A Broken Compromise

I loomed over the creature before me. Brown circlets of hair framed his face and his bright blue eyes stared up at me unblinking.

“What are you doing outside my home, human?” I growled.

Its jaw fell slack and he dropped the lump of fur that had been in his hands. Its tiny limbs then pushed itself up and it wobbled closer. It reached a grimy little hand out towards my snout, “draggy?”

“Dragon,” I corrected it, taking a step back. I scanned the clearing, trying to spot its caretaker. Surely humans didn’t let their spawn out on their own this little. Hell, I wasn’t allowed unaccompanied until I has fifty, and the tiny one was entirely too soft and squishy in comparison. I was afraid to even breath on it wrong.

Something cold touched my paw and flinched back, staring down at the toddler attempting to climb up my leg. I lifted my claw up, and the child slid back down to the ground. I ignored the cries of the child and made my way to the edge of the tree line. I strained my eyes, but not even they could see deep enough into the forest to spot any other humans.

My elders would kill me if they saw this. We lived by the code that if you wanted to make it to a millennium, you shouldn’t involve yourself with humans. The rule had gotten me a quarter of the way there with no problem already. Yet at my age, I was only a few feet taller than the humans, and quite the adventurer bait for someone who knew their way around a weapon.

I had chosen these mountains because there were no humans. It didn’t stay that way, so when they began to settle in the valley, I kept my distance. I had hoped making myself known to them would deter them. It seemed to only embolden them, and I could tell that neither of us were going to give up the prime location. So, over the past century, we simply ignored each other as a compromise. A compromise that I wanted to keep going…and one that the tiny one was threatening.

Cold hands gripped my tail, sending a shiver down my spine. The child laughed as he poked at one of my spikes. How did humans even survive being so cold. I pushed the child away with the very tail he was playing with.

“Go tiny one, go back to where you came,” I insisted.

I couldn’t make out the babbled words he spoke to me.

“Shoo! Go!” I demanded

The words had the opposite effect than I intended. The toddler staggered back lost its balance. The fall onto it’s rear was enough to push over the tears that were brimming its eyes. Once the tears started, they gushed down his face. Its wails sent birds flying.

“Stop your cries before the whole forest hears you,” I growled.

He needed to stop. I needed him to stop. We were right outside my home, and if his cries brought the humans here, I’d never survive the mob they would send. I could see the pitchforks now, the roars calling me a kidnapper. They were the ones that left their child here, not the other way around, but I’ve never known humans for their reasoning skills.

I flattened myself to the ground, head level with the tiny one in front of me. I nudged his tiny foot with my snout. He brought his head down and opened his tear-filled eyes to look at me. The cries died down and he sniffled at the snot running down his face.

I called upon the fire within to fill my mouth with smoke. I took extra care to line it up perfectly. With a quick exhale, I sent the circle of smoke out. The toddler’s eyes grew wide, watching the smoke ring grow as it barreled towards his face. It passed around him, dispersing into the air. He sat there in shock, blinking.

I scrunched my nose. It had worked on me when I was a hatchling, but now I was doubting its usefulness on humans.

A squeal of delight escaped his lips. With a wide smile, he waved his hands up and down in excitement babbling nonsense. I sent another circle of smoke, bigger this time. The child grabbed at it. The ring crumbled around him, sending him into a fit of giggles. They were contagious, a low rumble of a laugh coming out of me. I tried to send a final smoke ring towards him but laughing made it impossible. The remaining smoke billowed out, blanketing the child.

Our laughter died down with the smoke. I stood up and the child followed, wobbling its way over to me like it was on a mission. That very mission was made clear to me as he latched on to my nostrils. Startled, I reared my head back, dragging him with me. He let out a gleeful squeal as he was waved through the air in my desperate attempts to get him off.

I lowered my head back to the ground and let out a puff of smoke through my nose. The child let go and plopped down on the ground. He quickly stood up and reached back out. I scooted back to avoid the little grabbers just in time.

At this rate, this toddler was going to kill me before the mobs were.

Speaking of which, something needed to be done about this toddler. He could barely walk let alone find a way back on its own. So, I could either let the humans inevitably come here looking for the child or get it as far away from me and my home. If they came here I would either be forced to leave my den for a new home to die a bloody death at the feet of the tiny one. I wasn’t too keen on either option, so delivering the child, or at least taking it closer to its kin and further from me, seemed like the best solution.

“I have to get you back to other humans,” I sighed.

I scooped the child up in my paw before taking to the sky.

