The Sanctuary

Heartache is a dangerous thing for a dragon...

The silence of the field is overwhelming. Beasts that usually reside here are no where to be found, nor heard. There’s nothing...it’s empty. Everywhere I go it’s the same. How do I find my way back when I don’t remember the way?

Heavy footfalls are the only things that bounce me back. My feet hit the earth and my talons bring up dirt as frustration grows. How long have I been running? The chilling numbness is slowly ebbing away, and the muscles in my legs are ready to give out beneath me. Draconic in form, I’m strong, powerful, but the painful ripple slowly making its way across my body only gets worse. Again, I must ask, how long have I been running...? I wish I knew. Ice follows suit, staining the grass and quickly killing it at the source. My breath is the next thing I hear. It’s hard, coming in and out heavy one after the other. Despite the calm to every inhale, it pains me to do so. Even my large lungs can’t handle the time I’ve spent like this, as ever exhale is accompanied with heavy plumes of frost.

Soon, everything hurts, from my head to my tail. Nothing I try to think about takes my mind off it anymore. The bright moons and stars loom over me. It’s supposed to be calming, but this time it’s the opposite. I’m almost angered by the calm that tries to force its way over me. The wind whispers once in a while, urging me to stop, to rest, my body can’t keep up like this forever... I know, I know, I know... I know!

My heart is beating hard, fast, only enough to keep up with me. It’s stronger than that, surely, but it must pace itself where I will not. Much to my dismay, my body is giving out, its had enough of me driving it to the brink, maybe even beyond. Every foot fall is agony, every breath more so. My eyelids are growing heavy. How long has it been since I slept, ate, or drank anything...? My wings are heavy, it’s a struggle to keep them up at all. The same goes for my tail...

And then I come to realize just what I’m running from... beneath all the physical pain I feel a deeper one, far more harsh and unforgiving. A deep ache has seeded itself in my chest, a wound that tried but could never heal. It’s blinding. That’s when I trip up a hill, just at the top. My legs refuse to carry me any farther, lungs refuse to gasp for air, no longer will my body allow me to push it beyond its limits.

Instinct takes over and as painful as it is, I tuck my wings and legs as I roll over the grass. I can’t count how many times I’ve rolled, or what I’ve rolled over. I stop on my side at the base of the hill, body shifting so I’m not laying on one of my wings before settling to a full stop with a snarl of pain. Tears are forming now in my eyes, rolling down my scales and freezing with every chilled breath. The pain slowly concentrates at its center, my chest hurts with every loud palpitation. An all too familiar stab...it always comes back. Is this what years of buried heartache feels like...?

While my breaths come as wheezes, I turn my gaze to the largest of the two moons, a bright silver hue against the night sky. I take a glance at the smaller one, a gentle shade of cerulean. The flowers are blowing in the wind now, a sweet scent washes over me. More whispers tug at my consciousness. It’s more than I can handle; at this point it’s too inviting to refuse. Taking one full, painful breath, I open my jaw to send a cry to the wind and empty plains. A long roar only full of agony. I wish it could reach the one I wish to see the most...the one worlds away, far out of my reach now. Once my lungs run out of air darkness takes me, and quickly as I lose the ability to keep myself in the waking world.