The Soft-Hearted Prince and His Dragon, Chapter 5

Synopsis

Our two heroes meet another Dikos Mas, talk about what it means to be a monster, and Galen suggests to Sen something Sen didn’t see coming.

Story on Wattpad.

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 6 comes out August 13, 2022.

5 - Galen

It was a slow evening, and Sen suggested they go for a walk. There was a path leading up into the mountain, and Sen liked going there every once in a while. No one from the village would ever go there—but even if they did, Sen’s excellent sense of hearing would hear them from afar.

Galen enjoyed the walks, too. As much as he loved their current home, it was pleasant to be out, see the forest, and breathe the warm evening air. They went up to a little plateau from where one could overlook the whole forest and a big chunk of the valley behind it. The sun was disappearing below the horizon, and its glare was so bright as if someone had set it ablaze.

Galen thought about how quickly he had gotten used to life with Sen. The dragon was losing more and more of his former shyness every day, and Galen was amazed by the intelligence and kindness he saw in him. The two read together a lot and then spent hours discussing the books. After every lunch, Sen would lie down next to the fire in the middle of the cavern. Galen would walk around him, lifting a wing here, poking a tail there, running his fingers across Sen’s rough skin, and muttering under his breath. He was delighted to learn that Sen also had a book on dragon physiology. He hoped he’d be able to heal Sen’s wing within a few weeks if things went well.

“How did you find your way to magic, anyway?” Sen asked out of the blue.

“My grandma was a practitioner,” Galen answered.

Sen’s head rose in surprise. “I would think something like that is frowned upon in the royal family.”

“It is. But there’s one thing that people tend to listen to even more than tradition.”

“And that is?”

“Power?” Galen shrugged. “My grandmother was the most powerful magician in our kingdom in centuries. She was a tough woman, a non-apologetic one. Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about her history to understand how it all went down. But from what I remember, no one would dare to speak against her magic. That would not go well,” he smirked.

“And she taught you?”

“Yes. My parents didn’t like to see it as I was a boy and all…” Galen’s face became gloomy. “After her death, I continued on my own, hiding it in front of my parents.”

“What would they do if they knew?”

“Honestly? Not that much. They would just try to talk me out of it.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad…”

“It’s not… Except that each time my parents caught me doing magic, I could see how disappointed they were. How they were afraid people would see and judge. How they wished their son was more… normal.” Galen could barely get the last word out.

Sen looked at him with compassion in his fiery eyes. “I wish we lived in a world where people are celebrated for who they are… Your magic, it’s a gift, Galen. And it’s astonishing to watch you use it.”

Galen glanced at Sen. “Thanks.” There was a silence. “Did you know your parents?” Galen asked. He knew almost nothing about Sen’s past. For all the new openness, Sen was very protective of it and anxiously avoided the topic.

“I’d rather not talk about it if you don’t mind.”

“I understand.” Galen did understand, although it didn’t make him less curious.

“Do you think that anyone can learn magic? Or does one have to be born with it?” Sen continued the previous topic after a while, deep in thoughts.

“I don’t know. But I tend to believe that you can l—”

The dragon jumped up, every muscle in his body tight. Then he darted out, and his tail disappeared behind the bend soon. What the… Galen thought. He set off after him.

Sen stood at the edge of the mountain, lifting rocks with his mouth and throwing them away.

“What’s going on?” Galen asked, disconcerted. It was not like Sen to take off without explaining. But his heart almost stopped when he came closer and saw what Sen focused on. “Sen, that’s… Is that…?”

There was a man under the pile of rocks. He must have been caught in a landslide, and blood was dripping from one of his legs. His long gray braid did not leave any room for guessing. Galen felt a sudden wave of sickness when his brain pondered what a Dikos Mas member was doing there.

“He must have been lying here for hours. I only heard him because he woke up and groaned. Can you help him?” The flood of words came out of Sen almost at once.

“What??”

The man groaned again. He opened his eyes, and his face tightened when he saw the dragon. He started to mumble something Galen could not understand.

“Galen! The man’s in pain!”

“He must have come here to explore if there’s another way to the cavern. To kill you!” Galen threw his hands in the air, exasperated. “He’s Dikos Mas!”

“He’s a human being. And he’s in pain—Galen, come on. I know who you are. I know you’d never refuse to help anyone in need.”

That stung more than Galen was willing to admit. He always identified himself as just that, so how could he hesitate now?

“Well, I’ve never been in a situation where I’d have to save someone who’s been consciously afflicting pain on the world!” he snarled. Who Dikos Mas were and what they did was still overwhelming for him.

They stared at each other, the dragon and the prince.

“Please?” Sen asked, his voice softening. “Can you help him? For me?”

The man watched them from behind his narrowed eyes. His gaze was switching from one to another, and his face was filled with pain, anger, and confusion.

