The Divide

"Hold on." Terrin hopped down and began cleaning the slime off of Zan.

"Thank you." Zan said when the majority of the filth had been wiped off.

"Your welcome." Terrin smiled. The lizard smiled back with his large eyes. He seemed to clear his throat and shift back into his human form. The pair got walking again, Zan was tired from the trip through the thick water but tried not to show it. Terrin couldn't help but stare at the handsome man. His black and red hair was spiked much like the spines on his back when he was in his dragon form, and his golden brown eyes were close to the colors he wore around his pupils as a dragon. It was then that Terrin noticed the gash in his arm. It bled through the red armor that matched his scales but Zan seemed to pay no attention to it.

"You're hurt." Terrin pointed out.

"Yes, we keep any existing wounds in both forms." Zan said, like it was no big deal.

"I didn't know, lets stop here for the night and I'll bandage it." Terrin set down the large blackened earth dragon scales in a clearing and ripped part of

the tunic he wore under his armor. He sat down next to Zan and tied it around the gash like a bandage.

"It's not much but it's the best I can do. If I can find a certain type of plant I can crush it's leaves and it will act as a mild pain reliver." Terrin thought out loud, looking around for said plant.

"I'll be fine for now, maybe we'll find it tomorrow." Zan said, yawning and lying down. "This clearing isn't big enough for me to switch, we'll have to deal with the cold tonight." He mumbled.

"We should be fine." Terrin said, not convinced. They slept on opposite sides of the clearing. Terrin shivered and Zan's teeth chattered.

"Terrin?"

"Yes?"

"We would be warmer....if we shared body heat." Zan said, hesitantly. Terrin was quiet, but was glad that Zan had said something first. He would have said it in less than twenty seconds if the dragon hadn't first.

"You're right." Zan heard him stand and run over to his side, curling up on his chest without hesitation. He held back a laugh and could smell

the manly scent of Terrin on his chest. He sighed and finally began drifting off to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terrin woke up to the steady pounding of Zan's heartbeat. It was faster than a human's, but was constant and reassuring.

"Good, you're awake." Zan spoke. Terrin had no idea how he knew that

he had woken up, but he was glad to hear his voice,

strangely.

"Yes."

"We should get moving, if we hurry we can get there by the end of today, if not we should be there early tomorrow." He said and stood, pushing Terrin off of his chest. Terrin stood and stretched. before they started walking.

"Zan?"

"Yes?" Zan

answered, keeping his eyes ahead of

them.

"Won't there be other dragons at the lava pits?"

"Yes, why?" Zan asked.

"How are they going to feel about having a human there?" Terrin asked, worried.

"I-...I didn't think of that." Zan stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Me either, not until now anyways."

"I'll talk to them, I'm well known in the brood and they should take my word."

"Should?" Terrin asked, worried.

"Yes, should." Zan seemed just as worried.

"Maybe I should just stay in the swamp then, until you're all healed up and ready to leave." Terrin reasoned.

"No way, if I have to fly into the human capital, you can walk into my brood." Zan laughed, and jumped over a fallen tree.

"Asshole." Terrin grumbled. Zan smiled and winked at him. As time went on he was growing more and more fond of the human. It was beginning to scare him. Two

people so different shouldn't be

together. At least as far as the world was concerned.

"So Dragon's are pretty free when it comes to relationships. Mating and such..." Terrin asked.

"Yes, we believe if you claim someone as their mate, then there's no exception. No matter the case." Zan said.

"Most other species don't follow that rule."

"No, they don't."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Honestly?" Zan asked. When Terrin nodded he continued. "I think that considering there are only two actually intelligent species on this planet, Dragons and Humans, that's not a lot to go on. Dragon's are a lot like humans, but we've been around for a lot longer and have had time to learn from out mistakes. Human's have the capacity to be just as intelligent, but prejudice and the status quo keep them from reaching their full potential." Zan replied.

"That makes sense. But not all humans are like that."

"And not all Dragon's believe in mating freely." Zan said.

"They don't?"

"No. You can't expect an entire race to see things the same way. Ever." Zan said.

"I guess you're right there. I have to admit though. Pretty much every human thinks Dragon's are blood thirsty barbarians."

"Do you?" Zan raised an eyebrow. Neither of them looked at each other while they walked, but each listened to the conversation intensly.

