Chapter 3
My Choice
We walked through the door and back to the mouth of the cave. As soon as we appeared at the door a Dragon jumped out and flung the bridle over my head. I tried to escape, but he had it on so quick, I didn't have time to stop him. He quickly ducked away from me and ran into the big room I had just come from. I followed Clyte into the first room I had been in and walked with him to the wall where he normally sat. When we arrived over there, he signaled his guards to close the massive doors and to remove my bridle. They did as he asked and ran off to whatever they were supposed to be doing.
I sighed deeply and looked around. Clyte eyed me curiously, then motioned for me to sit on a fur rug a few feet away. I gratefully lay on it and wondered what his plans were for me. He started to speak, cleared his throat, then started again.
"I have a question to ask of you. Who are you?"
I stayed where I was and changed positions. I could not be caught off guard and would not be able to protect myself if he attacked while I was lying on my side. He asked again. Again, I was silent. He asked again. I would not tell him. He was clearly frustrated, and I let a smile slip. Not purposefully, though.
"Aaaah, so irritating me amuses you, does it? Hmmmm... Maybe I will try such tactics on Unicorns. Whatever. Down to business. I do know that I have not heard of you. Wait, let me back up a bit. Listen to this story, and you will understand."
He stood and paced. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, he began. "Many, many years ago, we were allies with the Unicorns. We respected each other, and always told of the new Unicorns or Dragons. Now, listen closely, because this is where you must remember everything said. I am gifted. Yes, please, hold the applause. Hahahahaa, but it is true. I know of every Unicorn or Dragon born. When a Dragon or Unicorn is born, a note pops in my head. It is just three pictures. The pictures are of the newborn as a baby, child, and finally an adult. It shows me the different gifts the little one is born with, and a name appears under the pictures. It is truly a remarkable gift. Right after those three pictures come up, so do two names. The names of the parents. I am able to keep a record of each new one, and this is why I am puzzled. You were never in my head. I do not know why and would like to know who you are."
I looked him up and down, and finally said,"You will never know. I will always have the upper hand. But tell me, what separated you and the Unicorns?"
He did not answer, but shook his head. Then he turned around, and waited for the huge doors to open. He walked out of the room, and I was left in the huge room by myself. I sighed again and lay on my carpet. It was time I slept.
I slept like a rock for two days. I don't know how I slept that long, but I did. When I finally awoke, I knew the time and day, thanks to my automatic clock. I stood and stretched my legs. The door creaked open and in came a young Dragon.
"Hello. Listen, you must hurry. The training is today, oops. Not supposed to tell. Well, come along. You mustn't stay confined to stone walls forever." He ran out of the room, and frowned when he saw my slow pace. "Speed it up. We have lots to do."
I walked even slower, and this only made the Dragon angrier. He beckoned me to hurry, even pleaded with me. He said he would surely get whipped for being so poky. I did not slow, but I did not go any faster either. Finally, the doors came into view, those huge doors, but we did not go in them. Instead, we made a left and headed towards the entrance of the cave. We made a quick right and he opened the door. We walked through the passageway and into the grassland. The young Dragon raced over and told the master Dragon what had happened. I noticed my bridle was off, but it had rubbed part of the hair off where it had been.
I glanced over at the young Dragon and saw him being hauled off kicking and screaming. A flash of anger came to my eyes, and I reared. Spreading my wings, I flew into the air and dove straight for the guards. I kicked them, beat them with my wings, bit them. I would not let them take the poor Dragon. They ducked and knelt on the floor, covering their heads. I whinnied loudly and tried to kick their sorry hides. But I did not accomplish much because of the thick scales. I finally let up and flew around the room. The young Dragon was crouched down, peeking through his fingers at me. I flew round and round, calling out to be let go. I was angry and letting everyone know it. A rush of footsteps, then the door burst open. In ran hundreds of Dragons I didn't even know lived there. I flew around the room, near the ceiling, swooping close to the heads of the Dragons. They ducked and stared up at me. I flew on and did not tire. I had not flown for some time and could not contain my anger or energy.
