Lion Heart Ch. 2

The dragon began to stir, the pain gone. It pulled itself off the ground until it was standing on its hind legs, wings stretched out. It was quite an intimidating sight, and I’m sure you can imagine Galen’s surprise when he awoke to find a giant dragon staring at him with fiery red eyes. Well, no, actually I’m sure you can’t imagine that, seeing as how you have never met a dragon before, because nowadays you rarely see them, and when you do actually see one, people think you’re crazy. I know how you feel! Okay, I admit, I don’t really know how you feel. Matter of fact, if you think you have seen a dragon, well, you probably are crazy. ANYWAY! That is not the point of this story. The point is that he was intimidated. His hand began to feel for his bow. He grabbed it, whipped out an arrow and pulled back the string. The dragon’s paw was nothing more than a blur as it swatted away the weapon.
“Boy, I mean you know harm. Do not try to kill me, for I only mean to thank you for rescuing me from those creatures, then saving me from those fatal wounds. Because of you I am not only alive, but I’m good as new. If it were not for you I would be dead right now. I owe you my life… and so I give you my Life Debt. It is a dragon custom to give their life to someone who has shown courage, in hope of learning from them, and then the person in turn can also learn from the dragon.” The boy just stared, eyes wide in astonishment. He could not believe it. His very own dragon!
“I… I… I accept,” he stuttered, wondering if he would grow to regret that fateful decision, although he could not imagine why.
“Good, then get on my back, for I have a quest to complete,” commanded the dragon.
“What kind of a quest?” questioned Galen as he struggled to climb onto the creature’s wide back.
“I must get back to the city of dragons alive.”
“Well that doesn’t sound too hard,” retorted Galen, as he clutched tightly to two large scales on the dragon’s back.
“You have no idea little one,” replied the dragon as it began to flap its long wings loudly.
“Do you have a name?” inquired Galen.
“Yes, I have a dragon name, but it would have no meaning to you, so you can call me Wolfheart.” Suddenly, with a burst of energy the dragon launched off the ground with his powerful legs and began to flap his leathery wings, lifting them higher and higher into the air until they were whipping past clouds and birds. Galen’s smile showed nothing but pure joy as the wind blew his wavy hair. So this was what it was like to fly? He remembered spying jealously on hawks and falcons soaring through the air as if trying to chase a colorful rainbow in the background. Now he looked down at the trees rushing past them, the blue sky all around. Then everything went white as they shot through a cloud, getting his clothes wet.
“Do you ever get tired of this?”
“Never,” answered Wolfheart with a grin. And with that he swooped down near a lake, dragging his claws in the refreshing water. His claws jerked up, fish in hand and he fed the fish to himself as he quickly regained altitude.
“This seems familiar,” muttered Galen under his breath. “Like something out of a dream. But that’s impossible. I’ve never been near a dragon in my life. Heck! I’d never even seen a dragon since yesterday!” He quickly shrugged off the idea as Wolfheart somersaulted through the air. Though Galen had already began thinking of other things, Wolfheart was still thinking about what the boy had mentioned, then thought to himself, It should feel familiar little one. It should, and with a smile he shot forward, every minute growing closer and closer to their goal.