by Darren Lewis
They both stepped onto a wooden veranda that encircled the house. Blue felt slightly uneasy at finding himself on someone else's property without the permission of an adult but hoped they would understand and be able to point him in the right direction to walk at least.
“I think daddy's inside.” The girl pulled on Blue's hand and he followed.
“What's your name?” Blue asked as the girl pulled back the screen door and entered the house. She pulled Blue over the threshold and smiled, almost condescendingly Blue thought, and continued to lead him through the house to a large kitchen at the rear. A long and broad wooden table occupied the centre of the room with a bench either side that could easily seat a dozen people if not more if the occasion demanded it. The light of the clear day was more subdued and Blue immediately felt the drop in temperature. He looked about the kitchen noting the large cooking range and the wealth of copper pots and pans hanging above the table itself. A pot was bubbling away on the range, the lid jostling and clanking slightly from the escaping heat. Blue drew a deep breath and began coughing, quickly followed by violent retching. Blue fell to his knees, the odour was overpowering and with every retch he felt sure he would never stop to draw another breath. Through watery eyes he saw the girl approach and rub his back. Tears streamed down Blue's face and as a retch ended and he half sobbed the kitchen appeared to darken, the wood of the cabinets and table changed colour to a dark grey with touches of green and black covering their surfaces. Another retch took him and he doubled over. In the instant before he closed his eyes, he saw black mould beneath him, on every inch of the kitchen floor. Blue's head shook with the pressure from within and once again he swore he would never take a breath again but as he did his stomach relaxed enough for him to gasp.
“It's okay. You're fine. Too much beer I'm guessing, I've seen my grandaddy with a hangover, it was so scary. I'll never drink.” The girl's words were so sincere that Blue let out a half sob, half laugh. He wiped his eyes on the sleeve of his new raincoat and looked around. The farmhouse kitchen was as he'd originally seen it, with no trace of decay. He sniffed tentatively but could only smell whatever was cooking on the range, and whatever it was it didn't smell like how he imagined death smelt. The girl grabbed Blue's upper arm and he pushed himself upright.
“Come on, take a seat, Blue.” Blue nodded and sunk gratefully onto a bench, turning so he could rest his head in his hands.
“Sorry about that.” Blue mumbled, totally at a loss to explain what had just happened to him, though he renewed his vow to kick Copper very hard in a sensitive area when he saw him. The girl laughed and Blue smiled at the girl's amusement regardless of how he felt. Blue heard the clink of glass, the squeaking of a tap and rushing water.
“Here you go, Blue.” She placed the glass of water under his supported head. “Try that.” Blue nodded his thanks gingerly and took a sip of water. The taste of water caused Blue to start to his feet, spitting the water from his mouth as he threw the glass away spilling it on the table. He cringed and felt his gorge rise yet again but Blue held his breath and released it slowly, concentrating, calming himself. The taste lingered and to him he imagined it was probably akin to drinking straight from an animal's water bowl left out for weeks. He looked down at the table and saw the remaining water in the glass was a pale brown with black flecks circling the glass.
“What the hell is going on?” Blue didn't think even Copper would go so far as to drug him and cause hallucinations.
“Don't you like my house?” The girl asked, her voice betraying her upset at Blue's behaviour. Blue sat down heavily on the bench.
“I don't know what's the matter with me.” He explained placing his hands on the table to reassure him for the moment it was real.
“Don't you like my house?” The girl asked again but with a more insistent tone. Blue gave the girl a lopsided smile, though that was the last thing he felt like doing. He turned his newly bloodshot eyes to the window and stared into the cloudless sky.
“It's beautiful.” He whispered and then he frowned. “But I didn't think that places like this existed, at least not for humans.” The girl stayed silent provoking Blue into speaking. “We…we were told that humans either served their masters and lived comfortably as servants and the like or denied them and lived in squalor.” Blue swept his hand around the kitchen, indicating the farm in general. “I can't fathom this place.” The girl pursed her lips thoughtfully and nodded.
