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Golden Tears
Dryndle snapped furiously at the fly buzzing near his face. Again and again he came ever so close to capture. He had been sleeping sweetly with great pleasure dreams floating in his head when the fly decided to walk about his nose and break the sweet dream at its high point. Several times had his split tongue extruded out to swipe his muzzle. Each time the fly eluded the tongue. Finally he had to retreat from the wonderful feeling of warmth and security that his parent had taught him to dream about when he was in sleep state.
When he opened his eyes he could see the insect buzzing in circles around the side of his face anticipating a place to land. When it did he snapped his infantile jaws at it trying desperately to end the annoyance, get a small snack, and return to sleep. But the small fly evaded his every move and Dryndle jumped up to gain the advantage, running as he snapped the air, only to trip and fall head over heal, adding insult to injury.
The limb he had tripped over was his parent’s front claw and now she too was out of sleep state. She looked down at the infant lying upside down and slightly tangled in its own tail. Her enormous head nuzzled the infant and ever so gently and untangled the tail from on top of him. With another nudge and a twist she flipped him right side up. Dryndle looked around and gave a shake. The fly was nowhere to be seen.
He looked up at his parent and gave a sigh and with a shake that went down his entire body ending with a snap of the end of his tail he bounced off.
Dryndle played with the others his age and the days and years went by quickly. He had now grown to adolescence and had developed into a handsome creature. As time went by Dryndle’s awareness of some of his friends were changing. He grew fond of one friend in particular, her name was Pica.
Pica was from a family thirty-four hills south of his own. She had skin of soft pink like that of the Healers. She would often be at the gatherings and being around her seemed always to fill him with a nervous tickle. At the gatherings they would walk off together and she would tell him of the Human and Fairy stories she heard from her parent. Pica’s parent was the Story Wise teller of her clan as someday she too, would be.
Pica wanted Dryndle to be with her and so she would tell the stories and in so doing would spellbind Dryndle for hours. She did not care if any others would join them; her thoughts were only for him.
Dryndle had heard many stories, one such story from the Story Wise, was about the Shakesetter flower, this was his favorite. The flower grew in the Halsaid world, that place that was between his world and the Notails. The Notails were where the two legged creatures lived and the Halsaid was the thin area that kept the two worlds apart. The Shakesetter flower had the power to make another, yours forever, but, it could only be found deep in the Earthsplit were the shores of the Halsaid began. Dragons were never to go near the Earthsplit.
Another young dragon, named Graystrym had been coming around the gatherings and was showing off his wings. The clans said that finer wings than his had not been seen for ten millennia. Pica too was impressed with these wings. She and the other young dragons would stare intently as Graystrym would unfold his beautiful gossamer wings and send cool air currents toward the group. Dryndle however thought otherwise, he insisted that Graystrym was only stirring up dust. It was clear that Dryndle was a little jealous and Pica hoped it would move him to be more assertive toward her.
One day Graystrym was flapping and flirting with Pica and she was very very taken up with his advances or so Dryndle thought. He had average wings and was not so forward with his advances. He pondered what he could do to win her over when the thought occurred to him that he could give her a Shakesetter flower, that would be the way he could win her affection forever.
He flew 60 hills to the west and the land below became flat and sandy. He kept flying for what seemed a long time. The land seemed to become hazy and not quite clear enough to discern, almost as if the earth was turning into clouds. The farther he flew the closer the clouds rose up to him and finally he was surrounded by them. In a panic he tried to descend to ground. He dropped for the longest time feeling gently for the ground by allowing his tail to precede him. All of a sudden the clouds went away and he could see the ground below, but it was far far below. Dryndle thought it must be another mile down before he would reach the ground.
The view below was not what he expected. The earth was green and lush and had many strange animals moving about and small feathered dragons with pointed mouths and small short tails flying about. Shortly, he was on the ground. He was mystified. Could this Halsaid he wondered. He looked about and saw beautiful fields of golden grass edged by large trees with large green leaves. Pink and white flowers were growing by the trees and he went to inspect them, hoping to find the Shakesetter.
