Willow Hill Asylum- Finale

Willow Hill Asylum - Finale
The Return of the Sunrise


I've failed again…

The last dragon on Earth lay outstretched on his stomach. Where Baiulus lay did not matter, as he could see neither light nor shadow, could hear no sound nor could he smell the scents that had constantly surrounded him since he first entered the grounds of Willow Hill. He felt no pain; in fact Baiulus' body felt numb, like all his limbs had fallen asleep. The essence of the universe, the source of all of Baiulus' magical strength felt distant, as if he had been cut away from existence and set adrift in oblivion.

I couldn't see the betrayal of my people, I couldn't see an obvious trap and I couldn't protect a young girl in a den of murderers and psychotics. Baiulus sighed. Why did I bother hoping that things could get better?

That was the reason he had answered the Dragon Call: a last futile hope that he could escape his loneliness and find companionship, someone to at least give him a reason to crawl out of his nest day after day. For one brief moment he'd had it in the form of a nice young lady in fancy blue clothes. For one brief moment he'd been able pretend life was like when he was a younger dragon, teaching his human and dragon students the basics of magic, watching his sons and daughter find mates of their own and raise fine grandchildren while he, Dahlia and Aesir all enjoyed the warmth of the sun as their scales turned pale.

I should have sent her away. Hot tears of shame gathered in Baiulus' eyes. I should have ignored her sobbing and walked away…. I should have known I wasn't strong enough to protect her. He rolled onto his side. I'm just… just a weak-willed, crippled, senile old fool!

"Baiulus! Baiulus, wakey-wakey!" a sing-song voice giggled in his ear. It was layered and echoing like a multitude speaking in unison. A sharp tug around his neck forced Baiulus to raise his head from where he lay, the sound of rattling chains accompanying the effort.

It didn't take long to figure out why as Baiulus found a large heavy chain had grown out of the collar around his neck. The other end hung in the possession of something the old dragon could not quite see through the pervading gloom, but what vague outlines he could perceive spoke of something massive.

"Yay! Our lovely Bai-Bai is awake!" The voice of the massive something-or-other was syrupy sweet and horribly overbearing. It yanked the chain, an unspoken command for Baiulus to get up onto all fours that he passively obeyed.

How? When did I change back? What would have normally given the old dragon cause for rejoicing now only faintly registered in his mind as the voice squealed and cooed over his head.

"The Master was good to us, giving us lovely Bai-Bai to play with." The chain began to pull again, making Baiulus choose between walking or being dragged. He chose to walk. "When we get home, Bai-Bai shall give us rides on his lovely back, and make sparkles dance in the sky and sing songs for us…" the voice continued on and on but Baiulus didn't pay attention.

Home…. Head hanging low, the last dragon on Earth thought of his home. Of the high mountains full of stringy clinging grass and moss, tiny beautiful flowers and adventurous bighorn sheep. Of the vast forest that surrounded the mountain range, the tiny songbirds that greeted the dawn, the gentle creatures that knew all the hiding places of the forest, and the predators that constantly sought them to survive in turn. Finally Baiulus thought of the ashes of the people he'd known and loved for centuries that rested beneath the forest.

"Oh, you're not going back there!" the voice said, almost as if it had read Baiulus' thoughts. "Our lovely Bai-Bai can't go back to that place. We want him here, where he can make pretty things for us and dance pretty dances and make everything bright and pretty for us forever and ever." The chain rattled. "You belong with us, pretty Bai-Bai! You'll do exactly what we say and move exactly when we tell you and you'll be happy. You won't have to worry or be sad or even think because you'll be with us!"

Baiulus raised his head slightly. Maybe it's better this way, he concluded. Maybe it's better that I go into the night. To simply cease to be Baiulus… to be nothing… nil…. He lowered his head once more. Maybe it would be better if Baiulus ceased to exist.

"Where are we going?" The dragon's voice was weak, almost barely audible over the incessant chatter of the thing (things?) that lead him by the chain.

"It doesn't matter! All that matters is the fun we're going to have when we get there!" the voice replied. "Because you're our lovely toy, Bai-Bai! You will make things sing and dance and sparkle."

