The
Planes
The
Planes
Finally your out of the forest! before you is a prodigious valley, surrounded by dense foliage. It's as unfathomable as the forest. Tiny beams of light rain down upon you, as you look up to see where the light's coming from you see the sky is alight with scintillating stars. It is the most astounding view you have ever laid eyes upon, you had never imagined that eerie forest contained something so beautiful. While your admiring the view you hear a sharp whistle, you look to where you thought the sound came from and notice Red waving to you, she's standing outside a battered log cabin. Bouncing up and down, she motions for you to come so you break into a rapid sprint towards her.
"Where were you?" she demands, looking stern for a moment.
"You left me!" you wail, "one minute you were in front of me the next minute you'd vanished."
"Oh sorry... I thought you were right behind me until I reached the shack, I was just coming to look for you.... Do you want to come inside and see the nest or what?"
"Yeah!" you burst out ardently, "I've been dying to see the nest...."
Red nods, sending her auburn hair flying, a lock of her diaphanous textured hair cascades down her dished visage yet does not collide with either of her eyes. She leads you into the cabin, the floorboards creak as you move walk about. The cabin is very compact, there is no wall between the kitchen and the living room. Red picks up a log from a fawn coloured basket and tosses it on the fire. You notice 3 other doors, one leading to the bedroom, one to the nest and the other to the bathroom, though which door leads to which room is unknown. A sheepskin rug is strewn between the fireplace and a beige linen couch, which faces the fire, and there is a circular glass coffee table to the left of the couch. There are two beige linen armchairs, both to the right of the couch. The colour theme for the lounge is beige and cream and the theme for the kitchen is metal and square stone tiles. All in all the cabin appears welcoming which helps you to relax.
"In here!" Red beckons, her head poking out from behind the door farthest from the door you came in through.
The room is spacious, two gargantuan earthenware bowls take up one corner and the nest takes up another. The nest consists of flowers, ferns, feathers, ripped up cloth and moss. The theme for the hatchery is a night sky, and in the sky there is a full moon, stars and the planets. You notice Red toying with a crystal ball and your gaze locks upon the purple ball.
She notices you watching and flashes you a smile, "this crystal ball belonged to Euardo's dragon who liked to see into the future. Though it is an orb as well, both good and dark magic are locked inside the orb, waiting for a dragon to claim them. I spent hours on end crawling around looking for it, it's taken me months to find it. You know you can wish on the shooting stars and it really will come true don't you?"
"No!" you blurt out, flabbergasted by the idea.
She nods then sighs, yet forces a smile, "not everything works, wishing for someone to die won't work... um a few other things... You'll just have to wish to find out! you can of coarse wish for anything like a car, and if your wish was successful whatever you wished for, if it's an item that is, like a horse, will be by the oak trees I was telling you about. The stars are also spirits you see, I'm told if you fly up high enough you'll see their spheres with faces.... you can even touch them... they just feel cool, but if you go through one you'll end up in another dimension. Like I said though, that's only what I've been told, though my sources are pretty reliable. Have you finished looking around?"
You nod so Red leaves the room, motioning for you to follow. She disappears into another room only to reappear moments later with a duvet.
"I hope you don't mind sleeping on the couch tonight.... if you get hungry feel free to help yourself to anything in the kitchen."
"It's not a problem," you say and take the duvet from her, hugging it to you. "And thanks for letting me stay... I really appreciate it."
Red winks and walks back into the room she had disappeared into minutes before, shutting the door behind her. She had wished so many times for a dragon egg, checking the bottom of the oak trees everyday for an egg... would her wish ever come true? Feeling slightly miserable at the thought of never receiving a dragon egg she crawls under the covers of her bed, no, she would get a dragon egg if it was the last thing she ever did! She undoes the navy silk ribbon keeping her hair in place and puts her head back against her pillow, her hair splaying as she does so. She shuts her eyes and drifts into a deep sleep.
You wake up and look for a clock, you find one, it's 6 am and Red's not up yet so you snuggle back down. The fire had gone out at about 2 am if you remembered right and it was cold now. By 7 am Red gets up and makes you both a fry-up, food never tasted so good. After breakfast Red goes to get change and write in her journal, coming out in a pair of torn jeans and a blue jacket.
"Shall we make a move then?" Red asks.
You nod so the two of you set out, by now it was 10 am. Red leads you deep into the heart of the forest to a clearing, in the clearing is a crystal clear lake. You can see some sort of dust at the bottom of it, which Red says is stardust when you ask. She sits down beside the lake and pulls out a scroll from her pocket, which you didn't know she had, and recites a few words. Then she pulls out a jar of 'stardust' and tosses some over the lake, suddenly there's an explosion within the lake, which sends water all over you. When you look again you see a vivid blue portal looming before you.
