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"Suddenly I started laughing and couldn't stop. She picked her head up not sure if she should be insulted or join in. I finally caught my breath and said as best I could while holding back the laughter, 'Listen to us. We have shared an adventure that would make the bards sing for days and yet neither of us knows the other's name. Let me start to fix that oversight. My name is Muddle. How may I address you, my lady dragon?'
"She started to laugh and then stopped abruptly and her face took on an expression I could not read. 'The Child of Destiny,' she breathed and then she curled up into a tight ball with her head tucked under her back leg. I was left wondering what I had said.
"I waited for several minutes and she showed no likelihood of uncurling anytime soon, so I continued to collect her scales and place them on the platform I had created for the fire. I would look over every few minutes but she was like a lump of stone. I could not even see her breathing. Finally I had collected all the scales I could find and I went over to stand near her.
"I called out gently, 'My Lady Dragon, I don't know what I said to cause you to retreat like this. Please come back to me. I am truly sorry if I have caused you any more pain.'
"I waited but got no response. I went over to the piece of her tail and decided that if I was to make use of it, I would need to remove the large scales. When I was working to cut this piece off I noticed that there were two overlapping sets of scales. The large scales that everyone knows about, but there is also a much finer set of scales underneath. I decided that I would remove the large scales and leave the soft fine scales intact. With the help of my dagger the large scales just fell away. I slit the skin as carefully as I could and to my surprise the meat just fell off the skin leaving it prefect and unblemished. I added the new scales and the meat from the tale to the fire platform.
"It was getting dark and I was getting cold. I don't know what possessed me, but I got my bedroll and leaned up against the side of the dragon and fell asleep almost instantly.
"In the morning, I got up and made a light breakfast, washed and took care of my toilet duties. When I returned, the dragon had not moved. I moved near to where I believed her head to be and said, 'My Lady Dragon, I cannot stay any longer. I am out of food and I fear it will be a two day walk back to my camp. Before I go, I would like to thank you for all you have done for me and for the pleasure of your company these past few days. I pray that your healing will continue and that you will soon be able to fly back to your home. I will now perform the last thing you requested of me and I will light the fire that will cremate the scales and flesh so that it will not be used for any evil purpose.'
"With that I turned and called fire to the end of my torch and walked to the pyre I had built. Just before I got there, a stream of fire came from my right and the wood went up in flames with a big, 'Whoomph'.
"I turned back to see the dragon sitting upright once again.
"She called out to me, 'My dear Muddle, I am sorry for the dishonorable way that I have acted. When you told me your name I panicked.'
"With this her eyes swirled and her voice changed, becoming her voice, but somehow ancient and she said these words to me,
"A Dragon Child about to die,
Made whole and more and set to fly.
The Child of Destiny now DragonBlood,
Bound to the Dragon Child for good.
A gift of self she gifts to fill,
A Book of Power for good or ill."
As he said those words, Muddle looked down and saw them being written into his grimoire. The words fell between the words of the Dryad and the words of the Oread. He had only a chance to look and wonder what words will fill the remaining gaps before his grimoire closed.
Muddle looked over at his familiar and said, "There wasn't much more to tell about my encounter with the dragon. After she said those words, she looked at me and said, 'A Dragon's name grows as they gain experience, but for now and forever, I will be known as Tinsentifl. I am the Dragon Child.'
"With that she turned and launched herself into the sky and I watched as she flew off until I could see her no more.
"I gathered my things and made sure the fire was out. While pouring water on the embers to make sure the fire was truly out, I found 5 dragon scales that had not burned. I tucked those into my backpack and headed back to camp.
"And that, Mr. Frog, is the end of tonight's tale," I said. "Good night to you and I will see you in the morning. Now that I have made this house a home again, the tug on me is beginning again, so in the morning, we will set out to continue my journey to find a new Master. "
The frog simply said, "Re-deep ('Good night Master')," then hoped off the table into the night.
So ends the seventh part of A Journey Never Begun.
***
Author's note:
For those of you that have persevered through the journey so far, please take a moment to rate these stories and to comment on them. Constructive criticism is always welcome and for those of you that feel the need to leave less constructive comments, please be assured, I will not eat shit and die.
Thank you for taking this journey with us.
- COMMENTS
rayironyover 2 years agoRE forging...Needs be attempted at much hotter temperatures good Tale-master.
Red hot is good enough to ruin the temper of carbon steel or anneal copper, or perhaps to planish steel surfaces smooth...But not hot enough to move much steel.
Often "skymetal" contains a lot of nickle which raises the forging temperature yet more. It also often contains contaminants that need to be forged out by repeatedly hammering out and forge welding back on itself at yellow-white temperatures. Heat treating ( hardening and tempering) depends on the carbon content and alloy mix.
Overheating coarsens the grain structure and weakens the steel....And so on.
After the steel is quenched from yellow hot, it needs to be promptly tempered down from it's brittle state, or it's in danger of cracking. That happens at quite low temperatures indicated by the surface oxide colors. Peacock blue is tough but reasonably hard. Straw yellow is hard...good for a chisel, and so on.
Thank you good sir...enjoying Muddle's tale thus far.
Anonymousabout 5 years agoI normally read Sci-Fi a out space and farther beyond. Yes I am a partial Trekkie and Marvel runs in my veins. You are a gifted writer and please continue with your tale. This style of writing will open up new areas to read.
Thank you,
Michael JOhnn
JamesMiehoffover 5 years agoAuthorThanks everybody I appreciate your comments. This has been a learning experience for me and I appreciate all of you who have stuck it out so far.
James
Anonymousover 5 years agofor this great writen story! I'm hoping for more to come!
I very much like this way of telling a story within a story. And I was delighted to read such "trivia" that a house needs a vent to keep a fire going: To think of such nice details when painting out a "big" story is great writing!
Thank you a lot!
wingnitover 5 years agoI am really enjoying this tale. Please continue and I can't wait to read more!
