Frozen to the Core

by Paul Cude

  “As far as I know, there’s been no contact with any of the other races for a very long time. Of course I’m not privileged to any information our king might have.”

  “I see.”

  Once again silence encompassed them, as the frost hung in the air, both beings’ breath freezing as they exhaled, much to the pleasure of one, and the disappointment of the other.

  “From everything that you’ve told me, it seems clear that I need to get word to our king urgently. If the other races have been taken out of the picture then it would be up to us to fight back. Any and all information you could provide would be very welcome indeed, I’m sure.”

  “Of course, it would be our pleasure to share,” stated the leader, knowingly.

  “Do you think you would be able to help us escape this intolerable prison? It’s not so much for me that I ask, more for all of those under my guidance. The toll it’s taken on them is great, and it breaks my heart every time I walk around our meagre encampment.”

  “I don’t see why not,” ventured Marg. “As a race we control much coveted, ancient magic that has the potential to do almost anything. Of course, it’s not my decision to make, and only the king will be able to choose. But since you’ve already provided such vital information, and have agreed to help us out going forward, I can’t see anything getting in the way.”

  Inside, the leader’s cold, black heart, jumped for joy. They were so close he could almost touch the outside world. One or two more things had to go their way, but he couldn’t foresee anything going wrong from now on. All he had to do was to continue to act the part, and that he was sure he could do.

  “Can I ask about the boy, the one whose magic I set free?”

  “Of course,” declared Man’s father, eager to hear his visitor’s thoughts on the subject. It should, if nothing else, offer up a very unique perspective, he thought.

  “How is it his magic is different to yours, and that I can sense and enhance his, but not anyone else’s here?”

  A lie combined with a healthy dose of the truth seemed to be the best course of action. It was all too slick in coming out.

  “Marooned here with very little in the way of resources, for a very long time, all we did was try and find a way out. After a couple of decades, it became obvious that without our magic, we were doomed to fail. And so most of those here gave up, and became resigned to their fate. All thoughts of escape gone by the wayside, relationships formed, and with our bodies transformed so accurately into our human personas, after a short while, the inevitable happened. Women folk began to fall pregnant, and one by one children were born. No thought was given to magic; after all, we truly believed it to be totally dormant within us all, and had absolutely no idea that it could, or would, be passed on. In fact, it only became apparent a couple of years ago, that one or two youthful individuals may in fact be harbouring some kind of unique magical energy. Up until you enhanced my son’s power earlier today, we’d never seen any kind of results to show that it physically existed.”

  “I’m sorry... I didn’t know that he was your son. I hope I haven’t offended you by augmenting his power.”

  “Not at all, not at all. What you did was just confirm our suspicions, and give him a chance to access his birthright. I couldn’t be happier.”

  That last sentence was totally, and utterly the truth, but probably not in the way the naga saw it.

  “I’m glad that you see it that way.”

  “So am I, so am I. Can I ask just how you think we should proceed from here on in?”

  A studious expression gripping his face, the naga thought long and hard for a few moments, before finally replying.

  “I think I need to contact my king, and let him know about the threat we face from the dragons. I could try and reach out telepathically from in here, but I’m pretty sure I’m too far away from any of my race for it to be successful.”

  “It’s worth a try though, don’t you think?” added Man’s father, believing that this would be the perfect outcome. Getting the naga king here without losing their leverage in the form of Marg would be the ideal scenario as far as he was concerned.

  “If you could find me some total and utter solitude, then I would gladly give it a go. It might take more than a few hours to even try. If successful though, it would save us a whole lot of time.”

  “If it worked, what would likely happen?”

  “In theory if I could find one of my kind, they might be able to amplify the message and forward it straight on to the king. Given everything I now know, I would assume the monarch would want to come directly here, as soon as possible.”

  Boy did that sound good.

  “And you’d be able to give him directions to get here?”

  “I’m pretty sure I could remember enough to get him close. After that, he and his team would have no problem homing in on me so to speak. I’d imagine he’d want to hear the details of your story first hand, but I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t want to help you and everyone here.”

  “That sounds terrific,” replied the leader, already piecing the final parts of the puzzle together in his head. “How soon can we get started?”

  “How soon can you find me the solitude that I need to focus my mind?”

  “If you come right this way, I’ll show you straight there myself.”

  And with that, the two of them left the humble, ice cold room, both of them with very different ideas as to what would happen next.

  Lessons over for the day, Josh and Man hooked up and headed off in the direction of their mother, having already agreed to join her for a meal.

  Having not spoken a word to each other throughout the day, Josh was keen to ask Man what had happened back at the dragon prisoner’s cave.

  “What on earth happened and why the hell didn’t you get out of there when you had the chance?” queried the younger of the two brothers.

  Having played out the events over and over in his mind during the course of the day, Man wondered just how much he should tell his brother. If he told him everything, he would worry beyond belief. But they were brothers, and secrets were hard to keep between the two of them.

  “He belongs to a race called the nagas, and had gotten lost, hence the reason he threw himself up and out of the stream.”

