gazog: 2012

A Tail of Frost

by Stephen Lee on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 11:12am ·.

A seemingly endless rain of crystal tears fell from the heavens just outside; this marked the Reign of Frost, the time of year where everything is cold. During these days, time seemed to move much faster than usual. The sun struck the mountain peaks, lighting the sky ablaze and showing just how lifeless this place was. I guess that’s why father called this place “The Peaks of Sorrow”, any creature unfortunate enough to come across these mountains end up encased in ice, buried underneath the crystal tears, or killed off by its inhabitants. One of those inhabitants would be us, the Frost Dragons. We live proudly in this freezing place, supposedly adapted to the cold, and we’re very territorial, well, at least my father is.

“Akailan, do not fall asleep now! We must go hunting before the Burning Star resumes its rest.” I don’t know why Father speaks with such weird vocabulary when it’s a lot easier to say, “before the sun sets”.

“Do we have to? We still have plenty of food leftover from yesterday’s trip.”

“Come child, we do not have much time.” He said ignoring me.

With one magnificent leap, he took to the air. I let out a sigh and followed after him, it was either that or I face a beating from his tail which was nearly twice my size. The gale of crystal tears stung at my right hand where I had picked at the scales until my skin was exposed. There was nothing to do in that cave we lived in so I was kind of glad to finally get out of it, but flying in the rough winds wasn’t exactly what I had been looking forward to.

It took me a while but I finally caught up to my father, he was crouched on a low cliff ledge that was big enough for the two of us. His crimson red eyes were gleaming with excitement and the aqua-green hair running from the back of his head to the tip of his tail rippled with anticipation, it was funny watching him get so worked up when we went hunting. I took my place by his side and took a look at what was down below, it was a large herd of hairy, four-legged beasts. They had large heads with two small horns and their necks were invisible behind a thick layer of hair. They weren’t pretty beasts that’s for sure.

“What luck! A heard of bison! These beats will probably last us many days each!” Father muttered with excitement.

“There are so many of them. How do you even expect us to carry all that back?”

“You my child are far too docile; you call yourself a dragon and yet you can’t learn to simply enjoy the thrill of the hunt.”

“I just don’t find anything satisfying about taking the life of another creature who hadn’t done us any wrong.”

Father let out a deep sigh, ”You’re just like your mother. One day you’ll end up just like her.”

The rock beneath me wailed in agony as I scraped my claws across it, “How could you say that so lightly?! She was the strongest and most kind-hearted dragon in existence! Is it such a crime to look upon the world with an open mind?! Well, I’m sorry that I didn’t end up as a callous monster like you!”

Father’s eyes burned with rage, the look on his face appeared as though he was ready to kill me. The ice-blue scales on his body shifted in their places as if they were trying to suppress his wrath. He lifted his tail off the ground and lowered his head, preparing to swipe at me with his tail. Suddenly Father shifted his head towards the brush just behind the herd of bison. At first, I couldn’t see what he was looking at through the gale of crystal tears, then I saw two humans emerge from the brush. They each held a stick about as tall as themselves with what looked like a sharpened stone tip at the end.

Father’s anger subsided into extreme disappointment, “Pitiful humans. Do they really think they can hunt a beast as tough as a bison with nothing but sharpened sticks? HA!”

“Father, what do you find so pitiful and amusing about the humans?” I questioned while watching the humans, fascinated.

He rolled his eyes and ignored as he usually did, “Come Akailan, I’ve lost the taste for this hunt. Let us return home.”

“Father…Look…!”

“What is it no-“ Father turned and saw what I saw, except with an expression of satisfaction rather than dread, “Ah. A fitting end for such foolish creatures. And it will save us the trouble of killing the bison.”

A massive wave of white crystal tears was rolling down from the mountainside, quickly closing the gap between it and the two humans.

“How dare you think so lowly of such harmless creatures! How could you speak so calmly when you are condemning an innocent creature to such a horrible fate?!”

“Harmless? Innocent? They are hardly…Akailan? Where are you going?! Get ba-“ The howl of the gale winds as they raced past me drowned out Father’s voice.

The avalanche was quickly converging on the pair of humans. I don’t know what compelled me so strongly to not only challenge my father’s beliefs, but to rescue a group of humans I did not even know, however I felt someone watching over me with a proud smile on her face. The avalanche was moving much faster than I had originally anticipated; it had already begun to devour the thicket the humans had emerged from. Blissfully unaware, the humans were now chasing the herd of bison downhill, away from the avalanche. Minutes became seconds as I tucked my wings in to pick up speed. The crystal tears now stabbed at my eyes and the raw flesh on my right hand like the talons of a bird of prey delivering a finishing to its freshly caught meal.

