Grandelyn

by Dionne Lee Nelson

Chapter 9

  The Land of Grandelyn

  Ariyah gasped at the frightening sight before her eyes. The white gate was actually the bodies of two albino Siamese twin dragons. “Oh my, Vanka...” she whimpered quietly, being sure not to scream. When Vanka ran to the entrance where Ariyah was, she was just as startled. This place was guarded by the gigantic white dragons, who appeared to be sleeping. They were attached to each other by their stomachs, and their wings and tails served as the gate to the entire island.

  “I've never seen such a thing.” Vanka marveled. The other escapees came to the entrance and they gasped as well. The two beings were an amazing sight to see. They were still, huge, scaly and silent. They looked like two bright white statues, except that they were breathing.

  “I never even knew these things existed” Mr. Crowesh said, carelessly patting the dragons on the stomach (the only part that was not electrically-charged). As they all gazed at these intriguing beings, two-year old, Remi (the youngest child of the escaped slave children) wanted to get a closer look at the gate. He ran his little pale body up to the front gate and grabbed hold of the bottom of the wing.

  “Ooh mama, look” he squealed with joy. He squeezed and poked the gate in wonderment. “Wow!” He squealed again.

  “Umm... Remi, get away from that” His mother Shema nervously said.

  “Ooh look” Remi said, still smiling as he squeezed the belly with more force. With a sudden jolt and rumble, one of the dragons ripped its body away from its twin, breaking its stature from gate to battle stance. It whipped its head around, eyes set ablaze with a fiery orange color as it roared.

  Everyone’s mouth dropped. Trembling with fear, the escapees carefully backed away from the gate. The second dragon let out a high-pitched squeal and broke away from the gate frame completely. The group was in a state of sheer panic as the two creatures walked menacingly toward them. The children began to cry and hold on to their parents. Mr. Crowesh slowly and carefully tried to pull Ariyah away from the front as the two creatures approached. Remi cried, flailing his arms in horror.

  “Mommy, get it away!” He cried. This noise of the squealing child agitated the dragons. They both lifted their bodies on their hind legs, rearing wildly like a horse. Through their pale white bodies, there was a bright orange and yellow glow emanating from their stomachs. Gray smoke escaped from their lips as the glow became bigger. “Oh my, they're going to blow fire at us!” Mr. Crowesh alarmed. “Run! Get out of the way!”

  Everyone began running and screaming. Many of the black horses that were brought along from the Savage Kingdom ran away, leaving the escapees stranded. The men pulled the woman and children back as the dragons stormed after them. Ariyah tried to keep up with them, but tripped on a rock and fell on her face.

  “Ariyah!” Orraco called out to her. He tried to get to her but one of the adults pulled him back. Ariyah slowly turned over, her eyes blurry and face now burning with pain as blood dripped from her nose. One of the dragons stood over her and reared once more, while the other boiled up fire in its belly again preparing to flame throw. She knew this was the end for her. She knew no one could help her now. She just closed her eyes tightly and waited for the fire to scorch and melt away her flesh.

  “Oh Lord, not de’ baby!” Vanka begged in the background. As the first dragon was about to come crashing down on Ariyah, a light flashed in its eyes, temporarily blinding it. The flash came from the medallion around Ariyah’s neck. The second dragon came to get a closer look at the flashing light. It circled around Ariyah, stepping further away. It seemed to be inspecting. The first dragon circled around her too, after regaining its eyesight. It did an investigation of its own as well. Ariyah continued to lie still in the white sand, making sure not to make any sudden moves.

  Bloody and soaked with perspiration and fear, Ariyah shouted over to the people “What are they doing?”

  “I don't know” A puzzled Vanka answered.

  The dragons became calm and the fire within their bellies simmered. The first dragon looked at the medallion again. It looked at its twin and they both knelt down graciously before Ariyah. She sat up in confusion.

  “What are they doing?” She asked once again.

