Heavenly Creatures
CHAPTER 8: A Talk with the Dragon

“What do you want, Sun?” The jewel in the dragon’s forehead shone, but its eyes remained closed.

“Why are you here?” Sun asked. “And what is your relationship with this human girl?”

“I’m here to protect her,” the dragon said. And the dragon’s coils loosened to show a girl huddled within. “I’ve been with her for three hundred lifetimes, for over three thousand years now.”

“Three thousand years in the in-between!” Sun gasped. “That’s longer than I was trapped in the Hand of God.”

“Yes, I am aware,” the dragon said. “I could sense on the wind that something was coming, but I didn’t know for sure it was you until I saw you.”

“Don’t you think of ascending to heaven?” Sun asked. “It’s unbearable down here.”

“I don’t think of ascending until my purpose here is complete,” the dragon said. “And you should know by now that you too shall not ascend until yours is complete as well.”

“Yes,” Sun said. “That would be fine, but you seem to know your purpose, dragon, whereas I’m still in the dark about mine. Can you enlighten me as to why the old man has sent me here?”

“To learn,” the dragon said shortly.

Sun huffed. “Yes, but I can’t complete my purpose unless I know what it is, can I?”

“Your purpose is to live each day with your eyes open.”

“I could say the same to you, dragon,” Sun retorted. Opposition always brought out the worst in him. “Why are your eyes closed?”

“As you told Tara,” the dragon said, “I don’t need my eyes to see.”

Sun sighed and drew a hand across his face. “This is a lesson in futility,” he said.

The dragon chuckled, and the sound was as faint as a wind chime.

“You may be ancient,” the dragon said, “but you’re as impatient as a youth.”

Sun sighed again. “I can’t help it, dragon. Most of my powers of prescience have been taken from me. It makes things a bit difficult.”

“If you pay attention to the moment, you may be able to revive your powers.”

“But the moments here are so dull,” Sun complained, aware that he sounded like a petulant child.

“All moments come from God,” the dragon said.

“I’m surprised at your belief in duality, dragon,” Sun said, eager to prove something to the creature. “God is within us all.”

“That is true, but heaven and hell themselves exist in duality. And you say that from a sense of superiority rather than understanding,” the dragon said. “Isn’t superiority what exiled you from heaven in the first place?”

Sun found himself at a loss for words, which was always something he found unpleasant.

“Well, if you’re not going to help me, maybe we should end this conversation here,” Sun griped.

The dragon chuckled again. “I will give you a hint: try walking Tara home.”

“What? Why?” Sun asked, eager for a clue.

“Just be kind, and you may find you complete your mission earlier than anticipated.”

With that, the dragon waved a talon in adieu. “’Til we meet again, Sun.”

“Later,” Sun said, feeling a bit more hopeful than before.

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