  “That’s incredible,” declared Josh, gobsmacked.

  “And that’s not even the best part.”

  “Really?”

  “Apparently his race possesses rare and ancient magic. In an instant, he was able to sense my gift locked away inside me and set it free. It was absolutely awesome.”

  “Wow,” was all that Josh could utter.

  Man continued on.

  “Here’s where it gets interesting. Whatever he did to me unlocked the bonds of the DNA inside me. From the moment his power touched me, I started to change.”

  “What did it feel like?”

  “Bliss! An overwhelming infusion of scarily hot magic washing over me, charging and changing my atoms in almost a domino effect. Before I knew it, I’d transformed into what we’ve always been told was inside us, and what was supposedly never possible in this particular environment.”

  “A... dragon?”

  “Yep! And not just any one at that.”

  “Could you see what you looked like?”

  “Through the reflection on some of the walls I caught a glimpse.”

  “And?”

  “A scaly, prehistoric body, the likes of which I could never even dream, had consumed my consciousness. Several shades of blue encompassed the whole thing, with piercing white crystalline structures jutting out at odd and jaunty angles from just about everywhere... my wings, tail, upper body. It was momentous and the most amazing experience of my life.”

  “What happened after that?” Josh questioned.

  “Father turned up with some of his men.”

  Josh’s eyes looked as though they were about to explode.

  “And?”

  “I�
��m not really sure. He took one look at me, told he how proud he was and then after exchanging a few words with the naga, they left together. He told me I had to practise shifting in and out of my dragon form, and that the time was nearly upon us. I’m not sure what it all means.”

  Josh let out a long, slow breath, the molecules in the air freezing as he did so. Bursting with excitement, he just had to ask.

  “Please can I see you in your dragon form?”

  “Really? Here, now?”

  “Please.”

  Looking around to make sure there was no one about, not wanting to get caught out in the open like this, Man gave in to his brother’s wishes, and started to think about the primordial power that lay deep within him. Before that first thought had even begun to flourish, common sense took over.

  Without shame or hesitation, he started to strip off in the deserted, ice cold part of the cavern they found themselves in.

  “What the hell are you doing?” asked his brother.

  Pulling off the last of his newly gained rags, and throwing them to one side, he calmly answered.

  “I’ve already lost one set of clothes today, and I don’t intend on losing another.”

  Josh could only look on in disbelief.

  Naked and frozen, the youngster delved deep inside and found the brilliant flame that now burnt bright. Almost as if flicking a switch, the magic inside him began to cascade out of control, like a river bursting its banks.

  As Josh stood wide-eyed and open-mouthed, Man’s ape-like form sparkled and sizzled, hissed and shimmered, eventually blurring out entirely, all in the blink of an eye. Before he knew it, his brother’s appearance had grown considerably in stature, all of it though still very hazy and almost impossible to focus in on.

  With little fuss, and about two seconds after it had started, a gigantic, monstrous prehistoric visage appeared in Man’s place, rolling its mighty head from side to side, looking like something out of most people’s nightmares.

  More than a little afraid, Josh started to back off slightly, wondering what would come next.

  Opening his stunning blue wings, taking two pounding steps forward, Man lowered his body and brought his massive scaled head to within a few inches of his sibling’s terrified face.

  “BOO!”

  “Aaaarrrrrgggghhhhh!” screamed Josh, slipping and falling flat on his arse.

  “Ha ha ha. Don’t be afraid, brother,” rumbled a low, guttural voice.

  Slowly, Josh sat up, unable to take his eyes off his brother’s reincarnation.

  “I told you it was good, didn’t I?”

  Josh nodded his agreement. It was the most fantastical thing he’d ever seen, even outstripping his dreams by a considerable margin.

  “You look awesome,” was all that he could think to say.

  “Thank you.”

  “How does it feel?”

  “It just feels right... like it was meant to be.”

  “Have you tried flying yet?”

  That surprised Man, mainly because it hadn’t even crossed his mind.

  “No... I haven’t really thought about it.”

  “How cool would that be though?” Josh ventured.

  “It would be cool,” admitted Man, his massive, ancient head turning to the ceiling, wondering if there were enough space to make an attempt here and now.

  “I don’t think there’s room at the moment.”

  Josh nodded in agreement.

  “What about breathing fire? Have you tried that?” asked the younger of the two.

  This was something Man hadn’t even thought about experimenting with again, so preoccupied had he become with everything else going on around him.

  “SHALL I TRY IT?” boomed an inquisitive prehistoric voice.

  “Ooooh... go on then.”

  Drawing in a huge breath, the scales on his beautiful, blue belly rippling ever so slightly as he did so, Man closed his eyes and searched inside himself for something... hot!

  Patience running out, Josh willed his brother on, desperate to see even the tiniest sliver of flame. Careful what you wish for.

  Abruptly, he found it. The only way to describe it was an extension of his magic, something that fought to break free. With just a thought, Man set it on its way, and then began to exhale.

