Ancient Vows
4/1/99
Muted through the fog-like haze of dreamland, he heard
the distant sound of a drum beating faintly.
He attempted to push it out of his thoughts, shutting his
clouded mind to the remote sound. He floated on the very
edge of sleep, in that state of mind that is not totally
unaware of the world, yet blurred with unconsciousness.
The distant sound grew stronger, and seemed to take on a
more random beat than before. Thoughts of a single drum
faded and were replaced by those of many drums.
Rolling over, he again tried to shove the sound to some
remote corner of his mind, not wanting to deal with it
just yet. His tail twitched in annoyance.
The drums grew louder still, and were now joined by faint
trumpets. His bed, comprised of a large stone slab,
reverberated slightly with the deep sounds. He began to
swim closer towards consciousness as the noise grew close
and stretched one of his clawed feet, sighing deeply to
himself. Mmmm…he thought to himself, so very tired…
Ignoring his own protests, his mind reached for awareness,
pondering the nature of the sounds that grew louder still.
The sounds seemed to take on a different tone as they
grew closer, reminding him of some human stomping his
boots on a dirt floor. Hmmm…boots, or maybe even --
Hooves! That could only mean… horses are approaching,
along with human soldiers!!
He instantly snapped back to full awareness of his
surroundings, opening his orange reptilian eyes,
searching for a good escape route out of his hiding place.
The sound of hooves thundering across the plains grew
louder, filling the cavern. The proud cries of trumpets
echoed from the walls, striking fear into his hearts,
their rapid thumping filling his ears as well. His breath
came in short, quick puffs of air, visible in the crisp
winter morning air. Craning his sleek head about on his
long, scaled neck, he searched for the direction of the
sounds.
Unable to distinguish where they came from, he took his
only course of action - straight up. Nearing the middle
of his adolescence at 250 years, what the young dragon
lacked in massive power he made up for in sheer strength
and energy. Four clawed feet and two developing wings
propelled him upward through the gap in the top of the
cavern, his orange scales glistening in the early morning
sky. Searching the snowy ground far below, he spotted the
fast approaching humans atop their steeds, blasting
trumpets in triumph of their discovery.
Adjusting his trajectory at the peak of his leap, wings
beat furiously to push him away from the bloodthirsty
humans, intent on hunting him down. Already a few were
close, and drew their longbows back, taking aim. His
sharp vision could almost make out the deadly dragonbane
dripping from the tips of the barbed arrows. His 2
reptilian hearts raced as he gained speed, flying away
from the humans as fast as he could. A few eager men
released their arrows, launching their deadly missiles in
hatred at the beast they saw before them. Falling just
short, the arrows rained back down to earth as the dragon
pulled away from them. Afraid and very hungry, the dragon
was unsure of how long he could keep up his pace,
outracing the mounted humans on land.
Searching for alternate routes, he flew over treacherous
mountains, wide rivers, dense forests in an attempt to
lose them. Nearing exhaustion, his wings beat on, driving
him away, escaping from the hunters for a few days if he
was lucky. After a while he tiredly cruised through the
air, concentrating on something other than escape this
time. His large stomach growling in anger, the dragon
sought out food. Circling the farmland below him, he
spotted his objective: a herd of sheep grazing peacefully
in the cold afternoon sun.
***************
Many thoughts passed through his weary mind as he
searched the herd for his target. Thinking of happier
times, he recalled cruising through the air with the
other pre-adolescent dragons, enjoying the fresh morning
air. Back when there were other young dragons to play
with…he ached to talk just once again with another
of his kind.
But that was impossible: all the other dragons he knew
about had been hunted down and slaughtered by the humans.
He hadn't seen another dragon, young or old, for many
decades now. He had roamed far and wide searching all the
obvious places for his old friends, but to no avail. He
was the last one. Others would have been discovered by
now if this was not so. Sadly, it was.
He had given up the search a number of years ago, mostly
due to the fact that his efforts became devoted to hiding
from the humans, and quick panic-stricken escapes from
them when discovered. He felt as if his world was
shrinking. He had to search harder and harder for places
that were not occupied by the ever-spreading people. And
once he got settled, it was only a matter of time before
they settled nearby and discovered him yet again.
