Love, Laugh, Live

Love, Laugh, Live 1

Key: ‘__’ denotes mindspeech2

“__” Vocalized communication3

Damn bird... won’t even get up into the air...4

My breath comes out in an exasperated cloud of white. The sky shows blue – a rare thing in the three seasons we’d been travelling – but I really, really, really hate winter. I mean, it looks very pretty and all, but trudging through snow becomes dratted uncomfortable, especially when my gryphon can fly… “Your gryphon?! I heard that, Kyrian!5

‘Hush, Leesa,’ I mindspeak at my Companion. ‘You know how much I hate snow. Come on, please fly? Please?!’6

‘You know, if I actually did, you’d be complaining about how cold it is above cloudline. Besides, her radar would pick us up, and I’d be gryphon steak.’7

I push up my sleeve to reveal my charm bracelet, shoving one charm under her nose.  “What does that look like, love?” I shoot at her.8

‘If you’d actually put it somewhere I can see it, I might be able to tell you, love.’ I growl and put it about a foot away from her eye; gryphons are usually farsighted, and Leesa is no exception.9

‘My eyes might lie, but it looks like a density reducer spell,’ she shoots back tautly. A light dawns on her face, and she looks up. She really doesn’t like walking any more than I do. ‘Activate it and hop on. Walking takes too long.’ 10

I smile at her, and lithely vault onto her back, right behind the wings. ‘Let’s go, kitty!’11

She caws, and takes off before I’m completely ready in revenge. I grin despite myself, and automatically drop into scout position in her saddle.12

* * *13

The wind takes control of my hair, whipping it around my face as Leesa speeds along. I open my mouth to complain about the chill, then remember her prediction on the ground. Shutting my mouth, I mindspeak instead. ‘We’re close, love. Maybe another hour. Do you still want to do this?’14

She turns her majestic head to look me in the eye. ‘I’m not really sure whether it’s a question of want, Kyrian. The dragon must be captured, and we got chosen.’ She frowns, a quirk in her eyebrow feathers belying humor. ‘Leesa, Kyrian, this duty is now incumbent upon your shoulders,’ she intones, mimicking the Clan Chief. ‘Harsh punishment will befall you if you do not complete it.’ Fear seeps into her eyes. ‘Do you really want to go back to the Clan without defeating her?’15

I shudder, dropping my head and nuzzling the protuberance between her wings, feeling her heart palpitate. ‘That, I think, would be worse than the goddess…’ Leesa laughs and turns back, taking her speed to its pinnacle.16

* * *17

Leesa plummets down to the entrance to the labyrinth at the base of the dragon goddess’s mountain. I pull my leg over her saddle and slowly slide down her massive side, feeling none of the agility I previously enjoyed. I mince stiffly over to Leesa’s head, reaching up to scratch her behind the ear tufts. ‘Are you ok, love? The damn dragon has got herself immured down a tunnel in the base of the labyrinth. We have to get there before it gets light again. It’ll be a lot easier if we capture her when she’s asleep…’ I tie a long cord to a tree with dexterity as I’m speaking. Leesa looks at me questioningly. ‘So we can find our way back out.’18

She nods, and watches me as I get my torch. Suddenly she shakes her head violently and sits up onto her back paws, gesticulating wildly with her free paws. “Kyrian… I really don’t want to do this!”19

I smile bitterly and walk over, stroking her side. “Neither do I, love. We have to.”20

“Do we really have to?”21

“Really.”22

She looks up at me piteously, and I stare sternly at her for a moment, and begin walking towards the labyrinth entrance. She sighs, and follows me into the tunnel, squeezing her massive body into the tight space.23

* * *24

I can feel the goddess’s proximity buzzing on my skin. I need to run, get as far away from the dragon as I possibly can, but as I turn, Leesa looks me in the eye. “Go on, sweet. We’re almost there…” She gently shoves me forward with her beak, and I walk on into the dark, the tawny light of my torch flickering on the wall. The torch sheds just enough brightness to illuminate the floor cleft asunder inches from my feet, but not enough to show Leesa that I’ve stopped. She keeps going, knocking me down into the gaping hole, halting just in time to keep from squashing me. Her huge head stares down at me, tilted to the side in puzzlement. ‘Are you ok?’25

I grin up at her. ‘I found it.’26

Her head tilts farther. ‘What? What did you find?’27

‘Dragon Goddess’ tunnel.’28

* * *29

She’s lying curled on the floor, her faceted eyes staring at us unconcernedly. She woke just as we entered the room, the weak sunlight glancing off her iridescent scales. She’s about the same size as Leesa – it’s reassuring, because the shrinking spell will only decrease size by 70 percent, making the goddess about half my size. 30

“Whyyy arrre you herrre, morrrtallll?”31

I shudder at the sound of her hiss, and step forward, trembling. Her eyes flash in the strengthening sunlight, and she uncoils and rises to her feet. “Wellll? Anssswerrr me, girrrl, or be eatennn soonnnerrr thann necessssary.”32

My voice comes out clear and strong, and my trembling ceases. “We have come to capture you, Dragon.”33

Her laugh is like the sizzling of hot coals in the fire. “And jussst how do you prrropossse to do thhhhat, morrrtallll?”34

“Like this.” With a quick thought, I activate the softening spell, making her diamond hide become penetrable. “Leesa, on my count. One. Two. Th-” The dragon spreads her wings and launches into the air, circling her gigantic chamber in seconds. Her chest is working furiously – she’s warming up to spew fire! “Leesa! Wait!” I pull my bow out and have one arrow on the string and another in the air before Leesa can bank and drop to the ground, reaching up with her paws and clawing at the dragon whenever she passed. The dragon’s blood is iridescent, pale, and as it drops to the ground it corrodes the rock, eating through it like water on chalk. The goddess screams in anger and dives for Leesa as I activate the shrinking spell and toss it towards her. Now diminished she continues the assault on Leesa, harrowing instead of the full on attack. Leesa bats at her, but the dragon is marking her sides with blood, and she’s getting too weak. I have to stop it now, or my Companion will die…35

I mutter a quick prayer over the last spell on my bracelet and activate it, creeping as close as I can to the dragon before slapping it onto her hide. Her blood burns my hand, I can feel it eating through my flesh… Leesa screams, pulling away from the dragon in time as the spell detonates, slamming into a wall twenty feet away to the sound of the dragon shrieking. Everything goes black…36

* * *37

I come to, opening my eyes to find Leesa peering at me intently, a bucket of icy water ready to splash me. My gryphon sighs in relief, and nuzzles my neck gently. Every muscle in my body is sore, and from the twinging, I have a few broken ribs. I open my mouth to speak and cough, sitting up and hacking violently. I am finally able to speak and choke out, “Dragon?”38

‘Gone, love. The last spell did her in.’39

I sigh both in relief and regret – she was a beautiful creature – and pull myself up using Leesa as support.40

‘Are we going home?’41

‘Yes, Leesa.’ I sigh happily, stiffly walking to the exit of the cavern. ‘Finally.’42