Dragon of Protection
Xavier crawled out of the closet he had hid in, light filling the space. He blinked a few times to adjust to the light. From the ground, he looked up to his mother. Her hair was frazzled, purple and blue painting the skin around her eye. His lips trembled as he took her in, tears flowing from his face.
“Mo-momma, not-not again?” Xavier’s voice trembled, stuttering.
A small smile crept on her face as she took in Xavier’s shaking frame into her arms. His face was smushed against her thin frame, his arms wrapped around her protectively. He noticed a small bag in her hand, clinging from coins that they hadn’t had for a while. Xavier stepped back from his mother and smacked the bag from her hand. The little pouch fell to the floor. Little coins clanged against the ground as they spilled out, silence filled the air as the coins settled.
Xavier knew one thing. The coins, the fresh food, the inns they stayed at, were not worth the pain he saw on his mother’s face, nor the pain he felt in her heart.
He expected her to shout, a reprimand, something.
Silence. They stared at each other for a moment. Xavier with his bottom lip stuck out, slightly quivering; narrowing eyes in defiance, fists clenched in anger. Xavier didn’t look down as his fists began to warm, but his mother instantly looked down at the curled fists, watching the little embers encasing his fist. Her eyes filled with tears, but didn’t let them fall.
She knelt down to Xavier’s height and pulled him in close. She pressed her forehead against his. Xavier began to calm, flames extinguished, as he stared into his mother’s eyes. Ice blue like his. Focusing on her eyes, her eyes were crossed funny so that he saw three eyes, he smiled a little.
“Xavier, I want you to have this.” She pulled away for a second and pulled a necklace over her head. He rarely saw the beautiful necklace, for she typically had it hidden under her shirt.
She placed it into his small hand, the entire dragon pendant filling the palm. The black dragon was set in a scowl, fearsome with its teeth slightly bared. He had to admit that it was kind of scary looking. Its wings were sharp with talons at the tips, but they curled around a reddish orb, inside a swirling eddy. It was enthralling. At first glance it just looked like a marble that one would play games with, but there a slight glow to it. The contents inside were a swirling mixture of red, cream, and flecks of black. It wasn’t a set pattern, but the contents moved like fog, swirling inside the gem.
Xavier’s tears went away, transfixed by the foggy red orb.
“What is it?”
“Destiny.”
“Density?”
His mom chuckled, “This is the Dragon of Protection. He will always keep you safe.”
“He’s kind of scary.”
“Well, he has to scare off the bad guys.”
Xavier turned the dragon over in his hands.
“B-but he didn’t protect you.” Xavier said, eyes falling to the ground.
Her warm fingers clasped his chin, softly tilting his head up to look at her, her eyes were sad.
“But I still have you and that’s all I can ask for. Is that you are safe.”
Xavier wrapped his little fingers around the dragon orb pendant, and closed the gap between them hugging her tightly.
I’ll never let anything bad happen to you again. Xavier promised his mom silently.