The Journal of Delphine

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. What seems like a lifetime ago the Valley was filled with nothing but trees and open land outside our little backwoods town. The town of Autumn’s Keep was founded long ago for people who worked for the logging guild. When the guild went bankrupt some loggers stayed and made Autumn Keep what it is today. A small town almost in the middle of nowhere next to the Valley. The power station is a couple miles off and supplies the whole of the town with power. We keep up to date with the new radios that are popping up everywhere and my father and I enjoy our off days where we can enjoy the radio shows. The electronic hum that fills the streets at night is nice and soothing and we have guards with their rifles that make sure no animals come to bother our boring little town. Sometimes being in the middle of nowhere has its advantages. About 12 years ago to the day the Ember fell from the sky!

Prophets always hate when stars fall. It's how they get their prophecies so it's a bad omen or something. “It is a sign! A sign that change is coming! And change… change can be an awful thing. ” I think I heard one of the Prophets scream that once. They’re a funny lot always wearing navy blue and yelling at the common folk. I swear if the council didn’t listen to everything they said we the people of Áprvol would have run them out of the country long ago. But, those Prophets told about another shower of stars and this time one fell to the land. Right next to us, right in the Valley. The clouds swirled and opened up and the star fell as the air around it shifted into a sea of colors. The Star shined with light and pulsed like a small fire, just like an ember. The Ember fell while clouds wisped around its beautiful strangeness. Flairs of colors shot off into the sky. Piercing the dull gray that was that night's sky. The people of Autumn Keep watched in astonishment as The Ember fell behind the tree line into the Valley. We all braced for the shock but no, not even a rumble. The star burnt up before it hit the ground. At least that's what the town folk thought. But, now that I write this I realize that those crazy old prophets may have been on to something because The Ember did signal change. A change that would turn everything fantastic for a time.

The Ember was so beautiful that I couldn't leave it be. I did not want to believe something so unique could just be gone. One afternoon on a day I wasn't in school I searched part of the Valley. I wandered far and almost completely in circles in search of something. Maybe just a fragment of The Ember to bring home. But I found so much more!

A crater, a hole so wide Autumn’s Keep itself could all fit in its diameter. Trees ripped up and thrown and rocks toppled over. All the signs of a mighty impact but nothing. No star… no ember. As if the Ember simply slipped through the fingers of a world that tried to catch it. Fell between the cracks of the world. I looked around the crater in hopes to find it but sadly there was no star to find. It was then I first heard them Small chirps like if birds were right behind me but let me tell you those were no birds! I turned to see three creatures slithering on their bellies with two hind legs and a pair of front legs that turned into feathery wings. It reminded me of when the babies in town would learn how to crawl. A scaled covered extended neck grew into a head with two small horns. Feather patterns changed from each one with beautiful feathers poking out of the uniform gray scales covering their bodies. In fact each creature was no larger than a newborn, but had large eyes as if they were trying to look at everything. These peculiar creatures looked at me with such curiosity. They walked right up to me. Such alien creatures looked me up and down like they have never seen a human before. But to their credit I hadn't seen creatures like these before either. I remember being confused, if these creatures were babies then their mother should be close by. The creatures swarmed to my feet and the one with lavender feathers annoyingly chewed my shoelaces to say ‘hi I’m here give me your attention’. I watched these creatures explore this world that seemed so new to them. Slithering around while their arms tried to lift them off the ground. Bugs specifically seemed to be their food of choice but when the occasional squirrel scampered too near it seems the one with red feathers wanted so badly to… play with it. I watched these creatures for I don't know how long making sure these little ones did not find themselves in trouble, but as the sun set I knew I had to get home.

The next time I had a chance, I raced into the forest for another day with these amazing animals. I even brought food for them though each one had its own tastes. As in the one with green feathers only liked the small veggies my father grew in our backyard. This little one was squatter than the rest, had wider scales, and the feathers were very wide. At the right angle, the feathers even looked like leaves. The other two were far more interested in my other treat, a turkey leg. These two were more slender and both had a crest full of lavender and deep red feathers, respectively. They ate and then actually let me pet them. This was an important moment in my life. I remember feeling happy and like nothing in the world could ruin this. It had felt like I made an unbreakable bond amongst these babes and that they had trusted me. Then out of nowhere they perked up. The food was no longer of any interest to them. They looked around as if listening to something then all three started to move in a similar direction, back to the crater. Around branches and through the brush, even over streams. Nothing was going to stop these creatures from going to whatever they seemed to have heard. Then we made it back to the place where the Ember fell. The creatures stood on the lip of the crater and stopped only for a moment before all three galloped over the lip and into the crater. I ran up to follow because though they were small they could really move when they wanted. When I made it to the lip and looked down into the crater, all but one of the creatures were gone. The little green one trotted on towards the center of the crater took a little jump and was gone. I ran to the center thinking that my new baby friend was swallowed by a new sinkhole created by the Ember, but no I’d soon find out that was also wrong.

