Through the Never

by J. A. Culican

  Chapter 3

  Early the next morning, I left the den before the others awoke. Alpha already knew I was planning to retrieve my sword; I’d told him the night before so there was no need to wake him. He knew I’d be back. He’d told me that he wanted to come with me in some misguided thought that I couldn’t look after myself when it came to dragons. Ha!

  I wanted to be alone. Even without my sword, I still had my knife and the new crossbow. It would be enough.

  I knew the dragons lived in the mountains. I’d spent enough time around them to know the types of places they liked to live. Finding them wouldn’t be a problem. I could see the peaks of the mountains above the tree line and I estimated that it would take me a couple of hours trekking through the forest to get to their base. How long it took me to find them after that would depend on how high up they made their nests.

  The path to the mountains was relatively clear and the journey took less time than I had anticipated. Luckily, there was also a pretty clear and easy route up the mountain, so I wouldn’t have to climb the whole way. The path was rocky but the incline wasn’t so severe that it strained me. With the early morning sun, it would be a pleasant walk.

  It wasn’t long before I was above the tree line and could fully appreciate just how huge the forest was. It stretched for miles and, even though I couldn’t see the Wolfren camp, I could gauge where it was from the distance and direction I’d walked. I’d thought it was somewhere near the center, but seeing the vastness of the forest, I could tell it was really only on the edge. The forest would take days to walk through from one side to the other. I wondered what other creatures lived among its leaves and branches.

  Even though I’d never been here before, I recognized the terrain. The grey rocks were identical to those in the Triad Mountains and if that wasn’t enough to convince me of dragons living nearby, the unmistakable smell of sulfur would do it. It permeated the air. Not too strongly, but enough to convince me I was on the right path. It would only get stronger the higher I climbed. The path became much rougher and after an hour or so of hiking, I found that I had to climb more and more. I was almost grateful I didn’t have my sword with me as its weight would only be a burden.

  The heat of the sun began to burn and sweat dripped from me. In my haste, I’d forgotten to bring water with me.

  “Idiot!” I said to myself. Of all the things that could kill me in a place like this, dehydration was number one. Dragons I could cope with, but lack of water was not something I could fight with a knife. I needed to find water and soon. One thing I knew about mountains was that there was always water there if you knew where to look for it. Hidden lakes, streams, waterfalls. The Triads had them all. Even a puddle would be enough to sustain me for a little while. I’d never really mastered the art of water divination. I knew others could find water just using a couple of sticks, but I’d never taken the time to figure out how. I’d have to rely on my other senses. I stopped still and listened for the sound of running water. It was eerily quiet, just like the forest. What was with this place? Surely a forest this size and mountains as large as they were couldn’t only have two species inhabiting them. Even if there were only dragons up here, they would still need to drink. Nothing could survive without water.

  I climbed more, listening for the sound of a brook babbling or even better, a river raging, but I wasn’t in luck. Wherever the source of the water the dragons drank from was, it was much higher than here.

  I carried on regardless, despite my mouth getting dryer, my tongue beginning to feel rough, and the headache that was creeping around the edges of my brain. I knew I should turn back, but that would have meant defeat and defeat was not something I would ever admit to. After another hour of climbing, when the forest was way below me, I finally heard the sound I’d been listening out for. The faint strains of a stream winding its way down the mountain reached my ears. I ran toward it as fast as I could, keeping my senses open for the dragons. I was yet to see one, but the smell of sulphur had intensified and the scorch marks on some of the rocks told me that I needed to keep my wits about me.

  As I rounded a corner, I saw it. A stream full of clear water. It was probably the very same stream that ran through the wolfren village. I fell to my knees as I put my whole face in, drinking up the cool, lifesaving liquid. I gulped it down, desperate to hydrate myself, and when I’d had my fill, I splashed it all over my face and arms to wash of the salty sweat. When I was sure I’d cooled down enough and taken enough of the water to keep me going for a while, I stood, wishing I had some kind of container so I could carry it with me. It was then that I recognized I was not alone. I became aware of a presence watching me from further up the stream. Normally I would have noticed straight away but the dehydration had made my brain foggy.

