Dream Slaughters 3 I Flee A Dragon

Siguro ilang taon rin akong nanatili sa toreng iyon na halos nakalimutan ko na ang pakiramdam ng pagtapak sa lupa. Tama nga ang hinala ko. Sa dulo ng madilim na daanan na iyon ay ang pintuan papunta sa labas. I am still on the last step of the stairs. I'm still struck by the scene of the world below. Iba ang mga bagay na nakikita sa itaas ng tore. Iba rin ang mga bagay na nasa ibaba nito.

"Is this really..." Nakita kong umuusok ang hininga ko dahil sa lamig. I covered my mouth as my own breath becomes white as a smoke.

Inikot ko ng tingin ang paligid. Punong puno ng berdeng damo sa sahig. May mga batuhan rin at isang munting tubigan na napuno ng mga kulay lila na water hyacinth. May mga ibon na tumatalon-talon sa lupa at mga gumagapang na mga hayop na naglalaro. I stared at the land before me. Should I take my first step? Or stay here in this tower?

"There's no way I'll stay here forever. If n.o.body will save me from this tower then I'll just save myself."

Tumapak ako sa malamig na damuhan. At first, the feeling tickles so I jumped a lot. Pero nasanay na rin ako sa katagalan sa hanggang ang ginawa ko ay ang tumakbo-takbo sa paligid. I look like a kid running around in circles. I saw gra.s.shoppers jumping as I step on the longer gra.s.ses. There are dandelions spreading their white feathery petals around. The world is still cold in the morning but the warmth from the deepest part of my heart brought out happiness.

How come I already forgot this feeling of being outside?

Inikot ko ang paligid ng torre. Well, this tower is made up of the strongest stones though it is somewhat leaning in one side. Tinignan ko ang pinakapaanan ng torre papunta sa taas. I'm taking a step back as I try to uncover the whole thing. Umatras ako ng umatras sa hanggang nakikita ko na ang tunay na taas ng torre. Nasa may bintana na ang paningin ko ng maramdaman kong may natapakan akong matigas na bagay. I looked back and saw a shiny rock and a shallow cliff.

I forgot my balance so I started slipping down and fell to the shallow cliff. Hindi naman mataas ang pagkakahulog ko pero gumulong gulong pa rin ako papunta sa pinakadulo. Huminto ako sa may baba with my back facing the ground. 'OUCH' is the only thing I could say.

"I didn't see that coming..."

I remained in my position because my back hurts a bit. I stared at the sky covered by the leaves of the trees. I only caught a little glimpse of light but these tiny little lights that has gone pa.s.s through to the little s.p.a.ces looks like stars at night. I somehow feel dreamy for a while. The façade of the light as the leaves slowly falling from it...

"d.a.m.n! Buckle that strap carefully!"

Napatalon ako bigla ng may kung sinong sumigaw sa malayo. I hurriedly jumped to my feet and covered myself. Ilang taon na rin akong hindi nakakakita ng tao. Hindi ko alam kung ano ang magiging reaksyon ko kapag may nakita akong isa. The last time I saw a person is the time when... Wait a minute... Have I met a person before?

"Iyan! Pagbutihin mo at malaki ang bayad nito. It's a rare species so be careful not scratch the scales."

Scales? Was it a fish or a lizard? Wait, where does those voices coming from? Tinignan ko ang paligid pero wala namang tao. I walked further whilst hiding in every tree trunk. Mas lumakas pa ang boses sa tuwing naglalakad ako palapit sa kung saan. I was nearly close to the end of the thicket when I saw three guys holding some net on their hands. I decided to hide to a nearby bush to watch them.

"Sigurado ka bang matibay ang net na ito?" Tanong ng isang lalaking may malaking tiyan. Kulay dilaw ang balat niya at walang buhok sa ulo. He's wearing a dirty blue shirt and brown pants, with straw slippers on his feet.

"Of course, it's durable. Mahal ang pagkakabili ko rito kaya sigurado akong matibay ito. It's already proven and tested," sagot ng kaharap niya na napakapayat na halos kitang kita na ang buto. That thin guy is wearing some loose clothing with a white weird looking hat on his head.

"Ano, kalian natin dadalhin ang dragon na ito?" Another man said. He is somewhat away from the two. He's crouching down, blowing smokes from his mouth due to the cigarettes.

"Don't worry; the escorts will come this night. They will get that dragon and pay us a huge prize," said the fat man.

I was caught by the word 'dragon'. Hindi pa ako nakakakita ng dragon sa tanang buhay ko. I only see them in books specially when there's a tower and a princess waiting... I shook my head. It's very impossible, besides coincidence might happen. Siguro tsamba lang na may dragon malapit sa torreng tinitirhan ko, diba?

