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He flew over the land watching over the people of the village below. His wings casting a shadow across the ground beneath him. Prologue It was a warm sunny day and Fern and the other dragons were flying about in the sky above the lake. Diving down to the water then swooping back up and circling round. Fern had flown off over the impassable mountains and off in a direction he had never flown before. They would never normally venture in to inhabited areas as they had had bad experiences in the past when they lived on earth. But Fern was very inquisitive and loved to explore. As Fern flew he spotted a village where people were moving about between buildings. As he approached he noticed a change in the behaviour of the people below. The people of Gerdan stopped what they were doing and looked up at the amazing sight above them. Some of them started running scared of what this newly appeared would do to them, others just stayed glued to the spot. Fern spread his wings wide and glided down, landing smoothly on top of the stone wall that protected the city. Closing his wings around his shimmering, scaled body he bowed his head. The crowd that had gathered by this time parted and a man dressed in brightly coloured clothes walked down the newly created aisle. With an air of authority in his steps he made his way towards the newly arrived creature. As he moved closer his steps became more tentative but he never showed any fear. Once he was a few feet from the wall he looked up taking in the magnificent site of the creature above him. ‘Do not be afraid Marhak of Gerdan. I will not hurt you or your people. I am fern.’ ‘How do you know my name?’ ‘Dragons have their ways.’ Fern replies standing up straight and opening out his wings to their full span. Marhak moved forward once again as if drawn to the dragon by an unknown force. Putting his hands on a ladder he climbed on to the wall. Folding his wings back against his body, Fern turned to face Marhak bowing his head once more. Slowly Marhak moved closer. Extending his arm he touched Fern’s cold scales. There was a flash of multicolour light, as bright as the two suns and Marhak stepped back in alarm. Looking on the villagers watched as their leader seemed to disappear behind the bright light. The guards aimed their bows ready to fire. ‘What just happened?’ Marhak asked Fern as the light faded and the tingling sensation that had been running through his body subsided. ‘When you touched me I passed a small amount of my power over to you.’ Marhak saw his guards and gestured for them to lower their weapons. ‘I am OK Fern is our friend. Please extend the same courtesies to him as you do everyone else here.’ ‘I vow to help protect you from your enemies and teach you things you never thought possible. Come with me Marhak, and I’ll show you the wonders of this world.’ Another man pushed his way through the crowd. 'My brother, how can you say that thing is our friend? It is a monster.' 'If he is a monster why did he not attack us?' 'IT is probably just a distraction and an army of them is ready to attack us, waiting for just the right moment to strike.' 'He is a bad one,' came a voice in Marhak's head. Looking round he cought Ferns eyes and for a moment thought the dragon winked at him. Marhak turns to his brother and says 'I don't care what you think brother, I am going with Fern and I want you gone when I get back, and anyone else that does not like my desision can go with him.' Anger showing in the tone of his voice. Turning back to the Dragon who was now laid down on the wall next to him, he steped closer and ran his hand down Ferns scaled body, this time there was no bright light, just a feeling of pure joy that ran through Marhak. Fern turned his head towards Marhak and took hold of him in his mouth. Chapter 1 Ever since the Marhak the explorer found the cave of fire 100 years before and befriended the Dragon who lived there, Fern had watched over the people of Edville and defended the City from attack. The creature that was once only thought of as legend now cast a familiar shadow over the countryside as it flapped its great wings, patrolling the skies lest an invader enter his domain unaware. Marntak looked up and saw the Dragon flying above. 