The Notch

“Night has been conquered by the morning.” -GG Allin

The sun shone off the snow like a million diamonds, and like a million diamonds to the rich and greedy, the scene was utterly lovely through my eyes. It was through this snow that I trudged, belly deep, my wings spread out awkwardly to either side for balance. Dragons are not entirely suited for snow, being that we lack evolutionary advantages that would make living in cold climates much easier to survive in.

True, dragons are not at all suited for winter travel, but I guess beggars can’t be choosers, now can they?

It’s all man’s fault! The whole damn lot of it!

The humans were the reason I was here. They were the reason my brethren were dead or enslaved, the reason the world had been poisoned, and the reason why we would never be free of their bondage. We are forever hunted, that is the way it always has, is, and forever shall be.

Hunted, like a damned animal.

Onward I trudged, through the snow made of diamonds, past spruce trees, like emeralds, that jutted through the thick layer of snow. I set my eyes upon the keyhole, a narrow gully off in the distance where two mountains met; it was the opening of the notch. Beyond the Keyhole lay unknown lands, that, hopefully, would be devoid of human habitation. Hopefully.

To each side of me jagged mountains rose from the snow covered earth, their ridgelines reminded me of the swords used to kill my kin.

I shuddered at the macabre thoughts. Memories. The coldness of it all pervaded my very being.

Suddenly, and without warning, an unknown foe collided with me, slamming into me directly between the wings. I fell forward into the powdery snow, trying desperately to get the attacker off my back.

Above me I heard bubbly laughter. In a quick, fluid movement I spun around and pinned the dragoness on her back.

I looked into a pair of large, green eyes. Eyes that I had stared into many a time. Eyes that belonged to the only creature I still loved in this hellish world.

“Dammit Nev,” I growled, trying to stifle a chuckle of my own. “We gotta find shelter before it get’s dark, you need not hold us up!”

The bluish-grey dragon’s sly smile broadened, causing the large fins along her jawline to frill out.

“Oh what, like you didn’t absolutely love sleeping in that snow cave? We could always dig another one of those!” She purred sarcastically, making the word ‘love’ sound as if it had four O’s.

“I had cold water dripping on my all night- couldn’t sleep worth a damn.” I lied. Vivid nightmares were the reason sleep had evaded me.

“Hmm… I slept rather nicely, your wing must’ve kept the water off.”

“Indeed it did.” I rumbled contently.

A gruff voice behind us disrupted our escapades.

“Can we get going!”

Quickly, I stood and faced the green coloured drake. Nev’s brother, Muse. I took note of how his tail twitched in annoyance, making sure to stand a few paces back, being that tail twitching was a precursor to violence.

“My apologies,” I paused, turning back to Nev, “Muse is right, we ought to get moving.”

“If only the wind would die down, then we could’ve flown.” She replied, spreading her wings in the snow whilst still on her back.

I could feel the older drake’s glare burning into the back of my head. He hated the fact that Nev and I were mates. He hated me specifically, for before the humans started killing our species off, I was part of the Kerphets, a clan of dragons from the north. Nev and he, on the other hand, were of a southern clan; the Fleetwings. The two clans were constantly at odds, a long running feud that, in hindsight, had little meaning as compared to the conflicts of today. Still, Muse hated me for being a Kerphet.

Where Nev had grown to love me, Muse viewed at me as a mere interloper; his hatred only amplified by Nev’s love. Many a time had he beat on me, for he was quite a bit larger than I, thus making me the perfect thing for Muse to vent his anger. I feared that the only reason he hadn’t killed me as of now was that, though our clan’s hated each other, we possessed a common enemy: man.

Nev was in no way like her brother. Nev was caring, loving, and possessed a warm aura about her. She had first found me, in a pool of my own blood after my clan was murdered by man, death swiftly approaching. Nev, and Nev alone had saved me that day. When Muse had insisted on leaving me to die, Nev had stayed. She nursed my back to health, used her dexterous claws to pull the bullets from my flesh, and had brought me food and water. She had even found the other half of my left horn, which had been snapped off in The Battle. Though the broken horn was of no use to me, I still felt humbled by this gesture of kindness. True, at the time I was still angered by her being from a separate clan, but with time’s everlasting march onward, the hatred slowly subsided, thus being replaced with a subtle attachment to the dragoness, much to the admonishment and hatred of her brother.

