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WITH MAURICE ON HIS lap, Arell watched as the Keeper followed Cho Nisi’s boats back to the island. Kairos had warned him that the dragon might show signs of fatigue, and so when Maurice begged to ride him, Arell refused.
“He’s carrying a heavy burden right now, Maurice,” Arell explained. “I’m sure once we’re home, and everything is sorted, he’ll let you fly with him again.”
“He won’t die, will he?” Maurice asked, staring into the moonlit sky at the tiny dot that glided over the sea.
“I cannot tell you the answer to that, son.” Arell said. “Everyone dies, even dragons.”
“He’s the last one,” Maurice sighed. “If he dies, it will be like we lost our magic again.”
Arell rested his hand on Maurice’s shoulder. “We lose a little bit of ourselves when someone we love goes to the Land Beyond. But then, in time, if we allow healing, that empty place in our heart opens so we can love another.”
Maurice nodded.
“Your mother is worried she lost you. How thrilled she’ll be when she sees you’re alive and healthy.”
Maurice smiled. “I didn’t mean to make her worry.”
“Leaving us like you did was not an honorable thing to do and you put yourself at great risk. Still, taking risks for the benefit of others is a sign of growing up.”
“But I shouldn’t have disobeyed you. Or at least I should have told you what I was doing,” Maurice reasoned.
“If I had known what I was doing,” he added.
“Right now, we have more important matters to discuss. Look, we’re home.”
The first of the boats had come ashore at Nico, and Arell’s vessel was right behind it. Already villagers had come to greet them, and started the welcoming bonfire, bringing clams and seafood as a celebration of their return. Silas offered his hand to Arell as he and Maurice disembarked.
“My daughter has spent many nights in grief for you,” he told the boy. “I will send a runner to get Erika, Serena, and Stormy. You stay here and join in the feast.”
Silas led Arell to the fire.
A loud cry echoed through the village just then, and more than one person pointed to the sky. Some men fetched bows and arrows. The sun was rising in the east, setting the world ablaze with color. When Arell squinted in the direction the people were pointing, he could barely see. But he knew.
“He’s a friend!” Arell said, loud enough for the people to hear. “Hold your weapons. It’s the Keeper.”
Many of the women had rushed their children indoors, yet when the men lowered their weapons, they came back out. The expression on many of their faces was that of disbelief.
“He’s a friend,” Maurice repeated. “Don’t shoot him.”
“He brings our blessing to us,” Arell repeated “He carries our magic.”
Silas frowned at him. “It is true?”
“It’s true, Silas.” He waved at his friends who were still staring at the dragon.
“Come to the fire and let him land. He’s as afraid of you as you are of him. Welcome him.”
The crowd that had gathered, stood back when the Keeper spiraled lower. Arell agreed he was a terrifying sight, especially now, bloated with both fire and water, his belly blue from the magic and his scales shimmering red with sparks shooting out sporadically. To the village, he must look monstrous. To Arell, he looked sick. He understood why Maurice worried about him. How could one contain so much power in their body and still live? This ordeal could very well be the end of the last dragon.
“They have never seen a dragon before,” the Seer said to Arell as she walked up to him. She grinned. “But I can tell this creature has brought us a piece of good fortune.”
“This creature has brought our magic home,” Arell agreed.
The Seer winked at Maurice, and Arell took notice. Did she know all along where Maurice went and what he was doing?
The Keeper nested into the sand on the beach of Nico. Before Arell or Maurice could talk to him or give him a welcoming hug, the dragon fell asleep.
Cho Nisi loved to celebrate no matter the occasion. When the news was spread that the dragon carried with him the magic of their island, they cooked up a feast, sang and chanted. Throughout the day, villagers wandered over to the slumbering dragon. Wild roses were strewn along the sand by where he lay. Clay dishes filled with fruit and seafood were spread out before him in anticipation of the dragon being hungry when he woke. Some of the Cho Nisi sketched his figure in sandstone slabs as he slept. A few dared to touch his scales.
Still, the Keeper didn’t stir.
Ericka arrived at sunset with Serena and Stormy, bringing more delicious treats to share. Arell sat with her by the fire, and put an arm around her, thankful for his family and that they were all well and safe at home together.
“I hope our family can know peace for the rest of our lives now. Peace the way the island used to know it.” Arell sighed. He thought about those words and wondered if he meant peace before the Moatons had come? Before his father reigned as king. Before he had been born?
Or peace as Cho Nisi has never known.
As to the new legend of how the Keeper brought home the magic, Arell had already told the story several times to everyone who asked him personally, and to the entire village during dinner. Soon a name was given to the legend. How the Keeper brought the magic home.
Stormy made up a song about it and taught the chorus to some of the villagers.
He defied the sea and dared the storm
His valor was matched by no other.
He swallowed the tempest and devoured the gale
And brought magic back home to his brothers.
The Keeper’s the hero
The King of the air
The wonder of all who have known him
The Keeper’s our friend, our watchman and guard
The dragon who lives in our hearts forever.
“We still have to somehow get the magic out of the dragon, don’t we?” Erika asked.
“Yes. We do,” Arell answered, still contemplating how to go about it. Eventually, after Maurice fell asleep, he laid him on blankets by the fire. It was obvious the celebration was going to last all night, so Arell waved Chief Silas and the elders over to him.
Instead of giving Arell an answer, Silas went to his home and brought back his drum. Soon the other elders had their instruments and began chanting. After the first song, the welcome home chant, the dragon opened his eyes. The men moved away from the fire, closer to him, and chanted again. They sang the Cho Nisi serenades that young men sang to young ladies during courtship. The women joined with them and sang the women’s love songs. Erika joined them and the harmony of her voice mixed with theirs was pleasing to Arell’s ears. They all sang lullabies after that, the ones that would put anyone to sleep, and when the dragon closed his eyes again, Erika had them stop.
Chief Silas began a battle song and woke the Keeper with his drumming. The warriors chanted while some of the women danced. The Keeper lifted his head and watched them curiously, but he didn’t open his mouth, and Arell could tell the pressure inside of him was painful.
Finally, Arell sang the ballad of Symphony and Pen Abbiah.
So sorrowful did Bendaga mourn
So deep were the tears he bled
No sorrow could match the rainbow of grief.
Like dew on the grass, did her magic appear.
And Bendaga, Bendaga no longer with end,
Took his warrior to the land of beyond
Sorrow in love, final in sacrifice,
A dragon’s call sings for the goddess of song
It was a long song. Men and women swayed to the melody and sang. When Arell came to the part that told of Pen Abbiah's death, and how the dragon took him to the Land Beyond, tears trickled down the Keeper’s face. The dragon opened his mouth then, and his song came out like sweet honey, his voice like a breeze on a summer’s day.
Arell stopped singing and listened to the dragon tell the rest of the story in song. It was then that a chilling glow seeped from the Keeper’s mouth and hovered over the beach. When the dragon finished, he sighed and exhaled. His breath formed into a vapor that streamed along the beach. Some of the mist circled around the drums, some around the individuals who had been singing.
The tingling traveled through Arell and felt like a brook that had sprung from the earth, clean, and fresh, nourishing him with a joy he couldn’t explain. From the smile on Erika’s face, she too had received that magic. They shared a moment of laughter.
The Keeper’s sigh was so long and so relieved that the bloat of his body vanished, and his color returned.
Once the vapor developed into clouds that floated into the night sky, Maurice sat up in his bed by the fire, alert.
“It is done. The magic has returned,” he said. “Let the last dragon rest.”
The End