"Magkano kaya ang mapupulang kaliskis na ito?" the one with the cigarette asked.

Hinanap ko ang dragon na sinasabi nila. The dragon is there, right in front of the crouching man. There's a lot of net above the creature refraining it to fly high. The mouth was tied by a fabric to avoid it from blowing fire. I was mesmerized by the creature.

Beautiful

I saw the dragon move its headaround. The crouching man gave it a beating and eventually stopped moving. Then suddenly, the dragon's eyes are looking at me. I'm not sure if it is really looking at me but its piercing stare say nonetheless. It's the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen. Its eyes are split like that of a curious cat. The colour is almost opposite to its scales which is green like jade. As I stare longer, its eyes are turning red like there's a fire dancing within. I could not help myself but to be hypnotized by the beautiful creature.

"Well, it's settled. Let's go back to the tent for a while. Gourmand, wait here for a while," utos ng matabang lalaki na umalis kasama ang payat. Naiwan ang naninigarilyong lalaki sa harap ng dragon.

"Hindi na ako makapaghintay pang makuha ang pera ko," ngiti ng lalaki na hinawakan ang balat ng dragon.

Biglang gumalaw ang dragon. Natawa na lang siya habang pinagmamasdan ang kawaw.a.n.g nilalang na naghihirap sa ilalim ng net. The dragon tried to waggle it's tale but the action is useless. The straps around is too strong to break. The man continued laughing until he was on the ground crying.

"Hindi ako makakapayag sa gagawin niyo..."

I took the courage of standing behind the bush. May nakita akong isang matibay na kahoy sa gilid at pinulot ito. With no second thoughts, I started running towards the laughing man while screaming. Alarmed, the man stopped laughing and stood up. But it is already too late because I already gave him a critical hit that made him faint.

"This beautiful creature should be free!"

Umikot ako at nakita ang dragon sa loob ng net. Now that I'm closer I can see his size. The dragon is larger than I imagined. Though, his size is still small for their kind. I slowly reached for the net when the dragon recoiled, releasing hot steam from his nostrils.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you," I rea.s.sured the dragon.

Dahan dahan akong lumapit sa hanggang nahawakan ko na ang net. Sinubukan ko itong punitin pero masyadong matibay ang pagkakagawa. b.u.malik ako sa lalaking nakahandusay sa sahig at tinignan ang mga bulsa kung may kutsilyo. I found a sharp bone and quickly returned to the dragon. I hurriedly cut the bases of the net until the one came off releasing the dragon free to the air.

Natumba ako sa sahig dahil sa malakas na hangin na ibinuga ng kanyang mga pakpak. The dragon opened its wings wide and flapped it slowly as if it is trying to fly now. Without the net covering its body, I can now clearly see the form of the dragon.

This dragon has this lizard like body with a long neck and thin tail. The scales that I though was only red are rather green from the head. The green scales is from the top head up to his neck, then the red colour mixes with the transition from the middle part of its body turning violet and ended blue to the tail. The dragon has muscular limbs with eagle like sharp-talon nails.

"Beautiful..." I mouthed.

The saw the dragon's pupil move, as its head turned in my direction. The dragon stopped flapping its wings as it landed on the ground before me. I can't stand up. All I can do is to stare. He walked slowly in front of me. Wait; it's not going to eat me right? The dragon came closer and closer. Because of fear, I covered myself with my arms.

"Please, don't eat me-"

It snuggled my arms. Dumbfounded, I looked up and saw the dragon very close. Its eyes showed the finest jewels, no doubt with that. It snuggled its mouth which is still covered by the fabric. Itinaas ko ang aking mga kamay at hinawakan ang mahaba nitong ilong. I can feel the hot sting of the skin and from the little release of steam from its nose. Hinanap ko ang dulo ng tali at mabilis na tinanggal ito. The dragon purred like a cat.

"Eh...?"

"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" Hindi ko napansin na dumarating na ang mga kasama ng lalaki. Also, the guy I hit earlier is starting to gain consciousness.

"You need to hurry! Lumipad ka na at umalis rito at baka mahuli ka pa nila," sabi ko sa dragon.

The dragon squinted, as if I said something ridiculous. I looked back and saw the men carrying spears and arrows. I pushed the dragon's face away. For a while, I thought that I am the very first person who tried to shoo a dragon away. Oh well, the dragon just obeyed my orders and started flapping its wings high.

Everybody covered their eyes. The strong gust of wind (with the dusts) became stronger as the dragon tried to push itself upward until it flew freely to sky. I remained in my position watching the beautiful creature go free...

"Who are you?"

May naramdaman akong matulis na nakatutok sa likod ko. I turned around and saw the three men holding sharp knives. I raised my arms up.

"Um... Just a by pa.s.ser... I guess?"