried deep down. I am sorry, child. But, that is all I can do for you, right now. Come back to me when you do that and I’ll give you the heart.”

“Wait, why can’t you give it to me now?” I asked. I was barely functioning, and I needed my strength to work out the details of this mission.

“Because, dear, when you take my heart this universe will explode, too,” she explained.

Right, that was not ideal. None of this was. I was too tired even to walk, let alone finish the mission.