by James Somers
Daniel’s sleep grew restless, but at least it was sleep. In a dream, he found himself walking. He realized he was in a desert land of some kind—a place of rocks and scrub grass. Many people in this place paid attention to something in the distance. Daniel followed the crowd as they ascended to a rock formation very similar in shape to a human skull.
Daniel heard their voices as they spoke with one another, but the faces of the people remained indistinct. Some appeared to be women and others men, but it was mostly in their voices that he could tell.
As Daniel walked through the crowd, he noticed that none of the people appeared to notice him walking among them. He felt like a ghost, held against his will in a time and place not his own.
High upon the hill above the crowd, Daniel discerned the form of a man. He had difficulty making out the details of his condition, but Daniel felt he should know who this was. He had dreamed of him before, but still did not know his identity.
The man had been made a public spectacle. Out of the collage of voices around him Daniel heard people mock the man saying, “He saved others, but he could not save himself. If he is who he claims to be then let him save himself!”
A peel of thunder shook the entire area and darkness which could be felt moved across the land. The people screamed and ran in fear as the ground trembled beneath their feet. Daniel wanted to run, to get away from this place, but he wasn’t sure where to go. He turned his face back to the man on the hill. He had disappeared. But in his place a light shone and a little lamb stood within the light.
Daniel lost his footing as the Earth shook beneath him. He fell. When Daniel looked up again, the entire scene had changed, and he felt that he was in the Living Land again. The rocky desert had been replaced by a great and high mountain.
The mountain stretched away in all directions. Daniel felt cold. He saw the snow line still above him. The wind whipped at his clothes, threatening to tear him from his foothold on the cliff he stood upon.
Green valleys stretched in either direction below him and Daniel longed to be down there where it was safe. Something caught his attention. A large black object sat perched upon one of the stubby outcroppings on the face of the mountain above him.
Judging from the size of the object and the area surrounding it, Daniel guessed it to be a huge rock or egg. Nearby, a dark cave opened up. It seemed nearly a mile away from him, but it was difficult to tell for sure.
Then the object moved. Massive wings unfolded. A long neck and head, tucked under one of the wings, came out to look around. Daniel suddenly felt very afraid as he watched the black dragon in the distance. He felt as though it were looking right at him, just as the dragon in the village had fixed upon him before it tried to kill him.
The cave nearby drew his attention. He heard a cry coming from it. Daniel knew it was impossible to really tell from this distance if the cry for help came from the cave, but he felt that it was. Something inside him compelled him to go into that cave, but fear held him back, and the dragon watched.
The dragon launched itself from the outcropping of rock and plummeted several hundred feet toward the valley below before unfurling its wings. The black sails caught the wind, and the dragon arced upward. It flew straight for Daniel.
Terrified, Daniel turned to run, but he stood upon a narrow ledge of rock with only a thin trail winding back down the face of the cliff. The dragon covered the distance too fast for him. He heard it roar, ending with a piercing screech that sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
Daniel clamored back down the trail. He had to get away from this gigantic predator. How had he gotten here? Why did this keep happening to him?
Daniel ran along the narrow ledge. The face of the cliff protruded too much into his path. He arched his back against the rock face, trying his best to sidestep. The height made him dizzy. He tried not to look down. The world began spinning. The approach of the dragon made his heart pound like a jackhammer out of control.
He might as well fall. The dragon would get him if he didn’t fall. He only needed to choose which death would be more horrible—smashed against the stones far below, or ripped to shreds by the ferocious winged reptile closing in on him.
Daniel pitched forward as he lost footing. He tried desperately to regain balance—flailing his arms like an insane albatross. The effort did him no good. Daniel’s feet left the ledge as his upper body fell over. He fell toward his death hundreds of feet below.
Daniel screamed and flailed his limbs wildly as he watched the valley approaching fast beneath him. He felt like his heart might explode at any moment. The ground came to him. And then it was over.
Daniel cried out as he jerked awake. Bon immediately came to his side with Captain Blackborne a close second. “Daniel, are you all right?” Bon asked.
The sight of the great cat nearly caused another wave of panic, until he remembered where he was and who he was with. His tortured anguish from the dream turned to relief. He tried to breathe out the anxiety. The others woke around him.
“What’s the matter?” Marissa asked as she rushed to Daniel’s side.
“Just a nightmare, I think,” Nathaniel said as he stretched his back and arms.
“Is that right, Daniel? Was it only a dream?” Marissa asked as the boy tried to calm his breathing.
Daniel looked at her face. She searched his eyes expectantly. “I’m all right, Marissa.” He wasn’t sure if his next words were true, but he said them anyway to reassure her. “It was only a dream.” Daniel smiled to punctuate the statement and distract her from her worrying.
Bon walked back toward the edge of their encampment. He listened and sampled the air with his keen sense of smell.
“We still need some sleep,” Nathaniel said. “I know I could use some. Percival, are you ready to switch with me, mate?”
“I might as well,” he groaned. “It doesn’t look like I’m going to get any peaceful sleep around here anyway.”
Jale walked over to his father. “What it is?”
Bon continued to breathe deeply through his powerful nose. “I’m not sure.”