Galen stubbornly held his gaze. “Okay,” he sighed, and it felt like the words came out of someone else’s mouth.

He kneeled next to the man, who immediately started to mumble something again. Galen ran his hands a few centimeters above the men’s body, scanning it for injuries. He tried to ignore that the man squirmed to avoid his touch. Despite that, Galen kept going. He needed to stop a few times when he felt a wave of anger rolling over him, his hands clutching into fists. Sen softly rested his snout on Galen’s shoulder.

“It shattered his right leg and broke a few ribs. A big part of his chest is bruised,” he mumbled. It didn’t seem any internal organs had been struck.

“Can I help with anything? Can I bring anything?” Sen offered.

“Water and some clean fabric, please.”

As Sen hurried to the cave, Galen leaned over the hurt leg and began to mutter a spell. A soft glow came out of his hands and started to flow into the wound. In the corner of his eye, he saw the man’s eyes widen and stare at the golden light.

“Thank you,” the man whispered after a while. It was so quiet Galen barely heard it.

“Don’t thank me. If it were for me, I’d leave you here and let nature take care of you,” Galen snarled. “You have a dragon to thank. Don’t you ever forget that it was him who chose to save you.” Galen had never felt so angry before. While he was aware that the human thing to do was to help the man—and he admired Sen for not hesitating—he couldn’t stop thinking about the amount of hurt this man, his group, and their beliefs had put into the world. How many magical creatures had this particular man killed? Was there dragon’s blood on his hands, too?

The man didn’t answer, and Galen avoided checking his expression. He was afraid that he would not be able to continue if he saw more hate there.

The warm glowing light was finding its way from Galen’s fingertips to the man’s leg. It was caressing his skin, bandaging the broken bone, and knitting the shards back together. Using the power felt like home to Galen. It was almost as if all the healing he gave also flowed back to his own body.

When Sen returned, Galen took the cloth, dipped it in the bucket with water, and wrung it out. He cleaned the wound from dirt and blood and let the ripped skin grow over it again.

After doing a similar process with the man’s ribcage, he stepped aside, looking weary. “He’s almost as good as new,” he said quietly. “He might be in a bit of a shock for a few days and in need of rest. His body suffered a strong trauma, and I’m not skilled to heal that, nor do I want to. But after that, he’ll be alright.”

“Thank you, Galen,” Sen whispered. “Can you still help me raise him on my back? I’d bring him to the edge of the forest, close to the village.”

Galen shook his head but did what the dragon had asked him. The man was heavy but helped them, pushing himself off the ground. He paused before he climbed on Sen’s back but then did so without a word. He seemed confused, and Galen thought it must be the shock.

When Sen left, Galen climbed back onto the little plateau. The sun was gone, and the sky was full of stars. The anger was gone, too. Maybe it left with the sun. Or dissipated through the tingling in his fingers he always felt after healing. Galen didn’t know.

After a while, he heard footsteps; it was Sen. The dragon sat down next to Galen.

“Why did you want to help him?” Galen asked. He knew that that was not the question he yearned to ask.

“In my culture,” Sen tilted his head with an odd expression on his face, “we believe that the sky is like a crumpled piece of paper full of holes. Beyond the paper, there’s a bright light. It shines through the holes, reminding us that no matter how crumpled, we are all held in light and love.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Galen said flatly, staring straight in front of him, his back hunched.

“I wanted to help him because he’s a living being, and he deserves care just as anyone else does.”

“But—”

Sen didn’t let Galen protest. “And if he deserves the light, it must mean I do, too. If I didn’t help him, I’d be the monster they believe I am. I sometimes believe it myself, Galen. And I don’t want to be a monster. I want to live in a world where everyone deserves the light.”

“Am I a monster for hesitating to help him?” Galen gathered the courage and asked what was really going through his head. His voice trembled.

Sen swept him closer. Surrounded by the dragon from all sides, it was like being in a cocoon. Sen’s healthy wing had the heaviness of a comforter on a cold winter night. “Why did you not want to help him?” the dragon asked.

“Because I couldn’t stop imagining him hurting others. I couldn’t stop imagining him hurting you.”

“What did you feel?”

“Fury.”

“Was there something underneath the fury?”

Galen was surprised by the question. “Fear, I suppose?” he said after a moment of hesitation.

“And underneath the fear?”

Galen attempted to go back to his body, back to the feeling of fury and fear. His eyes widened with the realization. “Love?” he said with a question in his voice. Now that he said it, it made sense, although it didn’t cross his mind before when the rage ran through his veins like poison.

“Exactly. You care, Galen. You’re no monster. You care,” Sen whispered. “Thank you. For caring about me,” the dragon whispered.

