Eldawin lay, curled up in as tight a ball as he could manage, paws clasping his head. That was how he spent most of his days, his claws rubbing against his scales, pressing small scratches in the side of his head. That problem had been dealt with, however. His claws had long since gone blunt.

Time no longer meant anything to the mind dragon. There was no point keeping track of it when every day seemed like an eternity. He was in a constant battle with the empty mind. A constant tug between emptiness and sanity. He was losing. His mind was slowly degrading. Every time he let himself drift off to sleep he woke up an hour later fractured and broken and was forced to pull himself together again.

The same cycle repeated day after day, week after week, month after month. The fact that his wings were gone no longer bothered him. What use were wings with a broken mind? So he continued to struggle, continued to fight the losing fight. At points, he wondered why he fought and tried to let himself drift off into the sweet nothingness. But then a terror would grip him, subconsciously forcing him to bring himself back together. Thus, the cycle continued.

There were a few moments of reprieve. Sometimes the humans brought him out into the open to feed him and let the sun shine on his scales. They seemed rare though, and Eldawin could never tell when he would be fed next. It didn't really matter to him. If he starved to death then so be it. It would free him from the unending torture that he was subject to.

His physical body was growing thin, wasting away like his mind. His wings were starting to grow back, but the stubs were deformed and near skeletal. The smaller scales around his paws had fallen away, rubbed off by the chain cuffs, and the light blue skin underneath had been chaffed raw. The end of his tail had dozens of bight marks from where he had tried to keep himself awake through pain.

Any semblance of intelligent thought was dwindling. All he could focus on was pulling his mind back together, and he wasn't always successful. Occasionally a memory escaped, or a feeling slipped out of his grasp, or an emotion was devoured by the void. It was rare, but every day it became slightly harder to stop. Every day his hold on his own mind weakened, and the only thought that plagued him was the terror of when that finally happened.

The door of Eldawin's cage grated open, but he didn't move. It was too much energy to move. Energy was better spent directed toward keeping his mind from drifting. There was chatter, but he didn't bother to understand it. Something jabbed him in the side, causing him to growl angrily. All he wanted was to be left alone. It was hard enough to constantly fight the endless mind, but now they were poking and prodding him as well.

"Come on you lazy lizard," one of the men gave him an especially hard prod, and Eldawin gave in to their demands with a rumbling whimper.

The dragon slowly got to his feet. It was hard to stand. His paws had long since gone numb with pain, but that was true with most of his body. It didn't hinder him; he was still far too focused on keeping his head together. The difficulties of the body weren't even a consideration most of the time. So, he limped out of the cage and into the open air. It was a solemn relief to not be surrounded on all sides by the empty mind, but he still had to focus, as the mind shields of the humans worked in exactly the same way.

The humans didn't bother with their poles, simply standing around the dragon as he lumbered forward. He was far too broken to resist, and even if he did, was far too weak to fight. His dim creamy blue scales barely shimmered in the sunlight, and his eyes were hollow, constantly looking inward, never looking out.

Another one of the cages was being opened, but the dragon inside was much more violent than Eldawin. It screamed and roared, fire being spewed out of the opening as the humans inside tried to get it under control. It took ten of them to pull the young fire dragoness from her prison, and five of the long metal poles. Two were wrapped around her maw to keep her from breathing fire, despite the absorption powers of the white stones, and the other three were around her neck as they dragged her into the open.

She was a young dragoness, thirteen or fourteen years old, with glistening healthy red scales, and what's more, she still had her wings, which were straining against the chains that were trapped her. Her screaming obscenities echoed across the deck, even though her makeshift muzzle, and her claws dug long grooves in the deck.

Her noise got Eldawin's attention. The mind dragon managed to raise his head, looking at the dragoness in interest. But he didn't see her. Instead, he saw a glowing mind. A full mind. It stood out to him like an oasis in a desert. It shone to him like the brightest star. A breath of disbelief escaped him, and he staggered toward her. But his own conscious spear was far ahead of him. It broke into her mind, sinking like an anchor. Almost immediately the dragoness froze, her eyes going wide.

