Dreamtrail Dragons |
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Chapter 1 |
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| It is late at night and, in her Orphanhome dormitory bed, a girl is reading. The full moon shines through the window to light the page, preventing the need for a lamp. Unlike the few other books she as seen, the girl’s book has smooth thin pages and perfectly even writing. It is a Beforetime book, and if she was found with it, they would both be burned. The cover shows the picture of a dragon, flying through the sky. The girl’s eyelids are growing heavy, but she reads on. Slowly, slowly, her eyes are closing. At last, she stops and returns it to its hiding place. Then she lies back and slips down, down, down; into her dreams. [ligne][/ligne] I am slipping through a thick mass of clouds, surrounded by grey like a soft blanket. A paler strip below me forms a path. There. I see a patch of blue sky and speed towards it. I burst up, up, out of the clouds and into the clear, afternoon light. The sun is warm on my skin as I pause and look around. The setting sun gilds the edges of the nearest clouds a shimmering gold, while the rest glow orange and pale pink. The sky around the sun is bleached almost white, behind me it darkens to a velvety indigo. Gradually, I begin to notice a thumping sound, coming from behind me. I spin around to face whatever is coming. Nothing is there, yet, there is the sound, seeming closer than ever and behind me again! This time I carefully look over my shoulder without moving the rest of my body. A long glittering snake is waving lazily in the air. My gaze slides upwards to find strong back legs ending in paws tipped with strong, bronze talons. As I keep looking, I notice the source of the strange thumping sound. It is made by huge bat-like wings which appear to be holding the body up. As the wings rise I can see smaller forepaws, again tipped with those bronze talons. My gaze still roving, I see the beginnings of a long, snaky neck, scaled like the rest of the body in blue, darkening to indigo at the tip of the tail and with pink and gold highlights. Looking, in fact, very much like the sunset just starting to fade from the sky. I loop and flip in my new body, darting in and out of the clouds. Twisting and turning I explore this realm of light and air. Then, as my scales darken to navy with the sky, I dive down, down below the clouds to skim the tips of the fragrant pine trees that blanket the ground below. I see a gap ahead and lunge towards it, climbing higher. Right when I am above it, I drop; falling with a splash into the lake appearing there. I spin and twirl beneath the surface, as at home here in this watery world as I was in the air. Suddenly, I burst up out of the lake, water droplets falling like tears, glittering in the faint starlight. For a time I play here, moving effortlessly from one element to another, before finally sinking down at the edge of the lake to rest. [ligne][/ligne] The girl is sleeping heavily. She is lying limply on the bed with only the slow rise and fall of her chest to show that she is alive. The full moon shines through the open window, a square of soft, white light creeping slowly across the floor. When it lies over the place where the book is hidden, the picture seems to shimmer. Suddenly, the dragon, just visible against the dark background, turns its head, looking out, towards the moon. Its eyes shine with understanding. [ligne][/ligne] I wake to find the clearing silvered by the light of the full moon. I stand and stretch my wings, feeling the joints crack. As I look up at the moon something tells me that I am doing something wrong; that I should be somewhere else. Suddenly, I am swamped by a feeling of urgency. I crouch and leap into the air, wings straining to keep me aloft, then I am off, skimming low above the treetops. I am flying faster than before, the forest slipping away below me as I slice through the air. Ahead are grasslands scattered with animals, grazing in the light that is as bright as day. My stomach grumbles as I catch their rich scent, but I have lost too much time already. My hunger must wait. On I fly, a shadow against the star-spangled sky. I veer slightly to the left, making for a cluster of peaks that thrust up out of the ground like knife points. A ripple of relief rushes through me at the sight. That is where I need to be. I notice that the moon is falling lower, almost sitting on the peaks ahead. I put on an extra burst of speed, because, somehow, I know that I need to reach those mountains by dawn. The sky is lightening behind me and I can start to make out details on the nearest slopes. There, a cave. I glide towards it, slowing fractionally. As the sun rises above the horizon I land inside. I lie down immediately, exhausted by my long flight. I see the light strengthening outside, lighting the familiar landscape. This is my home, and I am safe now in my own secret hiding place. [ligne][/ligne] The girl wakes up with the sun in her eyes. She sits up, wondering why her shoulders are so stiff. Getting out of bed, she quickly makes sure her book is hidden. She pauses for a moment in surprise, battling a wave of homesickness. The picture has changed to show a cluster of mountains silhouetted against the full moon, dawn light just starting to colour the slopes. She looks closely and can just see the shadow of a cave, the darkness shimmering with rainbows as though the dawn light has reflected off something, scattering. As she shoves it out of sight, all the memories come rushing back. The swim in the lake; the long, hard flight, the mountains; and the full moon’s promise of more to come. |
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