  Opening his eyes, hopeful of seeing some sort of reaction as the air travelled up his lungs and out of his mouth, disappointment started to set in as nothing visible emerged.

  Hanging on tenterhooks, Josh’s palpable excitement died away as his brother continued to breathe out.

  With over half the breath gone, out of nowhere scorching, magical heat ignited in Man’s throat. Caught in a mixture of confusion and surprise, immediately he tried to close his mouth. That just made things worse. Starting to choke in an effort to contain that which wanted to escape, a few brief coughs and snorts later, the older brother, magnificent in all his prehistoric glory, thrust his lethal looking jaws open wide, and closed his eyes in relief.

  Josh, about to ask his brother what on earth was going on, managed to use his cat-like reactions to dive full throttle out of the way at the exact moment his brother opened his mouth, narrowly missing the streaking ball of red, orange, yellow and blue flaming fire. With a huge ‘BOOM’, a whole side wall of stalactites were instantly obliterated, the chamber itself rattling for dear life.

  Each turning to look at the other, after a few moments, the deafening silence was pierced by howling roars of laughter. Josh collapsed to the floor, while his brother’s resounding tones of mirth resounded around the walls.

  After wiping the frozen tears from his face, Josh turned to his sibling and said,

  “That was brilliant. Best day ever!”

  Man’s huge jaw nodded in agreement as the sound of approaching footsteps brought them down to earth with a bump.

  “I think you’d better change back,” remarked Josh nervously.

  Man did just that, his naked human form quickly slipping into his newly found rags.

  As some of their father’s men came sprinting around the corner in front of them, the two boys just stood there, shell-shocked.

  Drawing to a halt directly in front of them, the one in charge glared before asking,

  “What was that noise?”

  As Josh quivered next to him, Man’s quick thinking brain had no trouble answering the question.

  “Rock fall, over there,” he pointed in the same direction as the fireball had headed off in.

  “Anyone hurt?” enquired the guard.

  “There was nobody here but us.”

  “Well... that’s something,” declared the guard, instantly relieved. “I’ll let your father know. We might have to cordon off that part of the chamber. I should get going, just in case there are any aftershocks.”

  Neither of them needed to be told twice, both dashing off in the direction the guards had come from.

  Elsewhere in the compound, the leader had shown their serpent-like guest to a small, remote enclosure in the coldest depths of their prison. For his part, the naga seemed to relish the ice and frost. As he vowed to try his hardest to get in touch with his king, Man’s father told him he’d post a guard outside for when he was finished. Marg’s first instinct was to thank his host for his generosity, something the leader found greatly amusing, deep inside his head anyway, on the walk back to his quarters.

  Once there, he rounded up all of the males, excluding all the youngsters, and began to lay out his plan. The rudimentary weapons that they had stored for such an occasion were to come out of hiding and be readily available. A large contingent of their force were told to stay within sight of Marg at all times, ready to take him down at a moment’s notice. Each and every one of them knew that he had to be taken alive. Killing him made them weak. As their captive, he could be bargained for and much, much more. Understanding their orders, they headed off, determined to get as close as they could, while looking as though they were going about their daily business. Stealth was
needed now, more than ever. Plans were drawn up, contingencies made should the king of the nagas come to investigate what on earth was going on. Through the cutting cold of the ice that pierced their lungs in agony every time they breathed, hope slowly started to seep back into those that knew exactly what was going on. They stood up straighter, carried themselves with that much more composure, occasionally letting a smile play out across their rugged and timeworn features, when there was no one watching.

  In their mother’s cramped and compact living area, Josh was busy spouting on about his brother’s transformation into a real life dragon, with all the enthusiasm he could muster. Astounded, their mother turned to her oldest son for confirmation.

  “It’s true... everything he’s said.”

  All she could do was look on in disbelief.

  “And you say that this naga creature is still here?”

  “As far as I know, it is. As Father’s guest if I’m not mistaken.”

  A noticeable frown crept across the ravaged features of her face on hearing this.

  “What is it?” asked Man, as politely as he could.

  “It’s nothing,” she whispered.

  “Clearly it’s something... tell us, please.”

  “From what I know,” she whispered, glancing around to make sure no one other than her sons was listening, “the nagas are one of the ancient races, one of the only ones to be left out of signing the ancient agreement, the one related to the famed prophecy the dragon domain is so keen on invoking, whenever they get the chance.”

  “Why does that matter?” asked Josh.

  Their mother, head bowed, was clearly thinking carefully about her next words.

  “My understanding is, at the time, they as a race were considered too naive and gullible to be part of the proceedings. The worry was that they would somehow become compromised, thus endangering the whole deal. I don’t know whether that’s true or not, or whether the nagas as a race have changed across the centuries. All that I’ve ever heard about them, is that after being excluded from everything in and around the prophecy and the agreement, they went into some kind of self-imposed exile. If they are still as trusting and easy to fleece as ever, then I would think, even as we speak, plans are underway to take advantage of that.”