  I looked up to find a small dragon, much smaller than any I’d seen before. It must have been a baby or at least a young one. Even from the distance between us, I could see that it would only come up to my waist, even if it stood up to its full height. I walked toward it cautiously. It may have been young, but it could still breathe fire. If anything, it could be more dangerous than an adult. Adult dragons could control their fire. Younger ones couldn’t. I took a cautious path toward it. I didn’t want to scare it but at the same time I didn’t want to be barbecued. If I scared it off, I’d only have to chase it to kill it, which would take up way more energy that I wanted to waste. If I could move slowly enough that it didn’t move, I could get it in one swipe of my blade. It would be a good souvenir for Alpha. It might even have enough meat on its bones to provide a pre-dinner snack for the wolfren.

  “There now,” I said as sweetly as I could. I didn’t have a maternal bone in my body and was useless with kids, but I thought if I kept my voice gentle, it might be enough to keep the dragon calm. It worked until I got about twenty feet away from him. My closeness had gotten to be a little too much and he scrambled on the rocks behind him to escape. Why didn’t he just fly? He was young, but he was certainly old enough to use his wings. As I caught up with him, I could see why. His wing was bent at a funny angle. He was frantically trying to get away from me, but his wing dragged behind him, slowing his progress. I caught up to him quickly and reached out to grab him. Killing him would be a walk in the park. I raised my knife, but before I brought it down into his flesh, something came over me and I paused. It didn’t feel right, killing this tiny creature. The dragons I’d killed were huge and ferocious. This one was helpless. I could feel him trembling beneath my fingers. He wasn’t even trying to escape my clutches now. He must have known it was useless. I was much too strong for him.

  He looked at me, fear evident in his eyes, and as I held onto his front arm, I knew I’d never be able to kill him.

  “You are probably going to die anyway,” I said, dropping my hold on him. “No dragon can survive with only one working wing.”

  I expected him to carry on scrambling up the rocks but he just sat there, trembling. What was I going to do now?

  The best option would be to leave him where he was. He didn’t have my sword. One of the larger dragons would have that somewhere, probably in a nest. I searched the sky, wondering when the dragon’s mother would show up. The mother dragons were the worst. They’d do anything to protect their young and would think nothing of frying a slayer on the spot if it meant safety for their babies.

  I sat down and stroked the small green dragon absent-mindedly whilst I tried to come up with a new plan.

  My touch seemed to calm him a little. Maybe I did have some maternal bones in me after all.

  He began to twitch, which I put down to fear and maybe pain from the broken wing, but as the tremors became more violent, I realized something else was at play here. I stepped back in shock as his whole body went into spasms. Then the familiar but still sickening sound of bones crunching and skin stretching filled the air. What was happening to him? His whole body seemed to be folding in on itself.

  I could hardly bear to watch as his
skin shuffled itself around and his body rearranged itself into—

  He was a shifter!

  The small green dragon had gone and a young boy sat quivering and naked in his place. For a moment, I was too shocked to move, but I recovered quickly and pulled my tunic over my head, giving it to the boy. When he slipped into it, I could see that his shoulder was sore on the same side where his wing had been damaged. It looked like he’d dislocated it.

  The shock at finding out he was a shifter was so overwhelming that I didn’t know what to say to him.

  He looked to be about seven years old, although he was small for his age.

  “Thank you,” he said in a small voice.

  “Who are you?”

  “My name is Drake. Who are you?”

  I could hardly tell him I was a dragon slayer. “I’m Morganna. Does your shoulder hurt?”