'Fern,' he called watching as the Dragon started to descend towards him. Marntak was the grandson of Marhak the Dragon befriender and the only one the Dragon would let ride with him. Fern landed gracefully a few feet from where Marntak stood. Marntak walked over. Stopping next to him he ran his hand along the dragon's twelve-foot long body and down his tail feeling the cold multicolor scales that shimmered in the sunlight, before looking into his eyes to get permission to mount. Fern gently picked him up and placed him onto his neck just in front of his wings before lifting his body back off the ground and taking to the sky again. As Fern flew over the City and towards the cave Marntark remembered the first time he had ridden on Fern's back. He had just turned ten and was sat on his granddad's knee as he was reciting the story of the Dragons who roamed the world in the time before Edville came to be. He had listened to is Granddad recite the story on many occasions but this time it was different, this time he recited the story of how he came upon the legendary cave in the mountains where the Dragons were reputed to live and how he came to befriend Fern the last Dragon. After Marhak finished his story he got up, walked to the door, looked up and called out 'Fern, Fern are you there.' The dragon who was a regular sight in the skies above appeared and circled down to the garden. Marhak called Marntak over then gestured for him to follow as he walked towards the Dragon. Marntak was a little reluctant at first, but after seeing his Granddad go up to the Dragon and run his hand along its side, he stepped out of the house and walked slowly towards them looking in amazement at the multicolored scales of the Dragon shimmering in the light from the two suns shining above. 'Fern this is my Grandson Marntak. I want you to extend him the same courtesies as you do to me and his father Marhak Jr,' Marhak said to the Dragon in a soft slow voice. 'When he is old enough I would like you to let him become your new rider and you must show him the world beyond the mountains.' As Fern flew on towards there destination Marntak became aware of his surroundings once more. Looking down he saw the snow capped peaks of the inpassable mountains coming closer with every beat of the dragon's wings. Fern was taking him further than ever before. 'It must be time,' he thought. 'Time for me to see what Granddad had wanted Fern to show me.' 'It is time Marntak. Time for you to fulfill your destiny.' Marntak startled by this unexpected voice looked around trying to figure out where it came from. 'Don't be alarmed it is me, Fern,' came the voice again. 'But how?' 'I have always been able to communicate with your kind but only a select few have ever heard me speak. Dragons have telepathic abilities and we can read the thoughts of those we become close to.' It took Marntak a few moments to come to terms with the fact that Fern had spoken to him, then he replied 'My destiny what do you mean by that?' 'A millennia ago your ancestor King Marhak of Gerdan was at war with the people of Kandarc. King Marhak had ordered his army to assassinate his brother Mundark for treason. After their Kings assassination the army's of Mundark vowed revenge and a year later had reached Marhak's Castle and attacked with all they had. They killed most of his army and captured Marhak but they never found his wife who was believed to be carrying the heir to the throne.' 'Where do you fit in to all this?' 'Dragons are the guardians of all the living things on the Ketlibran.' 'Where?' 'The planet of the two suns. You live on what is known as a planet in orbit around the two suns. Millenia ago we came here to start a new life after we were hunted to near extinction on our home planet Earth as it became known by its human inhabitants. They misunderstood us, thinking we were dangerous. But it wasn't long before your people evolved and we hide from them but it was no use as all but I was slain by King Mundark. If it wasn't for Marhak the first I would have been slain as well.' 'So King Marhak saved you but what happened to him after he was captured?' 'I went to the city of Kandarc to try and rescue him but by the time I reached the castle I thought I was to late they had struck him down. I found his body laid in the ceremonial square. I waited till cover of night, swooped down and took his body to the lake below.' Marntak looked down to see a large expanse of water surrounded by the mountains below. 'Where are we?' he asked Fern. By this time only one of Ketlibran's sun's was visible in the sky and the other was setting as well. 'The lake of life' fern replied as he started to descend towards it. 'It's water has the power to give life.' 'I thought that was just a legend.' 'As your Granddad did Dragons before he met me.' Fern replied as he landed gently on the lakes shore and laid down so Marntak could dismount. 'Go on it's safe.' he continued 'Take a drink from the lake it will give you the strength to forfill you task. We still have a long journey ahead of us and I still have lots more to explain to you.' 'There's more?' 'There's lot's more I have to tell you. Now go drink and I'll start a fire.' Marntak walked to the waters edge, knelt down, scooped up some water into his hands and rubbed it over his face before taking another scoop and drinking from it. As he drank the water he felt a strange sensation running through him. It made him feel stronger than he had ever felt before. 