“You're right, Blue. That is the way of things, even here.” Any discomfort Blue still carried fled with these words.
“So you do serve the same masters as I? Can you help me return to the Academy? I'm due for my joining.” Blue rose, expecting the girl to acknowledge his request. Instead she took his hand once again and led him to the back door.
“My father is late.” She laughed sadly. “He was always late. My mother would say he did it purposefully but the truth was he was a dreamer, his head always in other places.” Blue frowned at the change in tense the girl was using. She shrugged and pushed her way through the back door of the kitchen to a porch and the golden fields beyond. Once again Blue was struck by the astounding beauty of the farm he had woken in.
“Do you like it?” The girl whispered and Blue saw the tears swelling in the girl's eyes.
“Yes of course!” He answered immediately, not wishing to upset this strange but welcoming young girl. Blue studied the fields quickly to try to add to his rather bland comment. “May I ask why you have three separate fields instead of one?” Blue had noticed this feature in the cornfields at the front of the farmhouse. It wasn't the best question he had to admit but his head and throat were still sore from being ill. The girl didn't answer and instead led Blue off the porch to stand in front of the middle field. A small wooden cross was staked into the ground and Blue saw two more crosses placed in front of the cornfields to his left and right.
“Do you wish to be a dragonrider, Blue?” The girl asked releasing his hand and kneeling in front of the wooden cross. Before Blue answered a dark billowing cloud moved in front of the sun, casting the house and fields in a sombre grey. Blue shivered at another rapid drop in temperature.
“Of course. I've trained for it my entire life.”
“Would you kill to be a dragonrider, Blue? Would you die for the chance to be one, Blue?” Blue shivered again and rubbed his arms. The conversation was taking quite a grim turn and Blue was uncomfortable answering such questions to one so young, so he changed tack.
“Do you know when your father will be back? Maybe he can help me get back to the Academy?”
The girl, still turned away from Blue shook her head.
“He's not coming back. He's over there.” She pointed to the field on their right-hand side. “My mother is over there,” she raised her hand indicating the field to their left, “and I was meant to be here.” The girl's head sunk down until her chin was resting on her chest. A breeze rippled across the fields, sending the corn swaying and Blue was overcome by the thought that what he saw wasn't real. He stepped back and his shoe cracked against something on the ground. Looking down Blue saw a small white bone, no longer than his forefinger, curved and snapped in two. He grimaced and stepped sideways eliciting yet another loud crack. The bone this time was more substantial in thickness and length. Blue looked up with a disgusted expression straight into the girl's watery eyes. He couldn't say why but an important fact suddenly came to him and sent a wave of fear down his spine.
“I didn't tell you my name? How do you know my name?”
“I will tell you.” The girl answered as a few tears escaped and ran down her cheeks. “But in return I wish to show you something?”
Blue hesitated slightly and the girl stepped forward to reassure him.
“No harm will come to you, I swear.”
Blue sighed, in part as he believed this was just some incredibly complicated ruse Copper had a hand in or the celebrations of his ascendency ran out of control and he was paying the price
in this nightmare of his mind.
“Okay. Show me.”
The girl sobbed and reached for Blue's hand.
* * *
There are hundreds of us here. All huddled together in small terrified groups. The only sounds that have any meaning are the cries of infants, children, men and women but they are the sounds that are ignored. To our captors they are nothing more than a wound left by a mosquito. But like that mosquito it may be infected, so they will eradicate the source, disinfect their world, eliminate any threat.
I don't remember the journey here, I'm too young, too scared to pay attention to such detail. All I know is that my parents are petrified and that is something that scares me more than anything I've encountered or witnessed before…until this day.
They move among us, they separate and segregate. Men here, women here, children over there. Some are chosen and are taken away, kicking and protesting, but all to no avail. Those who try to fight back are beaten to unconsciousness or worse.
