Hi fellow Fanficians :)

This is a somewhat complete Part 1 of a short story that started out last
week as no more than a blank message window in Eudora and an image of a boy
staring at a cliff. Enjoy ;)


THE DRAGON'S TOWER

An original tale by Andy Skuse (c) 1996

Part 1

Somewhere in the mystic East . . .

     The bleak, grey, stone landscape spread out before the exhausted boy's
eyes. Fat grey-black clouds rolled overhead in turmoil and chaos,
threatening to burst at their seems and deluge the parched tundra with
much needed rain. Windborne sand and dust blew across his cheek, the grit
causing his narrowed eyes to twitch in irritation. Brushing his jet-black
hair out of his face and looking up, a black cliff face filled his vision,
the distant rock appearing flat and shiny, almost slick. Atop the ominous
natural formation a pure white spire pierced the sky, its eminence shrouded
by low, shifting clouds. A single shaft of bright sunlight split the
moisture laden wreath around the tower, and illuminated a single wooden door
at the base.
     The boy stood thoughtfully for a moment longer before continuing his
journey across the brown lichen encrusted plains to the cliff wall in the
distance.
     The  morning passed uneventfully, the rain remaining aloft and allowing
the boy to cross the gap between his previous survey point and the foot of
the massive black stone wall in relative comfort. The dragon had not
appeared for two days now and this gave pleasant thought to the weary
traveler. Besieged by day by for many weeks, the boy had finally managed to
elude the pursuing serpent. He knew not why the beast was following him, nor
did he intend to ask it if it found him again.
     It was just before noon when the boy reached the foot of the cliff face
and placed a trembling hand on the cold black rock. The texture was as he
had surmised, smooth and glistening. Looking up, the cliff appeared to rise
and then bend back over him. Looking left and right at ground level he could
see no solid foothold for him to begin his ascent. Stepping back, the boy
scanned the ebony surface carefully until finally he spotted a tiny piece of
rock jutting out at shoulder height. Grasping the protrusion firmly he
looked upward and picked out a vertical trail of similar protrusions leading
up and to the right, the direction that would take him directly to the east
side of the tower.
     Moving like a tenacious spider, the boy climbed steadily higher, noting
the rising wind speed as he went. The bitterly cold wind whipped his clothes
against his legs and arms causing them to ache and sting. Late in the
afternoon, sweating profusely and out of breath, the boy paused to rest,
then looked down hesitantly to assess his progress.
     Far below he could see the dull patches of grey stone and brownish
lichen strewn across the wide plain that stretched to the horizon. In the
west, the river Katra wound lazily through a shallow valley to empty into a
wide delta and eventually the shining blue-green sea. Far off to the east
the sun's rays broke through the leaden cloud bank and splashed about the
tops of a vast green forest. Along the edge of the treetops a small black spot
suddenly appeared, growing larger by the minute. The boy turned away
suddenly from the panoramic view, and reached up for the next hand-hold.

     The dragon had found him.

