The Calling
Chapter 14

“The Wyvern will kill him” stated Mordred as he watched the train writhed and changed into the creature. He licked his lips as Francis fell through the air and clung desperately onto the creatures back. The screams of the boy echoed through the courtyard and Mordred could feel the excitement rise in the pit of his stomach.

“Only if I wish...” replied Morgan casting Mordred a look of pure distain.

Francis clung desperately to the creatures back as it bucked and rolled across the track. The carriages had transformed from a long line of coaches, fibre glass and metal combined into the soft malleable body which was covered in a ridge of thick scales. There colour flicked at Francis as the creature turned and writhe beneath his grasp as he clung onto the back of the Wyvern, his fingernails digging into the fronds running along its back. The Wyvern rose into the air as two spiny arms pulled out from the body and reached into the evening sky, searching for the dwindling sun and feeling the warmth on its skin. Great leathery membranes unfolded from beneath the creatures arms and stretched and flexed causing Francis to slide further down the body of the creature as it contorted under its new existence. A deafening roar emitted from its long snout erupted through the air and Francis fought the urge of cover his ears and instead dug his hands further into the back of the creature. He looked over the darkening scales which run along the surface of the creature and stared at the crest on the back of the Wyvern’s head. It rose from the snout and climbed over the center of the head in a mighty crescendo of frills and along the back of the creature to where Francis hung and along toward its tail. From beneath its body it planted two large clawed feet into the soft soil which had once housed the metal tracks and it forced itself up in the air, tasting the sunlight with a flick of its forked tongue.

Despite his fear, Francis felt in awe of such a creature, and although a part of his brain told him that this creature was an impossibility he still felt amazed by the ferocity and sheer force swelling beneath his body. He looked at the head once again, pulling his head from the body of the creature and watched as its keen yellow eyes searched from something...

The head flicked from side to side and caused a spasm which ran down the entire length of the body. Francis could feel it’s every move as he forced his hands beneath its scales as he thrust his fingers under the hard exterior and into the soft flesh hidden from view. The creature roared and tilted its head back looking at the parasite which was currently clinging on to its back. The Wyvern bared its teeth and Francis gasped and hid his face in the body of the beast as the light from the sun reflected off the pure white enamel. Francis knew the creature could not exist, but here it was and here he was clinging to its back...so what the hell as happening. Firstly, the naked woman, then Merlin and Morgan Le Fay and now this...this dragon. He winched as he expected a plumage of flame to erupt from the creatures mouth and braced himself against the inevitable burn, then frowned as nothing happened. He opened his eyes and stared toward the head of the creature, which had once again lost interest in the parasite and was searching again for something in the distance.

Francis allowed his eyes to wander into the distance, where over the rising landscape he could see the coastline and the faintest traces of the sea beyond the horizon. He once again hid his face as the creature roared and buckled as the taste of saltwater played on the creature’s tongue. Francis struggled to hold on as the creature threw back its head and unfolded its vast wings, unfurling them in the sun and threw its back on its two legs. He slipped along the body and his hands desperately waved and grasped across the creatures back as he fell along the expanse of its body. He stopped with a vicious stop and felt a searing pain coarse through his body as he crashed into a rising fin near its tail. Francis struggled at the pain rushing through his body from the pain between his legs and grasped the fin of the creature and struggled to hold the creature as it moved. The tail was different from the rest of the body, and Francis noted that it felt colder than the body. The scales which ran along the creatures back were not a prominent across the tail and they were tighter and thinner than the larger ones higher up. The whole tail looked smooth and almost aero-dynamic compared to the bulky body and the fins which ran off the sides and top of the creature were almost fish-like in appearance.

Fish-like.

The thought hit Francis like a ton of bricks and he realised suddenly what the creature had been looking for...the sea. This was no dragon he thought to himself, this was a sea dwelling creature and it was looking for a way back to the sea. His fingers struggled for a good grip as the creature surged forward and rose into the air as great gusts of wind thrust down the body of the dragon...no the Wyvern. Francis recognised the creature from school trips to castle and realised the creature he was now on had been seen before on shield and armour of British heraldry. The Wyvern rose into the air and Francis struggled against the rush of air against his body, vast wind battered his senses and Francis lost his grip on the creature’s tail. He grasped at thin air and watched as the creature flapped its great wings disappearing into the distance as the ground rushed toward him.

Francis fell...

down...

down...

down...

Morgan leant forward and watched with interest as Francis plummeted toward the ground, “Come on Merlin” she urged, “Show yourself...”

Merlin turned away from the chalice in the cavern and stared down at the floor. “Are you not to save him?” demanded Galahad.

The old man shook his head slowly and paced to the side of the cavern, “I cannot...” he said sadly.