Carlsbad

Ice rep. Bad with names, flawless memory when it comes to cave and glacier topography. Way happier than he should be in ice storms. Never gets cold. Would want to be the Sornieth version of Lara Croft.


song



His mother had once told him there were places within the earth where gems shone brighter than stars. He’d been young then, and like all of the hatchlings, had yet to develop a sense for the deep caverns, and never ventured deeper than the nursery caves.

Carlsbad had only known the light of stars during the arctic winter, when they remained illuminated for all but a single hour of the day. Even at their dullest, when the diluted sunlight would briefly peek over the horizon, they were the brightest lights he could imagine.

He appreciated his mother’s lie, for what it was worth- while he was excited to pass his first season in the earth with his clan, he privately was still afraid of the dark depths. One of the other hatchlings had told him that after the first winter under the stars, dragons of their clan were never allowed to surface again, and spent the rest of their lives in the dark. One of his cousins had pointed out that if that were the case, their parents wouldn’t be allowed to ascend to the nursery caverns to care for hatchlings, but Carlsbad still privately worried that he would have to wait until he had hatchlings of his own to see the stars again.

Not wanting to seem like a baby, he didn’t voice his concerns to his mother until they were packing the last of their luggage away.

“Momma?”

“Yes, my little love?”

He sniffed delicately, carefully fiddling with a strap on his backpack, avoiding his mother’s gaze.

“Am I allowed to come back up to see the stars? Or do I have to stay in caverns every year?”

His mother’s eyes crinkled, her cheeks reddening with thinly-contained laughter. “Oh, sweetheart, you can come up to see the stars any time you like. But there are stars in the caverns too, you know.”

Carlsbad squinted at her suspiciously. “Are they real stars? Or are they just rocks?”

One of their neighbors trilled with delight beside them. “Just rocks!! Oh Mous, he’s your son all right! I swear you said the same thing to your mother when you were fresh out of your shell!”

Carlsbad’s ears twitched in embarassment, but he forged onward bravely. “I’m sure they’re really nice rocks, Momma, but they’re just rocks! An’ I’ve seen soooo many rocks, and they’re really nice but they don’t sparkle like the stars do!”

“You’re absolutely right, love.” His mother crouched down in front of him, cradling his paws in hers. “And I promise, anytime you want to see the stars, you come to me and I’ll take you right up to see them. They’re not out for most of the summer, but you and I can go see them every winter, okay?”

Carlsbad nodded, relaxing. His mother might tend to exaggerate when it came to rocks, but that was a promise, and her promises were as good as arctic elk jerky.

She kissed his furry head, giving his paws a final squeeze, and readjusted his tiny pack. “Are you ready to go down, honey?”

The small tundra eyed the elevator shaft nervously, but gave a short, firm nod. He would be brave, and if he missed being able to see the glittering stars, his mom promised they could go see them again.

