and tremble–no, she would remember her courage! Lia peeked beneath her upraised arm. Dragon fire swirled in the depths of that massive orb, hypnotic, multi-layered patterns shifting and coalescing, entrancing the senses. Having looked, she found herself unable to glance away. The radiance illuminated the cavern behind her, and enough to all sides that Lia discovered she stood on a rocky ledge that brought her to the height of a Dragon’s eye, while a mountain of obsidian scales towered above her and to either side until they were lost in the darkness. The eye alone was twice her height. She could not begin to imagine the rest of its body.
She felt naked, a mote trapped in a beam of the purest starlight, impossibly tiny in comparison to this vast creature which hid beneath Ha’athior Island.
Lia stammered, A-Are you a L-Land D-Dragon? Your … majesty?
The drumbeat was its hearts. The soughing of the wind, its breath. The touch of its mind cowed her, but did not strike her as evil–she sensed the presence of an ancient, utterly alien intellect, but it was not hostile.
Absurdly, Hualiama pictured herself walking into the creature’s eye.
I am Amaryllion, an Ancient Dragon. The creature’s voice resonated in her mind like an orchestra of many instruments, so dense with half-understood, half-felt tones and nuances, that Hualiama became giddy and confused. Oddly, she imagined growing slightly drunk on an Island-sized bouquet of scented flowers, such was the impression his telepathic speech produced within her. He said, Thy companion hath told me much about thee, little mouse, and I confess, I have looked forward to this day ever since thou took thy rest against my flank, and sang a poignant song, and the lilt of thy laughter tickled mine ears–the first laughter I have heard in many a year. Rise, little Human. I deserve none of thy bows, nor do I desire thy worship. I am not worthy.
Nevertheless, she sensed he tempered his power for her sake.
Uh … Lia gasped, struggling to rise. I think my knees are stuck, o Ancient–
Flicker hissed at her, Talk sense, Lia. Do not disrespect an Ancient Dragon.
You Dragons talk mind-to-mind!
Her mental exclamation brought a sense of two minds smiling at her. Lia felt a fool. The truth was so obvious. All those times Flicker had looked at her, demanding her understanding even though he had said nothing aloud, suddenly made perfect sense. Her dull, half-blind Human senses simply had not picked up his speech. Now, the portal of the Ancient Dragon’s eye seemed to have opened a similar portal within her, in which she glimpsed new facets of a world she had taken for granted.
The Ancient Dragon said, Art thou a telepath, little mouse?
Concentrating so fiercely that a migraine began to throb between her temples, the Human girl formed words in her mind, I never realised that Dragons spoke in this manner, Ancient One, but you are so powerful, so clear and easy to hear …
Thy Dragonish flows with eloquence, Lia. I remain to be convinced thy wings are not hid behind thy back.
She felt Amaryllion’s deep chuckles right in the pit of her stomach. Emboldened, Lia replied, If it were possible to grow wings from sheer yearning, mighty Amaryllion, then I would have flown away to the moons many years ago. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m only Human.
Only Human? The Dragon’s great eye bent upon her, all-conquering and omniscient, seeming to strip away the layers of her being until nothing remained hidden, leaving her soul a quivering, defenceless lump before his scrutiny–yet he did not harm her, nor steal her secrets. How many of thy people have ever found this place? Only thee. To my knowledge, thou art the only Human to have learned so much Dragonish in such a short span of time. Thou hast only defeated death itself, thrice. If this marks thee as ‘only Human’, then may I be only Human, too?
A treacherous, fey chuckle escaped Lia’s lips. She said, I think you’d have legs the size of this Island, Amaryllion.
Her voice stole away into silence. Swallowing away an unreasoning desire to flee as fast as her little legs could propel her, Hualiama instead sketched a deep Fra’aniorian bow, somewhat spoiled by the trembling of her hands. On behalf of my Island–uh, and all Humankind, if you’d allow … her formal greeting floundered in a welter of scattered thoughts and emotions. How awkward was she?
And the little Human’s mind popped like a meteorite exploding in the sky!