To her, it felt like a cold beam had pierced her head. A presence that was full of hunger and need. And need to see, to experience, to live. And it needed her to do it. Eldawin could feel the fear spark inside her, a fear far more primal then the anger she felt for the humans around her. A whine escaped her maw, and she tried to struggle against the bonds, but it was weak. The cold presence of Eldawin's mind spread further and further into her psyche, taking control of all of her movements.

Her eyes managed to catch him, and her fear only grew. For the first time since Furthar, Eldawin saw himself as he truly looked like. Scraggly scales, ribs protruding from his sides, thin barely grown skeletal half-wings. But what was worse were his eyes. The yellow iris had faded nearly entirely to white, leaving two cold and empty black pupils that stared not at her, but into her, seeing every secret she held.

The humans around him didn't bother to stop Eldawin, at the order of their captain, the blond man who had cut off Eldawin's wings. He had walked up beside the mind dragon, watching in avid fascination as Eldawin mutilated the dragonesses mind. He had full control over her, his cold and unending need to feel, to experience anything, shattering her fiery resolve.

"Eldawin," the man whispered into the drake's hearing glands, "Find her haven. Find where she lives."

The mind dragon grunted in response, more than willing to untangle the other dragon's mind. But it wasn't enough to just see her memories. He needed to experience them, to feel her emotions as she danced across the sky. The raw fear was too similar to his own. He didn't want that. So, he pushed it away. A simple unconscious thought that drove it to the back of her mind. In its place he plucked a memory, pulling it forward, forcing her to see it in all its glory.

Suddenly he was flying through the sky, shaking and wobbling, as a two-year-old fiery hatchling. The wind brushed and pulled at his, or her, scales as she was sent tumbling to the ground, and a gleeful laugh escaping her muzzle. The remnants of memory were fuzzy, but Eldawin could feel the bountiful enjoyment bubbling through the young hatchling as she tried to launch into the air again and battle the wind.

Another memory was pulled forward. She was slightly older now. Three or four, her eyes slowly drifting closed as her earth mother closed her wings around both the fiery hatchling and her two earth brothers. The warmth and contentment flooded through her. The feeling of safety.

Older again, her eighth hatchday. An older ice drake and she snuck off to a quieter part of the valley. She had liked him for a long time, and he had liked her back. She wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, and he seemed to be the same. The thick nervousness and eager excitement washed through Eldawin like a stream of running water. Her parents find them several hours later, curled in each other's wings, and angry they kick the ice drake out of the haven. Anger, embarrassment. She tries to run after him. They stop her. Hopelessness and a broken heart.

Another couple of years later she finds him again. They are happy, and this time she runs away with him, eager to find adventure in the outside world. Homesickness plagues her. But she loves the ice drake too much to be gone from him again. They are together a year. She has a clutch. They hatch three healthy dragon hatchlings along the coast. Fulfillment, happiness, the stress of raising a family. But it is all over quickly when they are found by the hunters. The ice drake is killed. The hatchlings slaughtered. She is the only one left alive, captured and chained. Unending sorrow. Deep despair.

Eldawin drunk it all in, experiencing the memories again and again. The emotions filled him, sustaining him, bringing life back into his mind. But he needed more. It wasn't enough... but the dragoness had no more to give. She had collapsed to the ground, her mind mixed and muddled. Memories out of order, and no cognitive functioning left to move her legs and tail.

The human beside Eldawin let out a laugh of disbelief, "Wow... what did you do to her? Huh? Well, doesn't matter, did you find what I wanted?"

The drake didn't immediately answer. Going over the new emotions that continued to swirl through his head like a light in the darkness. It gave him warmth, sparking a new fire within him. But he needed more. He could already feel the spark being doused by the empty minds of those around him. He was desperate for more.

"Hey!" the human yelled at Eldawin, "Anyone in there? I asked you a question!"

"West," the dragon rumbled back, the words just falling from his mouth, "Inland... inland from where you caught her."

"Inland? Aargh, that'll be a couple of months trip at best. Means we need to go back," the man complained to the dragon, before mumbling to himself a few more words in his own native tongue.

Part of Eldawin reasoned that if they found more dragons, he would have more memories to see, and feel. He needed them. If he didn't get them then the Mind would devour him. But he couldn't last a couple of months. He couldn't stand being trapped in that emptiness for another excruciating amount of time. He would be long gone before they even reached the haven.

