Complete the Fall.

Smorgust's Story Challenge. Day 4

Creature hated.

Hated the bars. Hated the dwarves. Hated the vegetable scraps they threw him. Hated their beards. Hated their breath. Hated the other dragons for doing what they said they would. Hated the lash - but every time he did not react, he loved his show of defiance.

Creature loved.

He loved Cal.

Creature hated.

Hated being separated from Cal. Hated the bars. Hated the dwarves. Hated the vegetable scraps they threw him. Hated their beards. Hated their breath. Hated the other dragons for doing what they said they would. Hated the lash.

Creature wanted to hurt.

Hurt the dwarves. Hurt the dwarves. Hurt the dwarves.

Creature couldn’t.

Couldn’t feel where Cal was. Couldn’t see the sun. Couldn’t see a way out. Couldn’t move the bars. Couldn’t melt them with his fire.

It was not until he woke up, in some kind of sack, that he knew something was wrong. He went to sleep curled around Cal’s neck, and then. In the bad. With the sound of horses. Rough voices. After a day, he was taken underground. Here he was since then. Days, weeks, months- he did not know how long. He only knew they were trying to break him.

Creature saw.

Creature watched all the dwarves. He could see they hated each other. The boss dwarves hated the work dwarves. The work dwarves hated the boss dwarves. They all hated the slaves.

Creature observed.

One elf slave. Sad slave. Crying slave. Hungry slave. Beaten slave. She hated them all. Something in her died one night, but it left room for the hate. Her hate grew. Her hate became strong. She gave out her hatred from her eyes. But kept her eyes low most of the time so they could not see how large her hate was. She wore her bruises around her neck, over her eye. She lost a tooth.

Creature gave affection.

When the slave gave him food from her bruised hand. He did what he did with Cal.

Creature persevered.

He did it every day in the dark, dark, dark. He nuzzled. He purred. He felt the girl melt. Her hands went from quick to slower, kinder, open to feeling. They felt together. Felt how things could be.

Underneath it all, Creature could feel her hate pulsing like a live thing. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. For the moment it could be unleashed.

Creature let the could be lodged in her.

Let her feel what love could be like. How soft. How kind. How warm. How light. How beautiful.

Creature let her make her own decision.

One day she came to him. Dwarves were drunk. Idiots. She put him in a sack. He hoped it would be the same as before but backwards. Hours of climbing later, the ice of the air pierced him through. She took off the sack and…

Bright, bright, bright light. All white. Hard. Harsh. Too much.

Creature snuggled into her arms.

“You can do it,” she said to him. “It’s ok, don’t be afraid. You are meant to be out in the air.”

Slowly, Creature lifted his head, and his eyes began to adjust. He felt the fresh air crowd his nostrils and lungs like life itself. They were on the top of a mountain.

Creature flew.

He circled. He dived. He dipped. He looped-the-loop. He somersaulted. He went as far up as he could. He swooped down to the girl. Settled on her shoulder. Licked her face. She brought her hand up to stroke his head.

“I hope you can be happy,” she said.

Creature flew away.

As he looked back, he saw the girl. She waved at him. Then took a step off the mountain. She took ages to complete the fall. It looked so slow.

Creature turned to search for Cal.