Nev had given me life, and the only thing that I could offer in return was my love.

“Well, come on! Let us not forget that it is a privilege for you to be in our company, Kerphet, and you shan't hold us up!” He growled, baring his teeth menacingly.

I was about to reply, when something caught my eye. It came from behind a tree, about a hundred paces down. It was the reflection of the sun back in my eyes. At first I supposed it was merely the sun reflecting off an icicle, but I quickly rejected that theory, for when one has lived in this landscape as long as I have, one’s eyes become attuned to his surroundings. He can distinguish between a rabbit and a stone from a mile off, simply by being raised in one such environment. I knew that the flash wasn’t in anyway natural, and for some unknown reason it seemed eerily familiar.

Where on earth had I seen that flash before? Why did it scare my so? I racked my mind for the answers. Suddenly it came to me. Yes! Indeed I had seen that light before, years ago, when I was a merely more than a whelp. When the humans had attacked our clan I had seen that flash, yes, how I remember it oh so clearly! They have glass looking scopes…

...They have glass looking scopes attached to the top of their guns, and oh how the morning sun shines off the glass! Yes, what beauty, oh what beauty disguises death!

My blood ran cold.

“Muse! Get do-” Before I could warn him I heard a muffled crack, like that of far off thunder, then the round went through Muse’s head.

The world exploded in a hot spray of blood, accompanied with bits of brain matter and skull fragments, much of which hit my face. Muse was killed instantly, his near headless form standing in front of me for a moment, before toppling over, like a tree in a tempest.

The utter shock and horror threw me into somewhat of a daze.

Get the Hell down, you thick fuck! Whoever wielded the gun would undoubtedly shoot me next, the thought was the only one that my brain could properly articulate, hastily I followed suit.

I dropped to the ground, sinking into snow, it’s white surface stained with a million crimson drops of blood.

Behind me, Nev emitted a feral scream and ran towards her fallen brother.

“NO!” I roared. I lept up and tackled her, pinning her beneath my weight. Just as I did so I felt a bullet whiz past, grazing the back of my neck.

“Nev, listen to me!” I growled through clenched teeth, “You mustn't move, he’ll shoot you too! There’s nothing we can do for Muse now, we must stay hidden!”

She let out one final, horrid screech, which ended in a hysterical sob of defeat. I realized that I too was crying, for even though Muse wasn’t a friend he was a fellow dragon, therefore he and I had a connection, not one of friendship par-say, but rather one of camaraderie, and it was for that camaraderie that I mourned.

Together Nev and I sobbed, for a minute or five, I haven’t the slightest idea, but together we sobbed. I feared greatly for my life, but more-so for Nev. In those minutes I watched, mesmerized, as my blood, steaming in the bitter cold, fell in large droplets down onto the leathery flesh of her wings. In some macabre way, and in my shocked state, I found it beautiful.

Nev softly calling my name snapped my out of my trance.

“Wh… What do we do n… now?” She sniffled in between sobs.

“I... don’t know, Nev.” I licked her neck affectionately in an effort to calm her.

“Don’t look at him,” I whispered, noticing her eyes were locked on Muse’s decapitated corpse. “Just look at me…”

The dragoness complied, turning her neck ever so slowly to look into my eyes. Her eyes were the same in a relative way, but now possessed a deep seeded sadness and hopelessness within them. Gone was the joyfulness that I had witnessed within them only minutes ago, and yet they still retained their beauty, still retained the utter loveliness that was Nev, oh what a cruel world we live in! Such an ugly, malicious, world! A world that wishes to kill a creature like Nev! And what for, because we were not of their species?

No. Never would I let those bastards, those mongrels, kill anything as innocent and kind as Nev! Nev, the dragoness who had saved my life, the life that I still owed her!

Nev was going to survive this, even if I did not, I would see Nev survive this. My beautiful Nev would not die at the hands of a fucking human, not Nev.

I knew what I had to do. Nev wouldn’t die here, not if I could help it.

---

While a hunted dragon contemplated matters of life and death, a man lit a cigarette, his gun hanging limply from it’s shoulder strap.

