Dragonheart: Of Dreams and Paths

Chapter V: Friendship

Tired from helping his friend, Peter sat down on the sand, stretching and yawning. Closing his eyes while laying down, the boy drifted off...

"Save your strength for the fight against Einon." Bowen spoke to Hewe.
"There isn't any fight against Einon." the peasant replied with a puzzled expression on his face.
A slight smile crossed Bowen's face. "I'm going to start one!" he replied tactfully.
"You and what army, knight?" came Hewe's doubtful question.
A determined look crossed the knight's face as he raced away to the nearby ridge, raising his sword to the sky as the blade flashed; the unmistakable silhouette belonging to Draco suddenly seemed to soar up out of the horizon beyond him; the deep, powerful pulse of the creature's massive wings was like the beat of life's own heart...

Soon, Peter came awake, gasping upon his gaze meeting the friendly, lopsided grin of the dragon's upside-down muzzle above him! Carefully easing the boy to a sitting position with his hands, the dragon sat down in front of the boy, gazing at Peter with gentle eyes.
"I know I haven't addressed this before," the boy began. "But do you have a name?"
"Not yet, I don't, Peter." came the gentle reply. The boy felt his eyes widen, but the dragon simply smiled, before placing a gentle paw upon his human friend's chest, over his heart. "I seem to have a penchant for bonding to empathetic people," the dragon explained. "Even though it's been over a thousand years, and you are the first person I've encountered since then, I still remember the goodness in some men's hearts!"
The boy thought for a moment, and smiled. Reaching up, he placed his right hand on the dragon's snout, eliciting a deep purr as his friend closed his eyes in satisfaction at the contact. "Egarun." Peter spoke the name softly. "How about the name Egarun? It's an ancient name; I don't know the language it comes from, but it means 'warmhearted'. In my opinion, it just seems to fit you, my friend!" A few seconds of silence, during which Egarun stood with his eyes closed, passed, with the boy watching intently. Then a smile crossed the dragon's muzzle, before his eyes opened, and he inched his snout forward to give his human friend the gentlest nuzzle. Smiling, he hugged his friend, feeling one of the dragon's paws rest against his back, holding him in a gentle embrace.
Closing his eyes, Peter smiled as he listened to the dragon's heartbeat.
Thump, th-thump, thump, thump. Thump, th-thump, thump, thump.
Hearing the sound, had the boy reminiscing about Draco. Releasing his friend, the dragon regarded Peter warmly. "My wound is almost healed now, Peter," he spoke with an optimistic tone. "But I need your help." Egarun then reached up, and slowly lifted one of his breast scales; the glow of the dragon's heartfire momentarily stunned the boy, as did the sound, even though he was only hearing it for the second time. The boy looked up at the dragon. The look in his eyes prompted the dragon to slowly crouch before his human friend, reaching out to gently lift the boy's chin to meet his gaze.
"But...how can I?" he asked, an uncertain look in his eyes. Egarun closed his eyes. Raising his left forepaw slightly off the ground, the dragon focussed. Peter gasped when a barely-audible humming reached his ears; a large rock a few feet to his left began to move, sliding across the ground toward him, before drifting into the air to float between them!!! The boy could hardly believe his eyes. Tentatively, he reached out to take the stone in his hand, astonished to feel the same centrifugal force being exerted on the stone that any object spinning rapidly, like a top, experiences! Only this force was slightly weaker, yet still notable. Gripping the stone and moving his hand slowly in various directions, the boy could feel the force pulling on the stone, like when you take a spinning gyroscope in your hand as the forces are still acting to keep it moving.
"Peter..." the boy gasped upon hearing his friend's voice in his mind once again. Looking up at the dragon, he gasped when he noticed the edges of the wound in the dragon's chest were glowing, like fire!!! Speechless, the boy walked toward his friend, placing his hands on either edge of the wound, and pushing them together; it felt like he was squishing silly putty!!! Seconds later, however, the wound itself literally seemed to seal and dissolve in a fiery glow...before the power slowly faded away, leaving the dragon looking like he'd never even had a wound to begin with!!!

There wasn't even the faintest scar.

Egarun couldn't help but adopt a silly little smirk as he watched his friend examine his chest with a look of wonder. Yet, Egarun could also sense that his friend seemed troubled. "Peter..." He glanced up at his friend, now lying down a few feet away. "Can I talk to you about something?"