My Dragon Man

She asked me to explain why the people were afraid of us now, and why they didn't seem too happy. I was silent while I collected my thoughts and my breath. She waited for me patiently until I composed myself enough to answer and then I began to speak.

I told her that the people here worshiped these beasts in a manner similar to the Hindus in India who worship the snake or the elephant or the cow. These Dragons have a place of holiness in their lives and represent divine power, triumph over evil and prosperity in difficult times.

They believe that at times an evil spirit takes over their holy Dragons and make them killers of their own people.

They were certainly very grateful for our help. But, they didn't want to have very much to do with those who could kill their Gods with such apparent ease.... The Dragon Slayers.

She asked me if my friends and I were such men. I nodded. She asked if there were many more of us. I said that we were a rare breed. As rare as the Dragons that we hunted. She didn't reply, but remained seated next to me deep in thought.

We spent the rest of the day in silence. Occasionally talking about Dragons. She wanted to know about them, their ways and their habits. I answered her questions as best as I could. We would take a break to eat the simple food that had been packed in my rations. It wasn't much, but sharing it with her made me feel quite satisfied.

That night she slept near me, resting her head on my shoulder. My scarf was her pillow. I spent the night enjoying her nearness and fearing the shadows that stalked us from the distance. Her nearness felt as comfortable as coming home. She was where She should always have been. By my side.

They did follow us that night. We would get an occasional glimpse of the creatures gliding over the ground through the night vision scopes. The occasional gunshots from us kept them at a safe distance during the night. We were an experienced group and the Dragons were unable to surprise us with their hunting tricks.

The next morning, a few hours away from Langsha, my friend Yaeine brought me news that set my heart beating with excitement. He told me that there was a young man in the train who had apparently been to the ancient and supposedly mythical Mount Hyalmos.

There he claims to have seen the fire that never dies in the mountains belly and the strange beasts that live of its heat high in the middle of the Tibetean mountain range. What was more interesting to me was that he was willing to take us there for the simple reason that those mountains were his home and he had no means to return by himself.

I called this boy, for he was actually no more than that and spoke to him at length. After hearing what he had to say I was convinced that he had indeed seen this place and knew the way back..

We reached Langsha without any further incidents by noon that day. My father and friends didn't need to be told about my plans. They knew what I was about to do for they knew my heart and were now familiar with my ways.

I didn't quite figure out where She had vanished off to once we arrived and try as hard as I could I couldn't find her in the crowded little village. By nightfall I had understood that She had probably left for her happy little home and had wished to avoid the awkwardness of goodbyes.

I couldn't blame Her. It was what I had done all those many years ago. Why would She want to have anything to do with a person who walked out of Her life and never kept in touch. It was not something that one does to a woman he claims he loves.

I knew that in time She must have presumed me dead. I was quite aware of the pain that such a thought must have caused Her. But, I stayed silent. Never calling or writing. Her name only whispered in my most loneliest of times or shouted out in anguish in my dreams.

How could I have lived around her knowing that She loved another. I had to leave and no reason I could have given for leaving would have fooled Her. She wouldn't have stopped me. But She would have known the real reason. That was a thought which I wasn't willing to live with.

I had already said farewell to my father and friends by then and was preparing my gear for the long journey ahead of me. Then out of nowhere I once again felt Her near me. I didn't turn around. I was afraid of finding out that my feelings were just a figment of my imagination.

Then I heard her voice asking me where I was planning on vanishing off to this time. I told her about Mount Hyalmos and my plans to find it. She asked me how I could be so sure that it really did exist. So I told her about the time when I was injured in the mountains and given up for dead, and a tribe of mountain nomads took me in. I told her about how I lived with these people for over a year until I was returned to civilization.

I told her about a strange mountain crater in the middle of the snowy mountains, where one could see the lava flowing in the bowels of the earth. And I also told her how I saw my first Dragon in that mountain crater and how for years I have longed to return but never could find nor remember the way through those mountains.

She asked me how long such a journey would last. I told her about six months for the entire journey. Provided all went well and it seldom does on those peaks,

Her silence seemed to fill the very air around me, making each breath that I took a great challenge. I turned towards her and very softly asked her if she would accompany me on my journey. She looked at me with eyes so dark and so unreadable and reminded me in a voice no louder than a whisper, that she was a married woman and I had walked out off her life many years ago.

I said that I knew it and that was why I needed her to come with me now. For if we were to part now, we would never find each other again. Fate had brought us together once more and I was not willing to lose her again.

I didn't doubt Her love for him. But I couldn't doubt what her eyes said to me either. She couldn't help loving me anymore than She could help meeting Him before me. But that was life and He had been her choice all those years ago. So I had walked away. Now, would She come with me or return to Him?

What was I asking Her to do? How could I ask her to leave her home and husband? A man wonderful man as I remember, who had committed no crime other than to love Her as well.

I had turned my back to the world I knew and the friends I had. Not for Her but for me. Nothing mattered if She wasn't by my side. Now, I was asking Her to do the same. Needing Her to do the same.

Would I to survive another parting? Or another sweet rejection?

This was not a choice to ask of her. Not if I really loved her.