"Now that's the biggest load of Minotaur dung I've ever heard," a new voice spoke up, and light began to fill Baiulus' senses. Not a strong, bright light; instead it was gentle and comforting, warming Baiulus' body and spirit.

The new voice was firm, strong but gentle, and it held a bit of amusement in its lilt. "I knew Willow Hill was always full of madmen and sociopaths, but this takes the cake," the voice continued as the light streaked though the nothingness around him, making the oblivion that Baiulus had travelled feel not quite as empty as he'd originally thought it to be.

"His name is Baiulus, not 'Bai-Bai'." Baiulus still could not see the original saccharine voice, but he could sense anger coming from it at hearing the other's words. "And he's not going anywhere with the lot of you."

A hiss rose in the air, sounding like a zoo's worth of snakes and a pet shop's worth of cats had come together to perform a concerto of rage.
"You have no right to him, dead one! He's ours! The Puppet said we could keep him!" The chain dropped to the ground in front of Baiulus and a swirl of black smoke leapt in front of the light, as if attempting to smother it. "No one came for us! He can't leave! He'll stay and be our precious toy!" a thousand voices snarled and screamed. "You can't have him! He's ours! The last dragon is ours!"

For a moment there was nothing but the sounds of the shadow voices screaming, sobbing and shouting curses at the light that danced around the darkness. Despite the blackness' best efforts to smother it, the light kept breaking through, shining beams of orange and pink and red and thousands of other colours into the dark, each more dazzling than the last.

"He is not your toy!" the second voice shouted angrily over the cacophony of the thousands. "You and your precious Puppet won't poison his mind anymore!"

The light grew stronger, shredding the darkness into thousands of little black specks that grew smaller and smaller until each spot of darkness was no bigger than the tip of one of Baiulus' claws. The voices shrank down to tiny incoherent yelps as the light pushed the shadows back into the oblivion from whence they'd come.

"Baiulus."

He flinched at the feel of the light's attention on him, bowing his head and curling his tail tight around him like a scolded dog.

Please don't, Baiulus thought, just wishing he could disappear like the darkness. I don't deserve anything, please don't look at me, please-

Warmth spread over him as the light nuzzled against his neck, bending and reshaping into a dragon Baiulus knew and adored.

"Dahlia…." The female didn't move away from Baiulus, only staying as close as possible, never ending the embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Baiulus," Dahlia said softly, soothing and comforting. "I heard your cry for help; we all heard it. I'm sorry I couldn't have come sooner."

Baiulus hesitated for a moment. The simple gesture of warmth and love was almost overwhelming, to the point the old dragon was confused on what to do beyond standing and letting his dead mate give him the dragon equivalent of a hug.

"I-I'm… just glad you're here now,"  he managed to choke out. "You don't know how much I miss you…. Sometimes it's easy; I can forget for a while…" tears once again filled his eyes, "but then something happens… I hear or smell something… sometimes entire days remind me of you and it hurts… it hurts so much."

"I know, dear," Dahlia replied. "I miss you too." She leaned her head against Baiulus', her green eyes looking into his bright yellow ones. "But for now let's not focus on all the days and nights spent apart, and instead enjoy that we are together."

Baiulus smiled and nodded, barely noticing as the collar that had shackled him for so long cracked and fell from around his neck to land beside him.  It hit with the clinking sound of metal against stone, the angry red glow fading from the words carved into it.  

"Dahlia," he asked, walking away from the chains that had bound him. "You must know: what happened to Alice? The little human who was kind to me?"

The pink dragon smiled as she walked beside him. "It was close, but it's not her time yet. A brave human is rescuing your little friend as we speak. They'll be a great help to one another."

"Ah, that's a relief!" Baiulus sighed, causing his companion to laugh gently.

"Feel better now?" Dahlia asked, staying close to his side. "Are you ready to go?" She spread her wings wide.

"Yes. I'm ready," Baiulus replied, following his mate's example. "But where are we going?"

"Where you need to go," she answered. "It'll be a long journey and I can't promise that it'll be easy, but when it ends you'll be exactly where you belong," she rose into the air with a downward sweep of her wings, "and I'll be right beside you."

Baiulus followed his beloved, flapping his wings and feeling the numbness of his limbs slip away as a new strength filled his being.

"Let's be on our way."