  “A little,” he replied, and then winced as he tried to move his arm. “I think I can help you. I’ll need to push the top of your arm near the shoulder. It’s going to hurt but only for a second and then the pain will almost be completely gone. Would you like me to do that for you?”

  The poor kid looked terrified, but he nodded his head all the same.

  I walked slowly over to him so as not to scare him.

  As I got closer, I could see that I had been right. A swift push would get his arm back into the right place. I was just worried that he would scream. If he did, that would alert all the other dragons to my presence. The other dragons must be shifters too. What about the ones on the Triad Mountains? Were they shifters too?

  I couldn’t even begin to get the idea through my mind, so I concentrated on the boy instead.

  “Look at me and not your arm, OK? I’m going to talk to you while this is happening. It will hurt for a second and then the pain will disappear, like magic. Can you tell me how old you are, Drake?”

  I popped the shoulder back into place as hard as I could, not giving him time to answer. I was hoping that if I took him by surprise, it would be over before he knew it. He didn’t scream as I’d expected him to, but his mouth formed a perfect O shape. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes, but to his credit, he kept it together.

  “There, is that better?”

  “You didn’t warn me!” he said, although I could tell by the way he was able to move his arm now that I’d done a good job.

  “I’m sorry. How does it feel?”

  “It feels OK. I can move my arm again. How did you do that? Are you magic?”

  “No,” I smiled. He was a cute kid with a crop of unruly black hair. He looked nothing like his dragon self, apart from the cuteness. “Your bone just needed to pop back into place. How did you hurt yourself?”

  “I fell and when I stood up, I couldn’t move my wing. Are you one of the wolves because you don’t look or smell like them.”

  “I’m not a wolf, no. I’m a human.”

  “What’s a human?”

  How could he not know? He looked just like one.

  “I guess I’m just like you but I can’t turn into a dragon.”

  “Or a wolf?”

  “Or a wolf.”

  “So, what do you change into?”

  “I don’t. Humans stay exactly like this.”

  He considered this for a minute before replying. “That’s boring!”

  I had to laugh. “It sure is kiddo!”

  When I was sure he was OK, I asked him where his family was. For the longest time, I’d thought nothing of killing dragons. It was no worse than swatting a fly, albeit a large, fire-breathing fly, but now I knew they were people, too. I was going to have to be more careful about how I approached them. I couldn’t kill them, that was for sure. Not now, knowing what I did. My mind fleetingly went to all the dragons I’d already killed, but I pushed it away sharply. I didn’t have the time for regrets. I was sure it would haunt me in the coming months.

  “I’ll show you. We live not far from here.”

  I began to follow Drake and as I did, I wondered how the older dragons were going to react to me when I finally got to them.

  Chapter 4

  As we climbed higher, the stench of sulphur intensified, making breathing difficult. The air was thinner up here, too, which didn’t help, and yet Drake seemed unaware of it. I guess he was used to the altitude and had adapted to it. I had to ask him to slow down once or twice, because now he had the use of his arm back, he was practically skipping up the rocks in the way that only kids can do.

  The sky went dark. As it was a cloudless sky and I wasn’t aware of any eclipses due, it could only mean one thing. I looked up to see the underbelly of a huge dragon. I didn’t want to kill it anymore, but at the same time, if it was a choice between its life and mine, I’d go for mine every time. My hand gripped the handle of my knife, but at this distance it would do no good. The crossbow would be my best shot but getting it out would show that I intended to kill them. Either way could spell disaster. The dragon circled closer, flying lower and lower in the sky. It was almost upon us and I still hadn’t figured out what to do when the dragon attacked.

  It opened its jaws and flew straight at me. My hand tightened on the knife and I could feel my pulse racing. My first instinct was to slice its throat as it flew over as I had done hundreds of times, but how could I do that knowing that it could be Drake’s mother or father? I was going to have to kill it. I had no choice. I was just about to bring my knife out when Drake pushed me out of the dragon’s path.

