Past

Slowly in the darkness, Mathew edged through the cave. It went deeper than he expected, and the silence was absolute.

Time passed in a strange confusion, measured only by his uneven breaths. Faintly, Mathew even thought he could hear the voices of the dead.

"Why did the Knight chase the Dragon?" His sister asked in the dark.

"No one is quite sure. Perhaps he thought it was an Evil Dragon, so he had to catch it." His father replied.

"Oh no, dear. The way Knights are these days, he was probably just greedy and mean. A corrupt Knight in pursuit of a kind Dragon. Catching it drove the Gods away." His mother corrected.

"How do you know the Dragon was kind?" Softly, Mathew asked the memory, just as he did that day long past.

"Because the Knight lived. Remember Dearest, no matter how powerful man or beast may grow to be, they will never be a match for the Dragons. In times of old, even the Gods feared to incur a Dragon's Wrath! Yet that Knight made a nuisance of himself and chased the beast all over the world, but the Dragon never harmed him." Mother said firmly, but father disagreed.

"Perhaps the beast was old, or infirm. Maybe the Knight was exceptionally strong. The stories of the past have been twisted by time, and it's impossible to know the truth of them. You must never believe completely everything you hear. Find your own truths within the past, and live as best you can."

"If the truth is lost, and the stories are twisted, then did the Dragon really die?" Sister asked softly in the choking dark, and Mathew waited for the answer with worry.

Minutes past, and became hours, but the darkness held its silence. Mathew couldn't remember the answer his parents gave, that night so long ago. At the time, it had felt trivial, but now it was of vital importance!

Did the Dragon die at Dragon's Fall? And was the Dragon kind?

There was no way to know. In the darkness Mathew was alone, filled with questions without answer. All he could do was walk on and hope.