"I used to. But since I met you...I guess....No. I don't."

Terrin replied honestly.

"And since I've met you, I don't think all Humans are moronic killing machines." Zan looked over at Terrin and smiled.

"I think that means we're friends..." He smiled.

"I guess it does, doesn't it?" Zan nodded. Silence passed for a few momnets as the two thought about

their conversation but soon it was picked up again.

"But you know, Dragons don't believe in friendship." He said.

"They don't?" Terrin frowned.

"No. They believe in mates, which is equivilant to a Humans 'love'." Zan said. "And they believe in broods, which is equivilant to a Humans 'Family'." Zan explained.

"Then where do friends fit in? Compaions? Allies?" Terrin asked.

"They fit in as family. Because when you befriend a dragon, you're friends for life." Zan smiled.

"I think I like the sound of that." Terrin nodded.

"That's one major

thing that separates Dragons from Humans." Zan said.

"What?" Terrin asked.

"That simple concept that Humanity isn't a species,

it's a state of mind."

They were silent for the rest of their walk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's getting hot." Terrin fanned his face with a leaf he had picked up awhile back.

"Yes, it is!" Zan smiled excitedly.

"We're close?"

"Very." Zan smiled wider and pulled back the vines of some old tree, revealing the pools of hot lava that awaited them. Behind the pools were several volcano's covered in caves and cliffs filled with dragons. Several deep red or orange dragons flew through the air and some bathed in the bubbling lava. Clutches of eggs could be seen in the distant crevices, caves, and ledges of the

volcano's.

"Leave your sword here, it will make you seem like more of an enemy than you already are." Zan said. Terrin dropped his sword from his side, leaving it hidden under a small bush.

"Let me go first, I'll talk to them and then come and get you." Zan looked excited to see his home again.

"Alright."

"I was worried I would never see my brood again..." He confided in his human family member. He paused for a second before stepping out into the black dirt of the lava fields. He shifted quickly and crawled into one of the steaming pools of red liquid. He was under the surface for a long time before coming up. Bits of lava clung to his scales and horns, but he seemed to sigh and relax for a moment. He sat in the pools for a few minutes before climbing out and stretching his wings. Terrin

saw his right wing was as good as new and didn't even show a scar. He reared up like he had the day they had met, and without hesitation, slammed his tail down onto the ground while pushing up with

his back legs and flapping his wings.

He took to the skies and did a few circles before flying towards the largest volcano in the center of the lava fields. He flew into a cave at the front of the volcano and was gone for nearly an hour.

Terrin began to worry when an hour and a half had passed. He was about to stand up from the spot he had claimed as his when he saw a familiar red dragon fly from the cave, followed by two others. He landed in the clearing near the swamp and walked towards where he had left Terrin. He stuck his head through the tree's and made eye contact with one large eye.

"I've spoken to our queen. She's agreed to speak with you, as long as you leave all of your weapons and fears behind." He spoke in his head once more. Terrin nodded and Zan allowed him to crawl on his back.

"Are you ready to fly with a Dragon?" Zan asked, proudly stretching his

wings and roaring.

"As long as there's no crashing this time." Terrin swallowed nervously. He had always wondered what it would be like to be a bird and fly high above all of his problems. But now flying was his problem. Several red dragons stared at the human, many had never seen a human and had only heard stories.

"You left your sword

didn't you?" Terrin nodded.

"Then we'll be fine!" Zan said and without waiting for an answer, slammed his tail on the ground again and took off. Terrin screamed like a little girl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The

flight was short, only forty seconds or so as the volcano

was right there. But it was nothing other than terrifying. Terrin clung to the dragon's scales for dear life as he and the two other escorts soared towards what he knew to be the queen's lair. Zan landed, and Terrin jumped off quickly.

"I'm never doing that again, I think I'm going to be sick." He leaned on the wall of the cave.

"If you don't want to fly again, then you better get comfortable here, because you wont make it back to the human lands." Zan laughed. They walked to the cave and there was a strange sound coming from deep inside.

"What's that sound?" Terrin asked. They turned a corner and he had his answer. There, in the center of a large opening in the cave, was the queen. The strange sound he had heard was her breathing. Zan was huge, one of his claws was easily the size of one of the kingdom's biggest horses. And Zan, was easily the size of the queen's smalled claw. She was lying down, but even then she was probably taller than the castle Terrin had grown to call home. Several teeth poked out of her closed mouth, and her horns scraped the roof of the giant

cavern.