  It flew past as I dusted myself off. The large dragon came to a standstill and perched itself on a nearby rock, staring at me. It looked confused, unsure of itself. I wasn’t surprised. It would have seen Drake saving me. Drake had also tumbled and was wiping the dust from the tunic I’d given to him.

  The sound of bones crunching alerted me to the fact that the large dragon was shifting. I’d already seen it once with Drake, but it didn’t stop the horror I felt at witnessing it all over again.

  I closed my eyes. When the horrible sound stopped, I peeked. A naked man stood before me. He was older than me, maybe in his early fifties, but I could tell by the muscles on his chest that he liked to keep in shape. He picked something up from behind a rock and threw it over himself. It was some kind of cloak. They must have them dotted around the place for times like this. Having to shift without clothes on could lead to some embarrassing episodes, I mused.

  “Who are you?” shouted the man, climbing down the rocks towards us. He sounded menacing.

  “She’s with me,” cried Drake. I was thankful he was with me. I was afraid this man would kill me in a heartbeat otherwise.

  “Drake, get away from her.”

  “She helped me, Papa.”

  Papa? So this was Drake’s father.

  “I fell and hurt my arm and she mended it.”

  The man was almost upon us. I straightened up and looked him in the eye, determined not to show how scared I felt.

  “He’d dislocated his shoulder. I just popped the bone back in. He needs to rest it for a few days and be more careful in the future.”

  “Indeed,” replied the man. His tone had softened although there was still an edge to it. At least he didn’t sound like he wanted to push me off the mountain anymore.

  “Drake, go see your mother. She will need to look at that shoulder of yours.”

  “Yes, Papa!” Drake scurried away, leaving only me and his father on the mountain.

  “You can come with me.”

  His words didn’t make it sound like an order, but his tone did. I followed him a little way up the mountain until we got to a small cabin. He opened the door and gestured that I should go inside.

  I was surprised at how nice the house was. It was obviously lived in, with three comfy chairs and a fireplace. Doors led off the main room to other rooms. If I didn’t know otherwise, it could have been any one of the homes in Drionas.

  “I always thought dragons lived in nests,” I remarked. I turned to look at the man and
he just scowled. I’d put my foot in it as usual. Still, I didn’t think he was going to kill me. Doing so would mess up his lovely home.

  “Would you like something to drink?”

  OK, so I didn’t think he was planning to kill me but him offering me a drink was not what I expected. It seemed so civilized for a dragon. Had I gotten them wrong this whole time?

  “Yes, please.”

  “We have tea, juice or water.”

  “Water will be fine thank you.” Dragons drank tea?

  “Take a seat and I’ll be right back.” He nodded toward one of the seats.

  I sat in one of the comfy chairs and watched as he disappeared through one of the doors. He came back about ten minutes later with a glass of water for me and some juice for himself. I also noticed that he’d gotten dressed. Instead of the cloak, he now wore trousers and a short-sleeved top, both in cream.

  “It’s not often we get visitors up on the mountain. May I ask what you are doing here?”

  I tried to think of some reason for being here that didn’t sound bad. Nothing came to mind so I went with the truth. “I came to kill dragons.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  “I’m a dragon slayer. That is all I’ve ever done.”

  “So, how is it that you saved my son? He is a dragon, or did you not know that?”

  “I know he’s a dragon. I saw him in his dragon form. His wing was injured. When he turned back into his human form, it translated into a dislocated shoulder. I couldn’t kill him. He was just a little boy.”

  “I’m a man and a fully-grown dragon, and yet you are here in my house taking drinks with me. Why are you not killing me?”

  He sounded genuinely curious and not the slightest bit mad that I’d just told him I wanted to kill all his people.

  “I didn’t know you were shifters. I’ve been hunting dragons in the Triad Mountains all my life and I never suspected they could turn into humans.”

  “That’s rather arrogant, don’t you think?”

  “I didn’t know. I could hardly call it arrogance.”