When he got to the edge of the field, he saw that behind the trees and the flowers there was a red glow. The glow came from the edge of a crevasse in the ground and looking down into the hole he saw a shore line as if the crevasse was an opening like the entrance to a cave. He then realized that this was the Halsaid edge and some where near perhaps down in the hole the Shakesetter would be his for the picking.
Carefully he climbed down in the crevasse. Looking around he saw many plants and trees similar to the ones in his world. As he was looking among the flowers he saw an amazing sight. A stem appeared tipped with feathers; he saw another and another they were appearing all around him. He was dazzled. Then with an astounding amount of pain he saw one of the stems appear in his arm. Looking up he saw a small tailless dragon running toward him with a larger stem, more like a branch, a bent branch with a stem laid across it then the stem disappeared. His eye caught the flight of the stem as it hurled through the air toward him, then he saw the gleaming point at the front of the flying stem, it was shaped like a tooth and its sharpness gleamed in the light. He knew what a tooth was used for and he put the pain in his arm together.
He ran and extended his wings as fast as he could, some of the stems punctured the skin of his wings tearing small holes but passing through the wing material. He banked left and came back around the little dragon from the rear. He took a deep breath and let out a tremendous roar and much to his surprise a fairly large fireball that landed quite close to the little dragon knocking it unconscious to the ground. With the threat eliminated he settled to the floor of the woods and cautiously walked over to the limp body of the little dragon.
He could not believe his eyes, it wasn’t a little dragon at all. The creature had two legs but with no scales and two arms again with no scales and absolutely no wings. The rest of its body was covered with scales but the scales were not attached to the skin part of the scales were separated from the skin. The skin was slightly brown and covered darker hair. Some other covering was one it’s head as well as its feet. He sniffed the creature and was repulsed by the musky damp odor. The creature wasn’t moving and he no longer had any interest.
Dryndle did, however, remember what he needed to find and wanted to be on his way home. Looking about the edges of the nearby field he spotted a strange looking flower and walked over to it. Its aroma was sweet and pleasant and warmed his inner heart, he was mesmerized by the scent and color, he picked several bunches and held them to his nose, inhaling deeply, this was truly the flower for which he had come. Then, Dryndle’s eyes widened and his muscles tensed, along with the flowery fragrance was mingled the musky odor of the creatures.
He turned and jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by a creatures weapon. This weapon was not a stem but a long pointed shiny tooth, half the length of the creature itself. And then there were several creatures all around him swinging and stabbing at him. He was cut in the tail several times and then in the legs and soft under tissue. He was backing up frantically but was slowed by the trees. The creatures had pushed him away from the clearing and into the woods. He couldn’t open his wings. He couldn’t get a deep breath. He fell on his back and the creatures kept swinging and stabbing, his blood was seeping out the wounds and he thought he was going to die.
Suddenly he had backed into the smallest of clearings, just large enough to swing his tail around and in front of himself. Several of the creatures were knocked to the ground and this opened up a free area leading back to the field. Dryndle ran as fast as he could, disregarding the pain in his body. He entered the field spread his wings and lifted off the ground. He was thinking about some throwing some fire when several stems hit him in the neck and the only thing he wanted now was to be home.
He traced his path from the air and found where he had entered this land. He flew down and climbed back the way he had come. He knew he was safe now but he had lost much life blood and was feeling very tired. He still had one thing to do.
He landed back at Pica’s hill his life all but spent, holding the one Shakesetter flower that he had managed to hold on to during the attack. He was barely able to push the flower toward her as she came flying up to him. She was panic stricken and the grief of seeing him in such terrible condition was overwhelming to her.
Tears started in her eyes and she tried to lift him up to stand but couldn’t. She looked down again and saw the flower. “Dryndle” she said, “My heart was always yours, and it needed no magic to secure it for you.” As Pica’s tears fell on Dryndle he smiled through the pain and was slowly passing to the Everplain, now his pain left from both his body and his heart. He felt like he was slipping away but when he opened his eye again Pica was there.
He realized at that moment that Pica was a healer, not a story teller, just like her skin had foretold and each golden tear that landed on him was repairing his broken body. He layed in her arms and felt warm and comfortable, all the bad things now in the past.
He wondering to himself what fine adventures they would share in the years to come.