"Goodbye and take care! And remember, you are welcome to visit anytime you like," she pulls out a miniscule, smooth, vibrant blue pebble on a silver chain and drops it in the palm of your hand. "Whenever you enter this realm again, as long as you are wearing the necklace I will be able to find you. Now go, leap through the portal and you will be home."
"I'll miss you," you confess before hugging Red goodbye, after which you leap through the portal, and a moment later your home.
It's late by the time you arrive for the second time because this time there had been no Red to guide you, only the trees who seemed to wave you on. Eventually you come to the sacred dingles and after only a few moments of walking a tranquility and peace of mind possesses you. You listen fondly to the sounds of nature while you walk with an open mind, the wind in your hair and the distant sound of running water, you were alone yet not alone; alone in the sense no one else of the same species was around yet not alone because the spirits kept you company. Wasn't that Red's hut in the distance, yes, it was silhouetted against the dark mass of trees by the light which spilled from the transparents windows. Oh how you'd missed her intellectual, mesmerizing conversations and you were dying to know whether she'd received a dragon egg or not, because you'd heard that a clutch had recently been released, if she had, which you were sure she had, what would he or she turn out to be like? Desperate to see Red and put your questions to her you break into a fluent sprint t'wards the hut. While your running something catches the light and in turn the light catches your eye; wondering what it could be you stop and look around, momentarily forgetting about Red and your questions, but alas you can't see a thing, the only light came from the moon and the stars, the land was once again engulfed by darkness and so you resume your run.
You don't bother knocking once you reach the hut as you probably should you simply barge in and embrace Red, she was shocked at first, her face screwed up in ire, but once she saw it was you it softened.
"I suppose you've came to see whether I got an egg or not..." Red whispered, her voice giving little away about her mood.
"Not just that, I missed you as well, I know we haven't known each other long but I thought we got on really well together."
She nodded and smiled again, though the smile was brief and a sorrowful one; "well I didn't," she said in a barely audible voice while blinking back tears, it was obvious this was a real struggle. Her bottom lip quivered ever so slightly as it so often does when people try their best not to cry, and her shoulders were bunched up, in general she looked as though she were a child, cowaring from an abusive parent. Unable to stand the pressure of being seen by anyone while she was in such a state Red ran towards her bedroom, once she was safely inside she slammed the door, making the frame vibrate, or so it seemed.
Normally you would have thought that was extremely rude but under the circumstances all you felt was a mixture of pity and misery; there seemed no point in sitting up so you settled down on the sofa and try to sleep; but to no avail. So you decide to go for a walk and try to clear your head, after all there was no point remaining here, no you must try not to dwell upon the tragedy at hand.
Half an hour into your walk a winter wind sweeps over you like a wave, sending shivers down your spine and rearranging the tiny pedicles of grass which covered the terrain; by now your freezing and the light that shone but an hour before has been extinguished, now only the light of the moon was there to aid you. Then all of a sudden the thing which caught your eye before catches it again; and now that the moon has adjusted itself you can see the vast oak tree. Perhaps there would be shelter there, but even if there wasn't maybe you'd find the thing which kept teasing you, trying to make you think you were seeing things when you obviously weren't; or so it seemed.
Your strides are long and fluent, a rapid walk yet not a jog. Then the moon shifts position again, allowing the darkness to envelope you once more, but by now you can make your way to the oak tree without it.
go out for walk trying to clear head.... see egg at oak tree! Run and get red! 'Ouch! What on earth is...?!' you think to yourself, stunned due to your abrupt fall. You fumble around for a moment before touching something smooth yet with ridges; after further examintation you notice it's immense size and seemingly unbreakable surface. Then you remember the lighter in the one of the back pockets of your jeans; you slip you hand in then pull it out, your so eager to find out what the 'thing' is, you try to get a light so quick you drop it; but finally you get a light, and what you see changes everything. It was the egg! And boy was it beautiful; the shell looked as though it had been made out of foil but it was far to hard to be foil, but it was quite heavy, not heavy enough to stop you moving it yet what if you killed the embryo inside by moving it, no it was best to get Red. You try to run back but your legs fail you and all of a sudden you begin to cry; this was such a special time and you are overwhelmed. Half an hour after cuddling the precious egg you manage to pull yourself together and lope home.
You fling the front door open before flinging Red's door open, "it's come!!" you hiss, "the egg it's at the oak tree! Come on!"
That's all it takes to cheer Red up and get her running; she doesn't bother getting dressed or putting any shoes on, or even waiting for you because she knows this realm so well, you smile at having pleased her.