I scanned the horizon for any sign of other humans. There was no movement, but I picked up a smell to the south. It was faint, but it was there.

The little creature clung to my clawed fingers. His wails getting lost in the air soaring past them. I headed south, following the smell of humans. The child’s cries grew loader and more desperate. I looked down to the child and saw the tears streaming down. The terrified face caused me to pause. He buried his face into the palm of my hand, refusing to look at the ground below.

I drifted to the ground. I opened my hand and in response he clung even harder. He let out a muffled cry into her palm.

“Hey now,” I cooed, “It’s okay, we’re on the ground,”

He slowly lifted his head from hiding. Once seeing he was on the ground, he scrambled out of my paw. He sat on the ground heaving air in, no tears left to cry and too shocked to make any noise. I shifted on my feet and adverted my eyes.

My nose scrunched at the smell that was in the air. It was the human smell mixed with that of metal, of rust. I turned my head more to the source and froze.

There were three carts. One was flipped on its side, its contents ransacked. The others were standing up but hardly in any better shape than the other one. Supplies and rations were strewn about. When I spotted the first body, I glanced back at her tiny rider. He sat there none the wiser, beginning to fiddle with one of the twigs by his side.

I took a step towards the scene—

“I’m telling you he’s not here,”

I shrank back into the cover of the brush. I peered through the foliage, spotting the three men who walked up to the scene. They were clad in worn leather armor with swords hanging at their hips.

“And I’m telling you he said not to return without him, so we’re searching again.” The two of them argued back and forth, while the third one was searching through the carts.

“I’m not even sure that kid can stand on his own, let alone walk, and you’re trying to tell me he’s not here?”

I glanced back at my tiny rider. They were looking for him. I looked back at men assessing them. They had begun riffling through the carts, throwing supplies across the path. A purple cloth was tossed to the side. I watched it fall. It caught on the shaft of an arrow. I followed it down to the neck it was jutted out of. The man’s blank eyes bore into mine. He was in chainmail and a metal breast plate bearing the land’s crest.

“I ain’t gonna be the one to tell the boss we lost him,” One of the men huffed.

These men were already looking for the toddler. I had only planned to take the tiny one away from my den, and closer to the humans. Leaving the tiny one here would complete that mission and then some. It wouldn’t take long for the men to find him once I left and then the tiny one would be back in human hands and out of my scales.

“Draggy?”

My head snapped back to the toddler. He had gotten over his first taste of flying and was stumbling his way over to me.

“Hey, did you hear that?”

The toddler sputtered to a stop, panic set into its face. I froze, watching the toddler run to me. I turned my head back to the men heading my way. I locked eyes with one. He stopped in his tracks and held his arm up for his companions to do the same. The blade hissed as he pulled it from its sheath.

I stared at the cold metal.

Without another though I pushed off the ground and shot to the skies.

The child’s cries grew distant on the wind as I traveled back to my den. I did my best to ignore them, but they echoed in my ears. I landed back in the clearing where it all began. It was just a human, the whole affair would be forgotten by the next full moon.

I took in a deep breath, a scent filling my nose. One of the smells from the carts. She inched towards it, towards her den. She slinked in, scanning each inch of her cavern.

Near my nest and surrounded by my hoard of trinkets stood the human. Her back was turned towards me, her armor glistening in the rays of sunlight that made their way into the cave. The same crest I saw at the carts was engraved into it.

The rusty smell—blood was on her, fresh too. I eyed the dried red specks on her armor as I took as step closer. My claws clinked against the stone, the small sound amplifying through the silent cavern.

The human spun around, raising her sword immediately. The human barred her teeth in a snarl, “You.”

I took a step back, wings raised and fire building in my throat.

“What did you do with him?” The human growled.

I eyed the blade in her hand, watching every slight movement it made. I took another step back. The woman matched each step I took with a step forward.

I flicked my eyes up to meet hers before returning them to the blade, “You are trespassing,”

The woman blinked several times, an ear tilted towards the me as I spoke the words. She recovered quickly though, the scowl returning to her face.

“Where is the child?”

“What child?” I feigned ignorance.

“I know he was here,” She barked, lowering the blade to display what she held in her other hand. A stuffed toy rabbit hung limp in her grasp, the very one the tiny rider dropped when it saw her.

I scanned the room. I needed the advantage of space, to get out of the cramped halls of my cave. It was a plus if the fighting wasn’t done in the home I had worked hard on. “I sent him back down the mountain,”

The human’s brought her sword back up, “You left him in the woods alone?” She scolded.