"You are the human called Terrin?" Her voice filled his head. Despite her size, her voice was sweet and light.

"I-I am." He stuttered.

"Do you know who I am?"

"You're the Queen... Of the Red dragons."

"My name is, Sarazina. You may call me Sara." Her sweet voice echoed in his head again.

"It's... It's an honor to meet you." Terrin bowed.

"The honor is mine, human. It's been a long time since we've been able to have a civilized discussion with a human." She spoke.

"I'm sure it has." Terrin nodded.

"Zan told us how you met. Quite a story." The Dragon queen chuckled lightly in his head. "I sense good in you, Terrin. You may stay here until you're ready to leave." The queen nodded her head at him.

"Thank you, it means a lot to me. I promise not to cause any trouble." Terrin swore.

"I'm sure you won't, and Zan will watch over you. It's good to see another of my children find his mate,

no matter the species."

"Wait what?"

"Oh hell no!"

"I'm not his-"

"He isn't my-"

The dragon and his human

friend voiced their objection at the same time. Stumbling over their words and looking uncomfortable in the presence of the queen.

"You may not realize it yet, but it's true." The queen smiled at them.

"I think you have this wrong I-"

"Yes,

my queen, thank you." Zan bowed and carefully picked Terrin up with a clawed hand. He turned, and with three legs walked out of the cavern.

"Put me down!" Terrin shouted, and once they were standing outside the volcano, he gently set him down.

"What was all that?" Terrin asked.

"I

don't know, she can see things others can't." Zan shrugged his large shoulders.

"And you believed her?"

"Well... I admit I'm skeptical but she is my queen. She's wiser than you could ever know."

"I'm not your mate." Terrin said.

"I'm sure you're not, come on. We'll sleep here and head to the kingdom tomorrow morning." Zan waited for Terrin to get settled onto his back before taking off. He landed on a ledge of the nearby volcano.

"Sleeping in the lava pools will help me heal even more, you can stay there, with the hatchlings. The brood mothers will keep you safe."

"You're having me sleep with a bunch of dragon

babies?" Terrin glared at him.

"You'll be fine, see you tomorrow." He smiled and glided down to the boiling pools of lava.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Terrin woke up when two fighting dragon hatchlings rolled over him. He grunted and walked to the edge of the cliff. Zan looked up, and flew to meet him, perching on the edge of the cliff.

"Ready to leave?"

"Sure, how long will it take to get there?"

Terrin asked.

"A day, maybe." Zan shrugged.

"Good, lets go." Terrin nodded, but made no move to get onto Zan's back.

"We ARE flying, meaning you have to get on." Zan laughed. Terrin sighed and climbed on.

"Ready?" Zan asked.

"I suppose." Terrin sighed.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Zan said. He glided down gently to the ground near the pools. The drop made Terrin's stomach drop but it wasn't as bad as he thought.

"I think I could get used to this" He muttered.

"I made you something last night."

"Made me something?" Terrin raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, climb down and I'll show you." Zan said. Terrin jumped off his back and Zan shifted into human form. He stepped behind a tree and came back with a helmet, breastplate, and legplates made out of the earth dragon scales Terrin had gathered.

"You made these?" Terrin ran his hand on the smooth scales.

"Yes, they're forged with the lava from the pools." Zan nodded to the bubbling pools.

"This is amazing!" Terrin took off his armor and put on the sleek black scales.

"Oh, and there's more." Zan held up a long black blade with a handle made from the scales.

"Is this a tooth?" Terrin held it to the light to get a closer look.

"It is." He smiled.

"We didn't pick up a tooth though, where did you get it?"

"I guess when I shifted I lost one, it happens sometimes." Zan opened his mouth to reveal one of his back teeth was missing.

"It's yours? Thank you, it's perfectly balanced." Terrin held the sword in his palm, letting it sway back and forth in a balanced motion.

"I'm glad you like it, those scales are good for keeping you safe from blunt attacts, they do no good from heat though. The sword will be

impervious to heat but the handle isn't.

It's also unbreakable." Zan explained. Terrin then realized that the tooth the sword was made from wasn't broken, but was still completely intact.

