literature

The Last Empath: Chapter Three

Deviation Actions

Shadowp09's avatar
By
Published:
433 Views

Literature Text

Chapter 3: One Small Step

Years passed, and Kalyxa was now five years old. However, five years was nothing to a creature that could live to be at least a thousand. Even at five, Kalyxa was still considered to be  a hatchling. She hadn't grown any in that time, still being about the size of a full-grown domestic cat. It would take a dragon about a hundred years to become a fully mature adult.

During the first five years, the old dragon was extremely protective of Kalyxa. He never allowed her to leave the safety of the mountain. She had to stay inside the cave, but was pretty much free to explore any part of the lair. The lair itself had several tunnels and chambers that seemed to expand throughout the entire mountain. There was plenty for a young hatchling to explore.

Kalyxa was certainly curious enough to explore every inch of the lair, and was determined to find every possible nook and cranny. Everything contained within those icy walls was new and exciting to her, and she inspected everything as if she were a detective searching for clues.

Although she was cautious enough to shy away from anything that seemed too strange or dangerous. After nearly having a golden plated helmet, that was suited to fit an adult dragon's head, almost fall on top of her, she refused to return to the treasure room. The event was too nerve-wracking for the hatchling, and it would certainly be quite awhile before she trusted the mass piles of items in the treasure chamber.

However, she did clearly have a favorite chamber. Her elderly guardian had a medium sized chamber that was filled with bookshelves. There were all kinds of books in that room. From novels and stories about grand adventures, to factual books about dragons and other things, it seemed as though the white dragon had quite the collection.

Kalyxa was too young to really know how to read them, though. She had learned to say a couple of words, and read a few of them as well, but not enough to read an entire book. Plus, some of the books were written in a language that was alien to her. So she would sit in the room on the small, fluffy cushion that was made for her, and wait for her guardian to read her a story.

She didn't care which one he choose to read either, as they all seemed fascinating. The stories of adventures sounded quite thrilling. What fun it must be to go on a journey like that. Kalyxa dreamed of going off on her own adventure, but figured she would be too scared to actually leave the safety of the mountain that she called home.

Then when she turned six, her guardian let her set foot out of the mountain for the very first time. Kalyxa stood at the edge of the entrance, gazing out into the vast open world in front of her. The old, feathered dragon stood behind her, watching and waiting for her to step out into the winter wonderland for the first time.

Kalyxa lowered her head to the ground and sniffed at the strange, white fluff at her feet. She slowly raised her left paw and gently placed it on the snow. She then applied pressure to her paw, and then started to move her other paw to walk forwards. When her paw began to sink down into the soft snow, her eyes widened, and she jerked it back. She backed away from the snow, until she bumped into the leg of her guardian.

As she had expected, the snow was cold, just like the icy walls of the mountain lair. However, unlike the walls and the ground she had been used to walking on, the snow was not hard. It was soft, and she was not expecting that. Kalyxa did not like the sinking feeling of her paw nearly being buried  in deep snow.

The old, white dragon lowered his head and nuzzled her. "It's alright. It's only snow. It is supposed to be soft like that. It isn't going to hurt you." He assured her. Then he gently pushed her forward, back to the edge of the lair. He stopped her just in front of the snow. "Just walk right on out there. I'll be right behind you." He said softly. Then the feathered dragon raised his head to watch her.

Kalyxa let out a quiet, disheartened grunt. She sat there at the edge and glanced back at her guardian with a pleading look. The fuzzy dragon gave a slight nod. "Go on now. Don't worry, it's perfectly safe." He said to her. She gave a slight whimper and then turned to face the snow.

She sat there at the edge and started at the white fluff for a moment. It just didn't seem natural. The ground wasn't supposed to be that soft. One shouldn't have to worry about sinking and being swallowed up whole while simply walking around. However, the old dragon said it was safe. Kalyxa had never known him to be wrong. She knew he could trust him.

