By Abigail Falanga
Azar pulled her Harley out of the haze of rush-hour traffic into an unused parking lot and scanned the expanse of asphalt and concrete. Not a blade of grass broke the gray monotony. No flicker of the royal soldiers’ red-edged, black scales.
She parked beside a concrete slope supporting a busier access street, then removed her helmet, freeing the auburn braids crisscrossed over her head. A car pulled in, but it contained only a small family. She was safe. Maybe.
“There’s wonderful food, and air-dancing, and stargazing. Ready?” The dad glanced at all of them with a thrilled half-smile.
While he faced the concrete slope, his human skin slipped away revealing his natural gray-and-black scales, and he directed a spurt of flame against the concrete.
The slope turned smooth as glass, shimmered, and vanished into a wide, circular opening. Iridescent blue and white flames flickered at the edges of what seemed to be merely an entrance to a below-the-parking-lot space—except for the wind that blew from it, which was keen with mountain freshness.
Azar pulled up the hood of her gray plaid jacket and entered behind the rest. Just another dragon coming home.
Suddenly, the dusty, exhaust-reeking back lot gave way to mist so thick with magic that it was hard to breathe. When it dissolved, the soaring buttresses and peaks, endless walkways, deep ravines, high and airy halls, and wide fields of the capital of Eyrie stretched before her.
The sun, hidden by the mountains, painted the sky gold and rose. A scattering of high clouds and a chasing of wind would make a fine night for the new moon festival.
Azar resisted the urge to leap into the air at the threshold of the gateway. Instead, she surveyed her surroundings. Her presence here required care and delicacy.
Sanctuaries, each housing a gateway to the human world, were scattered throughout the kingdom. They had been constructed to allow access to the curious magic known as Wi-Fi, but as the griffon raids worsened into full war, dragon refugees fled through in human form.
Though on the outskirts of the citadel, this was the consequential Hurik Sanctuary.
Conleth, the wise dragon wizard who guarded it, coiled near the gateway, wings folded around him. He nodded to allow the new arrivals entry. Azar walked with them, nearly avoiding his eye.
Nearly.
“Wait!” Conleth extended an arm. “Azar? What brings you here? I’ve not seen you in some time.”
Azar drew a breath and lied. “I’ve been on a mission for the king.”
“Everyone will rejoice to see you, Azar. It is well you have come to the festival.”
“Not to stay. And I do not wish my presence to be known, since this visit must be swift and secret.”
Conleth’s second-eyelids blinked, and his wings quivered. “Pass, then.”
Had his glance darted away?
Azar’s heart quailed, but she hurried on, scanning the sanctuary.
Staying in human form would at least keep her from being noticed. But it made for slow going as she threaded among mixed crowds of dragons and human-skinned on carved-rock walkways about a mile into the valley. The Darting Field was empty in the pre-twilight before the games began, so she hid among the rocks and waited.
Two dragons slid through the air and alit at the other end—one pale blue, the other little more than a hatchling. Princess Keahi and her servant-girl.
Azar held her breath and watched.
Keahi spoke to the hatchling, then shot three bolts of fire from her throat across the field—practice for the games. The servant leapt into the air to measure the distance.
“No!” cried Keahi. “Go farther! It’s beyond you.”
Azar almost sobbed with disappointment.
“Yes, here!” the servant clapped her wings. “An excellent shot, mistress!”
“Good.” Keahi took to the air and landed near where Azar hid. “Return to the palace. I will join you soon.”
Silence settled as the hatchling disappeared into the falling darkness.
“We’re alone,” Keahi whispered. “Come out. We must talk.”
“Keahi!” Azar shot out and threw her arms around her friend. “It can’t be true.”
Tears fell from the princess’s eyes. “I couldn’t even speak to my father about it. He is intent on killing you.”
“But why? I’ve done nothing to him!”
“You are the foretold queen of Eyrie. I have accepted this, though my father cannot. You will overcome the Pyrrhus dynasty, found your own, and bring peace.”
“I don’t want to be queen!” Azar recoiled, horrified. “I only want to serve our people and King Brandr.”
“Serve them you will, and better than my father. But for now—” Keahi drew herself up “—you must flee, my dearest friend.”
Azar wiped away tears. “I will see you again, Keahi.”
“Maybe, God willing. Goodbye.”
Before Azar had gotten halfway back, a plume of fire erupted from the Hurik Sanctuary.
Azar screamed fear and fury and ran toward it, cursing her slow legs—though she still couldn’t risk taking dragon form.
It was a massacre. Twisted, broken bodies lay scattered around the sanctuary. Conleth’s family.
One moved—Conleth’s son, Fintan. Azar darted to his side.
“What happened?”
“King Brandr heard you’d come.” Fintan coughed. “He wouldn’t believe that my father thought you were still loyal. He killed us all.”
“Not you.” Azar checked him for injuries. “Come on, Fintan! We must get through the gateway before Brandr returns or closes it.”
Fintan struggled up and staggered with her toward the fire. “Into exile?”
“We’re not the only ones.”
Azar coughed, her human skin tingling, but plunged through the fire into the gateway.
The human world replaced the flaming sanctuary.
“King Brandr has betrayed his people by pursuing vengeance rather than justice.” Azar’s anger stirred into resolve. “The dragons in exile will no longer stand for it. It’s time they were summoned.”
She placed a hand on Fintan’s side, then shed her human skin and leapt into the air as a gold-and-red dragon, releasing fire as a beacon to her people.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I love the parallels to King David!
My youth pastor was just preaching on 1 Samuel last night, so I had the same thought.
Thank you, Isabella!
And you’re right – this is a retelling of one of my all-time favorite stories of David on the run from King Saul. Which means there is so much more potential to carry on the story!
Thank you for reading!
If you would like to know the tie-in song that helped inspire this story, check out “Not Dead Yet,” by Ledger. Thrilling, inspiring, and definitely Azar’s theme song.
Yeah, this story is certain to be the beginning of many more adventures, as Azar starts a revolution at a distance in the human world (which will be interesting in itself!) against the complicated and wicked King Brandr. I can’t wait to see where these stories will take us! I have plans… (bwahahaha)
Random bit of trivia: All the names in this story mean “fire.”
– Abigail Falanga
I like the subtle background story, once I made the connection all kinds of things jumped out, but it doesn’t overwhelm the story itself.
Thank you! That’s good – and due in large part to the wonderful Havok editors, who helped me refine a much longer story into this elegant package :D
Wow, I really loved this!! I’ll admit that I was a little confused during parts of it, but the story of King David and Jonathan but with dragon shifters? HECK YES. Awesome job, Abigail!!
Thank you!
David and Jonathan is one of my favorites. I love hoa you adapted it and made it more. Well done!
Thanks! I’m planning on continuing into more adaptations of David’s story, with Azar as a lead. It’s going to be really fun!
Excellent story! I’d love to see an expanded version of this one someday.
“Just another dragon coming home.”
Loved that line! XD
And I was getting some serious King David vibes here!