I flinched back, tucking in my wings, “He was alone when I found him. At least I left him with other humans.” I countered.

The blow missed its mark, being ignored entirely, “You took him to the village?” There was a panic setting in her voice.

“No—” I began, and the woman’s eyes grew wide, “Back down at your carts—”

The woman’s heart pounded so hard I could hear it, “What did they look like? Did they bare the crown’s crest?”

“No, they wore dark leather armor with—"

“How dare you,” She spat.

“How dare I?” I surged up, closing the space between us. She shrunk back. She winced and held her side, “Where were you when I awoke to a child on my doorstep all by himself? I did what any reasonable dragon would and got it the hell away from me.”

“That ‘it’ is the crowned prince,” she said through clenched teeth.

The fire in my belly sputtered. The cloths, the armor, the expensive carts. It all hit me like a ton of bricks. I had left the prince with—who had I left the prince with.

“The vagabonds, who call themselves rebels, you handed him to will kill him. And once I rip them apart, I will skin you alive and use the scales for a new set of armor.”

The words struck through me. No, certainly they wouldn’t kill the tiny one. They had only mentioned taking him elsewhere, to someone. The humans would never kill one of their own offspring, would they?

“They would,” The human growled.

I hadn’t even meant to say the words aloud.

“Did you see the carnage and think they would stop there? I brought him up here to keep him safe away from them.” The woman scoffed, “You should’ve kept out of this, hatchling,”

I wanted to be mad at the human’s words, to defend myself, but I stood there frozen in place. The human walked down the cavern to leave, limping with every step. A feeling washed over me that I couldn’t place.

“Wait,” I called out after her.

The human stopped and glanced over her shoulder, waiting for me to continue. She was already wounded. I wasn’t even sure if the human could make it back down the mountain to the carts, let alone wherever the prince was taken to.

“Let me help you,” I proposed.

“And why would I even want your help,”

“You’ll don’t know where they’ll take him,” I was going out on a limb, “Not only can I track him by his scent—” I nodded to the toy in her hands, “But I’ll help you get him back.”

The woman pondered the words, “What do you want out of it,”

“I help you and you and your kind don’t try to kill me. Preferably stay off this mountain entirely,”

She let out a dry laugh, “You’re the one who created this mess,”

“Then by all means go see how far down that mountain you can go with that wound. And when you die on the same soil as your companions, there will be no one else to get to the prince in time.”

The woman clenched her jaw, a fire I recognized burned behind the woman’s eyes. She looked me up and down with an assessing gaze. “Are you big enough to even take me there?”

I huffed, a puff of smoke trailing up, “I have carried meals that were bigger than you,” I assured.

The human knit her eyebrows together. She bit the corner of her lip before letting out a sigh, “Let’s go then,”

I followed her out to the clearing and lowered to the ground. The woman climbed up with a short painful yelp. “Are you okay?”

“I fine,” She snapped defensively.

I waited for the human to get situated on my back before turning my head back to sniff the toy. “Hold on tight,” I warned before taking off into the sky. The knight didn’t say a word but gripped tightly to my neck.

I followed the scent trail back to the scene of the attack. I hovered over the carts, not seeing the men. I went down, landing among the wreckage they had made. I went back to the spot I left the toddler, a small hope that he would still be there, hidden. The hope was crushed swiftly but the scent was fresh, along with the three men she had encountered.

“Can you smell him?” The woman asked.

I turned her head in the direction of the scent, “Yes,”

“Then let’s go,” The woman urged, but I stayed there on the ground. The scent headed towards the village.

“What’s the hold up?” She asked, the impatience dripping from her words.

“Nothing,” I dismissed. In a swift movement I pushed back off the ground and with a flap of my wings was launched back into the wind. I dove towards the valley. It only took a few minutes to reach the bottom of the valley. I landed away from the village. I could already hear the murmuring of nearby farmers and villagers,

“I don’t know if I can go any further, the tiny one is somewhere in the village,”

The knight said nothing for a moment. I had tried to pick a secluded spot to land at, but there were still many eyes staring at us. The knight must’ve seen them too, her hand resting on the hilt of her sword on her hip.

“Anything else?” The woman asked.

I stopped scanning to stare at the village up the path, “The scent doesn’t go past the village, and it’s fresh. They can’t be too deep into town,”

I caught movement in the corner of my eye.

“There’s a group coming up,” The woman warned.

“I know,”

It was a few farmers, tentatively approaching with their axes and shovels, and any other tool they could find. Their eyes soon landed on the knight atop my back, and they lowered their improvised weapons.