     The boy continued climbing, increasing his pace, and as a result,
increasing the risk of falling. His hands were perspiring, causing his grip
to fail
occasionally, producing a wave of adrenaline and fright each time it occured.
The sheer cliff wall suddenly seemed to be fighting him.
     Looking up he could see tufts of wind-blown grass and lichen hanging
over the topmost edge approximately thirty feet above him. Looking over his
shoulder he could now pick out two large bat-like wings pumping up and down
forcefully, propelling the serpent towards his location. In the dragon's
mouth was the limp, bloodied carcass of a deer. As the boy watched,
mesmerized by the ancient creature, the dragon's jaws opened slightly and
the deer carcass plummeted to the ground far below. A distant bellow of
prehistoric rage followed, sending a shiver of dread through him.
     The boy did not bother to watch the deer's complete descent. Looking
upward again, the boy's hands and feet continued propelling him upward,
even faster now. The grassy overhang was soon only twenty feet away. His
heart pounded in his chest as his mind continued to project the image of the
approaching dragon, beating down his will and slowing his escape. Hand over
hand he neared the ledge until he could touch the long strands of grass that
reached down invitingly like green silk rope. As his left hand let go of its
hold to claw at the ledge, the wind suddenly picked up in velocity. The boy
retracted his hand quickly and pressed himself into the cliff face to hold on. 
     With squinting eyes the boy turned to see the dragon hovering slightly
behind and above him, pumping its expansive, black, leathern wings to keep
its enormous serpentine body aloft. The down-draft from its actions pulled
hard at the boy's aching limbs, his fingers clenching harder and harder,
slowly disintegrating the nubs of black rock that supported him into shale-
like flakes.
     Before the beast had even made the sound, the young climber could hear
a low rumble begin deep within the creature's gullet. The rumble gathered
volume and depth as it followed the path through the creature's lengthy
esophagus. The boy cringed, and closed his eyes, yearning to lift his hands
to shield his ears from the dragon's final deafening bellow. A hot blast of
air preceded the dragon's agitated roar, it's prey's stubbornness causing it
to shake its head in fury.
     Finally the rocky protrusion under the boys right hand broke into dusty
shards under his desperate grasp, swinging his body precariously to the left
until his right foot could no longer provide any support. For a precious
moment, the boy's will persisted against the reality of his fate, believing
with all his heart that he couldn't die.
     Then fate stepped in, and embraced him.
     The young climber fell away from the sheer cliff face gracefully at
first, as reality dealt its crushing blow, resigning the boy to his fate.
But as his descent gathered speed, his arms began flailing instinctively at
the rushing air, refusing to believe what his mind was screaming at him; he
was going to die before his quest had even begun. The ground rushed up at
him, objects and colours losing their definition in his moistening eyes. His
limbs continued their flailing, refusing to listen to reason. 
     Then suddenly his muscles relaxed, the ground a few feet below coming
into sharp focus, and then becoming more and more distant as he reversed his
descent. A tightening feeling around his chest and waist caused him to look
around. An enormous, scale-clad claw encircled his midsection, flowing
upwards into a sinewy leg and thigh. Jerking his eyes further upward, the
boy saw the sun pierce the clouds until a massive, membranous wing pumped
downward and cloaked him in shadow. The rhythmic rising and falling of the
dragon's body unsettled the boy's stomach a bit, forcing him to stare at the
relatively motionless torso of the beast.
      Moments later, the dragon increased it's wing pumping motions as it
prepared to land atop the cliff. Dropping its human cargo unceremoniously
on the thick green grass, the dragon flexed its sharply-curved wings,
twitched them once or twice, and then folded them back behind its body.
     The boy lay on the ground unmoving, afraid to provoke the beast into an
attack. A deep, raspy, wheezing voice rumbled from behind him. "Why are you
here?"
     The simplicity of the beast's question surprised the boy. Shaking his
head in disbelief, also due partly to the fact that he was still alive, the
boy turned over onto his back slowly, and sat up. Still trembling from the
fall, his eyes hesitantly looked up into the piercing glare of two yellow
cat-like eyes, heavily lidded with a ridge of black scale that gave the
creature its menacing visage. Long spikes of ivory-coloured enamel poked
under the creature's upper lip, furthering the dragon's vicious appearance,
and causing the boy to think carefully about his answer. "I have come on a
quest-"
     A rumbling wheeze interrupted him. "Slowly boy. Your language is . . .
difficult. Full of useless words. What is this 'quest'?"