He was weary. Weary of the hiding, the running, and the
fear. Once, in older, better times, the humans and
dragons associated together. Some even became allies,
forging great armies to conquer invading barbarian hordes
from distant lands. Or so he was told by his elders,
before they all met their unfortunate demise. He barely
remembered interacting with the humans in his own
childhood, but some pleasant thoughts still remained.
Regardless, he could never forget the tales of the great
alliances human and dragon had formed, and the vow he had
undertaken as a fledgling.
It was a vow that he could never forget…and would
never dishonor. Long ago, the dragon race had sworn that
they would never harm the humans purposefully, only
acting in self-defense. The humans, too, had a similar
vow. But many years passed, and human leaders came and
went rapidly. The oldest humans' lifespans were nowhere
near that of an average dragon, off by several orders of
magnitude. Wisdom often ran short in them, and soon
generation after generation of leaders passed on, leaving
only remnants of their solemn vow, while ignorance of the
dragon grew, and interaction became less and less.
And so the humans grew more and more afraid of the dragon.
Afraid to associate with them. Afraid to approach them.
Afraid to talk with them, and even express their
hesitance or to find out a little bit more about the
ancient race of dragons. And so, as was all too common
among humans, ignorance turned into fear, fear spread to
terror, and terror led to hatred. Ever expanding human
populations interfered with the dragons' once-free space,
used for hunting to survive. Dragons had to search harder
and harder for food, until they were all but forced to
hunt the cattle the humans raised for themselves.
It wasn't because of animosity or revenge, the young
dragon recalled, but because of necessity. They always
tried to hunt down the weaker or diseased cattle, their
immune systems being impervious to most diseases known.
But the humans saw it as a threat, and eventually turned
their fear and hatred to bloodthirstiness.
One by one, they hunted down all of the dragons they
could, and succeeded largely because although they had
long forgotten their vow to the dragon, the dragon never
forgot theirs, and so never stopped honoring it. Unable
to fight back with all their power, the dragons' honor
rose above all conflicts, preventing them from using all
of their powerful resources. It was more important to the
dragon to honor this solemn vow than to kill the weaker
humans.
An occasional dragon broke the rules out of frustration,
burning down villages and slaughtering humans by the
hundreds when provoked. But these instances were few and
far between, and only added fuel to the humans fire of
hatred.
Hatred that had stemmed from ignorance. Ignorant because
they knew not what they did, and never bothered to
approach the dragons and simply talk with them to resolve
just how to coexist. The fear was too strong in them.
Fear is a powerful motivator, and in this case the
product of that motivation was horrible. They never once
realized just how rapidly they were spreading, invading
the habitats of countless other species, hunting them
down to feed their growing masses. They never stopped to
think about what they were doing to the ancient race of
dragons.
***************
The young dragon broke from his thoughts of the past as
he spotted his target. A weaker, sick sheep was seen
wandering on the outskirts of the main herd. The young
dragon chose him, figuring the poor sheep would soon die
from its sickness anyway. Swooping down, he quickly
snatched the unsuspecting victim, and it was all over
before the creature knew what had happened.
Satisfied for now, the dragon fled the site quickly,
before any sheepherders came looking after their flock.
After a short time, he found a sufficient hiding spot
near a small lake. Behind the relatively small waterfall
formed by the gentle river flowing down over an outcrop
of rock, a cavern lay hidden from careless eyes, carved
from the very rock by the forces of nature long ago.
After deciding it was safe and remote enough, the weary
dragon lay down to sleep once more as the sun descended
below the treetops, signaling the end of yet another day.
His last dreary thought of the day was a hope that
perhaps the next would be less eventful than this one.
***************
"Damn!" yelled Vargo, captain of the lord's
dragonhunting unit.
"Damn! Damn!!" He slammed his gloved fist
against the solid oak of the table before him. His
normally expressionless man-at-arms was by his side,
deviating slightly from his usual lack of expression. He
was a bit worried about the anger of his captain.
"It got away yet again! At this rate, we'll never
catch it! And now I hear rumors from the village of
Lincolnshire that a beast is eating all of their cattle
and terrorizing the villagers! They are wondering what
their lord is doing about it, and starting to stir up
trouble again. I can't believe that…that lizard got
that far this quickly! We've got to catch that bastard."
