The age old story of humans verus dragons with a slight twist. A teaser of a work in progress.
The ruins of a once prosperous town lay before my young eyes. Flames are still crawling across the ground towards me. Rainbows of colored flames burn in the village below. Green flames still climb the frames of the houses that once stood in the plaza. Blue flames float on the surface of the docks where the ships were anchored. The road that lead away from town was laced with remnants of red flames. The bricks of the fortified walls burned with an intense white flame. The white flames burn as bright as the stars above. But the temple is what holds my gaze the longest. I can only see the black flames on this dark night because the other flames provided a background. The temple windows are engulfed with flames and the bricks seem to glow from the inside out.
I have been safe from my viewpoint, locked in the cell of the Lord’s manor. But now I see the flames drawing nearer to me and I realize that I will soon be a sacrifice as well. So I hold witness to what has happened here in less then a day’s time. By scribing this, I realize that I am as guilty as those corpses below. For scribing is the crime that put me in this cell and worse, it was the cause of this horrific scene. Perhaps my confession will stand as the truth of the moment and prevent its repetition.
The whole mess started this very morning. I was still a free woman at the time. I am of poor blood and by no means claim nobility. But my mother taught me the arts of the nobles, those being scribing and reading. My mother had always warned to keep my abilities secretive from the Lord of the manor. My indiscretion of this morning started when the Lord caught me scribing my unusual events of the week before. For presuming to be as good as the nobles and priests, I received ten good lashings and was sent back to work. With my punishment received, I worked harder than I had in a long time, but I was thankful that the Lord didn’t read what I had scribed. For the information on the tablet told of my many nights and rest days in the forest with a dragon.
I had been told the stories and warnings of the evil dragons that roamed our land since I was a child. I heeded those warnings as all the others did. But on the occasion, several months ago, that I was lost in the forest; I came across an injured baby dragon. At first I was scared, as well I should have been. The dragon made the most horrible sounds. Curiosity caused me to approach the horse-sized animal. Slowly, I stepped closer to the forbidden beast and saw the cause of its distress. One wing was high in the air and flapping at me, but the other was bent at an odd angle. Without concern for my safety, I closed the distance between the beast and I.
I set the bone in the wing with the ease of many years practice. A branch was lying on the ground nearby. I retrieved the branch from the ground and used it to splint the wing so the bones wouldn’t shift if the dragon tried to instinctively used it to regain it’s balance and a vine to tie the splint to the wing. Before I knew it, the dragon’s wing was still and the forest was silent.
I stood back and looked at the dragon with a new amazement. The dragon wasn’t really one color but many shades of green. The back was a deep dark forest green the wings were a lighter shade of the same forest green. His head was silver; yes I was quite sure that it was a male dragon. A lighter grass color of green colored his muscled legs and when he reared back I could see that his stomach glittered from a light silver to a deeper green.
“Well you are a fine beast aren’t you?” I surprised myself with my voice. “What am I doing?”
I started to walk away when I heard a voice speak to me.
“What is your name, human?”
Startled, I spun towards the dragon and had to watch as the dragon repeated his inquiry.
“Are you mute, human? Do you not understand my words? I am Lucious, what is your name?”
My voice trembled but I answered the dragon with a well-rehearsed reply. “I’m just a humble serf and my name is of little consequence but I’m called Fina.”
“Child, you are indeed a brave soul to console me during such a cancerous mood as I have expressed. None of your kind have ever been so kind and considerate to mine. Therefore you are truly worthy to be called by your name. From henceforth, I shall be indebted to you; shy Fina.”
“You, sir, can not be indebted to a humble serf. For I have no worth than which my lord feels fit to bestow upon me.”
“Fina, you have the value of a true heart and therefore I find value in you. But I shall not argue with you back and forth of such things. Only ask of you a favor. Could you, only being a simple serf, slip away from your lord once a day?”