  “It looks like they're bowing to you, Ariyah” Sheevar chuckled. Looking at the top of the heads of these two massive dragons, Ariyah realized they were doing just that. Her fear turned into relief. She worked up the courage, crawled over to them and gently stroked the tops of their heads. The first dragon stuck its nose out to her, wanting her to hold it so it could help lift her to her feet. The escapees looked at these frightening creatures in amazement. Only a few moments ago they were ready to kill Ariyah, now they were helping her stand. While she stood in pure amazement, the dragons studied her and her medallion. The first dragon directed her back to the opening of the land where they were guarding.

  “It wants us to follow them” Ariyah called out. The ex-slaves were very apprehensive, but the other dragon gently stepped to them and persuaded them to come inside too. Ariyah didn't know what it was about the medallion that calmed them, but it worked.

  As it guided her inside, the land was even more beautiful than she first thought. The white sand led directly to the mainland, and the purple body of water looked as big as the sea. Behind the waters was the space that looked like a city that had already been established. Tall buildings, small buildings and paved roads all occupied the back of the gorgeous unique purple water. There were many palm trees aligning the land, which was massive; too big to see everything. Ariyah stood in awe as the others followed. The dragon nudged her from behind. It wanted her to explore more.

  Fafuras were in almost every tree, and some were growing in bushes. The waves of the purple water cascaded forward in quick rushes. Ariyah was compelled to touch it.

  “Wait for me, Ariyah” Sheevar’s small voice called out as she ran. Orraco followed.

  “This place is amazing!” Ariyah exclaimed. As the children were running toward the water, something caught Ariyah’s eye.

  “Look at that” Orraco said. Three small zebras with wings, one with black sheer wings and the other two with white sheer wings on them, stepped toward them.

  “What are they?” Ariyah asked in amazement. The creatures seemed very timid. Their black zebra stripes sparkled like dark onyx and their white skin glowed brightly. Their wings were strong and sturdy, and looked like they were made out of the best fabric money could buy. Ariyah anxiously walked over to the one with the black wings. It was the bigger and more dominant one.

  “Be careful, Ariyah” Orraco said, being protective as usual. It backed away a little, not sure of her intentions. “Come here, I won't hurt you” Ariyah called to it. The creature looked at its two friends, they too were very shy.

  “Come here” Ariyah said with a smiled. The zebra slowly walked to her. Ariyah stroked its mane as it rested its head in her chubby chest. It nuzzled its face in hers, and moved in closer to get a full embrace from her. She had won him over.

  Sheevar and Orraco went to the other two. The children had gained their trust. Vanka came to join them.

  “What do we have here?” She asked.

  “They're zebras with wings” Sheevar said with excitement as she continued to snuggle the animal.

  “I see. They are beautiful. Everything about this place is beautiful.” Vanka said while stroking them, exposing the dark burn now across her forearm. As many other children ran over to explore the new discovery, Vanka questioned Ariyah.

  “So what are you going to call these creatures?”

  Puzzled, Ariyah said, “Why would I need to name them? I'm sure God already has identification for them.”

  “Yes, well we are on a new land where we don't know what to call anything and God isn't here to let us know, so you name them” Vanka egged on. “I'm sure Crystaline would have.”

  Exuberated, Ariyah looked at the beautiful beings and said “Zebralings! These will be c
alled zebralings.”

  Everyone looked at her in approval. She looked again at the purple water, it still intrigued her. She walked over to the edge of the sand border where the water washed on shore. She looked inside, her brown eyes roaming the entire waters. It was the clearest water she had ever witnessed. She could see directly to the bottom. There were white fish and sea life swimming inside. She wanted to get inside to catch one and study it. When she dipped her feet in, energy instantly left her body. Helpless, she fell over.

  “Ariyah!” Orraco yelled. He ran to her and helped her up. Vanka held Ariyah in her arms. “Ariyah, what happened? What's wrong, baby?” Ariyah was feeling very light-headed. “I don't know. I just put my foot into the water and became very weak.” She was feeling incredibly drowsy. The bewildered crowd thought it would be best to stay away from the purple water until they could investigate more about this land and the effects it may have.