"This is incredible." He gave the sword a few practice swings and found the armor was light and provided awesome protection, and the sword was swift and made a beautiful sound when swung.

"We should get going, you're going to want to show off that new sword of yours to your father."

"Yeah, lets go." Terrin hopped onto Zan's back after he shifted. It was becoming easier and easier and it was actually beginning to feel natural to him.

"Lets fly!" Zan spoke in his head, and gave a fierce roar outloud. The roar shook the leaves on the tree and as it trailed off, they took to the skies.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were flying for awhile when Terrin realized that the Divide was to his right, when it should have been ahead of them.

"We're going the wrong way, the Divide is there." He pointed.

"We need to go around. Over the ocean and around the divide."

"Why?"

"Because, If I fly directly at a human kingdom, they're going to try and destroy me, we don't want that do we?"

"Uh, no, no we don't." Terrin swallowed.They flew until they reached the coast and the sparkling blue water looked inviting.

"Look, there." Zan nodded his head down at the water.

"What?" Terrin scanned the oceans but didn't see anything. Zan dived until they were only a short distance from the water, but still high enough to get a birds eye view. Then Terrin saw it. The huge skeleton lined the ocean floor, twisting and curving for hundereds of feet.

"What is

that?"

"It's one of the water dragons."

"Jesus, I didn't think they would be so big."

"Yes." Zan continued to fly along the pattern it's skeleton made.

"What the hell could have killed it?"

"Human's did." Zan said

bitterly.

"What?" Terrin looked surprised.

"She was brought down by one of your fleets a few months ago. Look, between her ribs." Zan said, bringing him even closer to the water. There, underneath the body

that had rotten away under the twisting waters, was a clutch of eggs. The dragon had died protecting her eggs to her last breath.

"Can't they be saved?"

"By who?" Zan seemed to raise an eyebrow.

"Theres other dragons aren't there?" Terrin was desperate to find a way to save the unhatched dragons.

"Yes, of course. But who would save them? Red's can't take them. We can't even swim. They can't fly, they can't dig. They belong in the ocean, and another blue won't take them. More than likely they will rot without their mothers care." Zan said sadly.

"I want to help them." Terrin

frowned.

"I do too, but there's nothing we can do." Zan frowned, and took off in the direction of the human lands again.

"Do you think we'll see a live one?" Terrin looked down at the waters hopefully.

"Maybe, they're large and it's their mating season as far as I know." Zan said. Suddenly a huge crest broke the surface of the water and then disapeared.

"Was that..."

"Yes." Zan already knew the question. He got down low to the water and just past the surface was a full grown water dragon.

"Gods..." Terrin gasped as the large beast breached the surface and arched back into the water. Foot after foot of

the large snake passed through the water until it ended with a large sharklike tail.

"Is it true some of them can have two heads?"

"Yes. It's fairly common."

'That's crazy." Terrin laughed.

"It's life." Zan shrugged, smiling. The dragon came up to the surface again and moved her head to look up at Zan.

"Zan, what are you doing in these parts?" Her voice filled Terrin's head, and he assumed Zan's too.

"Just doing a favor for a friend." He moved so she could see Terrin on his

back.

"A human..." The dragon's eyes got wide as she swam along with Zan.

"They're not as horrible as they sound, believe it or not..." Zan laughed.

"You always were the open minded one, Zan. Good luck, I need to get back to my eggs." The dragon said, and dived beneath the waves again

"You know her?"

"I've seen her a few times, she's helped us out during the dry season."

"Dry season?"

"Food is scarce, she's caught whales and left them on the beach for us."

"Wow, I would think that fire dragons and water dragons wouldn't get along."

"Most dragon broods get along with each other. Despite human stories, all of us are quite peaceful, so long as our hatchlings aren't in danger." Zan said. They neared a chain of islands that went around the cliff of the Divide. Terrin recognized it as the way they had originally planned to take. The islands looked empty for the most part, and they were traveling much faster than they would be if they were walking.

"There, in the distance." Zan said.

"What is it?" Terrin asked, in the distance he could see a few black specs but couldn't make out what it was.

"It's the harbor, to your kingdom." Zan said, climbing in altitude.

"We're almost there!" Terrin smiled.

"You never told me, how did you

end up down in the dragon lands?"

"My uncle, he tried to kill me. That's when I landed on you. He wants to take over the throne."

"But the throne is yours, isn't it?"