So she took a deep breath and stood up in front of the snow. Kalyxa slowly started to reach out a paw and step onto the white fluff. She hesitantly and cautiously took another step. She carefully kept going, until all four feet were touching the snow. Her little paws had sunk a little bit, but the snow at the edge of the lair wasn't quite deep enough for her to sink completely.

Kalyxa looked down at the white slush beneath her feet and smiled. Once she got used to it, it actually felt kind of nice. It was soft like the cushion she liked to sit on during story time. Figuring that there was nothing to it, she step a few more steps and ventured further from the lair. However, the more steps she took from the lair, the deeper the snow got. It didn't take Kalyxa long to reach a point where she sunk completely down in the snow.

The guardian walked over and lowered his head down to see better see the hole she had just created, and to check and make sure she was okay. Kalyxa poked her head out, and shook off some snow, getting some of it onto her guardian. She then giggled, looked up at her guardian, and smiled. He chuckled lightly and nuzzled her.

As the white dragon raised his head, Kalyxa looked around to try to figure out how to get out of the hole. She first attempted to climb out, but she only managed to make the hole bigger. Well, that was certainly helpful. She snorted and shook her head at her failure. Kalyxa looked around and thought for another moment. She figured she could easily climb out, if she had something solid to work with. There didn't seem to be anything like that out here. She sighed and sat down.

Then Kalyxa looked up at her guardian. She smiled at him and squealed happily. Surely he coul get her out of the hole with ease. The old dragon chuckled lightly and shook his head. "You got yourself in there, you can get yourself out. There's something you haven't thought to try yet. Go on. See if you can figure it out." He gave a slight nod.

She cocked her head to the side. Why wasn't he helping, and what was he talking about? How could there possibly be another way out of the hole? Climbing out wasn't an option, and unless she could magically levitate herself, there didn't seem to be another option. Kalyxa had not yet been taught how to fly, so that option was out. She then thought of something that she had overlooked. Why didn't she think of it sooner?

Kalyxa then crouched down low, her gaze locked on the snowy ground above her. She then suddenly sprang up, leaping out of the hole. She instinctively spread out her wings while in the air, using them to sort of gently glide and land on the snow. However, once she put her weight on the snow, she sunk down into another hole.

She gave a disheartened grunt and plopped down in the snow with an unamused expression. All that effort to get out of a hole, only to land in another one. How does anyone get around this way? Who's bright idea was it to put all this soft, white nonsense here? It would take forever to get anywhere would all this mess.

Her guardian let out a soft chuckle at the sight. He then lowered his head down to her and very carefully picked her up with his jaws. As he lifted her up, he turned his head around and gently placed her on his furry back. "There. Now you don't have to use up so much energy hoping around in the snow." He said to her.

Kalyxa narrowed her gaze slightly and gave him a light snort. She wondered why he hadn't done that sooner. What was the point of all this? Why were they even outside? There didn't seem to be very much out here. There was more stuff to explore and see inside the lair. Exploring the mountain seemed more fun than being out here.

"Now, Kalyxa, don't look at me that way. There's more to this winter wonderland than meets the eye. Come on, I want to show you around." He said. Then the old dragon started to hike through the snow. Kalyxa just sighed and laid her head down to rest. So far, she didn't really see anything of interest.
Like I said, I am on a roll. Three chapters uploaded in one night. Who knows, there could be more. Okay, maybe not. I mean, I'll probably end up writing more, but I may not upload them just yet. But the beginning is going kinda slow and it basically just shows what life is like for the young dragon. I'm not going to show like every detail, but I wanted you guys to at least have an idea. Like I didn't just want the egg to be found, then all of a sudden she hatches, and then suddenly she's like a teenager ready to go on an adventure. I wanted to take things slow and let you guys see what she's like as a hatchling and everything, before we rush into actual important plot stuff. So just be patient and enjoy the cute moments until we get there.
Comments0
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In