Vargo was indeed worried, but not only for the safety of
the villagers, but for his reputation as a successful
dragon hunter. This was probably the last of them, but it
sure was taking a long time to finish the job on him.
Funny how the bigger ones were much easier to kill. Quite
strange, given their size and reputation. But this he
would never admit to his lord…he wanted to play up
his success as much as possible.
"Sir, but at least this last one seems relatively
harmless, in comparison" suggested the man-at-arms.
"At least he's not burning down entire castles like
that last one."
The last one was a fearsome beast, its fiery red color
reflecting its anger and destructiveness very well. That
one was outright angry, and attacked without regard to
anyone's safety, tossing fireballs around at random. Most
other dragons the unit had encountered never used their
fire, and were slow to fight back. Which puzzled him all
the more.
Still, their very existence was a threat to humankind. In
order for man to survive, he needed to eliminate outside
threats, and dragons were a big one. Eating the cattle
they needed to feed their growing populations, scaring
off settlers from much-needed land. They were terrible,
and had to be eliminated. Not to mention downright
intimidating.
"Yes…well, this one must go just as the others
did" replied Vargo, pulling tight his tunic at his
waist. "Get out of here, and go assemble the troops.
First light is upon us, and we need to break camp and get
on the move again."
The officer left the room with a salute, his booted
footsteps echoing down the hall as he left. The sun
started to peek between the heavy curtains on the high
windows of the room, showing a light early morning haze
in the sky. It did nothing to increase the warmth in the
room, however…another brisk winter day awaited him.
The warmth in his heart was not much greater either today.
It couldn't afford to be: he had a job to do, and a
county to protect. Humankind was depending on him to
ensure their right to survive. That's how he looked at it.
That's what he told himself. He had to.
With that, he finished off his breakfast of lukewarm oats,
likely his last near-hot meal in a long while. He washed
it down with a tankard of water, slamming it down with
determination. Steeling himself for a long journey ahead,
he cleared his mind and left the room, ready to gather
the troops together one last time. Or so he hoped.
***************
He awakened with a start this time, his sharp reptilian
eyes searching the cavern swiftly as he sought the source
of the noise that woke him. Nostrils flaring, he sniffed
the damp air, catching a whiff of…human!
The brought the young dragon to full attention, shifting
cautiously into a defensive position as he continued to
search the area for the human he detected. Strangely, the
scent was not harsh as it usually was. Typically, the
overpowering scent of sweat was what he associated with
the smaller race…sweat, anger, and fear.
The gentle waterfall at the cavern mouth flowed as
smoothly as ever, the sound of water splashing against
rock echoing through the cave. If anyone had been here,
they had left by now, and could not be heard past the
cascade of water before him. Briefly, he pondered
charging out of the cave to catch the invader. But
caution overtook this hasty thought…no need to
charge headlong into an ambush of hunters.
And so he waited, silently cursing himself for not
choosing a hideout with a second, hidden exit of some
sort. Yet nothing happened. He could still smell the
scent left behind, pinning it down more accurately this
time. Faint, gentle, feminine. It had been a single
female human that had been here, just near the entrance.
She had not approached any further than that. Strange…usually
humans ran in fear or attacked. This one had done neither,
even though he had been at her mercy, sleeping heavily.
Well, all for the better he thought to himself. Maybe
they all aren't as foolish as they seem. Hmph!
After sitting alone with his thoughts for a while longer,
he deemed it safe enough to venture outside to stretch
out and flay around a bit, maybe even finding something
to ease the hunger pains in his stomach.
Exiting the cave, he was greeted by the chilly curtain of
water washing over his body. He preened himself a bit in
the shower of water, cleaning off the result of the last
few days of excitement. Now fully awake with the coldness
of the water, he shook himself dry and stretched his
wings to their full length. Springing up off of the
ground, he caught a current of air and lifted himself
skyward, the mid-afternoon sun reflected in the deep
orange color of his body.
***************
The girl watched silently from up in the nearby trees,
her heart racing. Shana was in awe of what she had just
observed: her first long look at a real dragon up close.
