Chapter 1

Dreugan

Once upon a time there was a dragon named Dreugan.  He was very proud of himself, because he was rather large for a dragon, and feared by humans, as dragons should be.  But, for the first time in him very long life, he was afraid.  He could feel something akin to death creeping up on him, and though it had never been explained to him, he could feel the Fading as if it had always been there, waiting for him time.  The age of dragons was coming to an end, as all ages must eventually.  Dragons had become more a creature of myth than anything else and as humans had taken over more of the lands that dragons had ruled, the Fading had taken over and Dreugan was the last of him kind.

The vast forest he had hunted for hundreds of years had been reduced to a few square miles of yet to be invaded glens and caves.  The cage in which Dreugan had begun spending the majority of him days in was in the very center, and it was the largest in what was left of him home.  Him nights were spent worrying about which sleep would be him last.  

Dragons had always disappeared suddenly, usually during the winter months when men were riddled with cabin fever and the desire to kill.  That was the way it was, and this had led to him waiting too long to do anything about the disappearance of so many of him kind.  It had crept up on him like a walking death, and the silence of Dragonbeat had been a shock.  He had always known without seeing that there were many of him kind roaming the earth, for he could hear the distant drum of their collective heartbeats like music in the distance.  When he woke one morning to find that only him own Dragonbeat resounded within him, it was such a shock that he lay for days, straining to feel even one other beat other than him own, to no avail.  Without that connection, what was him life but days and nights waiting for him own Fading to catch up with him?  
The lonely beat of him own heart made him sad, until there were nights where he found himself hoping not to wake the next day.  It was then that he realized him own Fading had begun, and that it was simply a matter of time, and so he simply waited.



When he first heard the beating of another heart, he thought it was a dream, and that the end had finally arrived.  It was like a drum beating from far off, but as the sun rose, he could hear it so clearly, and it was almost as strong as the Dragonbeat he remembered.  It did not match him own, but the closer it got, the louder it rang out, and the more him spirits were lifted.  Surely if it was strong enough for him to hear and feel, it might stop the Fading.  

Faolach

Faolach approached the thickest part of the forest with caution, sniffing for a sign of the trouble he felt sure was waiting for him.  He had never traveled this far from him birth- place, but humans had invaded every place he held dear, and he was forced to find safer hunting ground alone.  He knew that being alone was not ideal, but he was the only survivor of that last confrontation with the humans, and him natural instinct to find more of him own kind was not one he could control.  He was born to lead, and willing to risk anything to lead again.

He ran through the trees and entered a clearing disheartened by the fact that he had been able to find anything very substantial to eat yet.  Three days with nothing but a few small rabbits as nourishment had left him rather perplexed.  There were so few areas still densely filled with trees, and he could not understand the lack of larger game here.  What was keeping them away?  

It was getting dark, and he was still hungry, but he had to find some place to rest.  He walked for what seemed like forever before he finally came to a large hill.  It seemed to be the only thing besides trees and shrubs that broke the monotony of the forest floor, but he was grateful when he finally came across the entrance to a cave.  He could tell that it was not a natural opening in the dirt and rock, and he was not completely sure he wanted to know what had dug such a large hole in the side of this hill.  

The entrance to the cave was pitch black, and damp.  The odor that emanated from within was unlike anything he had ever smelled before.  It didn’t alarm him, but only served to make him forget him hunger and peak him curiosity.  He finally decided that standing there trying to decide whether or not to enter was getting him nowhere, and he could not wait any longer to find a place to sleep or find out what was creating the strange odor.  As he approached the opening, he sensed movement within, and crouched until him stomach almost dragged the ground.   Staying as low as he could, he moved forward into the darkness.


Dreugan and Faolach

When Faolach entered the cave, the strange smell hit him in the nose like a rock.  It was not altogether unpleasant, but foreign enough to make him hold him breath for a few seconds.  As him eyes quickly adjusted, he dropped to the ground, shocked.  What was a dragon doing here?  He had heard many stories, but had never actually seen one.  No one had ever mentioned to him that you could see through them.  He felt no real fear at the sight of it, so he raised himself slowly and approached it steadily.  The last thing he wanted to do was startle this huge creature and end up toasted as part of a meal.  He growled softly as he got closer, and the dragon turned its great snout without raising it from the ground, staring without making a sound.

Dreugan knew the moment the wolf entered the cave, but was too weak to do anything but wait for it to make the first move.  He had Faded so much already, it had become too much of a chore to move, and if the wolf was not inclined to be friendly, he would not have found anything to sink him teeth into.  He had become accustomed to the emptiness he felt closing in on him, and was simply resigned to him fate.  He would appreciate whatever company he could get as him life ended; he did not want to be alone when it happened.

“Don’t dragons EAT wolves?” Faolach finally asked.  Dreugan felt something happen when the wolf spoke, and with a spark of hope warming him, he forgot the wolf’s question and returned it with one of him own.  “Do you believe?”  It was not quite the reassurance that Faolach had hoped for, and he was not sure he understood the question.  “Do I believe in what?” he countered.  Dreugan sighed, wishing he could stand.  Being a dragon was no good to him without strength.  “Do you believe in dragons?” he asked, too tired to keep him eyes open for the answer.  For a moment Faolach was still confused.  Why in the world would any dragon ask such a question?  Of course he believed, he could see him!  “Yes, I have heard stories of creatures like you since I was old enough to listen, why would I not believe when I can see you sitting there in front of me?”