I ran down into the crater so fast I tripped and tumbled to the bottom. Rolling directly into the center of the crater and falling down the hole that was hidden from sight. I woke up feeling hard stone. The ground was cold and didn’t feel like the loose dirt and clay that made up the crater that was sadly now on my clothes. I had woken up in a cave! I couldn't believe it. I couldn't quite believe my eyes. Was this cave under the forest the whole time? I would have been in complete darkness until my little friends surprised me yet again. Starting from their tails and spreading up to their eyes light began to glow. Peeking out from under scales and making their feathers glow this light seemed to shine from the center of their bodies. Oh and how beautiful the light was. Together the little ones led me from the cave into an open field filled with blue-ish grass that was walled in by mountains. Everything from this place seemed brighter, more vibrant, and oh so beautiful. The view was breathtaking to the point I lost track of my new friends. I looked around for them but they were nowhere to be found until I heard one of them calling out for the others. I looked up and there they were flying in the sky. Suddenly, shadows blocked out the sun as huge creatures landed all around us, two pairs of the most majestic creatures I've ever seen. The adults were much larger than the newborn sized creatures. They were more the size of houses! The small tufts of feathers on the babies turned into large flowing crowns of feathers. The wings grew to vast wings that when folded back laid onto the body. They moved with such power and elegance. Even more extraordinary was what happened next: they talked and introduced themselves to me.

Now saying they talked seems like a bad choice of words. No mouth was ever moved but I could just hear them talking to me inside my head and I learned so much from them. They called themselves “dragons” and though throughout their lands they've been called many things, to call themselves dragons seemed to fit their species better. At this point I introduced myself. "My name is Delphine Martel and I live with my father in Autumn's Keep. I am just about 17 and I'm very confused about what's happening right now." These great creatures looked at me with such kindness. They invited me to see more of their world and to see even more dragons. Such open hospitality as if having a guest was such an honor. The lavender dragons showed me their home, a grand hall built from stone. Giant slabs of stone seemingly sliced straight off a mountain. The inside was adorned with carvings. “Hand carved” I remember the Father said. He made a subtle gesture, taped his talons and a noise that sounded like thunder. The mother looked at him disappointingly and I can only assume that the Father had made some sort of joke and was awfully proud of it. My eyes poured over these carvings and the parents told me of their stories. How they came from far away from another part of their world, how their ecosystem worked with each other, and how the dragons of all over have come together to be as one tribe. I asked what there was before the “one tribe”? The Father “chuckled” again and told me he did not know. He spoke of an ancient time where there was still peace. He mentioned that the elder dragons easily found out that when dragons worked together it was far more beneficial than if dragons tried to fight each other.

When I asked why The Mother spoke up talking of how the dragons have for ages been under mountains and through the molten blood of the earth. It takes much to hurt us and fighting has been turned into a game to play, nothing more. Our talons have turned into good chisels but that's about all. Good against stone and crystal but hardly a tool to use against scale and dragon bone. The more they showed the more mystified I was about their world. Later in the day they inquired what wonders I had in my world. And there it was again. The question I wanted to know. “What did you mean about my world?”

The dragons flew me back to the cave, and I was guided through the darkness with their own beautiful bioluminescence. Deep into the cave I saw something shimmer against the cave walls. It wasn't just one color but every color of the rainbow. It was so breathtakingly beautiful that in that moment I knew this had to be the star I saw falling that night, The Ember. I decided it would make a wonderful souvenir. So the Mother cut off a small piece for me so I could take the Ember home.

There on the ceiling of the cave was a hole. It glimmered as if a puddle was upside down. Something disturbed the mirrored surface and fell from the ceiling right on the ground underneath it. I picked it up to inspect it and noticed this was the same clay that I was covered in from the crater. The Mother explained, “Sometimes when enough force is added to a special enough material this happens. The object could slip through the cracks or in this case pierce a hole through worlds. However, this is the first time something fell to this world and the hole remained making a portal to another world.” They looked amazed. “However”, the father said, placing his palm up onto the mirror, “we could fit through the portal, but it would take a huge amount of energy that could rip the portal even wider. I feel it would be too dangerous to try and spread a crack in reality. Now, human Delphine it has become too late so please return to your world so your parents do not worry like we have. If it was not for you looking out for the children the worst may have come to pass. We dragons are far less durable at such a young age. If you ever wish to return just let us know when you arrive and we will answer any question you have.”

That is exactly what I did for the next five years. When I wasn't at school, I was in the other world learning all I could. I learned there were various different races of dragons. Ones who called the sea their home and those who lived as if the mountain was a part of them. The sea dragons had beautiful fins and webbed wings instead of the feathers The Mother and Father had as they were dragons of the air. The dragons of the mountains were broad and had huge plate scales with long thin feathers like a peacock. I met the other parents that belonged to the small green earth dragon who was so brave to explore my world. I saw all kinds of dragons hunt, live, celebrate, and sleep when the days were too much. I say where they kept their eggs and the nests they made to show such splendor. They told me that dragons, though hardy, take a long time to bring another egg into the world. And as all things with these dragons it was peaceful and graceful. Often I would come back to my world and wonder how things could be better.

News over the radio spread, Áprvol’s tensions with the other kingdoms were rising. After the king’s death The Council holds power till another king is chosen. Though with all the wise men and men of science banished I guess The Council's Prophets will have to do. The council banished the men and women of science when the King died. Rumors say the men and women of science who cared for the king killed him. The Prophets have their stars and tellings, they simply haven't found the heir yet. With higher tensions came more guards and more soldiers, and soon soldiers were to be moved to our little town of Autumns' Keep. What will change bring us this time?