'How could this water give King Marhak back his life?' Marntak enquired of Fern as he walked towards the fire that was burning brightly just a little way up the shore. 'Come, sit and I'll tell you.' Marntak sat down in front of the fire and looked up at Fern who started to speak again. 'When my kind first came to this planet we found this lake and came to drink from it. We had traveled for a long time searching for a new home and Ketlibran was the first one we had found that was suitable to our needs.After circling for a time checking for dangers we landed in the crystal clear waters of the lake. As we did so we felt something happen. The water changed from the usual clear blue to a multicolor shimmer not unlike our scales before our eyes. If you look at the lake in full sun you can see the colors shimmering. We did not realize exactly what had happened at first, but after a short time we noticed that the fish were getting more and more abundant, bigger and stronger. They even seemed to be living longer. We realized that we had inadvertently changed the water into something more powerful.' 'So when you found his lifeless body you brought him here to bring him back to life? What happened to him after that?' 'Yes and after he regained conciseness and grew in strength I sat with him on this very spot and answered all his questions. Like I'm doing here now with you. I can still remember that time well.' Fern said as he brought old memories to the surface of his mind. 'I explained to him what had happened and that the water here was what saved him. He asked me if I knew if his wife Kendree had been killed and I told him she was safe and that she was due to give birth to their son any day.' 'Did they ever see each other again?' Marntak asked yawning 'You are tired I will continue the story tomorrow you must get some sleep.' Marntak looked up at Fern with defiance before yawning again and lying down and going to sleep. ***** As Ketlibran's two sun's appeared over the mountains shining in to the lake making it shimmer Fern awoke, stretching his wings.Lifting his body and pushing off from the ground he sored into the sky, circling the lake, watching his pray, waiting for the right moment to strike. Marntak opened his eyes , sat up, stretched out his arms and yawned. Turning, he looked out over the lake just in time to watch Fern swoop down to the water, then back into the sky holding two large fish in his claws. Marntak looked around and gathered up some twigs, placing them in a pile where the ashes of the fire from the night before lay. Looking up he watched Fern glide over the lake towards him the two fish still dangling from his claws. Marntak took a few steps back as Fern got closer to him. Fern took in a deep breath, aimed his head at the pile of twigs then breathed out. The ball of flame that erupted from his nostrals hit the twigs lighting them. 'Sit Marntak and I'll continue my story' he said dropping the two fish onto the fire, before landing just to the side of the rock Marntak had sat on. 'Now where was I when we finished last night?' 'I was asking about King Marhak and his wife and your connection to them.' 'Ah yes I had told you how I had saved Marhak and that his wife was due to give birth.' 'Well did he ever see his wife again?' 'At first he wanted me to take him to them so he could see his child but I managed to persuade him that it would be safer for them all if they were not to see each other. He decided it would be better if he stayed away as his brother would be looking for him. It was hard for him and after a longtime in exile and his brothers death living in that cave over there he decided to go in search of his family.' 'He must have been an old man by this time?' 'He was well over 100 when he left and the world had changed. There was no more Royal Family's and Gerdan and Kandarc were deserted, in their place had sprung a new town on the site of the original City of Ketlibran, now the City of your birth Edville.' 'So he lived for a lot of years after you saved him.' 'He is still alive today and you know him, you just don't realize it.' There was silence as Marntak tried to work out who Fern was referring to. 'The old man who sits in the square telling stories about Ketlibran's history.' 'The one who says he is the son of the man who told my fathers generation those same stories.' 'That's him. But it has always been him. Since the days of your Great Grandfather he has been watching your family.' 'Why my family?' 'He saw a resemblance to himself in you Great Grandfather and after acquiring a hair sample which he brought to me I confirmed his suspicions. The next day he went back to Edville and started sitting in his now regular spot in the square telling his stories to those who will listen.'
© Copyright 2010 Nish Laverz (UN: amylaverick at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved.
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