Dreugan took a deep breath and realized at that moment that he felt more solid than he had in a very long time, and with each breath, he was feeling better.  This wolf could be what saved him if only he could make him understand the nature of the Fade.  He took a deep breath and began, “My name is Dreugan and I am the last of my kind in this world.  My Fading has been close to its end for many days, because I have stayed too long without the company of any creature who believed in me.”  Faolach did not understand exactly what the Fading was, but it did not sound good, especially when it involved the last of any species.  “My name is Faolach,” he began, “and my family is gone, and I am alone.  I do not know what is required to stop this Fading you speak of, but if there is anything that I can do to stop it, if that is what you wish, I shall be happy to do what I can.”

Once Dreugan was able to make Faolach understand that the Fading was much like the Death that all other creatures experienced, the wolf agreed to spend as much time as he could with Dreugan in the cave.  It was much too dangerous for the dragon to leave him home, because so much had changed and men who did not believe in dragons populated most of the forests.  Just as being without someone to believe in him had begun him Fade, being surrounded by unbelievers would surely finish it quickly.

And so it began, this strange friendship between a dragon and a wolf.  For many years the two spent their day’s together, sharing stories they had heard, or turning their own lives into stories each hoped the other would enjoy.  They quickly became friends, and spent many nights curled up in silence, content to be together, but each wondering in that silence what would happen to the other if anything was to happen to the other one.  They both knew that every day brought men closer to their hiding place, but they did not speak of it, as if speaking it would bring it about.  Dreugan thought many nights of the danger he was putting him friend in by holding him so close when men meant certain death to every creature in the forest.

One day in early spring Dreugan’s worst fear was realized when Faolach did not return to the cave after hunting.  For three days Dreugan lay in silence, fading with every breath he was able to draw in.  He did not worry for himself, but for the friend who had worried for him and who had stayed by him side.  He did wonder what would happen once the Fading was done with him.  Would he simply cease to exist?  

Death and the Fade Meet

On the fourth morning the he lay in the cave, he began to feel a great weight pressing in on him.  He could no longer hear or feel him own heart beating, or take in breath, and a great darkness began to wash over him.  Though he was afraid, he was grateful that the end was finally arriving without pain.  As the last remnants of the cave disappeared, and the darkness engulfed him, Faolach spoke.

“Friend”, he said, “I would take you with me.”  Dreugan could not speak in the darkness, but the wolf went on as if that did not matter.  “I cannot leave you now that I have found you without at least trying, and we may both lose a great deal of ourselves in this attempt.  Are you willing to make my purpose your own and follow me if it is willed acceptable?”
Dreugan then realized that Faolach was not speaking to him, but from within him, and so he thought simply, “I am willing”.

At that very moment, it was as if a curtain had been lifted, and he was surrounded by what looked like millions of tiny stars, shining like beacons in the night sky.  He could also not see Faolach anywhere.  He began to look around, and noticed how very labored him movements were, and looked down to see what might be keeping him from moving freely in this strange place.  When he looked down, he stared at what had to be the strangest thing he had ever seen.  Part wolf, part dragon, it was hard to tell what belonged to either.  He finally understood: they were one body!  Faolach could not help but laugh, amused by Dreugan’s understanding.  “Yes friend, we are one now, but still two.  I have a purpose that is better served with a friend, and I would choose no other.”

As Faolach began to explain to him friend/self what they were there to do, Dreugan/Faolach wondered if the task ahead were not too great, even for two.  The many lights were human souls, it seemed, and they were to simply wait to be drawn to each, in an attempt to find the one they were meant for.  They could be drawn to few, many, or all, and they would not know until they began how each light would draw them, or for what purpose in the end until that purpose was done with them.  They had only now to search, for as long as it took, to find The One.

The Search

Dreugan and Faolach searched, drawn to so many souls they could not even begin to recall how many they had been turned from.  Time had no meaning in that endless darkness.  They were drawn to many, but none seemed to hold them for long, and others rejected them outright.  Many were without hope, and both dragon and wolf knew that for those there was no help.  Many were without love, or even the capacity to love, and those were passed over also, for they were void and without purpose strong enough to hold a spirit of dragon/wolf mixed.  They were not drawn to all, but it seemed as though their search would never end.  They came across many that were without fire, and thought that maybe they were meant to bring Spirit to those, but none held them, for fire without the fuel of strength to keep it lit quickly fades.

When they had almost given up hope of finding The One strong enough to withstand their presence, their eyes were drawn to a strange sight in the distance.  “Is that a light?,” they wondered, “It’s so very…gray.”  They approached the strange glow with caution, wondering what could have caused such a grayness.  Where there was sound from within every other light, they found silence here like a blanket. “It makes no sound,” Dreugan whispered.

Faolach would have turned to find another place to look, but anything here that drew them must be tested, and it was not an urge that could be denied.  They entered the grayness, hoping that very soon they would be rejected by this sick looking soul, and not be contaminated by whatever held it.  They could tell instantly that the light was male, which both dragon and wolf appreciated.  They began to search for the many things it would take to hold them there and make this male theirs, and they were confused but not disappointed. In him they found a hidden strength, which could be grown if tended to, and while they found love strangely absent, they felt the greatest capacity for that emotion that they had ever felt before.  Suddenly both dragon and wolf knew that this was The One, and what purpose they would serve.  They spoke in unison, amazed that the knowledge and words came to both at once, and wondering at for the first time hearing both of their voices together in this place, for they spoke aloud.

“We shall be Silence when that is our place, and each bring sound that is our own when the Silence is too much for The One to bear.”  

“So what do we do next?” Dreugan queried.  “We introduce ourselves to this man we would help”, Faolach replied.  With that said, Dreugan and Faolach began to speak very softly to Their One, hoping that he would accept their presence without fear.