AllFreeNovel
Share Us
What possessed me not to tell her to stay?
I told her to stay with me the first time, in context to having her vacation with me. She did exactly as I asked. I am certain if only I took a moment to tell her to stay permanently, she would be with me here now. What prevented me? I am certain she would have agreed. I am certain she would have done what I asked so why didn’t I ask?
I don’t know the answer to that question, but I suspect it has to do with the power of dragons in general. There is a roleplaying game that was very popular in the 1970s and 1980s. I believe it is still around but I’m not sure in this age of video games and easy entertainment if games using books and miniatures are still economically viable. I imagine they can just do all of these things on a computer now. In fact, they don’t even need to roll dice. The computer can generate the numbers randomly.
In this game, adventurers explored dungeons and killed dragons and other monsters. In the game, dragons are depicted as powerful and intelligent creatures, capable of commanding awe and fear. They are ancient beings that possess immense strength, magical abilities, and a legendary hoard of treasure. The part that always impressed me was the awe and fear. It was actually built into the rules of the game and characters running into a dragon might actually be forced by the rules of the game to turn tail and run with no choice involved.
Certainly, the dragons had impressive physical attributes, colossal reptilian creatures, with fierce claws, massive wings, a strong tail, and a scaly hide that ranged in color from metallic hues like gold, silver, and bronze to more vibrant shades such as red, green, blue, or black. Each color represented a different species of dragon, associated with specific elemental powers and personality traits.
The truth is, we dragons do come in different colors, but it is simply genetics in much the same way there are brunette humans, redhead humans, blonde humans, and so on. It has nothing to do with anything elemental. Blue dragons don’t control water, red ones don’t control fire, green ones don’t control earth or spit acid, and gold ones don’t control wind.
In terms of temperament, dragons were treated as highly intelligent and possessed incredible wisdom, often being described as masters of strategy and manipulation. They were known to be fiercely territorial so interacting with dragons could be a treacherous endeavor, but gaining their favor or enlisting their aid can be invaluable due to their vast knowledge and power.
The portrayal of dragons in that game involved a blend of classic mythology and fantasy elements. Their description and abilities had a lot that was correct and a lot that was not, but they got two things right that most do not. They got the intelligence and wisdom right and they got the intensity of the awe and fear right.
And that awe and that fear… That’s why I’m alone.
We are imposing beings, and bending the world to our desires is something we do without thinking. I know that I didn’t tell Sienna to stay because she would have stayed. She would have stayed whether she wanted to stay or not. I didn’t tell Sienna because even in human form, my dragon nature gives me abilities to persuade and convince that go beyond any human’s ability to resist.
And I wanted her to ask to stay, to tell me she wanted it. I wanted desperately for her to come to that conclusion herself.
And she didn’t.
That’s incredibly hard for me to accept.
It’s not hard to understand. Humans, oddly enough, are very indecisive creatures, and dragons are very decisive. You would think that the short lifespans humans possess would predispose them to be single-minded in their pursuits, knowing that they lack the time to spend on multiple avenues of fulfillment, but the truth is the opposite. The lack of time motivates humans to spend what dragons would consider an inordinate amount of time deciding for fear that the decision they make will be the wrong one, and they will have wasted valuable time on something that doesn’t fulfill them at all.
So, of course, Sienna wouldn’t have asked to stay. She’s known me for all of a few days, and she has a life and a career waiting for her thousands of miles away from me. Why would she throw away all of that—something shehasput time into—for someone who has spent only a few moments with her?
Viewed from that perspective, it makes sense, but the fact that it makes sense makes it no less painful or difficult to accept.
I am pulled from my thoughts by a knock at my door. I frown. That never happens. I take care of all necessary permits and tax responsibilities at the capital. I have few friends, none who know about this cabin. Could someone else be lost and in need of help?
I open the door and see a strange man—a youth, really, perhaps in his early twenties. “Yes?”
“Do you know a Sienna Carter?” he asks.
Instantly, alarm bells ring in my head. “Where is she?” I ask, “Is she hurt?”
I must ask that more intensely than I intend, because the youth pales and lifts his hands placatingly. “I don’t know, man,” he says, “I don’t think so. She just paid me to come tell you she needs to talk to you right away. She didn’t tell me why or nothing.”
“I see,” I say, taking care to keep my voice gentle in spite of my growing anxiety. “Thank you.”
“Yeah man,” he says, backing away and forcing a wavery smile. He turns around and then stops and tentatively holds out a piece of paper. “Uh, this is her phone number,” he says.
“Thank you,” I say as gently as I can.
He seems to sigh in relief when I take the paper without tearing his arm off or something. He is clearly still frightened of me. “How much is she paying you?” I ask.
“Uh, four hundred bucks.”
“Wait here,” I say. He pales at the thought but I know he’ll remain in place. I head inside and return, placing five hundred dollars in his hand. “Thank you again.”
“Hey, um, thanks. Uh, take care, man,” he says before turning and practically bolting to his waiting UTV. I
As soon as he is out of sight, I shift and fly south. I don’t know if Sienna is in danger, but if she is, a thousand armies couldn’t prevent me from the vengeance I’ll rain down on whatever fool placed the woman I love in harm’s way. I can tell you with absolute certainty that there is no creature on this earth that can stand before even the weakest of my kind.
I will tell you that by no means am I the weakest of my kind.