I'm not with my parents anymore. They told me to be brave before we were sent from each other. I cannot stop crying; I want them so much. The gentleness of my mother's hand on my cheek, the strength of my father's arm about my shoulder, it has been taken from me and now I am weak, I cannot stand alone…but here I stand.
My group has smaller children than I, they cry terribly and look lost. I remember my mother's hand and father's arm and comfort these little ones. Their crying abates a while and my heart beats stronger.
Night approaches and we are cold and hungry. We are promised food and drink soon. As the night wears on and I watch my breath plume in front of me I huddle in closer to my small group to steal some much needed warmth. Sleep does not come so I look about and try to see my parents, but fail. My fingers and toes have become numb and I cry in pain at the emptiness in my stomach.
The new day brings a red band across the horizon and we are ordered to our feet. Some of the older men and women do not rise, the cold has claimed them. They are the lucky ones. Digging equipment and tools are given to every person and we are ordered to dig a pit. One for each group. I don't know why but some of the adults do and run away. They do not get far.
We dig and shift soil. The work makes me warm but my energy is fading quickly from lack of food. Each pit is dug in short order as there are so many of us. When we are finished we are permitted to rest a while.
The day's work has taken a toll once more and these bodies are casually tossed into the pit. No words of comfort are said over them, no remembrances, no prayers are offered but those in our minds.
As evening comes and we weaken the order to stand is given and we are led to the pits. I know now what they are and I do not care. I only care that the final indignity or cruelty of being separated from our loved ones at this moment takes precedence for these monsters.
Heavy thumps ring out. I jump with each and begin to shake. The smaller ones' start wailing and I try to comfort them as I would like to be comforted but my words have no meaning. Screaming heralds the arrival of night and does not cease. Pitiful cries to a failed God are repeated over and over until they are silenced. They now come among my group and I close my eyes. I hear the wicked sound again and again. I clutch the small bodies to me when they go limp. The terror I feel seems to petrify my body and mind and I wait for a final instance of pain and then nothing.
A heavy crack of bone is accompanied by white light and a high pitched whine. Then nothing…
My mouth is half full of something grainy and I spit it feebly away. My head aches with the rhythm of my pounding heart and I groan in pity for myself. I open my eyes and immediately blink and rub away the dry mud covering my face. I feel a soft breeze caress my hair and I open my eyes once again to stare at a blue sky. There is no sound. No birds sing in the trees and no insects chirp in the grass. I sit and see my body half covered in dirt. The landscape around me is sculpted by three rises and has the look of fresh turned soil. I ease the rest of my body slowly upwards and cry out as a limp hand falls from my foot…and I remember. The heavy thump on my head and the white light of pain. I explore the back of my head and feel the matted blood.
I don't know how I've survived or how I've dug myself out of my own grave. Tears spill down my face washing away the grime. Apart from me there is no evidence of the horrors that have occurred here and I weep for each person buried below me.
As my tears dry and I think of my parents and the little ones I tried to comfort. I push my hands into the soil and force myself upwards on shaking legs. I'm weak, but only physically. I'm weak, and I don't know if I will get stronger.
Maybe I cannot stand alone…but here I stand.
* * *
Blue fell to his knees in front of the wooden cross the girl had guided him to. He tried to scream as tears fell to the soil beneath him. The grief overwhelmed him and Blue wanted nothing more than to wail, to cry and sob relentlessly for the lives taken so coldly that night. But he couldn't. The scream he wished to release was silent as if he unconsciously knew that no display of grief could ever be enough for what had happened. Instead he pounded the ground with his fists until exhausted and rested his head on his arms.
A hand squeezed his shoulder and he heard a sigh.
“I'm sorry to do that to you, Blue. But everything you felt was true.” The girl's voice had changed albeit subtlety but Blue could not bring himself to look at her yet.