His words ignited a fury in my heart that I hadn’t felt since the day my mother informed me of our lowly status among men. I glared into the dragon’s eyes and saw for a moment what I thought to be a humorous glint. That was the first time that I realized that the dragon was capable of the same emotions we humans were prone to having. Not believing my instincts, I answered the dragon in the affirmative. That was how I came to spend the next season sharing my afternoons in the company of a dragon.
As with all things it took time for the wing to mend. During this time, I brought the dragon tidbits of our daily meal. Lucious politely accepted my offerings but he required more then I was able to pilfer from the lord’s table. He told me of a Shepard near by that often slept in the afternoon sun. I was able to poach several sheep from his flock without notice. The sheep feed him until he was able to at least walk and retrieve his own food.
Lucious was an amiable conversationalist. We spoke of all things human and dragon alike. Many times during our afternoon interludes, I felt as if he and I were very alike. We both strived for a place above our classes. Lucious even told my of the dragon structures.
“Even we dragons have classes. You see I am a young green dragon. Those of us born with the hue of green are destined to be Guardians. We live in the forests as they hide us better from our predators sight. There are blue dragons that live deep in the waves of the waters. They are the Guides of our kind. In the dry deserts of this world, the dragon Sages live. They keep our wisdom throughout the generations. Above the earth, high in the coldest mountains and only high above the clouds do the rarest of dragons live. They are the white dragons and they are the Keepers of our secrets. But it is none of these that I worry about as much as the dragons that wear black scales. They are the Tricksters. You see Fina, it is easy to identify the mark of a dragon by his flame. The color of the flame left behind is the color of the dragon that let it loose. This is true for all except the black dragons. They are tricksters because they can change the body of their flame to be the color of any other dragon. The only way for you to tell is to have an experienced eye. Watch for the edge of the color. That betrays the black dragon’s flame, as the outside is always black as the hide of the dragon that created it.”
Lucious had been lost in his story until I spoke to him and broke his concentration. Then he looked upon me with a weary eye, as if he had said too much. He then asked me to leave for the day. I felt his concern on my leave so I did not record what he had told me that day in my scribing. I kept it written in my heart and only there. Perhaps that was the saving grace as the next day, I was throw into the cell of my lord for treason to his house. Consorting with dragons was a crime above all others I may have committed. This along with my numerous scribing gave the lord all the reason he could ever want to lock me away, not that he needed one.
The events of that horrid day are still firmly in mind. It started with an accusation on my head. The lord accused me of stealing his bread. Then the day turned worse as I was throw in this damp and musty cell to watch as the lord ransacked my modest living space. When he found my scrolls, my heart cried to an unforgiving God. The master beat me raw before he read the scrolls. But my punishment truly began when the lord left me to read the proof of my crimes. He returned with a group of fighting villagers that ran into the woods with axes, swords, knifes and anything that could resemble a weapon. My heart beat with sorrow and anxiety waiting for their return. Triumphant yells preceded their arrival in the lord’s fields. I saw in the hand of the lord what could only be the tooth of a dragon.
My lips exclaimed in a deadly whisper, “Lucious has fallen to my stupidity.”
My tears wet the ground and the world turned dark. I thought at first that it was the heaviness of my heart that changed day into night. But as night fell on the victory feast, I saw the glimmer of the first flame burst from the sky. Then there were dragons everywhere. In an strange way, it was a beautiful sight to behold. Colors engulfed the world that I had known since my birth. These events lead to where I, now, sit; in the dungeon of my lord’s house; as everything around me burn to the ground.
The ancient kings of Whitehawk were all too aware of the temptation of magic. They could feel its threat, a presence in their courts, a serpent slithering at their feet, even entering into their beds.
To de
Born of their seeds, kingdom will rise against kingdom, one will hold great mysteries, one will turn the tide and one will not be bound. War is fought, not only on the field but also within the mind. Nothing is what it seems take nothing for granted.