Dryndle snapped furiously at the fly buzzing near his face. Again and again he came ever so close to capture. He had been sleeping sweetly with great pleasure dreams floating in his head when the fly decided to walk about his nose and break the sweet dream at its high point. Several times had his split tongue extruded out to swipe his muzzle. Each time the fly eluded the tongue. Finally he had to retreat from the wonderful feeling of warmth and security that his parent had taught him to dream about when he was in sleep state.
When he opened his eyes he could see the insect buzzing in circles around the side of his face anticipating a place to land. When it did he snapped his infantile jaws at it trying desperately to end the annoyance, get a small snack, and return to sleep. But the small fly evaded his every move and Dryndle jumped up to gain the advantage, running as he snapped the air, only to trip and fall head over heal, adding insult to injury.
The limb he had tripped over was his parent’s front claw and now she too was out of sleep state. She looked down at the infant lying upside down and slightly tangled in its own tail. Her enormous head nuzzled the infant and ever so gently and untangled the tail from on top of him. With another nudge and a twist she flipped him right side up. Dryndle looked around and gave a shake. The fly was nowhere to be seen.
He looked up at his parent and gave a sigh and with a shake that went down his entire body ending with a snap of the end of his tail he bounced off.
Dryndle played with the others his age and the days and years went by quickly. He had now grown to adolescence and had developed into a handsome creature. As time went by Dryndle’s awareness of some of his friends were changing. He grew fond of one friend in particular, her name was Pica.
Pica was from a family thirty-four hills south of his own. She had skin of soft pink like that of the Healers. She would often be at the gatherings and being around her seemed always to fill him with a nervous tickle. At the gatherings they would walk off together and she would tell him of the Human and Fairy stories she heard from her parent. Pica’s parent was the Story Wise teller of her clan as someday she too, would be.
Pica wanted Dryndle to be with her and so she would tell the stories and in so doing would spellbind Dryndle for hours. She did not care if any others would join them; her thoughts were only for him.
Dryndle had heard many stories, one such story from the Story Wise, was about the Shakesetter flower, this was his favorite. The flower grew in the Halsaid world, that place that was between his world and the Notails. The Notails were where the two legged creatures lived and the Halsaid was the thin area that kept the two worlds apart. The Shakesetter flower had the power to make another, yours forever, but, it could only be found deep in the Earthsplit were the shores of the Halsaid began. Dragons were never to go near the Earthsplit.
Another young dragon, named Graystrym had been coming around the gatherings and was showing off his wings. The clans said that finer wings than his had not been seen for ten millennia. Pica too was impressed with these wings. She and the other young dragons would stare intently as Graystrym would unfold his beautiful gossamer wings and send cool air currents toward the group. Dryndle however thought otherwise, he insisted that Graystrym was only stirring up dust. It was clear that Dryndle was a little jealous and Pica hoped it would move him to be more assertive toward her.
One day Graystrym was flapping and flirting with Pica and she was very very taken up with his advances or so Dryndle thought. He had average wings and was not so forward with his advances. He pondered what he could do to win her over when the thought occurred to him that he could give her a Shakesetter flower, that would be the way he could win her affection forever.
He flew 60 hills to the west and the land below became flat and sandy. He kept flying for what seemed a long time. The land seemed to become hazy and not quite clear enough to discern, almost as if the earth was turning into clouds. The farther he flew the closer the clouds rose up to him and finally he was surrounded by them. In a panic he tried to descend to ground. He dropped for the longest time feeling gently for the ground by allowing his tail to precede him. All of a sudden the clouds went away and he could see the ground below, but it was far far below. Dryndle thought it must be another mile down before he would reach the ground.
The view below was not what he expected. The earth was green and lush and had many strange animals moving about and small feathered dragons with pointed mouths and small short tails flying about. Shortly, he was on the ground. He was mystified. Could this Halsaid he wondered. He looked about and saw beautiful fields of golden grass edged by large trees with large green leaves. Pink and white flowers were growing by the trees and he went to inspect them, hoping to find the Shakesetter.