     The word 'useless' stuck in the boys mind like a tiny dagger. Fiery
pride overrode common sense for a moment as he grew a little indignant at
the dragon's suggestion that his 'quest' was useless. Remembering where he
was, the boy held his tongue and answered slowly, adjusting his wording. "I
have come here to find a princess, that local legends say is trapped within
yon tower." 
     A low rumble emanated from the beast's sides, the back's of its lips
curling back ever so slightly. The boy paused, attempting to interpret the
serpent's reaction to his answer, then continued, "Let me pass wyrm. It is
my destiny to free her from-" 
     The dragon's lips curled back further and the boy thought he spotted a
gleam in the beast's eyes. "Destiny? What know you of destiny boy? There is
no such thing as desssssstiny," the creature hissed, the gleam still in its
eyes.
     The boy rose to his feet quickly, his pride fueled by the dragon's
indignant statement. His young voice cracked, then stabilized, buoyed by his
growing hurt. "You're wrong!" he cried, the defiance visible in his bright
blue eyes, "Destiny has brought me here, and destiny saved me from certain
doom when I fell from-"
     The dragon's sides rumbled again, overwhelming the boy's thin voice. "I
saved you- *boy*. "
     The boy's eyes narrowed. He had forgotten completely who he was
conversing with, his pride inflamed into a defensive posture. But that did
not deter him from continuing to fume. The serpent was trying to trick him,
he thought. His father had told him long ago that dragons were the wisest
and most cunning of creatures that had ever lived. It would be wise to think
twice about accepting the creature's word at face value.
     Before he could continue his argument with the beast, the dragon rose up,
blocking the sun and casting a cold shadow on the boy. Reaching its peak in
stature, the dragon spoke, its voice full of malice and mischief this time.
"I will grant you access to the tower boy, to search for this princess that
you seek. Under one condition."
     The boy waited anxiously, holding his hand up to shield his eyes as blades
of bright sunlight peeked over the towering serpent's shoulders. "If you
find the princess, and you are able to exit this tower with her alive, then
you are free to go."
     The dragon brought its massive body low to the ground once more,
allowing the sun to temporarily blind the boy. When the young adventurer
could see again, the dragon's snout was only a foot away, steam venting idly
from its nostrils. The boy spoke, a tremble in his voice."And what if I live
but fail to rescue the princess? What then?"
     The dragon's ragged lips curled back deeply, revealing daggers of white
and a thick black tongue beyond. "Then you shall replace the meal I dropped
before I arrived."
     Shivers of fear ran up the boy's spine as he contemplated the idea of
being chewed alive, and then withdrawn into the gullet of the beast. But he
had come this far. Destiny had seen him through the perils of this journey,
including a near-fatal fall, no matter what the serpent bespoke. Now it was
his turn to finish the quest, and perhaps find the love that he so
desperately sought.
     "I accept your contract wyrm. Upon my honour as a dalesman and a
volunteer in my village's army, I give you my word that I shall not renege."
The boy stood proudly before the scaled monster, a mere fly to an albatross.
     "Agreed boy. " The dragon moved away from the boy, "I shall return in
the morning to see how you have fared. The door is open."
     No sooner had the serpent spoke, a loud 'click' was heard and the
thick, oaken door swung into the tower, revealing a dark room inside. The
boy squinted in the setting sun, attempting to pick out the room's detail,
when a light rustling of the air made him turn back to the dragon. Seeing
nothing the boy looked up to spot the dragon flying almost straight up into
the clouds surrounding the tower. In the blink of an eye the wyrm plunged
into the circling mists, and was gone.

     The boy stood on the high cliff for a moment, a sudden thought
occurring to him. He could turn back now, and face no more than a dangerous
climb back down the cliff face to possibly escape the dragon, or cross the
few yards that lay between him and the beckoning doorway, to face uncertain
obstacles. 
     The wind whipped about the young man, sending more dust and grit into
his eye, distracting him long enough to forget the importance of what he was
thinking about. The boy strode forward until he reached the doorway. Peeking
in and still seeing little in the way of detail, the young man entered the
tower's base and disappeared into the inky blackness, the door shutting
slowly behind him.

End of Part 1

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Member of The F.A.A.  - Protectorate of The Anything Goes Martial Band
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"Bubblegum Cross" & "The Dark Traveler"
askuse@execulink.com
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http://www.netzone.com/~ozymand/
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