Dragion — Chapter 1

Gendo felt the great rush of air above him before he even noticed the dull grey shadow that fell upon the cold granite on which he’d been standing. As he craned his neck to meet the curved talons of the dragon, he felt around for his ten inch blade, his only weapon. It hung loosely on his belt, and he fumbled trying to reach for it. There was no time. Before he could even grab hold of the short handle protruding out of his pocket, he was snatched from the ground, and swept up into the air.The dragon was gentle. It did not proceed to tear him to pieces. It held him firmly in its claws, and with nothing better to do during the strange ride through the air, he observed the minature towns that lay beneath him. Before long he grew giddy, and shaking his head he focused his attention back onto the dragon. It was longer and bigger than two ordinary village houses put together. The scales shimmered as it twisted and changed direction in the air, reflecting rays of the sun. For a moment those scales glowed red, then as the angle on which the rays fell changed, they became orange, and then a striking shade of yellow. He grew dazed trying to figure out the actual shade of those scales. And each scale was as big as his palm. It wouldn’t be a satisfying meal, he thought.

He fell asleep, though how it was possible he did not know. As the dragon assumed height, his breathing became shallower and shallower. There was a lack of oxygen. He would be dead before the dragon landed, he thought. But the dragon seemed not to care, and higher and higer it flew. Towards the sun it headed. By then it was sunset, and as Gendo hung helplessly in the great talons, his skin registered the growing heat. Sweat gathered on his skin and fell off in droplets. Then finally the dragon entered the clouds, announcing its presence with a single roar. And then there were many answering roars, each unique and very different from the others.

Gendo started to struggle. He twisted around in the makeshift cage of the dragon’s feet, but grew hopeless when nothing he did seemed to attract the dragon’s attention, or even hurt it. He tried kicking, but his feet only made contact with air. And then quite suddenly, he was released. He tumbled and fell, and a sharp pain shot through his right arm as he landed on a curved, smooth surface…the interior of an eggshell. A very big eggshell. It was so huge it could have held seven more Gendos.

“Hey, that’s no way to treat a king,” a voice suddenly said. “You okay?”

Human hands reached for him. But…human? He stopped fussing over his arm, and instead looked at the hands that were helping him up. They were human hands. And there were dragons, too; he could still hear the cries surrounding him. He was dead, he must be. This was just a very funny heaven.

“Damn them creatures. I told them to be gentle.”

Damn? He had not counted for God’s vocabulary to be that…vulgar. He used it all the time and didn’t consider the word vulgar, but still, it wasn’t what he’d thought God’s choice of words would be.

Dragion — Chapter 2

Then he saw something that made his jaw drop. Behind, mounted — no, growing out of the guy’s back — were two large and neatly folded wings. Wings that were gray, with feathers as long as his arm. He leaned his weight on the side of the eggshell, unblinking, staring at the strange being helping him. No doubt he was in heaven now.”Uh, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” the guy spoke. Or rather, the angel, said. “They’re just wings, you know. Wings — to fly with.”

Still Gendo stared. Then he closed his jaw, and tried to form a coherent sentence. “Right, uh…um, your Highness. May I know…where I am?”

The angel laughed. He spoke differently now, with more formality. “I am not an angel; you flatter me. I am just a Receiver. You’re in Seventh, and…it is my duty to guide you around here, Your Highness.”

“Right. Does everyone gets to be called ‘Your Highness’ once they’re dead?”

“You mistake. You’re nowhere in Heaven, and neither are you dead. But you’re here for a reason, of course. A reason that I don’t know. But if you were sent here then there must be something for you. And it is a rule that all Sent must be treated with respect, hence the title.”

“But I wasn’t sent here, I was kidnapped. By a dragon.” He looked around and tried to differentiate the one dragon that had brought him here, but there were just too many, and most were swirling around, moving too fast for him to see any details. Not that he had a gift of telling animals apart.

It was the only time Gendo really looked around, looking for his dragon. The place — hall — was huge, and it was misty, like there was fog everywhere. Of course, they’re clouds. And several hundred dragons were soaring around them, the angel and the eggshell, but for some reason they kept from crashing into each other. Even though the place was huge it seemed impossible for all the dragons to fly and not collide at the same time. Yet they didn’t. Instead they navigated gracefully around each other, never coming close to Gendo.

Then he saw a possible reason why the dragons did not crash. His egg was on a platform, and the mist had hidden the edges of the room such that he thought the dragons were in the room with him, but now it seemed like they were swirling in a much bigger space — outside of the room. Maybe even the sky. And he noticed for the first time that it was cool, though there wasn’t a breeze.

“If you’re exhausted we can always keep the tour. Time waits for you here, Your Highness.”

“Time waits? How?”

“Oh, I don’t know, it just does. Doesn’t apply to the Land of Senders, though.”

“Land of Senders? As in…Earth?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The angel’s sudden changes from formality and informality annoyed him. It gave him a feeling that he was reluctant to call anyone “Your Highness”, and moreover he wasn’t used to it.

“Could you call me Gendo, please?”

The angel gave a sudden grin. “Yes. I was waiting for that.”

“Waiting for what?”

“For you to say that. I was trying to make you say that. It’s a rule to treat Senders with respect, but I always thought “Your Highness” was a bit too much, you know? But since you asked, and since I should treat you with respect, I will respect your wish to be called Gendo.” He grinned again.