“Why did you show me? What did I do to deserve that?” Blue whispered, his voice wavering still.
“Nothing.” The girl replied bluntly. “Just like everyone here that night. They did nothing to deserve or justify what happened to them.” Blue heard the girl sit down next to him and felt her breath on his ear. “It was important for you to see what your past, what your education was built upon. You were chosen from birth, Blue to be a rider. Your talent was apparent even then. Now think of all those others at birth who weren't suitable.” The girl paused and placed a hand on Blue's back. “do you think they were simply adopted out to human families? What do you think happened to them?” Blue tried to reconcile what he was hearing with his life at the Academy. In all his years he had never heard a story such as this. His education had taught him that mankind was the aggressor and tried to eliminate the dragons from the world and it fell to a few humans to become riders and save both species. Blue shook his head violently and thrust himself upright, his lips quivering in anger to repute what he was being shown, he would not be a pawn in some ridiculous ploy. But the words died on his lips. The golden fields of corn were gone and the clear blue sky replaced by a dirty brown haze rising from the horizon to far above. All that remained were three wooden crosses, placed as they were when Blue had first seen them. Behind the crosses were three stretches of land measuring at least ten metres on each side. The three areas of land were dead, nothing grew at all anywhere and Blue could not help but stare at the mass of bones that lay close by.
“The farm was an illusion but it existed here at some point. I wanted to show you how much had been lost even in this small part of the world.”
Blue turned to look at the girl and was not really surprised to find a young woman standing next to him.
“What you showed me happened years ago?”
The young woman nodded.
“But how? Who are you? Where am I?” As the questions poured from Blue his memory returned in such a fashion he stopped speaking and his eyes widened. The young woman gave Blue a sympathetic smile. Blue sat back down heavily and he groaned. “I failed my ascendency. I was to be cast out.”
The young woman chuckled, not with malice though Blue still levelled an angry gaze at her.
“No, Blue. I told you. You were to be a rider. It was decided your skills were needed elsewhere and now you're here.” Blue once again tried to speak and untangle the situation he'd found himself in, but he felt utterly lost and decided on a simpler question.
“Who are you?”
The young woman fixed her green eyes on Blue.<
br />
“I'm Cerys. Pleased to meet you, Blue.”
Decisions
A single oil lamp lent its soft yellow glow to the kitchen of the abandoned farmhouse Cerys brought Blue to. He acknowledged in passing that the waves of illness that had affected him so, happened in this ruined room he thought a hallucination at the time. He sniffed cautiously but didn't detect any of the odour that had made him sick.
“That was part of the illusion.” Cerys explained noticing his reaction while retrieving a small rucksack from an empty cupboard. “You were experiencing the horror of this place as a physical sensation. It made you ill.” Blue grunted noncommittally and seated himself at the table. Cerys gave Blue a long stare before emptying her bag in front of him. “Here. Food and water. Not much I'm afraid but you'll get used to it.” Blue cast a cynical eye on the fare placed before him. He gave a paper wrapped square a poke and waited to see if it would poke back. When nothing happened he unwrapped the small package revealing a sandwich of dark bread and something that smelt questionable. “The bread is made for travelling long distances so it has to last. The meat…” Cerys had the grace to look away, whether from amusement or embarrassment, Blue was unsure. “Well, it's edible at least.” Cerys pointed at him without turning. “Eat!” Blue picked up the sandwich, noting the singular hefty weight of the bread, and took a small bite. It wasn't good in any way and although his muscles still ached from earlier his stomach cried out for sustenance and he made quick work of the meagre bounty. Cerys sat across from Blue nodding in satisfaction. As he swallowed his last mouthful she pushed a plastic bottle towards him. “Just water.” Blue didn't hesitate this time and chased the hard meal down with the slightly warm water. “Good.” Cerys commented. “We have a journey to make and you'll need to keep your strength up.” Blue paused with the bottle halfway to his mouth.