The humans had finally noticed the white beast coming to devour them and were now running for their lives, one of them even abandoned their pointy stick. It was the moment of truth, both me and the avalanche were merely a few feet from the humans. I was so close to the humans now the gluttonous white beast started playing dirty; tossing unfinished debris from its earlier meal towards me. After much struggle, the race ended with me as the victor, however I was unable to halt myself at the speed I was flying and ended up tumbling down the hill with the humans carefully in my grasp. One of the humans pierced me in my left wing with its stick upon my rough landing, I ignored the pain. I could feel the avalanche nibbling away at my tail now, it was now or never, I was either to save these humans or die trying. Using the momentum from my tumbling, I made one mighty leap into the air and barely skirted the hungering force of the avalanche. I had successfully rescued the humans.

I flew over to a nearby ledge and dropped the humans onto it, stopping only a moment longer to catch my breath. Before the humans could react, I immediately took flight and returned home to that cozy cave I was beginning to miss. Father was there by the entrance striding back and forth impatiently, a combination of horror and rage painted upon his face. The moment I landed he ripped the stick I had forgotten about out of my left wing, leaving a trail of blood in the blanket of crystal tears in front of the cave. He raised his right hand and brandished his claws as if to strike me, but instead he slammed it to the ground after some hesitation. He glared at me and opened his mouth to say something but instead he just turned around and went inside. I wasn’t sure if I was imagining it or not, but I could’ve sworn I saw tears in his eyes.

I went inside after a while; all I could hear was the slow hum of my father’s breathing as he slept. I could make out the shadowy outline of my father’s body in the back of the cave. I turned right into the corridor that led to my room, I tried to settle down to sleep but I couldn’t after the day’s events. I tried to think back to the memories of my mother, there was nothing but an image her flying off into the distance, her icy-blue scales sparkling magnificently in the sunlight. All I could really remember about my mother was that she had given her life to save a group of humans. The fact that all I could remember was the reason for my mother’s death was not all that bothered me; something in my gut was telling me I was forgetting something very important, but I couldn’t remember what it was.

I woke up to the warm light of the Sun trespassing in the shadowy reaches f my room. The wound on my left wing was now irritatingly itchy and the thought of my mother had denied me most of my sleep. I went outside for a breather, the crystal tears had stopped falling and the sky was as clear as ice. I looked back into the cave; my father was still sound asleep which is rather unusual since he’s always lecturing me about waking up. I left him to his slumber and took to the air in search of another adventure to pass the day.

Only moments into my flight, I spotted a group of five or so humans. They were carrying a lot of bags with them and were hauling along this weird flat piece of wood that was big enough to hold all of them. It was a curious sight, so I got a little closer to see what they were going to do with all that stuff. Suddenly, I felt something wrap around my right hind leg and try to yank me out of the sky. I tried to break free of its grasp but another one caught me by my left foreleg, then a third, a fourth, a fifth…until all my limbs and my mouth were tied down. I fell out of the sky right onto the flat piece of wood they were hauling and the humans tied me down onto it.

“Wow boss. You were right, these camouflage suits worked like a charm!” one of the humans said. He was wearing clothing as white as the blanket of crystal tears that covered the ground.

“This is quite a catch! A beauty like this one will make us quite a fortune.”

“Man those ropes sure look uncomfortable. I’m glad I’m not a dragon right now.”

“Well that’s the whole idea. The ropes were meant to hold things down, not for comfort.”

“All right boys wrap it up! Let’s get dis thin haulin outta hea before more of dose dragons show up!”

By the time they began to move there were about fifteen of them, most of them wore those white suits. The rest were wearing large, thick black coats and a fuzzy hat, they also had sharpened tools that looked like a long, flat claw attached to their waists. The ropes were so tightly stretched that I thought they would tear my legs right off. My heart was beating faster than the crystal tears hit the ground during an all out gale. I was being carried away against my will to some unknown place that was most likely far away from home and there was nothing I could do about it. Would I ever be able to see my home again? Will I ever be able to meet my father again? Will I ever truly be free again? Was this the end for me?

As if answering my question, I heard a voice in the distance say, “Ohhhh yes you will!” and watched as the few humans in front of me instantaneously became stains upon the mountain’s white blanket. My head was too securely fastened down for me to tell what was happening, all I got to see was one of the men in front of me attempt to take out his claw-like weapon only to get slain by a blue blur. After a few minutes, everything was silent except for the breathing of 3 individuals around me that I could not see.

“Is that all of them?” asked a deep, slightly raspy voice.

“Looks about it.” A calm and composed voice replied.

A deep bellowing voice then asserted, “Alright, then let’s free him up.”

