Free The Door Within by Wayne Thomas Batson Page A

dark wings eclipsed the sun as the beast hovered ominously above. A thunderous roar rang out and echoed violently off the mountains, and Aidan could just make out the soldier running madly away.
    The beast roared again and looked directly at Aidan. Covering his face with his hands, Aidan curled into a ball. The dragon’s talons closed around Aidan’s waist like gigantic pliers. Aidan pried at them with all his might, but it was hopeless. Another deafening roar blasted from the creature’s lungs, and being so near to the colossal beast, Aidan couldn’t bear the sound. He lost consciousness as the dragon gently lifted him from the ground and took to the air.

    When Aidan awoke, it was dark. He lay on his back, his arm curled around his old down pillow and the covers pulled snugly up to his chin.
    As the blurring effects of sleep wore off, his memory returned in a rush. It had me. I should be dead. The dra—dragon? Oh, man. What a crazy dream!
    A dream—that’s all it had been. A door to another world, a unicorn, little creatures with glowing eyes, and a dragon!! Aidan sighed with relief. It was a good thing he had been dreaming. There would have been no escape from the dragon’s viselike clutches. And even if he had broken free of the dragon, one of those dark knights would’ve no doubt dragged him off to that terrible place in the mountain.
    Aidan shuddered, took a deep breath, and sank deeper into his bed. Relieved as he was, some distant part of Aidan was disappointed. The dream had been the adventure he’d always wanted.
    And, come to think of it, I was pretty brave to climb that mountain— even if it was just a dream. Aidan smiled lazily.
    Feeling very safe, he hugged his pillow tightly and closed his eyes. Aidan relaxed and was at peace in the darkness. . . . Then Aidan’s smile faded. Something isn’t quite right.

11

PECULIAR COMPANY
    T he bed was comfortable, plush, and wide, with layers of blankets, but there was no light coming from the side of his room where the window was supposed to be. There was a strange scent in the air too. Aidan thought he had smelled it before, but he could not remember when. And Aidan’s favorite down pillow didn’t feel soft and fluffy like it was supposed to.
    Aidan’s heart skipped a beat. Chills and gooseflesh raced all over his body, for Aidan suddenly didn’t know what his arm was curled around.
    Aidan let his fingers slide over this thing that lay under his arm and across his shoulder. It certainly wasn’t fuzzy or furry. It felt leathery and ragged, like it was covered with shingles . . . or maybe, maybe . . . they were scales? SCALES?!!
    “Ya-yaahhh!!!” The scream exploded from Aidan’s lips like a great bubble popping. He sat up from the covers to stare wide-eyed into the darkness.
    Aidan felt something heavy slithering off the bed.
    A blue flash lit the room, and Aidan could see the creature sitting like a great big cat in the middle of the stone floor. It had not been a dream after all! Aidan squirmed frantically backward, bashing his head into the enormous solid-wood headboard.
    “Do not fear,” a musical female voice said. “You are safe here.”
    Aidan could only stare at the monstrous, unearthly creature that had slid from the bed and now seemed to be speaking to him.
    The beast raised its head slowly. Blue, fiery slanted eyes squinted at Aidan and blinked.
    Aidan blinked back and then blinked again. But each time he opened his eyes it was still there: a real dragon!
    The creature squatted on its thickly muscled hind legs and smaller ropey forelegs. Broad wings were folded like huge leather coats behind its body, and its neck and tail were as long as and as thick as anacondas. It had gray flesh on its underside and was armored with silvery scales that here and there reflected the flickering blue light. The dragon’s head was long like a horse’s and tapered to a very narrow snout, dappled with patches of those silver scales on its enormous high