The Visit
1/29/2017
Across Nightwing's rough
terrain the man would walk.
Something
so familiar despite the years of change, his feet carrying him forward to the
dragoness' cavern while his mind was left to dwell upon other thoughts that
plagued it. That terrain, once alive, now dormant. As most things had become,
he was no stranger to. That would not stop his approach. His passing through
the trees that had not altered hardly in what was a half-century gap in time.
Time,
above all, held less relevancy to a man returned to a a world that had changed
so drastically. The mountain approached in front of him, closer and closer.
Lenn made the voyage up to the entrance that waited. He plunged himself into
the dark of the cavern's tunnels. He welcomed the light as he entered the dragoness'
den that was now a living shrine to honor her presence.
A book was picked up from its nearby
resting place, pages tattered and bookmarked far too many times over. A seat
was taken no different than what was approaching one hundred years
prior. The beginning of their companionship. His back reclined to lean against
the slumbering dragon's side, and the book was opened to the respective
chapter. He knew all the words, coming to no surprise when he turned the pages.
Hours
passed in silence. The reading kept him sane, form of meditation, whether they
were old words or new. Skya's presence, mobile or not, it kept him calm. Gave
him peace. Ultimately it gave the ex-Rider hope. A reminder she was not yet
gone from this world, no more than he.
Hours
came to a close, as did the book in his hand. As he stood he stretched from his
lack of movement, returning the book to its place in the dwelling. Bookmark
shifted a hundred pages or so, threatening to soon touch the opposite end of
the cover. He left it to do so another day. Emerald hues swept across the room.
Then to the sleeping dragoness. His guardian. His oldest friend. An almost
weary exhale escaped his chest.
Knees
touched down as Lenn lowered upon the moss floor that had overtaken the den. He
leaned close. He lowered until he felt time-frozen scales along the brim of her
snout on his forehead, letting his eyes come to a close.
"Until
next time. Old friend."
In
time, Lenn stood. Brushing off debris from his clothing he bid a farewell for
the evening before turning to leave. He bid farewell to the light of the
dragoness' den and the shrine that lingered within. Into the dark cavern
tunnels he walked. He stepped out of the entrance to make the voyage down to
the mountain's base. Behind him the mountain itself remained, further and
further.
Across Nightwing's rough
terrain the man would walk.