When he got to the edge of the field, he saw that behind the trees and the flowers there was a red glow. The glow came from the edge of a crevasse in the ground and looking down into the hole he saw a shore line as if the crevasse was an opening like the entrance to a cave. He then realized that this was the Halsaid edge and some where near perhaps down in the hole the Shakesetter would be his for the picking.
Carefully he climbed down in the crevasse. Looking around he saw many plants and trees similar to the ones in his world. As he was looking among the flowers he saw an amazing sight. A stem appeared tipped with feathers; he saw another and another they were appearing all around him. He was dazzled. Then with an astounding amount of pain he saw one of the stems appear in his arm. Looking up he saw a small tailless dragon running toward him with a larger stem, more like a branch, a bent branch with a stem laid across it then the stem disappeared. His eye caught the flight of the stem as it hurled through the air toward him, then he saw the gleaming point at the front of the flying stem, it was shaped like a tooth and its sharpness gleamed in the light. He knew what a tooth was used for and he put the pain in his arm together.
He ran and extended his wings as fast as he could, some of the stems punctured the skin of his wings tearing small holes but passing through the wing material. He banked left and came back around the little dragon from the rear. He took a deep breath and let out a tremendous roar and much to his surprise a fairly large fireball that landed quite close to the little dragon knocking it unconscious to the ground. With the threat eliminated he settled to the floor of the woods and cautiously walked over to the limp body of the little dragon.
He could not believe his eyes, it wasn’t a little dragon at all. The creature had two legs but with no scales and two arms again with no scales and absolutely no wings. The rest of its body was covered with scales but the scales were not attached to the skin part of the scales were separated from the skin. The skin was slightly brown and covered darker hair. Some other covering was one it’s head as well as its feet. He sniffed the creature and was repulsed by the musky damp odor. The creature wasn’t moving and he no longer had any interest.
Dryndle did, however, remember what he needed to find and wanted to be on his way home. Looking about the edges of the nearby field he spotted a strange looking flower and walked over to it. Its aroma was sweet and pleasant and warmed his inner heart, he was mesmerized by the scent and color, he picked several bunches and held them to his nose, inhaling deeply, this was truly the flower for which he had come. Then, Dryndle’s eyes widened and his muscles tensed, along with the flowery fragrance was mingled the musky odor of the creatures.
He turned and jumped back just in time to avoid being hit by a creatures weapon. This weapon was not a stem but a long pointed shiny tooth, half the length of the creature itself. And then there were several creatures all around him swinging and stabbing at him. He was cut in the tail several times and then in the legs and soft under tissue. He was backing up frantically but was slowed by the trees. The creatures had pushed him away from the clearing and into the woods. He couldn’t open his wings. He couldn’t get a deep breath. He fell on his back and the creatures kept swinging and stabbing, his blood was seeping out the wounds and he thought he was going to die.
Suddenly he had backed into the smallest of clearings, just large enough to swing his tail around and in front of himself. Several of the creatures were knocked to the ground and this opened up a free area leading back to the field. Dryndle ran as fast as he could, disregarding the pain in his body. He entered the field spread his wings and lifted off the ground. He was thinking about some throwing some fire when several stems hit him in the neck and the only thing he wanted now was to be home.
He traced his path from the air and found where he had entered this land. He flew down and climbed back the way he had come. He knew he was safe now but he had lost much life blood and was feeling very tired. He still had one thing to do.
He landed back at Pica’s hill his life all but spent, holding the one Shakesetter flower that he had managed to hold on to during the attack. He was barely able to push the flower toward her as she came flying up to him. She was panic stricken and the grief of seeing him in such terrible condition was overwhelming to her.
Tears started in her eyes and she tried to lift him up to stand but couldn’t. She looked down again and saw the flower. “Dryndle” she said, “My heart was always yours, and it needed no magic to secure it for you.” As Pica’s tears fell on Dryndle he smiled through the pain and was slowly passing to the Everplain, now his pain left from both his body and his heart. He felt like he was slipping away but when he opened his eye again Pica was there.
He realized at that moment that Pica was a healer, not a story teller, just like her skin had foretold and each golden tear that landed on him was repairing his broken body. He layed in her arms and felt warm and comfortable, all the bad things now in the past.
He wondering to himself what fine adventures they would share in the years to come.