He’d wait, no matter how long it took, he’d wait. His god wasn’t one for laziness, and the demons that were holed up behind that snowdrift two hundred feet down yonder needed to be erased from this earth, how would the Almighty react if he, an agent of his perceived god, was to let these demons escape?

Eventually they would try to escape, and when they did he would get them in his sights and end their miserable existence. He had killed the first, a large green bloke, with ease. He had been close to killing the grey male, but his gun had jammed. The blue female he had quite near hit, but the grey had thrown her to the ground before his bullet could.

The patch he bore upon his shoulder was a large, white cross. In God we trust, oh yes, and if God tells one to go forth and rid the earth of these demons, one must comply!

His caring, loving government had given this very instruction, and he was determined to carry it out, for his Lord! Yes, oh how the Almighty would be proud of his efforts! For nation and for God!

The propaganda had told him everything! Yes, the mighty propaganda. He thought not of the demon’s feelings, only of what that mighty, all-knowing propaganda had told him! Humans where the only intelligent beings, these demons, dragons, were threats that needed to be eradicated! Like vermin they were! Yes, the propaganda had told him everything!

He would wait, and he would kill the whole lot of them, in the name of his Lord!

---

I lay next to Nev, nuzzling her jawline.

“See those mountains,” I whispered, gesturing to the two peaks that made up the keyhole, “Head for those, I’ll lead him off your trail then circle back around, I’ll be back before dark!” I lied, trying to sound optimistic.

She shook her head vigorously.

“No,” She sobbed. “We’re staying together!”

“We’ll die if we stay here!” I stressed, “Nev, this is the only way.”

She whimpered, and I pulled her close, resting my head against her’s. She shook against me, her scaled skin ice cold from lying in the snow for so long. Muse’s blood had gone from a bright red to a dull violet in this time, and from where I lay I could see that his corpse had grown stiff.

I didn’t say goodbye, I didn’t want to. I knew what was going to happen to me then I attacked, and I accepted it. All I wanted was for Nev to survive, no longer did my own safety concern me. To me, The Man with The Gun represented every death, every atrocity that had been committed against my kind. The hatred I felt towards him was quickly growing within my chest, so much so that I felt as if it threatened to consume my very being.

I had told my love that there was nothing to fear, when there was everything to fear. I had told her that I would see her by nightfall, but I knew that I, like Muse, would be but a stiff corpse upon the frozen ground by then. I had told her that I would lead the man away, when in actuality I was planning on tearing him to shreds. Lies, all that I had told Nev was lies. And yet, at the same time, I had told her that I loved her. That love would be the only thought I would have as I laid upon the ground, drawing my last breath, feeling my heart give it’s final beat. This, I feel, is the reason I had no fear of my own death.

On this day I would not die like an animal, I would not die cowering in the corner. No, on this day I would die a dragon. Not a Kerphet, not a Fleetwing, but a free dragon. What a beautiful way to die. Yes, what a beautiful way to die!

“Go now,” I whispered. “Stay low, crawl if need be, I’ll be along…” I trailed off.

Nev looked at me for a moment, before rotating her head and placing her maw around my own in a passionate, draconic kiss. For a moment we stayed like that, a feeling of pure ecstasy flowing through my veins. Never had I felt more alive than on the cusp of death!

After we parted, I pressed my forepaw against her’s. There were are no words to describe how we felt, the emotional exchange was completely wordless.

Nev rolled over, and, sticking to my instructions, remained in a crouched position. We locked eyes once more. I knew it was likely the last time I would ever see these eyes, the last time I would ever bask in their beauty.

“Go…” I said breathlessly.

For a moment she stayed where she was, then turned and began her slow trudge through the snow. I watched her go with large tears welling up in my eyes. Part of me wanted desperately to follow, but I knew better than that. I knew that The Man with The Gun would pursue us to no avail. If I was going to end it I would do it now, for the next time he found us it wouldn’t be the blood of Muse that coated my face, but the blood of Nev. I would rather die than have that happen, and that was what I was planning on doing.

After ten minutes I stretched my powerful wings as much as I could in the confined space, then shifted position, readying myself to strike. One final battle, one final clash of dragon and beast. Both would die, but one would come forth victorious. Oh, what a beautiful way to die! Oh, you cruel, damming, hellish world, you will not win upon this day! It’s better to burn out than fade away! It’s better to burn out than fade away, there isn’t a greater glory upon this earth than that!