Clyte ran into the room and all of the dragons parted. He rushed to the middle and called for me to come down. I only whinnied even more terrified and flew even faster. I flew straight for the glass ceiling, and Clyte got worried. His guards were just standing up, but he was too far from them to give them any signals. He looked irritated and angry as he spread his huge wings. I flew straight for the door. The Dragons tried to close them, but I was faster. I made it through the doors and landed on the ground of the passageway. Folding my wings so as not to scrape the narrow walls, I ran as fast as my legs would go and headed for the mouth of the cave. I ran out of the cave and flapped my wings. I wasn't going into the air. What was wrong? I must have been too tired, because I could not get my legs off the ground. Instead, I ran through the woods. Dodging trees, branches, bushes and little woodsy animals. I ran through the forest dodging everything keeping at my top speed. There seemed to be no end to the woods, and as I ran, I found the woods stretched on and on. I found a small clearing and untucked my wings. I flattened my wings against my body, getting ready to spread them. I ran into the clearing and opened my wings wide. Up I went, past the trees, bushes and animals. Up into the clouds. The air was refreshing, but I could not get enough of it. I flew on.
Suddenly, a pain in my side. An arrow was there. I tried to pull it out with my teeth, but I lost all sense of direction when I twisted my head back. I fell towards the trees, trying to pull up in time. I went under the tree tops and dodged many trees. Then one tree came up. I saw it at the wrong time. And then, after hitting it, I saw nothing.
I awoke dizzy. Clyte walked into the room and grabbed me off the rug I was laying on. He carried me into his huge main room and dropped me on the cold stone floor. I winced at the pain but quickly scrambled to my hooves. He paced. I waited. He paced. I waited. Eventually, he stopped and leaned against the wall.
"Get Maru in here!" He commanded of his guards.
Two went scurrying off. As Dragons, even they scampered like the lowly Dajons. The guards came quickly back, half dragging a Dragon with them. They let her go and rushed back to their posts.
"Come, come. Can't you treat me nicer than that!" she said.
Clyte shook his head and told her,"She's ready. Get working. I want no mistakes."
Maru nodded and grabbed my mane roughly. She jerked me along behind her and led me toward a door to Clyte's right. I had never seen the door before, but there were still a lot of things I had to learn. I stumbled along behind her. I tried to bite her, but she was always two steps ahead of me. We came into a room filled with swords, but when we entered that room, we made an immediate turn to the left. There was a door standing wide open, and in it was an empty room. She led me in there, closing the door behind us. She locked it and stuck the key down her throat.
"Now, you listen. Don't try to get out, I've got the key in a special pouch in my throat. Listen to this story, and you'll understand anything."
She took a deep breath and began. "As you were told, we were peaceful. The Unicorns and Dragons were a team. But the Unicorns turned. They wanted to part with us. No, they wanted to banish us from the kingdom. They killed half of the Dragon population and even threatened to wipe out the entire Dragon race. We could do nothing but leave. They were and are magical. Stronger than us. They were. But now we will be. You see, the Unicorns have a guard at their door. They call the door ‘sparkle' and pick a new guard each year. They pick young, magical, strong Unicorns. We have reason to believe they would have picked you next. But you see, after the guard has done her duty, she is killed. Yes, don't act so surprised. The Unicorns are ruthless, and they would stop at nothing to kill one of their own kind. Anyway, they try to keep the peace in their kingdom and get rid of their cravings by killing those poor Unicorns guarding the ‘sparkle'. We were truly saving you from disaster. Now do you understand? We were banished to earth and from the kingdom that was rightfully ours. We must get it back! We must! The Dragons here are uncountable, and you would be amazed if you saw all of us at once. But we need more and more Dragons. If...if you join us, maybe we'll have a chance. I was once a Unicorn, until I heard this dreadful story and learned of the power of the Dragons and the coming fate of the Unicorns. Will you help us override these Unicorns, murderers of the Dragons?"
I slowly nodded my head. I had read in the story books that Unicorns were good, but apparently that was wrong. The Dragons were helpless and innocent.
I nodded with more certainty now, and asked,"What do I have to do?"
She smiled and answered,"Become a Dragon."
I nodded and said,"Then make me one."
She laughed and led me out of the room. We walked back to the main room, and the bridle was taken off.
I stood on a rug and said the words Maru had told me to speak while concentrating on an imaginary Dragon form in my mind,"Dragon am I. Dragon am I. Dragon am I."
