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Rescue - by Ryan Wood (Odontus)

On a warm spring day on a secluded beach, he gave away his pride and nearly his life at the same time. Elmorous had seen this dragoness a couple of times in rather precarious situations involving alcohol, swearing and a bad attitude that all three made up a female that he felt the need to help, though his efforts were not exactly welcome. His stubborn nature and her willingness to at least keep within a hundred yards of him eventually led to a short talk next to the water's edge. Knowing a friend with magical powers, he mentioned to the female that he might be able to help get her wings back as they had been torn off centuries ago by a cyclops, leaving mere stumps that once were the pride and joy of any dragon. Once his friend agreed to assist, that was when Elmorous' life changed, though he often feels not for the better!

As another dragon was needed for the procedure performed by the unicorn, Elmorous was the only other such beast in the vicinity and with courage and compassion for the dragoness, agreed to give as much of his internal energy as possible to give the female her wish. The procedure was short, but extremely painful as shocks of pain were sent through his body and into hers but once completed, the unicorn's efforts revealed a beautiful pair of wings and the dragoness was beside herself with great happiness. Elmorous laid down to rest after nearly losing his own life in the process when the dragoness approached him and informed him that she was going to sleep for several months as she had always done and might forget everything that had happened when she awoke. He could not speak from his pain and exhaustion, but even more so from the sadness in her words that dropped to the bottom of his heart. Elmorous was a dragon of a "different color" as he was well-educated and a gentleman at all times, trying to make friends and help others whenever he could. He was once mated to a lovely dragoness for ninety years until one morning when he found her lying lifeless next to him in their lair. His life had seemed empty ever since that morning of a hundred years ago and he had never since been the same. This female had done something to him to rekindle feelings of those days when he could feel love and compassion, though she had never experienced those emotions in her entire life.

From what Elmorous had been able to learn, she was a very disgruntled dragoness who had been banished from her village 200 years ago after she failed to kill a cyclops that had been terrorizing her village. Since then she had spent every day that she was awake imbibing excessive alcohol and displaying an aggressive temper. Elmorous had tried repeatedly to help her, but kept being pushed away; however, he never gave up as dragons are very stubborn and determined creatures by nature! Once she left, he thought he'd never see her again until a few days later when an angelic human female appeared at the beach. She herself had been though some difficult times and knew the dragoness, but told Elmorous an incomplete story of the female, concealing the truly traumatic facts that have haunted the dragoness for so long. The human female confronted him again later that afternoon and told him of the cave where she slept for months on end and that a visit from him would be... appreciated.

Just having recovered from the unicorn's healing procedure, his wings still scarred from the electric currents and only half of his energy restored, he decides to set out on a quest to find this cave and try one last time to get through to this beautiful creature with whom he was so infatuated...

The morning of Tuesday, Elmorous awakes with his first thought being the conversation he had with the human yesterday. "Did I really experience this, or was it all... just a dream?" He recalls having touched the angel on her shoulder with this wing, then looked down to see that the tip that made contact had healed completely where the rest of the outlying tissue remained burned. "It WASN'T a dream!" He thought as he staggered to his feet and stretched his wings to greet the morning. He looked around the beach and noticed how quiet it was, more so than any typical day. A feeling of loneliness suddenly swept over him. He looked off to the north and took a deep breath, wishing he had never met her, but as he has always done, he decides to follow his heart. The North Mountain was calling and he had no other option but to go there.

He takes a drink from the nearby stream as he persistently continues thinking of her and how she'll react once... IF... he makes it to the cave. He wishes he could visit the unicorn again to see if he might acquire a magical dose of energy and healing, but knew he had to begin his journey as the trip would take several hours. Looking up, he saw a crimson sky colored by the light of the rising sun and just a few clouds to add contrast to what would have been a perfect flying day. Clouds did not bother him though, as he could fly higher than most other dragons. He turns to the north and flexing his enormous wings to their complete span, he springs into flight and soon clears the tree-line. He looks down wondering if he'll ever see the beach again.

The air was cool... almost cold as he gained altitude. Soon he was at 5000 feet, passing through clouds and looking down at the earth beneath him, gliding over farmland and forested clusters of trees, all forming a shaggy and roughly-defined landscape. The beach was far behind him now as he began to see the terrain change from flat coastal fields to a hill-covered landscape. He knew the mountains would soon be in view. The air grew colder now, so he dropped his altitude to enjoy the warm air as long as possible, though at a lower altitude, it too was getting colder. His wings started feeling better as he tried to glide and catch updrafts to help him maintain a steady flight and preserve his precious energy.

Images of her raced through his mind from the first time he saw her intoxicated and falling off of a bar stool to his last view of her smiling and displaying joy over her new wings. So much had happened in such a short time and now he finds himself risking his health again to awaken her and keep her from forgetting him and hoping... just hoping to get her to open her heart to him. He looked ahead and could now see the mountain range as it began to snow. He decides to land briefly in preparation for the dangerous last leg of his journey.

He finds a small mountain-side ledge on which he sets down. He employs an old trick that his mentors taught him decades ago and lays on the ledge with folded wings behind his back, closes his eyes and meditates, channeling his blood flow almost exclusively to his wings, much like a modern airliner going through a de-icing phase. No magic involved here, as he was not of a magic-oriented background, but simple physiology and mind control. He feels them heat quickly to as much as 150 degrees as they in turn warm his body. He continues this for ten minutes, then relaxes, staring out over the canyon below covered with dead trees and shrubbery that could no longer tolerate the bitter cold that inhabits these mountains year-round. He then feels ready to proceed.

Standing up carefully, he takes a large leap off the side of the cliff to make a falling launch and quickly catches the air current as he flies skyward to continue northward. He soon finds more updrafts and is comfortable flying in the snow which has now become heavier than before. He knows he won't build up any ice on his wings now and looks ahead to see the North Mountain - his destination. "How can someone live up here with this bitter cold and heavy snow?" he thought to himself. Now flying above the surface of the mountain, he finds a clearing on which to land and although a rough one, he manages a safe landing. Although the snow was somewhat deep, he could tell that another dragon had been using this same spot for a landing pad. "She's been here!" he thought. He could make out the remnants of a path that broke its way through the trees and decided to follow it.

Shivering now from the bitter winter cold, he wound his way through trees and rocks hearing nothing but the blowing wind and occasional sleet bouncing off his wings. No birds, no forest animals... just the stone cold sound of Mother Nature pounding on this desolate mountainside with her anger and disregard. A knot formed in his throat realizing why she lived here. "It matches her inner anger!" he thought sadly as he looks down in sorrow. The wind now howling fiercely, he hopes he will find her cave before he freezes to death. It was too soon to meditate again and heat himself, so he began walking faster, rounding a corner and then seeing the entrance to the cave. He must have stood outside for fifteen minutes trying to muster the courage to enter, but he had come too far to go back and could no longer remain in the snow as he trembled from the cold. He took one deep breath, then slowly walked inside...

(Artwork above - "The Eclipse" by *CentraDragon)

Cave art