Ancalagon: The Last Pure Dragon

Chapter 5: Eliane

When Snow flew away, I was worried that they would try and follow us, the two who tried to get us to stop, Fenian and Tesha. When they didn't, I was thankful. And when we were far enough away, and realized they weren’t following us, Snow and I finally started hunting for food.

He caught a large buck. He's become adept at killing them quickly because he knows I don't like to see the animals in pain. I'm thankful for that. He's an animal and I understand his need to eat other animals, but he's not cruel about it, not like the Mean Ones. We’ve seen the way they torment their food when they hunt and the devastation they leave behind. Sometimes, they hunt for fun, not because they need to eat. It's another reason I know that we don't want to be captured by them.

When we land, Snow slices off one of the deer’s legs for me. I use the makeshift knife that I've made with Snow’s help. Using his earth element, I was able to take a rock and wear it down to where it had a sharp edge. Then I found some twine and attached it to a stick. Now, that's what I use as my knife. I slice the skin off the leg and then cut off a chunk of meat. I set it aside and continue doing that until I have cleaned the leg of meat.

Snow has already eaten the rest of the deer. He could probably down it in one bite, but he likes to watch me. So, he usually rips it into several pieces, eating it more slowly while he watches me.

When I'm done, I let him know. And he stands over the pile of meat that I've made. Carefully blowing his fire on it, charring the outside of the meat, which is fine. I've learned to cut it into bigger chunks so that I can get past the charred part to where the cooked meat is underneath. It's safer to do it this way than it is to light a fire. Safer, because then it's harder to find us.

“Have you ever seen those two people Snow?” I asked him.

He shakes his head, no.

I nod. “How do you say no in your dragon speak?” I ask him. He gives me a series of rattles and clicks.

“That's an awful lot longer than ‘no’.” I say to him, smiling.

He chuffs in a way that I've learned is him laughing. Then he moves, laying his snout behind me. I lean against him as I continue to cut up my meat and eat it.

“They didn't seem mean,” I say to him, thinking while I eat. “The girl, Tesha, actually seemed nice when the guy was going to try and block us. I don't know, Snow, maybe we should give them a chance.”

He gives me the series of rattles and clicks that means no. I turn and look at him, seeing his pretty opal eye watching me. “You don't trust them?” I ask. Again, he gives me the series of rattles and clicks that means no.

“I wish I understood you well enough so that we could talk about why you don't trust them. I would love to know what it is about them that you feel is off or that I'm missing? The other ones are easy. Obviously, they're crazy killers. On that we can both agree. But these two, I don’t know, they just seemed different to me.”

He rattles something at me in a way that I find soothing. I finish eating as much as I can. And then I sit up and turn to him. “Want the rest?” I ask him.

He opens his mouth for me. And I toss the remaining food in his mouth. After he swallows, I lean back against him, letting my fingers run over his snout.

I'm looking up at the sky thinking about the two people that we saw today when Snow suddenly jerks. His head snapping up and turning to the left. He begins growling as he gets up. and I stand looking in the direction that he's looking.

He leaps off the mountain where we were sitting. “Snow, wait. Take me with you,” I cry to him, but he continues moving forward. I know him. I know he's going to try and protect me from whatever he sees.

I strain my eyes trying to pick up what it is that he's seeing, or what he's smelling. It's then that I see the sun glinting off opals and emeralds in the sky. Dragons. Two of them. I wonder if it's the two who attacked us before. If they’re back…

“SNOW!” I yell for him to come back. I can get on his back and we can run. We can fly away from these dragons. We escaped them before. Granted, I don’t remember how, but we did.

Instead I hear the below of a large dragon. I look up and see Ancalagon’s opals, sparkling in the sky. We've seen him periodically since he and the big green one attacked us. He's so much larger than he was when I saw him in the laboratory. I have no idea if he's a good dragon or a bad dragon. All I know is that Snow fears him.

I feel the pull of Ancalagon's roar. I don't know what he's doing. But it seems to be drawing Snow toward him. The other dragon moving behind him, blocking his escape path. I'm terrified about what they're going to do, and when Snow screams in fear, I know that it can't be anything good.

I scream for him again, my fear for him beginning to overwhelm me.