I looked down at myself, and sure as the rug under my feet, I was a Dragon. I laughed and laughed. Then I glanced over at Clyte, he was grinning. He called a Dragon into the room. It came soaring through the door and skimmed the ceiling, then circled for a landing. He landed two feet from me and looked me over.
"Why a female?"
The disgust in his voice was intentional, and I rose to my haunches. "Because females are much smarter than stupid males. No offense sir," I sneered, letting the Dragon nature take hold of me.
"Such incompetence!" screamed the Dragon.
Clyte sat in the corner laughing, he approached and laid a hand on the Dragon's shoulder. "I told you she was perfect for you. Take her in, teach her to be respectful. Punish her if you like. She's your apprentice now."
The Dragon eyed me and glanced back at Clyte who nodded.
Then the Dragon turned around and muttered over his shoulder,"Come on, you disrespectful female."
I followed him out of the room and out of the cave. We flew into the air and soared above the clouds. The ocean appeared below us. The dragon dove straight for the water. I kept three feet behind him. He plunged into the water, and I followed. Down and down we went. Finally, I saw where we were going. There was a huge cave under the water. We swam into it. Once in the cave, we swam straight up for seven feet. It sloped onto land, so I followed the dragon onto the land and through a narrow tunnel. It wasn't long before we arrived in a large room. The room had about two hundred doors. We walked to the one straight across from us. It was a cozy little room. The dragon motioned toward the rug in a corner, and I curled up on it. It seemed small compared to my bulk. It was new and made of another Dragon's hide.
"Alright, rules. Don't talk unless someone talks to you. Don't go anywhere unless told. Don't go out of the room without permission. Don't sleep until your master, that's me, lays down on his bed. And above all, do everything your master tells you."
I tilted my head to the side and said,"Why such stupid rules?"
"Did I ask you a question!! Did I?!"
"No sir. But I asked you one."
His eyes were a mellow green, but now they were a neon green. "Get out! Get out right now! You stupid little dragon. Get out!"
I shrugged my shoulders and walked out of the small room and into the huge room. It was dark out now, and I smelled smoke from all the fires burning. Unlike the other places, this place did not have a glass ceiling. I sighed and went to explore some doors. Each time I knocked, someone scolded me for being out and dragged me to the middle of the main room again. After the same routine at five doors, I gave up.
"I hate it here. I'm going back."
I walked to the exit and dove into the water. Many doors opened, and I heard the sound of dragons plunging into the water. I didn't know why. I swam quickly to the surface, and got ready to spread my wings. At the top, I leaped out of the water like a dolphin and spread my wings. I caught a breeze and flew up into the sky. I tried hard to get to the woods. It was getting even darker, and the breeze was slowly fading. I flew faster and faster, until I saw the woods. Slowing down, I looked for the spot in the woods. I found it quickly and flew toward it. It was a quick drop off that turned this mostly flat forest into half mountain. I flew down the mountain and swooped into the cave. Dragons jumped out of my way as I came soaring in. The doors were open. I flew right through them. Startled dragons jumped, and some dove for the walls, but I was not there as an enemy. I was a dragon. I flew straight for Clyte but slowed so I would not collide with him.
I gently landed a foot away from him and said,"My master is cruel. The dragons are unfriendly. I am not going to stay with them."
He studied me with his big green eyes and nodded. He called to his guards for someone named Clant. I waited patiently for the guards. However, when they came back, Clyte told them they would cook for the rest of the evening. He told them it was because they were not fast enough. Such a degrading job would be punishment enough for the slow guards.
Clant hurried over to us and glanced at me only once.
"This is your new apprentice," Clyte said simply.
Clant bowed, nodded and grabbed my hand. "Pleasure to meet you, miss. Follow me."
He spread his wings, and I did the same. We flew through the doors and into the now dead night air. This time we landed on a huge log in the middle of a swamp. We grabbed the log with our claws and waited until we were fully submerged in the murky water and pond scum. Then the log tipped and we fell into a dark, empty black hole. We fell and fell, until we hit grass. We landed in a small room, lit by torches. The walls here were made of stone, and we hurried down a large tunnel into a main room. We ran past a leader dragon who nodded for us to keep going. Clant led me into a room, pointed at a bed as comfy as his and got into his own bed. We slept without a word that night.
Actually, I heard him say one sentence to me. "Please douse the torch with water."
Then we slept.
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