The adrenalin of the last hour and all the emotions were too much. Galen blinked away tears, leaned against the dragon’s chest, and closed his eyes.

They sat there long into the night, cuddled close, watching the mysterious moonlight above the forest.

“Tell me something about your childhood,” Sen asked Galen as they lay at the edge of the pool. They planned to go for some wood later, but they were both particularly lazy that day. It had been at least ten days since the last fight, and they were both enjoying the calm, slow lifestyle and just spending time together. Ever since they had saved the Dikos Mas about a week ago, Galen felt even more at ease with the dragon.

“My childhood?” Galen searched his mind and then smiled winningly. “How about I show you?”

“What do you mean?” Sen didn’t understand.

“Don’t get scared, okay?”

“That doesn’t sound very—” Before the dragon could finish, Galen reached out to him and touched his side. Sen’s vision faded and went pitch black. He tensed up but feeling the comforting presence of Galen’s hand made him wait.

“For as long as I can remember, my parents had these huge dogs that were free to roam the whole palace.” Galen started, and Sen exhaled, amazed. The darkness became illuminated by a golden silhouette of four big dogs running through a hallway. One of them stopped by a person in a maid uniform. The girl scratched it behind its ear. It was like seeing a golden drawing becoming alive, and Sen was enchanted.

“Going on all four,” Galen continued, “I could easily fit myself under them.” The gold lines shaped to depict his words. “When I was around six, I spent entire days walking everywhere on all four, fit under those dogs.”

Sen chuckled when he saw a little boy peering out from underneath one of the giant dogs. Even with the lack of details, his face showed determination. It was Galen’s face alright. “Do you remember why?” Sen asked.

“Oh yeah,” Galen nodded before realizing the dragon couldn’t see his gesture. “I loved stories for as long as I remember. And early on, I realized that it’s always the underdog who wins in the end. Underdog, you see?”

Sen burst out laughing, and the pictures disappeared. He was back in the cavern, watching Galen grin. “That’s so sweetly dorky of you, I can’t even make fun of you.”

Galen felt warm sensations spreading through his chest. “I’m sure you’re gonna manage.”

“Woof!”

“See!”

“That was amazing, Galen. I would never believe one can do something like that.”

Galen’s cheeks turned pink. “It’s the same spell I used with Dikos Mas the first day. You have to alter the eye-brain connection, and then… well, I admit I don’t completely understand how this one works. I think it has to do with changing the brain pathways.” He took his hand down from Sen’s side and peered at him shyly. An odd expression crossed his face. “Sen, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.”

“Why do I immediately feel bad hearing that sentence?”

Galen didn’t answer. “I want you to come back home with me.”

A silence fell on the cavern.

“You deserve better, Sen,” Galen added and felt a rush of panic, seeing Sen’s face closing off.

“I think the cavern is actually pretty nice. Don’t you like the lights? I worked on them for more than two years. It’s not easy to get so many mirrors. Although princes do make it easier,” he joked, but Galen didn’t laugh. “Okay, I thought this conversation would come up eventually. Let’s have it,” he sighed.

“You deserve to be able to go out during the day. To go get new books whenever you like, not just wait until they appear on your holy altar. You deserve to feel safe, Sen.”

“I’m a dragon. I don’t deserve much. Read books.”

“I do read books,” Galen snorted. “But I have a brain of my own. Even dragons deserve their happily ever after. And, you’re not a dragon. Not only a dragon, anyway. You’re human, too, don’t forget that. You’re not made to live alone in a cavern your whole life.”

“I’m doing pretty alright.”

“You have to fight for your life every other week!” An upset tone crept into Galen’s voice and echoed in the cavern.

“Keeps me sharp!”

“You deserve to be able to turn into your human form—” Galen started, but Sen didn’t even let him finish this one.

“No,” he snapped. “No turning!”

Galen closed his eyes. “I know you’re afraid of how people will perceive you, but not everyone is an asshole. Some people will see you for who you are. You just have to give them a chance.”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Sen’s voice dripping with sarcasm startled Galen. The lovely Sen, the always in a good mood Sen, the kind Sen—he wasn’t used to the barbs in him. “A rich, handsome prince. Always protected. You don’t know what it’s like when people see a monster in you,” Sen spit.

“Is their opinion more important than mine?” Galen was almost yelling now. He didn’t want to. He tried to stop, but something in him forced him to.

“Your opinion? What about your opinion? You spent this whole discussion,” Sen stressed the last word, “telling me what I should do and why. Why should that have anything to do with your opinion? It’s my damn life.”

“I want to help you! What’s wrong with that?”

Sen closed his eyes shortly. “Nothing, Galen. Nothing,” he said as he stood up, and without another word, he fled the cavern. Galen looked after him in disbelief.

What the hell just happened?

Click here for chapter 6.