The Circle: The Uniting

by N.D. Bailey

  After much prowling about, Navi and Binko stumbled upon the magistrates horse stables. “Nothing impressive,” remarked Navi. Horses looked well fed and robust. The noise of a ruckus behind the barn grabbed their attention, their curiosity demanding that they explore it. They walked around the back of a cobblestone courtyard behind the stables. To their astonishment, and Navi’s pleasure, they found a magnificent Sarif dragon marked in hues of blue-gray chained in the courtyard. The dragon was the same species of the ones Windsor, Navi and Princess Nadora rode.

  The heavy chains wrapped around all four legs and draped over its scaly body. The thick links were firmly planted in the ground with eight pegs hammered into the cobblestone and set with fresh mortar. This set up had obviously been instigated by the invaders since the mortar was yet to be stained by age. The dragon couldn’t move. She too was a victim of the invader’s tyrannical compulsions, stripped of her dignity as a created being, designed to freely soar the heavens in graceful strength and beauty, a creature of divine design.

  Such cruelties, as witnessed in this camp, Navi thought, were not only a sin against the person or creature, but a sacrilege against its creator. He considered creation a sacrament, a work of divine art to be respected and revered. With ease he envisioned the world as a canvas and God as the artist, shaping, creating, and designing a vast and intricate web of life with diversity and splendor. He imagined that God smiled when the sun danced across the hue of colors that decorated a dragon when it soared through the sky at dusk or when a whale breached the seas and leapt into the air. He wondered if it were an act of worship offered up intentionally to its creator.

  Creation was good, Navi was certain of that. It was the mortal flaw of sin that had robbed God of his perfect artistry. He wondered what the world was like when all were immortal and everything was in its original beauty. But this was all he knew, a world flawed by humanity.

  The dragon scowled at them with an accusative glare. Its yellow eyes burned with pent up anger, not pleased to be committed to chains. “Wow!” Navi cried. “Would you look at the beauty of this dragon, crony! And in chains? Those good-for-nothin’ scamps!”

  “Be careful,” Binko warned, as Navi began to slowly approach the dragon.

  “Oh, it’s friendly,” Navi assured him. “I have a way with dragons.”

  “If you’re so sure it’s friendly, then why are you walking so slow towards it?” Navi ignored him and cautiously crept toward the dragon. He spoke softly to her, reassuring her that he meant her no harm.

  “We’re here to free you, my scaly little friend.” The dragon now showed signs of agitation. It snorted and then set its piercing golden eyes upon Navi with qualms of mistrust. Navi sensed vibrations of threat, so he began to slowly back away. A mistrustful glare, a sway of his robust body, the low gurgle in his throat, it was all signs that the dragon was about to blow. Suddenly, the dragon breathed a deep breath. Navi had an idea what this dragon was thinking and he dove to the ground. Soaring flames rolled above his head. He felt the heat of the tongue of fire above him. He narrowly escaped the lick of flames.

  In hastening to avoid being roasted, Navi banged his injured leg. Now, he gripped his leg in pain and moaned. But the smell of smoking cloth made him shift his attention. He suddenly became aware that smoke was pouring from his head. He reached up to feel the top of his purple wizard hat, but found it burnt out, its edges black and crisp, leaving his head exposed.

  Binko roared with belly-aching laughter. “I thought you said you had a way with dragons.”

  “Well now, that wasn’t very nice.” Navi turned back towards the dragon. “It looks like you and me are not getting off to a good start, scamp!”

  “Maybe you should try a different approach,” Binko suggested, unable to curb his laughing.

  “And what might you suggest, Bink?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe you should turn it into a mouse our something.”

  “Or…” Navi was thinking, “I have a bettah idea, Bink. I think you should try to befriend her while I try to break the chains.” Reaching into his pouch, Navi pulled out a piece of dried lizard. “Ahha. You can feed her this!”

  “Oh no.” Binko argued, “I’m not going near that bloody dragon.”

  “Yes you are, Bink. Come on. You can do this.” Navi was enjoying this all too much. “I thought you liked dragons.”

  “Only dead ones.”

  “Bink, you have a way with animals.”

  “No I don’t.”

  Navi poured the pressure on and eventually Binko caved. He agreed to attempt to befriend the dragon with the dried lizard meat only on the condition that if it tried to toast them alive again he wouldn’t nag him anymore about the beast. Navi agreed.

  Approaching the beast, with his hand open, the Elf found the dragon becoming curiously friendly. Binko crept close enough to allow the dragon to eat from his jittery hand. Once the small morsel was gone, however, the dragon immediately became agitated; a lust for more of the leathery meat brought her alive, snorting and huffing.

  “Lookout, Bink!” Navi warned him at the first sign that the dragon might explode.

  Binko ran and dove headlong toward the barn door, narrowly clearing the lick of the flame. He missed the flames entirely but he didn’t miss the dragon’s feeding trough; he landed in a bin of dead salamanders and small lizards. The reptiles stunk to high heavens.

  “Uuuaach!” Binko moaned.

  Navi chortled, reveling in Binko’s misfortune.

  “It’s not funny,” Binko protested.

  “That’s it, Bink! That’s it!” Navi tried to talk through jutted streams of laughter. Binko looked ridiculous. “You discovered her food supply. You stink,” Navi said.