She had sneaked just inside of its nest, or den, or
whatever, and watched for a few minutes as it lay there.
At first, she had thought it dead, not moving at all. But
as she watched closer, she saw the huge, colorful body
heave in and our every so slowly in deep sleep.
She had just stood there, marveling at the beauty before
her. This was not a horrible beast as the hunters would
tell you…but rather a huge, magnificent creature of
awesome power. Shana had had to shake herself out of the
trance and leave the cave silently to avoid waking it.
Beautiful or not, waking something that huge could yield
terrifying results.
The girl had in fact been amazed anyone had been ever
able to kill such a creature, until she learned of
dragonbane from her father a few seasons ago. Curiosity
at the time had driven her learn as much as possible
about it as she could. Patting the pouch at her side
containing the bottles she had brought with her for
emergency situations, her thoughts turned once again to
the dragon.
My god, it could have killed me instantly she thought to
herself in the trees just then, her breath catching in
her throat in a long delayed reaction of fear. But it had
been so amazing just watching it stand in the huge lake
at the base of the large waterfall, rinsing off. Watching
it take flight had left her in a trance. Words could not
describe how she felt…she had just sat there and
took it all in. All of the horror stories about dragons
had been so inaccurate.
A tear ran down her cheek just then, as she reflected on
what she had witnessed. A tear, not merely for the beauty
of the creature she had observed for the very first time,
but for what was going to be done to it by the hunters.
And for what her race had already done.
***************
Circling high above, the young dragon once surveyed the
herd of cattle for his target. His keen eyes soon spotted
an older, limping form among the rest. Banking sharply,
he flexed his claws in anticipation of this long-awaited
meal.
The hilly landscape whirled around him as he finished his
turn, starting his dive down towards the unsuspecting
victim. Taking a deep breath, his thoughts turned towards
the preparation of this meal.
A quick grab & go? …Nah…Seared!
A deep rumbling began inside him, in the very inner
recesses of his belly. The seldom used ancient ability
stirred inside of him as the internal reaction took place.
Now at full speed, he noticed his dark shadow looming
over his next meal. With a forceful exhale, fire shot up
through his extended neck and past his mouth, searing the
outside of the bull below him to a crisp instantly as the
dragon whisked by.
On his next pass, he took the bull in his claws, away to
a more peaceful place away from the rest of the
frightened herd to satisfy his hunger. Turning away with
his prize, he heard something flitter past his head. He
ignored it momentarily, until it was followed by another!
What was that?
Craning his neck, he spied the villagers carefully hidden
among the trees with their bows, firing away at him. With
the patches of leaves and tree limbs tied to their heads
and clothes making an effective (if not silly looking)
camouflage, it was no wonder his casual eye did not spot
them before. But now he could clearly see their numbers,
and cursed himself for missing even the odor given off by
this many of the uncouth species together. But even worse
than their human odor, he could just barely smell the
dreadful scent of dragonbane on the arrows as they flew
past his head.
Yelling curses at the lizard-beast, the townspeople did
their best to fell the gigantic creature who dared to eat
the stock they needed to live on, and terrorized their
herd. Problem was, they only had so much dragonbane to go
around. No matter…if they couldn't get him this time,
the lord's dragon hunting party was on its way, soon to
arrive. They would take care of the vile beast!
Still dodging deadly arrows in midair, the dragon's
initial emotions of surprise and confusion quickly
evaporated into irritation. However, irritation exploded
into something else he had not felt in a long, long time.
A deep anger filled the dragon as he came to realize that
the humans were indeed shooting dragonbane-tipped arrows
at him, intent on killing him with that horrible acid.
Dragonbane was nothing new to him, but for some reason
his anger would not be quelled this time. He would NOT
simply run away, only to be chased down like some vermin.
Thoughts of his ancient race, destroyed by these dirty,
uncouth bipeds filled his mind. Their refusal to even try
and coexist. Their utter arrogance. For the first time in
his two and a half century life, he became utterly
consumed by his anger.
And, for a moment, the young dragon forgot his ancient
vow. Adrenaline surged through his body and the fire deep
within him welled yet again, more powerful than before.
More powerful than he had ever felt.