She is already at the egg by the time you arrive, caressing it's temporary silver home and talking to him/her; she beams at you once she sees you and hugs you.
"We better get this little guy... er or gal, home; I think it would be best rolling it, it's far safer even if it does take longer."
"Sounds good to me," and so you begin helping Red rolling the egg home.
It took you and Red a while to get the egg back home but an hour later the little one had been in it's nest safe and sound. Then the two of you had retired to your rooms, you having asked to stay until the egg hatched and Red having accepted gladly.
Now it
was a week later and Red was sleeping in the same room as the egg, but tonight
no sleeping would take place, for the egg was hatching. You weren't there in
that room, you couldn't be it wasn't your place, yet you got the
vibes. The next thing you know the hatchling is in your room staring at you, his
head tilted to one side in a curious manner. Red appears in the doorway and
grins, sensing her the crystal dragon leapt off the bed and raced towards her,
still not to good on his feet. You continue to gaze at him in awe, a crystal
dragon! Amazing! He was the size of a German Shepherd only far more powerful;
his tail served as a weapon along with his claws and teeth.
"I'm going to call him Adamas. A great celebration will take place on Christmas day; I shall take Adamas, for it will be his christening. Until then I shall keep him here so he does not catch a chill. I suppose you will be leaving for Christmas soon..." Red said, eyes kept on the ground.
"Yes I suppose I'd better or my family will worry."
Red nods, understanding yet not understanding; a family. Had she ever had one? 'Twas nothing more than a thought now.... A distant memory.
While you were gone Red and Adamas, who's name means unconquerable in Greek, built on their bond. Every morning Red would take her crystal companion down to the lake and allow him bath in it for an hour or two, playing with him. Perhaps it was his age, perhaps because he could not fly, but little Adamas loved playing in the wet. Only he was no longer small.... he was as big as Red and stronger, though he seemed like a gentle giant.
When you finally return half way to the hut you are bombarded by Adamas; how cute he looked, but you knew he could rip you to shreds. He emitted a snarl like sound as he tugged at your clothes playfully, his tail swishing from side to side in pleasure like a dog's. You can't help but smile; he was so innocent and he followed Red everywhere; but already he was almost too big for the hut. Red was worried about her little friend because most other dragons had began talking a while ago and he had not murmured one word so far.
Then came the day that Adamas went missing. You and Red had thought he was playing outside, but then when you'd ventured outside he had been no where in sight. At first Red had thought he was just playing hide and seek but after half and hour she realized it was no game; Adamas could not remain hidden for more than a few minutes. The moment it hit Red that it was not a game she ran off to the lake screaming his name; still no Adamas. She ran all over the place shouting his name until she was hoarse.
Suddenly you see footprints! "Red come here!"
"What?"
"LOOK!" You shriek pointing to the footprints.
She beams at you before running off, motioning for you to follow. The footprints take the two of you towards the portal, but suddenly you here a rustling as you near the area. Quietly Red approaches where the rustling sound had come from, she signals for you to stay there by holding up a hand to you. Then she abruptly pulls back to overgrown grass and there, looking at the carvings is The Blest One! Seeing Red he turns and bounds over, knocking her over when he put his feet up. The pair of you sigh happily, the worry you'd felt just ten minutes ago was now banished.
Then, for the first time ever he spoke; he looked towards the carvings and said "dragon".
Red screamed in glee and hugged him to her, all the while Adamas repeated the word. Then you bid them farewell and returned to your realm.
Over the weeks Red watched Adamas evolve into an air adolescent, the main change being his wings. Red would often sit for hours gazing at Adamas while he slept. Fondling with his wings or tail; how smooth he was. But she could never have him inside with her anymore so she slept outside under the oak tree most nights. Its gnarled boughs only just able to support Adamas' weight.
Adamas also learnt to fly in that period of time, though he couldn't do it very well because the muscles in his wings had not properly developed. He would often watch birds flying and long to be up there with them. Adamas sensed another presence in the valley though, a presence of evil. Red felt it too, but knew she and Adamas couldn't defeat it just yet. So she practiced her magic and worked out. How the evil thing, which was still unknown, got into the valley was beyond them. It was supposed to be impossible, but apparently it wasn't. As time went by, so the power of this evil spirit grew; and both Red and Adamas knew it. The time to defend their land was drawing near, thus the reason that no visitors were allowed.
Then one day Adamas came across the evil being. He was a shape shifter, very powerful. More than they could handle, and yet he did not know of Adamas' presence; perhaps the good spirits who had been laid to rest protected him.