“No, no, no," I say as I feel the darkness taking over. I can't leave him now, he needs me. It's the last thought I have before I pass out.

Jewels POV

The moment I come awake, I'm in the air. Once again, I'm in a different place, having no idea how I got here. All I know is that every time I wake up, something is wrong. Something is happening and I have to fight.

This time is no different. My friend, Iniko, the little white dragon, is surrounded by two dragons. The largest one, the one who calls himself Ancalagon, is an Alpha, and he's using his Alpha command to force Iniko to do his will.

He's asking about the whereabouts of some girl. I could care less about the girl. Iniko is my friend. I race toward them, blowing my fire on the green dragon, careful not to hurt Iniko. He is not immune to my fire. I learned that accidentally.

The green dragon ducks quickly. He’s fast and smart, like the other green dragon. Avani, the other one called himself. This is not Avani. This dragon is smaller and smells different.

“You must be Eliane. Hi, I'm Ajax,” he says surprising me with his calm demeanor. Earth dragons aren’t known for their calm, that’s a water dragon trait.

“I don’t care what your name is, you are hurting my friend. Stop or I will kill both of you,” I roar.

“Eliane! Eliane, it's me Ancalagon.”

“I know who you are, Ancalagon. I remember you from the last two times you attacked us.”

“No Eliane, this is not an attack. I just need to speak with you. Please.”

“Don’t believe him, Jewels! They’re lying. You remember how they attacked us last time,” Iniko says.

“Jewels? Who is Jewels?” Ajax asks.

“I am. Who is Eliane?” I ask snarkily.

“You are,” Ancalagon says, his voice softer than I was expecting. It pulls to me in a way that his Alpha command didn’t. “Don’t you know your own name?”

“I was a dragon with no name until Iniko gave me one,” I say, wanting to be angry with Ancalagon, but finding myself floating closer to him. It’s like he’s a magnet and I’m being drawn to him.

“That’s not true. Maybe you don’t remember that you have a human form, but you do. Her name is Eliane. That’s your name too. Although, Jewels is an accurate assessment of your scales,” he says smiling his dragon smile. “You’re beautiful.”

I’ve continued floating towards Ancalagon. His scales are glimmering in the sky and unlike every other dragon I’ve encountered he’s my size, perhaps even a bit larger.

“We have a doctor who can help you…” he begins, just as Iniko screams in fear.

I turn quickly, seeing Ajax near him.

“I didn’t…” he begins, but I roar in his face, flames blowing over him.

“Eliane, NO!” Ancalagon yells, putting himself in front of my fire. I already know that he’s immune to my elements.

“You tricked me,” I growl. Now my forward motion is the hunt of a predator, not of being drawn to his dragon.

“No, we don’t want to hurt you.”

I move, putting myself between Iniko and these two dragons.

“And yet, every time I see you, you hurt my friend,” I growl.

I pull my elements into my body, feeling all of them – earth, wind, fire, water, and in a single blast I send them all at Ancalagon. He may be a large dragon, he may be an Alpha, but he is no match for me.

He may be immune to my elements, but he can’t withstand the power of all four together. The blast of my power sends him careening into Ajax behind him. I hear Ajax scream as he begins to freefall while Ancalagon continues flip end over end, trying to right himself.

“Go Iniko! I’m right behind you!” I yell at him.

“No, Jewels, I'm waiting for you.

“GO! NOW!” I bark at him. I need him far away from these dragons.

When he finally turns to leave, I return my attention back to the two dragons, making sure that Ancalagon isn't coming after me again. Ajax caught himself before he crashed, but he’s staying low to the ground.

“Please Eliane. I want to help you,” Ancalagon says.

“Come after me or Iniko again, and I will kill you and any dragons you bring with you,” I snarl.

“Let’s go, Cal,” Ajax says, floating closer to Ancalagon. Something about that name, Cal, sends strange images into my mind. Images of a laboratory, a large white dragon strapped to the floor, a muzzle over his bloody snout, and a blanket over his eyes. I shake the images away and stand my ground.

“I’m not giving up on you, Eliane,” he says.

“My name is Jewels, and you would be wise to ensure that our paths never cross again.”