  Binko pulled himself out of the barrel of dragon food, walked over to Navi and shook his body, splattering the smelly liquid onto the wizard. Pay back for coercing him into this.

  “Aah, scamp!” Navi said, only half-serious. “Now I am going to have to feed you to the dragon. If you taste anything like you smell she will devour you.”

  He changed tactics. “Ahh, mate, I’ve got it! Nothing can win our fair lady’s heaht more than a smelly barrel of dead reptiles.” Holding his nose, Navi wrangled Binko into helping him again. If Binko didn’t consider Navi such a good friend he never would have let him talk him into this deadly arrangement.

  Scooting the trough of salamanders and lizards over to the dragon, they quickly befriended the beast. She licked her lips and dove in. They patted her and talked softly as the dragon happily feasted on the smelly appetizers. She ate like she hadn’t eaten in days.

  “Now, while she’s eating, let’s get these chains off of her.”

  “Get the chains off?” Binko inquired. He had heard Navi state his intent earlier but he not considered the cost of a free and angry fire-breathing dragon.

  “Well, I am not just gonna leave her here.” Using the tools Navi discovered behind the shed door, they worked the chains, prying, cutting, and unwrapping. “You know, there’s very few dragons left in the wohld and we need to help them repopulate.”

  “Personally, I think the wohld is a bettah place without them.” Binko arm-wrestled the chain, working it off the dragon’s front leg. “Wow! She sure is hungry. I hope we’re not makin’ a mistake by takin’ these chains off!”

  “Not at all, Bink. We just need to keep reassurin’ her that we’re not gonna hahm her.” He addressed the dragon again. “You’re a pretty girl. I think Inka might take a real liking to you!” He watched as the dragon finished off the bucket of smelly salamanders and lizards. She licked her chops, her long tongue extending over her mouth. “I sure hope we have won the fair lady’s heart with this quiet disgustin’ food.”

  Looking over his shoulder at Binko, he had some concern. “I wouldn’t stand to close if I were you. She might think you’re an overgrown lizard, since you smell like one.”

  “
Real funny, Navi.”

  Petting her on the side, they stepped back to a safe distance to see what her reaction would be. She seemed to be calming down now that she had been wooed with food and it looked as though she might show herself to be trustworthy and friendly.

  Suddenly, from around the corner, Buldar rushed in. (It was unclear who was startled more, the dragon or Buldar.) Struck with fear, the dragon breathed a burst of hot fire. Having had some practice, Navi and Binko were quick to dive to safety. Buldar, on the other hand, was just lucky enough that the sight of the agitated dragon scared the wits out of him, for he hit the ground just in the nick of time and the flames soared over his head. It was the odor of singed hair that told him he had lost a few strands; it was the new awareness of the wind that told him he lost more than a few strands. The stench of scorched hair mingled in the air with the reeking smell of dead reptiles.

  Scared half to death, he leapt to his feet and bolted back around the corner, offering a wall of rock for protection against the fiery beast. The sound of mocking filled the air. When he glanced up Binko and Navi were doubled over, taking advantage of his misfortune.

  Reaching up to pat the back of his head, Buldar could feel nothing but stubble left from where most of his hair had once been. His head looked mangled, long in the front and none in the back. To add to the mood, Navi pointed out that even his horns were scorched a little.

  Buldar saw no humor in what he weighed as a near death experience.

  “What are you two doin’ back here with that blasted dragon? It just about killed me!” Buldar was chafed with irritation. “I have no hair. That bloody dragon burnt off my hair!”

  “I think that is a great look, crony!” Navi smirked. “Stylish, very stylish!”

  “Oh, shut up.” He had an idea how absurd he must look. He wanted to ring Navi’s neck but he maintained his cool, remembering that there was much at stake and a higher purpose than his hair.

  “Win some, lose some, crony. Looks like you lost some.” Navi was laughing hysterically at this point.

  “I was looking for you two,” Buldar said, ignoring Navi’s joke. “You know, you left me holdin’ your bloody dragon. Inka knows your smell; he led me here. Personally though, I think you two smell pretty much alike.”

  “That’s it, mate, that’s it! Nothin’ can win our fair lady’s heaht like a handsome suitor wooing her into submission. A little matchmaking ought to calm our fiery little friend down. Where is Inka?”

  “Just the othah side of the gate.” Buldar pointed at the dragon standing within their sight. “I don’t know why you don’t just use that darn wand of yours and either kill it or tame it.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you: we can’t just do any and every little thing we want. Go get Inka, crony.” Navi was glad the dragon was still restrained; otherwise, they might be toast.

  In a couple of minutes, Buldar strolled around the corner with Inka, leading him by his reigns. The other dragon immediately perked up.

  At first, it didn’t seem like a very good idea. The two dragons growled at each other, sizing one another up. After sniffing and getting introduced, they calmed down and slowly warmed up to each other. With the dragon thoroughly distracted, Navi finished wrestling with the chains. His emancipation of the beast was complete; he only hoped it was kind to its liberator.

  It wasn’t long before she willingly strolled off with Inka, and Navi, Buldar and Binko trailing behind, happy to have only lost trivial things, namely, a hat, some hair, and personal hygiene.