Mara's Flame
CHAPTER 1
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN
Water dripped slowly from the cave ceiling and splashed amongst rusted iron swords and shields. Gold and silver coins, candelabras, gemstones and other precious objects carpeted the cave floor. The heavy air swirled with acrid smoke that pooled around several glowing orbs that lay scattered throughout the treasure. The orbs offered scant light, but enough so that Mara, a young dragon, could see her mother.
Mara took a deep breath, knowing she would probably soon be in trouble. She had brought up the subject of humans with her mother twice before, and it had been made clear that any more questions would be most unwelcome.
The first time, she had simply asked why all this human treasure lay about the place.
Hearing this, her mother had rocked back on her haunches and swelled out her cheeks, before letting a long stream of smoke escape through her pursed lips. She then proudly proclaimed the wisdom of their ancestors, who rather than suffering the 'bothersome' task of hunting all the time, had stuffed their caves with treasure, and when humans naturally came to steal it' eaten them instead.
'Home delivery,' she said. 'Brilliant!'
When pressed by Mara a second time, she admitted legend said there might have been a time when dragons and humans were bound together in friendship. However, she added, any sensible dragon would laugh at the idea.
'Who could imagine being friends with a human,' she said. 'After all, legend's a liar as often as not, and it doesn't help a dragon to confuse what's food and what's friend.'
That should have been the end of matters, but feeling an odd fascination, Mara began to sort through the piles of treasure in the cave. Her mother watched her for a while, then snorted and fell asleep.
At first, nothing caught Mara's eye, but rather than feeling discouraged, she gradually realised she had been looking for something in particular. She combed through the treasure, seeking the one thing that called out to her in a way she could not explain.
There's something here'
But after two solid days of searching, she still had not found it. Having gone through nearly every item in the cave, frustration began to boil. Isn't she ever going to move?
Her mother lay asleep on the last mound of treasure, oblivious.
A full three days later, Mara's mother finally rose to her feet and announced she was going out to hunt.
About time, thought Mara. She waited until the sound of her heavy footsteps faded and then pounced upon the treasure.
'Yes!' she said a short time later, looking down at a golden shield.
The shield had been forged into the shape of a radiant sun held up between two upswept dragon wings. Silhouetted against the golden sun flew a dragon carrying a man on its back.
She felt certain this was what she had searched for.
After hastily re-arranging the treasure so that her mother would be none the wiser, Mara carried the shield from the cave and out to her ledge on the other side of the mountain. She studied it for hours, marvelling at the scrolled gilding and the lifelike image of the dragon with the man on his back. She decided to ask her mother about humans one last time, and then headed back into the cave.
Clearing her throat, Mara gathered her courage. 'Mother?'
Her mother's eyes snapped open like shining golden lanterns, swivelled in their sockets and then fixed on her. 'Yes, dear?' Dried animal blood caked her mouth and talons.
'I was wondering. Um'' The young dragon shuffled her feet. Why am I doing this? She knew her mother would not be impressed, and yet something about the idea of dragons and humans being friends felt too important to ignore.
'Yes?' said her mother, stifling a yawn. She always felt sleepy after eating.
'I found this shield, and it had a' Well it had a dragon on it.'
'So?'
'And the dragon had a human riding on its''
'Not another word!' said her mother.
'But''
'Mara,' her mother said, 'I don't know what's gotten into you, but that's it. No more talk of humans, ever. Do you hear me, young lady?' A stream of smoke jetted from her nostrils and her tail snaked around, scattering gold and silver coins about the cave.
Mara looked up with her soft golden eyes and said, 'Yes, Mother,' and then walked into the side-tunnel leading to the other side of the mountain. Her mother could not fit here anymore, and so she had this tunnel all to herself.
Typical.
The sound of her mother muttering about humans, friends, and what will young dragons think of next, echoed along the winding tunnel until it opened to the outside world. The entrance led onto her ledge above a high cliff-face, and she could see for miles. Jumbled forest spread out across hills and valleys, crystal lakes glinted like blue eyes, and above it all afternoon clouds glowed pink as they cushioned the setting sun.
Mara sighed and looked down at the golden shield. 'A human made this,' she whispered. She wondered again if dragons had ever really let humans ride them, and resolved to ask her father tomorrow. She stared back down the tunnel and frowned. Maybe he would listen.
Early the next morning, she launched herself from the cliff on the other side of the mountain. Her wings snapped open like great golden fans, both strong and delicate, and she glided over the forest until she found a patch of warm, rising air. As she flew higher, the forested horizon gave way to rolling green farmland in the distance. Her father's mountain was not very far away, and she soon landed with a soft bump.
The sound of her father snoring deep in his cave echoed across the mountainside, and she decided to enjoy the morning sun a while before waking him. The warm sunlight glinted off her golden scales as she tidied up around the cave mouth. There were animal bones lying about everywhere. She swept them off the edge of the cliff with her tail, and watched them tumble to the ground below. When the last of the bones had dropped over the edge, she shuffled into the cave.
Her father lay sleeping, curled up like a gigantic cat, and the thunderous sound of his snoring brought little bits of rock down from the ceiling in a rhythmic shower of dust. Dust tickled her nose, and Mara sneezed loudly.