I looked at the mountains, oh, the beautiful mountains! What a beautiful place to die!

“Goodbye Nev.” I whispered. Never would I get to see my kin, the ones that Nev carried. Never again would I gaze into Nev’s beautiful eyes.

The thought made me all the more enraged and saddened, again I felt welling up within my chest both the burning hellfire of rage and the chilling coldness of sadness.

Haven’t we suffered enough at the hands of these mongrels, these brigands to the earth?

With a rebel screech I lept up, pumping my wings harder than I had ever before. On this day I would die a dragon.

---

The man took a flask out of his breast pocket, the inactivity of hunting had made him numbingly cold. The hot bite of the whiskey running down his throat warmed him.

Suddenly, he heard a roar, accompanied by the sound of beating wings. He dropped the flask. From behind the snowdrift lept a grey dragon with the utmost of hatred in it’s heart.

He grabbed his rifle.

---

As I came over the rise of the snowdrift I could see him, I could see the fucking coward. I could see him drop a small, metallic container of somesort. I could see him raising his gun.

That won’t help you! Your gun is useless!

I heard a bullet whiz by, narrowly missing my head.

A fraction of a second later there was another crack of the rifle, this time I felt the round tear through my shoulder. I knew it wasn’t a killshot, only a flesh wound. Still, the white pain shot through my body.

I was now a mere fifteen paces from the monster. I could see the black gun, could see the expression he had on his face. It was not a look of fear, but one of sheer, almost crazed, determination.

I dove for him, claws and teeth ready to tear flesh and snap bone. For a moment, I thought I was bound to hit him, for he seemed locked in place, gun clutched in calloused, white-knuckle hands. At the last moment he dove to the right, dodging my claws by mere inches.

The velocity I carried was far too great for me to remain in control. I crashed into the snowy ground with immense force, the pain in my shoulder increasing a hundredfold as I felt the joint dislocating. The pain meant nothing now.

I tried to stand, but with my front leg completely useless, I found it impossible to do so.

I tasted hot copper blood, it dripped from my gaping maw and stained the snow.

The Man stood slowly. He too had not escaped unscathed, from where I lay I could see one of his legs hanging limply as he used his rifle as a crutch. His breath came out from behind his beard in hot puffs of steam.

He stood ten paces from where I lay.

We stared at each other. His eyes did not possess any fear, nor did they possess any sense of triumph. All I saw within those eyes was coldness. Coldness comparable to that which surrounded me. The Man’s eyes were colder than death and darker than night. These were the eyes of the beast that was going to kill me. I had failed my beautiful Nev. The man would kill me, then he would kill Nev. Why, oh why does it have to end like this, oh, cruel, ugly world?!

Nev, my beautiful Nev, would die as I would, staring up into these cold, dark eyes! Oh Nev, how I have failed you my love!

I felt a tear roll down my cheek and mix with the blood that ran from my mouth.

The Man shouldered The Rifle.

Oh, Nev, forgive me for my shortcomings!

As I waited for the crack of death I turned my eyes to the mountains. In a way I was hoping my death would be like Muse’s; quick and, hopefully, painless.

But the crack of the rifle never came. In it’s place was a screech, an oh so familiar screech. I averted my gaze from the mountains just in time to see a bluish blur hit the man. His rifle was thrown from his hands and, upon landing, went off, sending a round flying off into the distance.

The man had been knocked to the ground, and now lay on his back looking up into the eyes of Nev. For a moment I stared in awe.

Then a gunshot went off. Not the crack of a rifle, but a sharp pop. Nev gave a loud cry of pain, which was cut short by the handle of the man’s revolver smashing into the side of her head.

No!

I gave a roar of utter, feral despise, one which I had no idea my body could even produce.

Leaping forth, paying no mind to the excruciating pain, I let the feeling of intense hatred surge through me, consuming me.

The man had nary enough time to even turn before my claws tore his neck open. My claw still hooked in his neck, I dragged him out from under Nev, where I left him to drown in his own blood like the animal he was.