Dodging a few more arrows, the enraged dragon swept down
at his attackers, uncaring of the consequences. Still
clutching his prey, fire leapt from his throat, scorching
the ground below him. Blasting the trees. Searing the
very air before him to a boil.
The human attackers fled in terror at this display of
power, some choking violently on the very heat of the air.
Several perished instantly in the intense jets of fire,
crumbling to ashes before they could even move. Afraid
for their lives, they dropped weapons and fled, still
cursing the dragon and hoping the hunters would arrive
soon to take care of this horrible creature.
However, a few did get off final shots with their bows
before fleeing. Most flittered harmlessly past the
infuriated dragon. Some did not, striking their target.
Almost all of these fell harmlessly off of his thick
scaly hide, bouncing off. Almost. Through sheer luck,
skill, or both, one struck its target true, beneath the
thick protective hide, scratching the dragon just enough
to introduce it's powerful poison into his bloodstream.
This, however, went unnoticed by the dragon as he swept
past, still high on adrenaline. Once the foul humans were
cleared out, his anger eventually abated. Exhausted by
his efforts, the young dragon circled the charred
landscape one more time, and finally flew off to a more
secluded area to finish his meal.
***************
The village chief was nearly shouting at Vargo,
expressing his unhappiness at the recent turn of events.
His unit of dragon hunters had finally reached their
destination, eager to find the elusive dragon they hunted.
But ever since they reached this village near the latest
sightings, it had been utter chaos.
"It was horrible, horrible I tell you!!" the
chief was exclaiming, his gaunt body shaking with rage.
He was up in the dragon hunter's face, despite the
efforts of the larger man to put some space between them.
"It came from the skies above and mercilessly
attacked our peaceful villagers! It was awful! We did all
we could to defend ourselves!"
"Is that so?" remarked Vargo, wiping the traces
of saliva off of his cheek, disgusted with the man before
him. The man's rage had seemed genuine enough at first,
but when the seasoned veteran thought about it some more,
there was something lacking there. Something that made
him wonder about this whole thing. "How many from
your village perish? Many women or children?"
"Well - no, my lord" offered the now-calming
man. "Actually, our weak and defenseless managed to
escape the beast, but some of the town's best men
perished from the flames of this foul beast!"
Although his rage had seemed to work itself down, a trace
of hatred was still evident in his eyes to Vargo. That
was one of the things that had bothered him so much: so
much rage from this man, and yet not a hint of remorse or
even fear! One would think that so soon after such a
horrid encounter the average townsman would still be
shaking with fear. This man had been shaking only with
rage.
These facts alone made Vargo suspicious, and curious
enough to inquire about the dead. Questioning this man
was only reassurance of what he already knew. He had
spoken to a few other villagers before their chief came
stalking out of his hut, and already knew that the only
"victims" happened to also be members of the
town garrison.
"Just how did you try and defend yourself from such
a surprise attack, sir?" inquired Vargo once more.
"Surely the surprise of it all left you only to
scrape for whatever weapons were close: swords or clubs,
and perhaps a bow or two if you were lucky."
"Yes, yes that's correct" replied the man
almost too quickly. "It was all we could do to
scrape up a decent defense!!"
That was it. Vargo knew the man was lying now…the
other thing he had already discovered was that all of the
men killed were marksmen with the longbow, well above the
average villager. This combined with the fact that
according to the chief's story, the very dragon he had
been chasing across the countryside for months had
suddenly decided to give up his hiding place to hunt down
villagers? That made no sense whatsoever. He had even
sent word to the village to keep a low profile and not go
near the discovered resting place of this dragon, so his
army could surprise it.
And now everything seemed to indicate that this very
village had disobeyed that request and attacked the
dragon themselves, risking all elements of surprise for
him!
Now it was Vargo who was angry, but not at the dragon
anymore. But yet, he still had a duty to perform, and his
prey had suddenly become even more dangerous in attacking
the townsfolk, provoked or not. If it had done that,
there was no telling what it was capable of. He had to
hunt it down now. The dragon hunter just hoped that the
lizard had not flown off too far from here just yet.
Gathering his thoughts, Vargo proceeded to question more
villagers involved in the attack to find out which
direction the beast had flown.