Next thing I know, all the restraints on me were gone and an overwhelming sense of relief surged through my body; I had to shake myself loose to stop myself from passing out. Standing before me were 3 different humans, one was wearing clothes and a headband as blue as the clear sky and they didn’t seem too appropriate for the cold. Another one was wearing thicker red clothing and a red headband. The last one was wearing thick, black clothing with streaks of yellow here and there. All three of them had long hair and their faces looked similar, but the blue one looked happier than the others. The blue and black humans were holding the claw-like tools in their hands while the red one was holding a bent stick with and extremely thin rope-like thing connecting the ends.

“Go home boy. You’re free now.” The blue one said smiling. He was the one with the calm and composed voice, except he sounded a lot more cheery now.

“Who’re you calling a boy? You’re the one that’s half my size!” I retorted. The human was definitely bigger than half my size, but I just hate being called a boy.

“Y-Y-You can talk?!” The black one burst out laughing while the red one shook its head, a gesture that my father likes to do a lot.

“Of course I can! I’m not just some dumb animal you find in the mountains!”

“Weeeeeell…Considering the way you got captured….” The blue one said wryly.

If my mother hadn’t raised me to have a sense of humor, I probably would’ve mauled bluey just now. I snorted and let that comment slide.

“Well anyway, I’m Takiro Sadarak.” Said the blue one

“Ryuuka Sadarak.” The red one mumbled with a deep, slightly raspy tone.

“Mizuko Sadarak, but you can call me Mista M-I-Z.” the black one bellowed hurmorously.

“I’m Akailan, son of Everine and Guratide.”

“Why the formalities? Are you old or something?” Takiro questioned.

“No! I’m 9 years old! Young, healthy, and fit for the outside world!”

“W-W-Wait you’re only 9?! That makes me feel kinda old here…” Mizuko let out a loud “Hah!” when Takiro said that.

“How old could you possibly be?”

“17”

“Man you’re old….”

“Wait, what’s old in a dragon’s book anyway?”

“Weeeeeell…let’s see how old the rest of you are first.”

“17” Ryuuka mumbled.

“42” Mizuko said.

“So THAT’S how old you are!” Takiro shouted.

“Oh crap, I let it slip….”

“You’re an old fart just like I thought you were!”

“Yea. And this old fart can beat you in a fight any day of the week!”

“You wanna go old man? Hyaa!”

“Let’s do this! Hwaa!”

They didn’t actually fight, they just made a series of weird poses that flowed together in a strange way. All the while, Ryuuka stood silently with an expressionless look on his face and his arms crossed. It was nice to finally be able to have a pleasant talk with humans rather than just watching them from a distance. I was even able to find out some things about them that I couldn’t from just watching; Apparently they age slower mentally that dragons do and their physical appearance can be deceptive to how old they really are considering Mizuko looked only a little older than Takiro.

Tears were in Takiro’s eyes from laughing so hard, “Anyway. We should probably get going before it starts snowing again.”

“What’s snow?” Mizuko and Takiro stared and me, their mouths wide open.

“You’re standing on it….” They said simultaneously.

“Is that what humans call the crystal tears…interesting.”

“Hah! Anyway you said you’re the son of Everine right?” Mizuko asked.

“Yep,” I know it’s rude to ask a question when someone is in the middle of asking you one but it was bothering me for ages now, “Oh by the way, are you guys male or female?”

Snot erupted from Takiro’s nose when the moment I asked and fell to the floor laugh hysterically.

“Man you REALLY don’t get out much do you? Well, we’re all male. So anyway, I need to find Everine. Do you happen to know where she is?”

“She’s…..She’s…..” I don’t understand, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

Somehow Mizuko understood what I was trying to say, “I see…I’m sorry to hear that. Well, we better get going while the sun is still up, first nice day we’ve had in a while. Nice meeting you!”

“Wait! Let me come with you!” Mizuko and Takiro turned and looked at me with concerned faces, Ryuuka just stopped dead in his tracks, “If you’re looking for Everine you’re looking for a guide through the mountains right? I can guide you guys just as well as she could.”

Mizuko smiled, “You’re most welcome to come with us.”

“Can we just get going already?! I’m sick of just standing here freezing my ass off while waiting for you three to exchange life stories!” Ryuuka yelled irritated.

“Geez Ryuu. Warm your freezing ass up! We’re moving now no reason to get upset.” Takiro muttered in a gentle tone.

“Is he always like that?” I asked Mizuko.

“Yea. He was fine till he hit 12.” He whispered back.

The sun was beginning its daily descent behind the mountain peaks, we probably covered a large amount of distance, but humans are quite slow being unable to fly and all. We stopped next to a spot underneath a bunch of trees near a frozen river, a nice shady place for resting. Mizuko went ahead and gathered some branches, made a pile with them, and asked me to light them on fire. There was a little problem with that request.

“Waddya mean you can’t breathe fire? You’re a dragon aren’t you?” Mizuko asked puzzled.

“Correction; I’m a FROST dragon, I breathe frostfire, it prefers to freeze things rather than setting them ablaze.”