'What's that? Who's there, eh?' asked her father, turning a bleary eye in her direction. 'Oh, it's only you, dear.' He sounded disappointed, as if he'd been hoping a thief had arrived for breakfast.
Her father made her mother look small. His giant belly brushed the ground when he walked, probably on account of his not walking very often. Thousands of gold and silver coins had stuck to his sides over the years as he slept on his bed of treasure. 'How's my little girl, then? Eh?' he asked, shaking earth off his scales and into the air.
She sneezed again. 'I'm good.'
'What? What's that you said?'
'I'm fine, Daddy.'
'Gotta speak up, girl. How can a dragon hear when you're whispering all the time?'
Mara cleared her throat. 'Sorry,' she said.
'My old ears aren't what they used to be, you know. I think there's dirt in them or something!' He used the tip of his enormous tail to clean them out; one ear first and then the other. She giggled, and her father grinned and said, 'It's good to see my little girl! Yes it is. Yes. Yes.'
'Mum sends her love, and says it's your turn to visit,' she said, and then they talked about the little things that had happened since she last flew over. Finally, she asked him if dragons and humans had ever been friends.
'What's that? Friends? Humans? Why, that would be friendly food. Friendly food, eh. Ho! Ho!' he replied. Earth and rocks fell from the roof in time to his laughter.
'Seriously Dad, were we?'
'Hmmm. I don't think so, my dear. I've heard stories like that, but I don't believe them. No! Can't be true and I should know. Yes, I would know all right.'
Mara frowned. 'How do you know?'
'What? How do I know? Yes, how do I know'?' He looked puzzled for a second. 'Yes. Yes! That's right. I know because I've met some, and then I 'et some. Ho! Ho!' The dirt and rocks fell again. When he finally stopped laughing, her father continued. 'I wouldn't eat something I could talk to. No! Humans cannot talk. You say something and they hold their little heads and fall right over. Dumb! Never heard of anything dumber.' He peered at her with his huge golden eyes.
'But Father, how could something so dumb make something like this?' Frowning, she searched through a pile of treasure, wrapped her tail around a jewel-encrusted sword, and held it up for him to see.
'Eh? Do they? I suppose they do; now you mention it. Hmm. Tricky that. You do ask the trickiest questions.' He frowned, scratched an ear and shook a new layer of dust off his back. 'Hmm.'
She waited.
'Well... perhaps you should ask the Old One,' he said finally. 'But you'll have to get your mother's permission first, and I doubt she'll let you. Don't blame her. No. Don't blame her a bit.'
'Who's the Old One?'
'Well... He's old and odd. Odd and old. All he does is think. Years and years of thinking. Bound to make a dragon odd in the end. Anyway, I doubt your mother would approve. In fact, I think you should forget the whole idea. Yes! Forget all about it.' Her father squinted at her from the corner of an eye and blew smoke rings toward the ceiling.
Mara sat still and quiet, except for the tapping of her tail.
'Hmm,' he said, glancing at her before staring at the ceiling again. 'On second thoughts, he lives a long way away. Too far! Too far for a young dragon to go.' He turned to face her with a sheepish grin. 'You won't mention any of this to your mother, will you? There's a good girl.'
'So this is it, then?' she asked, looking around the cave.
'What do you mean?' replied her father.
'This is all it means to be a dragon? Sleeping and eating?'
Puzzled, he scratched his nose.
Without waiting for a reply, Mara stomped back toward the cave entrance. Before stepping outside, she turned and hollered, 'And don't you eat any more humans!'
His eyes widened, and he pushed the jewelled sword away with a massive clawed foot. 'I was only joking,' he muttered. 'No humans in these parts since your grandfather's day.'
The next few days passed while she did the usual things. She pottered around her mother's cave, examining various human objects made of gold, silver and precious gems. She lay for hours on the other side of the mountain, watching eagles drift upon currents of air and the leaves on the trees rippling in the wind.
Occasionally, she launched herself into the air and glided over the forest, staring at the horizon and wondering what it hid.
Day by day, she flew a little further from the mountain. She could not say why, but something drew her toward human territory. It was like an itch she could not scratch. In the back of her mind, she pictured how it would be to have a human perched on her back. The adventures we could have!
A week after speaking to her father, Mara finally found herself at the border between the forest and human lands. Her parents had forbidden her from entering human land, but had not said anything about the border.
She swooped low over the tops of trees, leaving a wake of startled birds behind. In the paddocks, flocks of sheep ran about in panic, dogs barked, and shepherds stared open mouthed at her before throwing away their crooks and running in the opposite direction. She called out to them, but that just made them run even faster.
Sighing, she turned back, wondering how she could ever talk to humans if they were too scared of her to listen. What if father is right, and I can't talk to them at all? What if I hurt them by just trying?
Lost in thought, Mara failed to see a creature flying behind her, hidden by the sun above. The size of an eagle, its dull, scaled skin and featherless wings cut through the air. Cold yellow eyes kept her in sight until she landed and entered the tunnel on the other side of the mountain.