***************
The dragon's wings seemed to have gotten heavier with
each passing moment. As he flew back to his cave behind
the waterfall, each moment seemed to drag on in slow
motion. A darkness had crept into his body, slowly
seeping its way through his bloodstream from its point of
origin. His mind became foggy, and his vision blurred as
he landed in the small body of water in front of the
entrance.
It took him a few moments to realize that dragonbane had
entered his body somehow…it had to be. Stretching
his neck to look across his body, he saw where the stuff
had entered his body. Right below his left wing, the
small arrow was imbedded underneath his thick, tough
scales. With a concentrated effort, he grasped the shaft
of the arrow and yanked the evil thing from his body.
Using his ancient arts of magic, he closed the wound
cleanly and healed it the best he could. This would do
nothing to the poison's effect, however…it was well
into his body by now.
Shaking his fuzzy head in an attempt to clear the rapidly
growing cobwebs, he attempted to recall what he had heard
about the vile liquid. It was very rare and expensive, so
not many humans possessed it. The stuff could be applied
to any variety of weapons, and tended to last a
reasonable while before evaporating.
Ducking under the cold waterfall refreshed the young
dragon a bit, but only momentarily. The haziness quickly
returned as he crawled into his cave and drug his aching,
weary body inside.
He remembered that dragonbane was not harmful to humans,
which was the valuable thing about it to them; safe for
their use, but not for those on the other end of the
arrowhead. It acted like a rapid poison, spreading
throughout the body via the bloodstream until enough of
it reached the hearts of the scaly victim, slowing it
down to a halt. The only reason he was not dead yet was
because only a small amount had reached him, and he was
quite large for his 250 years of age.
However, he could feel it seep into his body now, filled
with a near paralysis. He struggled to his sleeping place,
and collapsed to the ground. There was no stopping it now:
it was only a matter of time. Wearily, he laid his great,
orange head upon the ground and slowly closed his eyes.
His thoughts drifted to his early years, dreaming of the
stories the elders told about the ancient past. He
thought of the tragedy that struck his race's relations
with the humans, over a great period of time.
It was so utterly tragic what had become of his once
great people, and what had happened to the humans as well.
Intelligent, but not wise enough over long periods of
time. Strangely, as he drifted into his final slumber, he
felt no hatred towards those who brought his death; only
a sense of remorse and pity…if they only knew what
they had done…perhaps things could have been
different.
***************
The sounds of horses thundering across the earth echoed
throughout the valley, the dragon hunters atop them in
grim silence. A dozen men led by their captain steeled
their minds to the task ahead as they raced to the dragon's
hideout.
Vargo studied the path ahead of him as he rode, making
sure he followed the guide from the village close enough
not to lose him, yet far enough back to give himself some
room for error. After talking with the village chief, he
had found out the whereabouts of the dragon's hiding
place from one of the locals. Once some gold had
exchanged hands, the man agreed to lead them to the lair
with the promise that they destroy the foul beast as it
slept once and for all.
His horse's breath was a fog trailing from its nostrils
in the cold winter air, streaming behind the racing
animal as Vargo recalled his conversation. Evidently, the
dragon's lair was not that far from the village,
according to the guide. Close enough to warrant their
fear of it, but yet far away enough to keep them from
picking up and moving altogether.
Barely dodging a low tree branch whipping by his head,
the captain bellowed a warning to those behind him so
that they may evade it as well. The dragon had fled the
village area shortly before he had arrived, he found out
recently. This only fueled his anger further towards the
shifty village chief. If he had only told him that he
knew the whereabouts of the dragon's hideaway and that he
had come just after the attack, he would have had his men
ride immediately, and tried to find the beast before it
fled once more to another location. He only hoped that it
decided to stay put and rest nearby after the skirmish.
Vargo steered his horse to the left and quickly slowed it
to a trot as his guide did ahead of him. The guide
signaled that they would remain at this pace until they
reached the edge of the clearing where the dragon lair
was, moving silently in an attempt to surprise the
creature.