I turned and limped to Nev’s side. My beautiful Nev lay on the ground, blood oozing from a fresh wound on her cheek. I collapsed at her side and, laying my head against her chest, I sobbed. Never had I felt a deeper sadness. Everything I lived for had been destroyed by Man. I had failed Nev, I had failed myself.

Then, I felt it. It was slight, but against my head I felt her chest give a gentle rise and fall. A breath! It was followed by another, and another.

---

“Why did you come back for me?” I questioned horsely.

Nev didn’t answer, instead she gently licked my bullet wound. She had pulled the bullet from my hyde two hours ago, and the bleeding was only now beginning to subside, if only I could say the same for the pain.

The bullet from The Man’s revolver had done little damage, passing straight through Nev’s foreleg, missing the bone. The Man had hit her so hard with the handle of the pistol that it had knocked her unconscious, along with shattering her cheek bone. Our wounds would heal, in good time.

I shifted position, groaning as the dull, throbbing in my shoulder increased to a white hot pain. Together, we lay under the cover of a tree whose branches, covered in snow, formed a small cavity. We lay here, basking in each other's body heat as we cleaned our wounds.

“You thought I actually believed you?” Nev answered after a minute, “Life is precious, especially when it’s the life of one you love. I lost my brother today, you are all I have left.” She paused, nuzzling me gently. “I wasn’t going to let you die there.”

“What was the worth?” I retorted, “You were nearly slain yourself.”

She looked at me, trying to smile.

“I saved you once, if I had let you die there it would’ve been all for naught. Who on earth would leave their lover to die?”

“Humans.” I said dryly. “They’re all just beasts in the end.”

“Humans...” She purred. “Are not unlike us.”

“No, we’re nothing like them.” I scoffed.

She looked at me with a questioning expression.

“They have wars, as did we. They have hatred, as do we. When you look at it in retrospect, we’re all just monsters in the end, some more-so than others. I’m done with the hypocrisy, the bigotry, all of it.” Her voice took a much quieter tone, so much so that I could barely hear it. “In the end we’re only killing ourselves.”

She looked to me for a response. I said nothing.

“We owe lives unto each other,” She murmured, “Lives that must be cherished. Man doesn’t cherish life, that’s what separates us from them.”

At this I gave a snort of amusement.

“That contradicts everything you just said.”

“I didn’t mean us as a species, what I meant was you and I.”

I pondered the thought for a moment.

“You know, all this time I hated Muse, and now that he’s gone…” I sighed. “Now that he’s gone, I realize that we were… I don’t know, brethren on some level. I miss him, Nev. I just wish...I… I had realized that before…” I hid my face beneath my paws and let out a long sob.

She rested her chin on my neck. For a minute, all was silent, aside from Nev’s comforting purr.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Said Nev in a cool, far-off voice.

“There is no beauty left in the world.” Said I, not moving my paws from my face.

Nev nudged me.

“Surely there is, look..” She whispered, giving me another nudge.

I lifted my head and looked out from under the tree. Before me stretched the Notch, the mountains, like great palisades reaching up to the heavens, sheltered us from the rest of the world while the sun set in the distance.

I leaned against her, and she unto me.

“Indeed it is, indeed it is…”

“One day,” She whispered, “One day, we will live in peace. One day, the forests and mountains will be filled with our kind, as they were in the days of old.”

The sky was all gold, and the snow, like diamonds.

~Notes~

So yeah, we had a short story contest at school and I submitted a slightly toned-down version of this... lovely little piece. Long story short my english teacher told me to go to the G.C. and "talk about my feelings", whatever that means.

Let it be known that I didn't write this because I'm more depressed than Kurt Cobain, I wrote it for fun. I could go into all that "deeper meaning" shit, but honestly I wrote it for fun. Ha Ha, this is my idea of fun!

The word count on this fucker is well over 4K, which is pretty good, considering that I wrote the first draft in two days. Also, this is the second draft of this I have uploaded, so if you have read this in the past you might notice some changes.

I really liked writing this, and I might even write a novel about it sometime in the distant future. Also, I really like the characters in this, more so than other characters I have come up with. I'm thinking about writing other, unrelated shorts using these two.

Finally, you can thank me for the... happy ending. Originally I was going to have them both die, but I had really grown attached to the two of them, and I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

~Cirute, 2013.