William pulled himself up the cliff and rolled over to his back, letting out a deep, emotion filled breath. That was close. He had been inches from falling to his death.
Smiling, the young man laughed. Maybe fate wants me to survive after all.
The black cliff edge below him was smooth and cold. There was also a slight layer of frost on it, shining with a faint blue hue. William got up to his feet, taking a deep breath to calm himself down from the near-death experience a moment ago.
Then, he entered the cave.
A large corridor came into view, torches adorning the black, smooth stone walls. The light from them reflected itself, creating vividly dancing shadows in the suffocating silence. The whole scenery felt magical, almost unreal.
Was William dreaming now?
No, he could feel the rigid air prick his skin, giving him dozens of goosebumps.
This must be an outpost or something. But why build it here, in the middle of nowhere? And someone seems to have been here recently, only that can explain the torches. If not, what the heck is going on?
The young man headed further inside. Stairs leading up were cut from black, smooth stone like the cliff; precise and well made, without even a dent. Hesitation arose in his mind whether to go up or not. But thinking back to the long way down, and lack of one dagger, he made the decisive choice rather quickly. “I truly hate stairs,” muttered William under his breath while climbing the precisely cut stairs.
The exhaled air from his breathing didn’t freeze like earlier and transformed into white mist instead. The phenomena made him remember how important breathing was. Breathing is, after all, the principle of life itself.
“One must breathe to live,
and one must live to breathe.
To control one’s breath one must control life,
and to control life, one must control the breath.”
The divine message passed down from the ancient gods.
Humanity was gifted with powers beyond mortal logic, but as always, the greed in one's heart is a powerful tool, making the worst out of every man, and woman for that part. The gods released the beasts to punish them.
Beasts.
Terrifying monstrosities without sympathy
And as such, humans train to become powerful and may very well die young if too weak. An unending cycle of life.
The suffocating silence caused every sound to be amplified thousand times over. The constant crackling of the fire was similar to that of ripples on top a cold, still, pond in the night. The silence would drive any man insane if staying here for too long, and that included him as well.
“Finally!” William’s legs ached, his muscles hurt all over, and his body was sore to the limit. He took the last step and collapsed, shortly after reaching the end of the stairs. But to his surprise, something touched the back of his head, piling up to his hair. Likewise, his face, resting in a soft, bit wet, fuzzy material.
Snow.
He looked up. His eyes went wide. The scene was fantastic.
The most beautiful William had ever seen in his entire life. The crystal blue sky was clear and devoid of clouds. He had finally arrived at the mountain peak. He had succeeded! But then, his jaw dropped.
It was majestic. The fairy tales were true. The storytellers were right. And his father never lied. They exist.
The dragons.
The humongous creature was light blue with Icy horns and black claws protruding from its body, wings measuring maybe twenty, twenty-five or even thirty meters. The lapis piercing eyes shone with mysterious blue and white light.
William cleared his throat.He never thought that this day would come.
“Uhh... I need your help!” yelled William in a nervous voice.
The Frost Dragon stared at him indifferently.
William tried once more. “Please, I really need your help!!”
The dragon reacted when he heard his last shout. Faint anger flashed in its eyes that were bigger than three Williams stacked side to side. The creature flapped its wings once and flew high into the sky.
“Boom!” The ground shook like an earthquake as it landed right in front of William. The dragon watched him and stretched its head forward. He was barely meters from its dreadful maw.
“And why exactly must I help you, little boy?” A profound,low roar reverberated from deep within the Frost Dragon.
Cold, freezing air poured all over him, causing him to shudder. The young man was frightened. He gulped again, stuttering out. “I..I…”
“Because you’re special?” The cold air hit him again. But the force was too much. William flew backward and hit the mountainside with a loud thud. A faint line of blood dribbled down from the corner of his mouth. “You have no right to demand things from me!” The Frost Dragon was outraged, anger filling its blue eyes. The dragon’s words followed a long silence.
“I understand,” William said slowly after a while.
Hearing what William said, the dragon stopped in its tracks and looked at him again. This time, a bit differently. The young man shook his head, closing his eyes. His thinking was naive. He was naive. Why would the dragon help him out of pure goodwill, William had nothing that forced nor tempted the dragon into helping him.
“May I ask a simple question?” asked he quietly.
The dragon squinted its eyes in curiosity. “What’s so important for you to come all the way up? You can’t even control your breathing, so why would you risk your life for a mere question?” asked the dragon.
“I can’t control my breathing. That’s my question.”
“That’s obviously because you haven’t memorized the set of techniques from the old gods." The Frost Dragon smirked haughtily "Either that or you don’t understand them. Surely someone must have told you this?”
“No, I know the scriptures in and out.” Said William.
“What?” the Frost Dragon blinked.
“I know every word, every sentence, and every page.” He said. “But I can’t control my breathing no matter what I do. It always becomes ragged when I search for my life essence. As if something is missing, or blocking me from reaching further.”
The Frost Dragon no longer looked at him with disregard and anger; its eyes were full of fear, but at the same time, a strange longing for something. “Do you have headaches after reciting the mantra?”
“Yes,” William replied. “How did you know that?”
The Frost Dragon closed its eyes and replied. “As I thought.”
“What?” William asked.
“Little boy.” The Frost Dragon said gently. “You might not understand it yourself, but what you just told me makes you unique” It backed away some steps. “Do you wish to become stronger than anyone? Do you dream to be a king above kings?”
“No, I just don’t want to be weak.” He answered.
“That’s good enough.” said the frost dragon gently.
"If you want to get back to the foot of the mountain, I can take you there." It explained. "However, if you want to be stronger than anybody, I can give you that chance as well.
“Please give me that chance.” replied William immediately.
“As you wish.” The Frost Dragon rose from the ground, revealing its humongous body. “I am Saphira. The Legendary Frost Dragon, Protector of the Innocent, and The Eternal Maiden. Do you wish to become my disciple?”
This time, he responded without thinking, “Yes!”
After saying this, his strength gave way and fatigue invaded his body. The sleepiness took over completely; his body became limp. As he was about to land on the ground, a pair of soft, jade-like hands caught him in mid-air.
William turned to look, but just as he was about to see what, or who, caught him; everything went black, pitch black, as he fell unconscious.
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