The moment I finished Crashing and Glittering Water, I turned my attention to the last story for November, a piece of historical fiction. Thankfully, my mind summoned Samuel and his dragon. While I possessed the perfect character to fill this tale, I couldn’t think of a story to explore his character. So once more I summoned the story cubes and tossed them. Given that I was staring at a story placed squarely in the old west, I didn’t know how to square the setting with all the results, a plane, a skydiver, and a fountain.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long to warp the results into the setting. While it seems obvious to swap out an enormous dragon for a plane, I don’t think I would have thought of that without having read Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. With that initial connection created, it didn’t take long to come up with the concept of a rudimentary parachute, or that it’s still a relatively fresh idea. But that still left me with the fountain shape staring up at me, so I ended up interpreting that icon as a large body of water.
With all the disparate concepts created, I sat down, letting the story flow through me. So hunker down and get ready to join me as we follow Samuel and Pearl on their latest adventure.
Having just missed his fugitive, Samuel urges Pearl to dangerous speeds as they race down the fleeing criminal…
“I’m sorry for pushing you,” Samuel said, rubbing his dragon’s neck. “Please endure this pace a little longer till we find him. Once the fugitive is secured to your harness, our return journey can take as long as you need to recover from this frantic flight.”
The dragon’s head bounced as the whipping wind intensified. After several heartbeats filled with the wind’s deafening roar, a small dot appeared in the sky, racing towards the foreign border. Samuel leaned forward, thrusting a finger toward the swelling creature beneath them. Perl’s neck bobbed as she sliced through the air, closing in on the growing dragon. As she settled into a parallel flight with the larger beast, Samuel pulled a rope out from under his dragon’s harness.
He quickly bound one end of the cord around his waist and the other to the thick leather strap wrapped about Pearl’s chest. As he gathered the extra in his hands, Pearl slowed to keep pace with her kin and turned toward her rider. A lopsided grin split Samuel’s face as he whirled a finger. The dragon straightened her neck and flipped over. Instantly, he fell from Pearl, but the ropes securing him to her harness went taut.
As he dangled from the leather webbing, he eyed the other beast. “Pearl, whatever you do, keep an eye on me.”
With a nod, Pearl’s body stretched out as her wings continued propelling them through the air. Samuel’s chest swelled as he inched down the rope. Despite the wind trying to separate him from the lifeline, his feet eventually brushed the other dragon’s back, and he released his held breath. He lowered himself onto the new beast, grabbing hold of its harness while tossing his cable towards Pearl. The moment it cleared her rider, Pearl rolled to her right and dove under the strange dragon. When Pearl vanished from sight, Samuel crept closer to the dragon’s captain.
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