The humans gently began to push at the dragon, trying to lead him back toward his cage. But he didn't move, his mind stretching out frantically, trying to find another source of emotion. Everywhere he turned he was met with more empty minds. More sources that wanted to pull him into the eternal emptiness. Someone hit his head and he snarled. His growl was rewarded with a sharp stab in his right foreleg. A whine escaped him as he found himself being forced back toward his cage.

"No... no!" he complained, "I need... more... much more!"

He was just yelled at by the humans, being shoved back toward his cage. He nearly tripped over his chains in his desperation to find something, anything that would sustain his need for feeling. The fish below the ship wouldn't be enough. The one bird that sat on the bow of the ship only felt hunger, which worsened Eldawin's desire. He tried to hold his ground.

"No! Don't... put me back! No... need more! Need more!" the broken dragon begged in Drakin.

The humans didn't understand him, though their boss watched with slight fascination. Eldawin tried to hold his ground at the entrance, biting at one of the humans. They were quick, however, and his teeth slammed into thin air. But he was desperate and held against their efforts as he voiced his need with echoing keens over the ship.

They didn't understand. If he was trapped back in the cage he would die. He needed the sustenance of another mind. More than food, more than water. He couldn't go back to that emptiness again. He refused to go back to that emptiness again. But the humans wouldn't listen. Instead, they got out their long poles, and with a heave shoved him back into the cage.

Eldawin fell to his side, hitting his head against the metal floor. He lay there for a moment, his body heaving with the effort he had made. It was far more than anything else he had done in nearly a year. The grating of the cage door closing forced him to recover. The return of the emptiness shrouding him, the cage door echoing shut with a sinister laughter.

"Noo!" the dragon screamed, forcing himself to his feet, the chains clinking together.

He staggered at the door, slamming his head into it with as much force as he could muster. But he could already feel the emptiness pulling at him, caressing his mind into a thousand pieces. A wail escaped him as he slid to the ground, grasping his head with his talons as his mind began to once again fall apart.

"Let me out!" he cried, tears escaping his eyes.

After experiencing what he had, Eldawin could no longer simply sit in the cage and waste away. He wanted more. He needed more. There wasn't room for another option in the dragon's head. It was the only conscious thought that fuelled him. It filled him, consuming him. Any price he would pay. Any effort he would give.

With a growl he forced himself back to his feet, his entire body shuddering with the effort. He took a stumbling step toward the door and once again slammed himself into it. There was no chance he would be able to bring the door down. But he would try. He would try again and again and again until it fell. He couldn't spend another second in the agonizing loneliness and emptiness. The Mind seemed to watch him, laughing at his feeble attempts to escape his imprisonment. Eldawin didn't care.

He clawed at the wall, his blunt claws doing little but scouring the metal door with dreadful squeals. His body heaved at the effort, every breath a new agony for the dragon. But he didn't care. He would get out if it was the last thing he did. His desire to feel anything other than the consuming emptiness of the surrounding Mind demolishing any other thought, any other desire. The pain he felt. It didn't matter. The lack of strength. An afterthought. The absent reserves of energy. Worthless to consider.

He would push as far as he needed to go. So he slammed against the door again and again and again. His scales broke. Blood dribbled from new and old wounds as the constant movement fractured his body even further. Yet still he continued, digging deeper and deeper into his reserves of energy, until he hit the well of power that all dragons possessed.

He pulled at the surface, his desperation to leave the absent mind and find sustenance an all-consuming fire. A roaring scream escaped him as his mentality slipped into utter insanity. A mindless strength overcame him. The well holding back his inner power broke. Power flooded through him, encompassing his entire being. The very air around him began to warp and yield, as if space and time itself could not hold the dragon's inner power. With a final scream, the dragon's power exploded as he became one with his mind. 

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So, here we go everyone! The final chapter of Part 1. I thank you to all who have read so far and would love to have your feedback and thoughts on the book. This was one of those shorter chapters... but I felt as though it was the right length for what it accomplished. Couple of questions I want to ask you.

Who is your favourite character so far? Why?

Which has been your favourite chapter? Why?

And finally, What has surprised you the most about this section of the book?

Part 2 will likely be a month or so away (I just completed the first chapter of it yesterday... XD), but I will start posting it as soon as it's finished. The next part is called Binding Promises. So, until next time, See Ya!

Pennator^^