With a final look over his shoulder at the mouth of the cave, where the stars rested in the open sky, he followed his mother into the metal contraption, and the wire doors creaked shut behind him.

~~~

The elevator was smooth and fast, well oiled despite the creaking of its cabin’s doors. Carlsbad remained tucked closely to his mother, mirroring the other few hatchlings riding with them in the large box, watching the earth fly past them with wide eyes.

They sunk deeper than Carlsbad had imagined, and a vision of the earth closing in over him had him clutching his mother’s paw tighter. The box began to slow after a time, and a quiet ding announced their arrival.

Mothers meandered out of the doors as they opened, already chattering amongst one another about their summer plans. Hatchlings clung to their mothers’ scales, looking as frightened as Carlsbad felt. But as the last few dragons exited the box, and the view beyond the doors was revealed, Carlsbad’s fear evaporated like steam.

The caverns before him were massive, nothing like the dim, claustrophobic hallways he had imagined. Hundreds of dragons milled around the different levels, going to and from different entrances marked with bright cloth and decorative lanterns. It was just as bright, if not more so, than the twilight hours when the sun illuminated the ice above ground- but instead of a wide expanse of ice, a sprawling city was illuminated before him, houses carved into the same stone they walked on.

There was no echo of empty space, either- the caverns were teeming with life, and there was a quiet hum of voices and activity that seemed to surround them from all sides. His mother prodded him forward a little further, shooing him out of the flow of traffic.

Carlsbad was still trying to take in the sight of thousands of lamplights on every doorstep when his mother crouched before him once again.

“You doin okay, love? My first steps out of the elevator were a bit of a shock, if I remember right.”

He nodded mutely, unable to stop staring at the swirl of color and light surrounding him. It was… so bright. Maybe not quiet like the stars, which had sparkled just so- but brighter than he had imagined.

His mother patted his cheek carefully, rising up once again. “Let’s get home before light’s out, your dad is waiting for us and made sure the house is nice and clean for your homecoming. I think he even made your favorite for dinner, but don’t tell him I ruined the surprise.”

Carlsbad followed her obediently, through open streets and a winding alleyway behind a bustling market, until they reached a large door built into one of the many stone ledges that lined the edges of the cavern.

His father opened the door moments after his mother’s knock, scooping him into a hug. “Welcome home, son! How do you like the caves thus far, eh? Let me show you our little hearth!”

His mother stopped his father’s retreat back into the warm cave with a claw, still standing on the doorstep. “Cav, wait a moment. I want to show Carlsbad what the cave looks like at light’s out.”

His father’s brow relaxed in understanding, and he smiled encouragingly down at his son. “So you take after your mother, eh? You know, she loves the stars too.”

Carlsbad frowned. “What does that have to do with light’s out? You can’t see the stars from down here!”

His mother chuckled, and lifted him into her arms. “Just wait, love.”

A moment passed, and a bell tolled, and one by one, the flames marking every doorway began to disappear. Carlsbad clutched his mother tighter as the cavern began to grow dark, breath quickening. His father reached to extinguish their own lamp and he buried his face in his mother’s neck, afraid to face the empty darkness.

“Carlsbad, open your eyes, it’s okay.”

He shuddered, but bravely untucked his head, cracking open a single eye, cautious.

“Look up, my little gem. There are stars down here, too.”

Carlsbad brought his gaze up from the dim city towards the roof of the cavern, and his eyes widened.

The ceiling was covered in massive clusters of glowing crystals jutting out from the rocks above, forming massive columns of gentle light, with multicolored gems scattered among the cavern’s ceiling. They varied in size, shape, and texture, some forming long pillars that extended towards the cavern floor, while others almost seemed to have been frozen while bubbling from cracks in the cavern ceiling.

“When our clan first settled in these caves, they named every kind of crystal in this room, categorized every color and shape of the minerals found here, but couldn’t decide on a fitting name for this cavern, the largest and most beautiful of all of them.” Carlsbad tore his eyes away from the glittering stones, glancing up at the sound of his father’s voice.

“They spent weeks arguing- some folks wanted to name it after the first dragon into the caves, some folks wanted to name it after their favorite stones found within it- and do you know what they settled on?”

Carlsbad shook his head, still starstruck by the sight above him.

“Well, they argued and argued and couldn’t agree on what part of the cavern was the most beautiful or the most noteworthy, and eventually one of the little dragonlings that had moved in just started calling it “The Big Room”, and it stuck. And since then, everyone’s just called his big, beautiful cavern just that- “The Big Room”.” His father laughed, patting his mate’s shoulder cheerfully. “I’ll grab your things and settle them in the house, stay out for as long as you need.”

Carlsbad continued to drink in the sight of the glittering crystals, his mother’s arms warm around him.

“So, what do you think of our silly rocks, little one?”

Carlsbad smiled, the light of the gems above him twinkling in the reflection of his eyes.

“You were right, momma. They look just like the stars.”

- By Nahum