In the Ashes

The moisture sliding down her cheeks made Drala’s face itchy. She rubbed her eyes but noticed grit on her fingers. Fear of scratching her eyeballs forced her to keep her hands away. She growled at the stupid tears. She needed to see where she was going but her eyes kept blurring.

Then she sneezed. She was at her destination, the mouth of the hatchling cave. Each step forward sent up a cloud of dust.  She blinked rapidly and her eyes finally cleared.

“Wow!” Her exclamation came out as a yell. No echoes of her cry came back to her.

As she looked around, she saw she was standing inside a huge cavern. The roof of the cave was so far above, she had to crane her neck right back to see. Even then, she was not sure. The inky darkness gave no depth.

The grey dust that Drala stood in blanketed the cave floor. It gave the illusion of a smooth surface. Here and there, shapeless mounds rose. These allowed Drala to get an impression on just how far back the cave went.

It was the silence, though, within the massive cavern that stunned Drala the most. She could hear her heart beating because all the other, little, sounds she was used to, were deadened. She guessed the dust was to blame for the silence.

Ash. The word was like a thought placed in her mind.

Drala shook her head and bent down. She ran her fingers over the rock floor. Sure enough, the covering was too coarse to be normal dust.

“Is anyone here?” Her voice was weak with nervousness and she was sure it carried no further than her arm’s length.

No one was supposed to be in the cave. That was why she made the trek up here. The last clutch of dragons flew to the river fifteen days earlier. She had watched the young men walking down the steep path while their dragons hopped and fluttered behind them. They were all at the river camp now; learning to work as a team until the dragons were big enough to fly properly. Then, the lucky men would ride their dragons on patrol.

The memory of her brother yelling the insult ‘You useless girl. All you’re good for is dragon fodder’ at her, reared up as she stood at the mouth of the cave.

Dragons never attacked people. Well, there were tales of rogue dragons who snatched up women but they were centuries old. Sherv was probably regretting his words already, but this time she was not going to mildly accept his apology.

“After all, he never even got to meet the dragon chicks. Mama and Papa will be ashamed of him.” That was punishment enough.

He has no empathy. Again, the words were planted in Drala’s mind.

She trembled. No wonder no one ever came here when the chicks left. The cave was haunted.

“I’m going now.” She took a step backwards.

Where will you go? Please stay here. I am lonely. I will be a better friend than your brother is.

Drala felt the tears well up again. “I don’t know.”

Can’t you stay? I won’t hurt you.

“But who are you? Where are you?” Drala peered around, trying to see something, anything that could be causing the voice in her head. The haunting voice was more friendly than anyone she knew.

They left me behind. There was no one I felt a bond with. You are different.

“Who are you?” she whispered again.

There was plenty of light in the cave. The entrance was large enough for a full-grown dragon to enter and exit with ease. It should have been easy to see another being.

I am Ash, the silent voice replied.

“Are you dead? Is that why I can’t see you?”

No. I really am here. Can you come forward? Towards the back?

Drala shuffled through the ash. Clouds of the substance puffed up with each footstep. She coughed and sneezed.

A memory from the dragon studies class at school surfaced. Drala said it aloud. “Dragons are partly made of fire. When they moult, their scales turn to ash.”

Young dragons moult many times before they are large enough to leave. The voice supplied.

Drala stopped walking and considered the information she had been given. It seemed impossible, but, “You never left.”

No words came this time. Instead Drala’s senses were drowned in loneliness. Visions of a lone dragon launching from the cave mouth filled her eyes. She knew the dragon would fly far, far away. The other young dragons would see her and their keening would hurt everyone’s ears.

All Drala could physically feel was the dry ash.

“You really are a dragon. But you’ve been left here. How did that happen? Why can’t I see you?”

Yes. I am the last hatchling of this clutch. I am here, at the back. Just, I am as grey as the ash.

Then one of the mounds of ash moved and a creature twice Drala’s size emerged.

Drala screamed in shock.

She then stumbled forward, unable to take her eyes off the dust coloured dragon. A need, more powerful than any other she had ever experienced, took her over. She wanted to touch the dragon, to stroke it to feed it. She wanted to love it. Drala suddenly understood what a dragon bond was.

“Drala!” Sherv’s voice barely penetrated the comfortable silence of the cave but Drala recognised the pitch he used. He expected her to obey.

She took another step closer to the young dragon.

“Drala. Get out of there. It’s not safe.” Sherv was good at projecting his voice.

Drala froze. She could imagine her brother raging, threatening to hit her. His anger would burn her, but there was concern in him as well. He knew he was supposed to care for his little sister. She looked across at the young dragon, seeking direction. A squeal escaped her as the dragon reared up and extended its wings.

I will protect you.

The statement brought warmth to Drala’s belly. She had felt unsafe since Sherv had been put in charge of her. Mama and Papa thought him old enough to take responsibility whilst they spent time with Papa’s dragon, patrolling the border.

She turned around to face Sherv.

“Hello Sherv. What brings you here? Is something the matter?”

“Why do you have to make everything so hard. I need to get back home.”

“But I don’t.” Drala grinned as she realised her brother had not yet seen her new friend.

“Do as I tell you.” Sherv was yelling again but the ash muffled his voice.

“No. I’m busy here.” Drala giggled.

“You. You should be busy doing what you’re told. Now, come on before a dragon does fly in to snack on your scrawny bones.”

Drala opened her mouth to answer. She never got to speak. A growl exploded from the dragon. Regardless of the piles of ash, Sherv’s scream echoed.

“Drala. Hurry. We’ve got to get out of here. There’s a rogue dragon.”

“No. You better leave. But that’s no rogue. That’s my dragon.”

Drala’s words stopped Sherv in his scramble to escape. “Your dragon?”

“Ash talks to me.” Drala could not keep the delight and wonder from filling her voice.

Sherv continued to back out of the cave. His gaze kept jerking from Drala to the dragon and back to Drala. He stumbled, he staggered, and he fell a couple of times but, finally, he disappeared from sight.

“He will come back,” Drala told her new friend.

We won’t be here. I am hungry and I want to fly.

Drala turned to face the dragon. She took a deep breath and coughed as she inhaled ash. “Can I touch you?”

Yes please.

A bounce, causing a flurry of ash to temporarily blind Drala, brought the dragon to her side.

Before reaching out, Drala wiped the last of the moisture away from her eyes and cheeks. She was not going to need to cry any more. Her fingers were damp as she slid her hand across the dragon’s neck.

A line of red showed on the dragon’s skin.

Drala gasped, “On, no. Am I hurting you?”

She snatched her hand back.

No. I like your touch.

Drala looked down at her hand. Her palm and fingers were grey. She spat on her other hand and, again, stroked the dragon. Another streak of red appeared.

“You aren’t grey at all. You’re just covered in ash.”

Drala thought of all the other young dragons who had left the cave earlier. The first place they went to was the river. After a thorough washing, they revealed all their amazing colours.

But none had been red.

An idea insinuated itself into Drala’s mind. “All the other chicks were boys, weren’t they?  What happens to the girl dragons?”

We go rogue. There was humour in the dragon’s words. Possibly because we don’t meet girl humans to bond with.

“Shall we go together then, to the river where your siblings are, so everyone can see your true colour?”

Will you be with me?

The dragon’s uncertainty gave Drala the courage she needed.

“Yes. I’ll be with you always and forever.” She declared. “And I’m giving you a proper name. I’m calling you Ashara.”