Veronica Wiley

Spirit of the Dragon

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.” He said with a somber expression that made the wrinkles in his weathered face grow deeper beneath his bushy gray eyebrows and peppered beard that framed his chiseled jaw. Her father was handsome and wise, like any merchant sailor should be to navigate the violent seas. Diona turned her attention back to the ocean where the stars danced over the face of the water in fleeting glints. All the stars were out tonight, and the ocean swayed the ship with gentle rocking waves creating a calmness she wasn’t used to, but even with its lulling oscillation, she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight. In just three days they would be home and she’d be able to see her mother again. At only 9 years old, her father wanted her to begin joining him on his journeys. He and her mother had been unable to have any more children after she was born and so he had no son. But that wasn’t an issue for them, they loved her just as much as they’d have loved a son and her father taught her all he knew. Like he was now about the dragons.