“Well…I guess we’re gonna-“ Mizuko was cut off by the sound of a loud, angry roar in the distance. Following the roar, a powerful snowstorm whipped up out of nowhere. There was only on creature I knew that was capable of doing that.

“What the HELL was THAT?!” Mizuko yelled over the howling gale.

“THAT, was probably another Frost dragon. And that Frost dragon was probably my father.”

“That’s one pissed off dragon! Letting out one nasty burp and the wrath of winter itself is upon us!” Takiro shouted. I was under the assumption that winter was human terminology for the Reign of Frost.

“Well, we better get moving before that thing is upon us.” Ryuuka Suggested.

“HOW can you be so calm at a time like THIS?!” Takiro received no answer. I felt like I’d seen something like that before.

“Well then we better get a move on cause that over there is either a giant snowflake or on pissed off dragon!” Mizuko mumbled through the howling gale.

We started running once Mizuko said that, using the frozen river as our guide through the blinding snowstorm. We couldn’t see very far ahead of us, the storm was too thick, but when we looked back we could see a gigantic, menacing figure closing in on us. Every now and then my father would let out another roar, each one louder and angrier than the last, but I couldn’t hear a hint of agony nor remorse in them. We were still running even after the last light of the sun had faded, the stamina of these humans absolutely amazed me. We continued to follow river, the snowstorm seemingly trying to pull us toward my father, we ran and ran then the river suddenly ended, and so did our escape. We ended up at a frozen lake surrounded on all side by impassible mountain cliffs.

“Why does this always happen at the wrong times?” Takiro complained, “Now watch as Mister AngryTeeth appears before us as we turn to run back!” and he did.

“RELEASE MY SON TO ME!” Father demanded.

“Wait! Enala Guratide! Please listen! This was all just a misundersta-“

“SILENCE! I will not hear hear for the lies of a human after he’s kidnapped my son and brainwashed him!”

Something was terribly wrong with my father, even in his anger I knew he could think more clearly than that.

“Father…?” In response to my voice he let out a growl, not of irritation or anger, it sounded as if he had become a mindless beast.

He jerked his head back then let loose a terrifying roar in our direction, as well as a torrent of frostfire. I immediately leapt in the way, protecting my friends from the full fury of the blast. My father was a very powerful Frost dragon, he trained for endless hours when he was younger and never dulled in his strength. Although I was very resistant to the cold, his breath was so powerful parts of my body were beginning to crystallize before the torrent of frostfire suddenly extinguished itself. When the air cleared a bit I saw Mizuko standing in front of my father, he had struck my father directly in the chest with both his palms and now, my father had just stopped moving.

“C’mon! I’ve got him paralyzed! Let’s get out of here while we can!” Mizuko yelled clutching his right arm which was frozen solid.

It was all very strange; when we walked past my father he still didn’t make a single movement as if he hadn’t seen us. With my father and still as a rock, the snowstorm cleared up a bit and we could see where we were going, we made our way away from the river and away from my father. It was a relief to get away but something filled me with much worry and apprehension; my father was an adamant believer of discipline, it wasn’t like him to go crazy like he did before. He acted very unintelligently, very beastly, as if he was no longer my father or something. I’ve seen his blind fury before when he found out about mother’s death and what I saw today didn’t seem anything like it, he just wasn’t himself. Anyway, now wasn’t the time to worry about that, now I had to safely guide my friends through this land while we still had the chance. One day I will have to return though, I needed to know what happened to my father. He may not have been the best of fathers but he was the only one I had, I was not ready to lose another parent.

“I will be back, I promise…” I whispered to myself.

This is a story I wrote in my creative writing class and I feel the need to post it somwhere otherwise it's going to rot in my documents folder.

http://www.facebook.com/notes/stephen-lee/a-tail-of-frost/2800917350908

Daniel (6/7/2012)
good article but i think that there is some need of reorfm in pronounciation,becoz the pronounciation of some word is belonging from limit region like akulana means vyakul hona..

Stephen (3/20/2012)
That picture is completely different from what I pictured.

Dad (3/20/2012)
글쓰는게 좋다고 했다. 그맘때 나도 고등학교 문예부에서 일찌감치 청춘을 보낸거 같다. 종석이 글의 느낌을 다 이해하면 좋겠는데... 내 영어실력이 짧아서 안타깝다. 어느날... 글을 쓰는게 좋으면 그냥 묵혀 두지 말고, 인터넷에 올리고, 공유하라 했더니... 녀석이 I did it, but only one comment it. 했다...그래서 다시 읽어보다가 3페이지 에서 졸음이 왔다. 영어는 한페이지만 넘으면 졸린다. xx

(hits:419)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

수경이의 협박! (804)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

A Tail of Frost by Stephen Lee (이종석) (803)

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

종석이 첫번째 Permit to Drive (802)