Despite his anger at the chief and even his growing
suspicion of the dragon's "attack" story he had
told, the captain had a job to do. He really didn't
believe that the dragon just attacked the villagers for
no reason, but his lord expected him to do his duty,
regardless of his feelings. And his duty was to protect
his people from any threat, no matter how dangerous.
Motioning for silence to his men behind him, Vargo
cleared his mind of conflicting thoughts and concentrated
on the task at hand.
***************
Shana stood at the edge of the clearing by the cave,
shivering with fear. She had seen the beautiful orange
creature return to its lair as she awoke from her
afternoon nap. The previous encounter had left her so
exhausted she did little but catch her midday meal and
sleep a bit in anticipation of its return. She has awoken
just in time to see it crawl into its cave behind the
waterfall.
However, it did not look nearly as strong and proud as
she remembered it. Had her excitement for the moment
distorted her vision of the huge beast back then? No, she
recalled…it had indeed been that magnificent. But
now something was gravely wrong with it.
Yes, something was definitely wrong as it slumped into
its lair. She wondered what it could be? She nearly
jumped from her seat as a thought occurred to her.
Dragonbane…it HAD to be dragonbane! That was the
only explanation! She did not see any visible wounds on
the creature, and it was in perfect health just that
morning!
That had to be it. Suddenly, she knew what she had to do.
Springing from her seat, she dove into the cold lake
without thought. Splashing to the far shore, she
scrambled up the rocky hillside until she reached the
edge of the cave. Gathering her courage one last time,
her thoughts drifted to her goal. For the good of
dragonkind, and for humankind as well…they had much
to learn from each other still, and she was not about to
let it end this way.
Checking the bottles of liquid at her side she approached
the entrance to the cave, her inner turmoil making her
ignorant to the large dragon hunter approaching from
behind with his troops.
***************
The guide from the village looked on at the events
occurring before him, not realizing the significance of
what was about to occur. Absently, he reached up and
scratched his scruffy chin pondering what to do with the
gold he had just earned.
He saw Vargo approach the foolish girl that had appeared
from nowhere at the mouth of the cave, and casually
watched as he caught up to her with his troops, seeing
the horror on her face as she spun around in surprise.
Ah well…reckless girl would have gotten herself
killed anyhow thought the guide. At least now that awful
dragon would get taken care of everyone would be much
safer. Shivering, he pulled his tattered cloak a bit
closer to shield the cold that ran through his body. The
man then turned his horse about and started back to the
village.
***************
***************
Slowly opening his great reptilian eyes for what seemed
the first time in an eternity, the young dragon slowly
cleared the morning fog out of his mind. He slowly
stretched his orange body inside of his great cavern that
he had found, quite a distance from any human settlement
whatsoever.
As he scratched at the mostly healed wound underneath his
left wing, his companion at his side began to wake as
well. Covered in deep blue scales, she wasn't quite as
large as he had grown so far, but then he was a few dozen
years older. She too stretched as the morning brought her
to full awareness.
He had never suspected that there was another of his kind
alive in the world, much less a female. Not long ago they
had found each other, and taken shelter together and
comfort in each other, both relieved to find that they
were not the last one. Perhaps there were others hidden
in unknown places still, untouched by the humans. Or
perhaps not…one never knew. But at least the
possibility existed, and that was enough to plant a seed
of hope in the both of them.
Sighing, he moved out towards the cave entrance to greet
the new day, his companion close behind. Today was
another day of meeting with the human girl that called
herself Shana. Ever since that incident that had
transpired what seemed like ages ago while he neared
death, they had met to discuss things of the world:
beliefs, ideas, feelings, history, everything. Both
sought to learn as much about each other as possible, and
she wrote down everything she could, to help spread the
knowledge to her fellow humans about dragons. Maybe one
day it would lead to a greater understanding between each
of the races. Maybe.
Her father, the hunter called Vargo, had listened to her
pleas while she clutched the antidote to his poison that
one fateful day. He still could not believe it, but
somehow he was not hunted down that day in his state of
vulnerability. Perhaps if the captain of the dragon
hunters could be brought to understand, others would as
well. Only time would tell.
Stretching their wings, the dragons leapt into the air
for a refreshing morning flight. A thin ray of sunshine
pierced its way through the clouds above, and began to
grow wider ever so slowly.
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