Unnoticed, the creature settled onto the ledge and hopped forward until it stood next to the golden shield. It stared down the tunnel, then promptly wheeled about and leapt into the air again.
Four nights later, a summer-storm came in over the mountains. Lightning cracked and sizzled, and thunder boomed so loud she was reminded of her father in a bad temper. Her mother slept through it all, oblivious to the outside world, but Mara tossed and turned until she gave up trying to sleep, and went to the other side of the mountain to watch the unfolding storm, and to think.
It was hopeless, she thought. There did not seem any way to find the Old One, and yet she could not put him out of her mind either. In the end, she wished her father had just kept his big mouth shut.
The storm finally passed, and the morning sun caressed the earth with warm fingers of light. Water seeped between the rocks, dripping from the ceiling to the floor of the cave mouth. She shuffled out onto the exposed ledge and took a deep breath; the air was clean and crisp. The wet leaves on the trees below glinted in the sunlight, forming a sea of shining green.
'Just great,' said a ragged voice.
She looked around in surprise.
'Here I am, thinking things couldn't get no worse'' A stream of choking coughs interrupted the voice before it went on. 'And hey, a dragon!'
A bedraggled magpie lay in a puddle by the entrance to the tunnel, with one wing bent up unnaturally past his head. A beady eye glared up at her. 'Well, don't just stand there, ya oversized bat. Come on! Get it over and done with! Put me outa my misery' I'm done for anyway.' The bird shivered and closed his eyes. Every breath he took ended in a rattling gasp. 'Done for,' he whispered.
She walked over to the magpie, and gently lifted him out of the water with the tip of her tail. His eyes opened half way and then closed again. He felt limp and cold. Mara decided the best thing she could do was to take him somewhere sunny and sheltered, so he could get warm again.
A short time later, she landed in a clearing in the forest below. The rocky ground lay strewn with boulders of granite that jutted out of the earth like stone fingers. The morning sun had already dried the earth, except for where water had collected in rocky basins among the granite outcrops.
She found a patch of soft green moss and placed the bird down upon it, trying not to hurt his damaged wing any further. She ripped up pieces of moss and placed them around him, so all that could be seen was his head sticking out. The pile quivered now and again as he shook and shivered.
Finding a relatively comfortable position among the rocks, she curled up to wait. She had not slept much the night before, and soon fell asleep. A blanket of sunshine warmed her as she dreamed of humans, birds and old dragons.
Mara woke before the sun had reached its zenith. She stretched and looked around, before remembering the injured magpie. He's gone! The little bed of moss was still there, but no bird could be seen. She searched among the rocks and the little bushes that had squeezed their roots into the stony ground. She found two indignant lizards, but no magpie. 'Well, that's gratitude for you,' she muttered.
A panicked squawk came from the other side of the clearing, close to the trees. 'Help!'
She leapt across the clearing and landed in front of an extremely surprised fox. The fox looked up at her in disbelief, dropped the magpie unceremoniously from its jaws and ran for the safety of the forest. The bird cowered in front of her, shielding his head under his good wing as if expecting to be gobbled up at any second.
'Don't thank me or anything,' she said.
He eyed her dubiously from under his wing.
'I mean, why would you thank someone who's saved your life twice in one day?'
Uncovering his head, the bird looked about as if wondering whether this was some kind of sick practical joke. 'You're not gonna eat me?'
'No, I just want to talk to you,' she said.
His beak dropped open. 'Let me get this straight. You a dragon, right?'
Mara nodded.
'But you don't wanna eat me, you wanna talk to me. Right?'
She nodded again.
He sat down and shook his head. 'Now I hear everything.' He had mottled black and white feathers and brown eyes the colour of polished river stones. Looking at her suspiciously, he stood and backed awkwardly away. 'Hey, you playing games with me? Cat games?'
She shook her head. What's a cat?
'Nobody tell you it's bad manners to play with ya food?'
'I don't want to eat you,' said Mara.
Stopping, he puffed out his black and white chest. 'Something wrong with me? Don't I look tasty?'
She sighed and walked away.
The bird looked around uncertainly, and then scuttled after her. 'Hey! Where ya going, dragon?'
'Home.'
'Hey! Don't be hasty!' he said. 'I had a bad day, ya know!'
Mara increased her speed. 'You and me both.'
'Don't leave me dragon! I'm too young to die. I got a wife and kids and' grandkids! I got things to be doing. Important things! I can help you. Anything you want! Just name it.'
She stopped. 'For a start, you could say thank you.'
He bustled closer. 'Yeah, I can do that. No problem. Ah, no problem!'
She tapped her tail. 'Well?'
He inspected his feet, looked up for a moment, and then became fascinated with his feet again.
Snorting in exasperation, she turned to leave.
'Thank you! There, I say it. Thank you!' said the bird. He looked amazed, as if he had laid an egg for the first time and wondered where on earth it had come from.
Mara smiled. 'There, that wasn't so bad, was it?' There was an awkward silence. Finally she said, 'My name's Mara.'
The bird swelled out his chest, before saying formally, 'And you got the honour to meet Eagle-beak, King of the Magpies.'
Then he swayed on his feet, his eyes glazed over and he toppled to the ground unconscious.