I never realized it, but somehow her hands had found their way into mine.I looked into those eyes that I loved so much and drew her into my arms. I had longed to do this from the moment that I first recognized her on that train. The years peeled away as my body felt her throbbing heart beat against my chest. Like a anxious little bird that longed to break free and find its way into my soul.

That night, under those stars and that occasional moon sliding in between the clouds, we finally made love to each other. At first I had been afraid. Afraid that I was about to break a boundary that should never have been breached. Afraid that I would loose her to my folly.

In the furthest depth of my subconscious, this was one thought that I had never allowed myself to dwell on. This was hallowed ground and I was a mere mortal in the presence of a wonder greater than my life itself.

I noticed that She seemed afraid too. Of what I will never know.

That night She became a woman to me. If I had allowed myself to dream of this moment, then this was how I would have wished it to be. Our loving was slow and uncertain at first. We took our time exploring each other, warming to the certain knowledge of what was sure to happen.

And when it did, it happened with such a feeling of wonder, at how much emotion two souls could generate with the simple act of making love. We made love many times that night. At times softly and at times with urgency that ended in cries of exultant release as our bodies clung to each other with exhausted joy.

I was like a man who had been thirsty for years and never even knew it. It didn't feel wrong nor was there any degree of guilt that nagged our hearts. It was just two people, finally saying to each other, I love you...... And we said it many times that night. In words, and in kisses with our bodies and with our hearts.

I couldn't remember that last time I smiled so much or laughed so happily. I was happy. This was all I had ever wanted. This was more than I had ever expected to receive from this life. A life that had led me on many a strange and lonesome journey.

I knew now that She loved me, knew beyond a doubt that She had always loved me. Nothing in between mattered any more. Nothing that happened in the future could matter to me any more.

We slept very little that night. When we weren't making love we were talking and when words ran out, we marveled at the starry heavens, reflected in each others eyes.

I wasn't really surprised to hear the shouting in the early parts of the morning. She awoke with a start. I held her close and whispered reassurances in her lovely ears. I told her that every thing was okay and I would take care of her. I told her how much I loved her and how She had made me that happiest and most complete man in the world. I kissed her for the longest time, even as the shouting grew nearer. I then rose and told her to hurry. We needed to find a place to hide and soon.

I picked up my weapon that had never been more than an arms length away from me. Hearing the magazine click in and the snap of the bolt cocking brought Her head up, eyes widened in fear. I patted Her head as I always had, smiled and reminded her once again, that we needed to hurry.

Turning towards the sounds near by, I saw a Dragon soar up from around the hilltops. Another followed it a moment later. They circled the village once again, dropping from my sight as they swooped down towards another poor victim.

There were small caves near to my campsite and I pushed her towards them. Telling her to stay out of sight until this ended I turned towards the village. A few of the villager had also reached the caves and it was with them that I left Her.

I knew that I ready now. Ready to meet a destiny that I had always known was to happen. Since the moment our bodies embraced each other the night before I had known that my fate was just around the corner. Knocking at the gates of my destiny.

As I broke into a run, I closed my eyes for a moment, picturing Her sweet face lined with worry as I sped away. I whispered a prayer to my God whom I had long since abandoned, begging his forgiveness and beseeching Him to take care of my darling.

I opened my eyes just as the first beast came into view. Its gaping jaws and powerful wings rushing towards me...... The Dragon ... and its Slayer....

+ + + + +

It was the last of the three creatures that he brought down. It happened so fast. Mortally wounded the last Dragon crashed a few feet away from him. In its dying attempt at vengeance, it shot out a tongue of fire from its jaws.

He had been too close to avoid the blast.

I found him there. Sprawled near the creature he had killed. His spirit had already moved on to a better place. We cremated him that night, scattering his ashes in the mountain wind. This had been His wish all those years ago. I can only hope that it had not changed. After all this time, I wanted to give Him to finally have as much of what his heart had desired.

I had found Him only to lose Him. But as I watched the flames rise upto the heavens, the same heavens below which we had loved each other, a thought crept into my mind. I had not found Him to lose him, only to set Him free.

We had found in each other the missing part of a soul that had been separated at the very beginning of time. For those few hours that we were together, we left behind the world of black and white. A world where we had never really belonged

For that very short moment in time, we had lived and loved as only very few would ever dare.

He had thought that I had forgotten Him after all these years. That I had given Him up for dead. But, if only he had known. I never thought him dead. My heart had always known that He lived. Just as my heart knew that he would never return to me as he sped away from the cave that day.

I felt a deep sense of loss as I watched his ashes disappear into the breeze. And the tears wouldn't stop. But I couldn't help but feel His warm presence by my side. I could almost hear him smile. His eyes crinkled in indulgent humor at my tears.

He had loved life. And he had loved me.

Just as He would have loved the life that was now growing inside me.

I left for my home the next day. On my journey back, my guide and I traveled from mountain to mountain and tribe to tribe. Finding family in all the places we stopped. Everyone seemed to know who I was and went out of their way to make me comfortable on my way home. He was apparently better known and liked than he himself believed. For, all those who embrace the mountains with their heart and soul, are in turn embraced by the mountain and all those who dwell there.

One day I will bring my child and maybe his new Father to this little village. And one day when the time is right, I will tell him a story. A story about a slayer without a future, and a woman who had chosen to redeem her past.

But that journey, is another story.....

THE END