“Hello,” The knight called out to them. Her weight shifted, getting ready to dismount. I lowered myself to help her down—a cry hit my ears. I shot back up, the woman grasping frantically for a hold.

“Did you hear that?” I asked.

I ignored the shocked looks on the farmers faces and glanced back at the knight. Her bewildered look told me she hadn’t, and for a moment, I doubted.

The cry split through the air again. Even with a roaring wind around her ears I would recognize that cry. I shot into the sky, darting to the village. I scanned the streets, trying to spot find the tiny one. I looked back at the knight, who stared at me with wide eyes.

I heard a man’s voice yelling over the toddler, trying to get him to shut up. I spotted them, outside a tavern. The tiny one squirmed in the man’s arms as they were entering the building.

The toddler looked up and saw us in the air. It stretched its small arms out to us, the shriek he let out echoed through the town, “Draggy!”

The prince wasn’t the only one screaming. The villagers closest to us were yelling out, the panic not yet reaching the rest of the village. The man holding the prince looked up with wide eyes, before dashing into the closest building he saw.

I glanced down to see the spear shoot up at us. I veered out of its way easily, the knight’s arms gripping tightly on my scales. She yelled at the people below commanding them to stop on behalf of the crown. The attempts were futile, especially as I dove down onto the village streets.

I landed on the cobblestone and the knight took no hesitation in sliding off my back.

The streets erupted into screams. I ignored them, barreling myself through the door to follow the child’s screams. Wood splintered across the room and the patrons flinched back. I looked past the people scrambling out the back. There was a cry, and my head snapped to it. They were part of the group going out the back. I followed them, knocking between the walls and the fleeing villagers as I squeezed myself through.

I tucked my wings in tight as I shot through the door. I turned on the spot, down the alley way they had gone. I kept my eyes on the head of golden-brown curls. I snaked through the stone alleyways, knocking over everything in my path.

The man had distance built up, able to squeeze his way through better than I. He slowed to a stop, and it only gave me the final push to go faster. I was so close, the man almost in range—men flooded from the intersecting alleyways. I skidded to a stop. These weren’t villagers, all wore the same leathers.

I surveyed my surroundings. The knight made ran up behind me, heaving in air. Six men, counting the one holding the prince. He had begun backing away from the scene. I snarled at him, and he broke out into a full run away from the ambush he had set.

Smoke poured from my nostrils as I looked at the men around us. I glanced back to the knight. There was determination on her face, one I knew wouldn’t let anything in the way of getting the tiny one, and I was determined to fix my wrong.

She gave me a curt nod and I returned it before launching into my attack.

My claws glided through the first one quickly. I released a bought of smoke, covering the alleyway in a smokescreen.

“Go!” I barked at the woman.

She wasted no time making her way through. A man lunged toward the knight. I rammed into him, slamming him against the wall. He slumped to the ground, a moan escaping his lips. The sting of the blade racked down my side, and I spun back to the three remaining. My tail pushed two back as my teeth sunk into the remaining one.

Blood filled my mouth, the metallic taste lingering long after I had moved on to the last two. The fire inside was raging, desperate to climb its way out. Smoke billowed from my mouth as I decided which one to attack first.

The one on the left made a desperate attempt at slashing at me. His blade grazed me as my claws ribboned his torso. The remaining one was already scrambling down the alleyway. I bounded after them, and when he looked back and saw me, he let out a high-pitched shriek.

He tripped and fell on to the cobblestone. I pounced on him, sinking my teeth into his throat before pulling back. He stared up at me, gasping, gurgling on what air he was able to get in. His blood dripped from my mouth back onto his shredded neck. The gapping stopped and he stared past me. I slowly backed away, before bounding after the knight and toddler.

The alley way led out into the streets of the village. I surrounded once more by a mob of villagers. Swords and makeshift weapons were pointed at her all the same.

Someone from the crowd lunged and I sidestepped the spear that came at me. There were roars of protest, as others began to close in. I reared back and used my hind legs to spring into the air. I made it just above the rooftops when I looked down to see the wave of javelins and spears following me through the air. I avoided one and sent myself into the trajectory of another. The javelin bore into my chest. I let out a roar into the air, fire exploding from my mouth.

I tried to spot the knight among the city, but I was losing the altitude I had gained, each beat of my wings draining the energy I had left. I dropped fast and hit the ground hard, skidding across the cobblestone. I got back to my feet, staggering as I tried to distance myself from the mob.

I took in a deep breath, pain radiating all over my body. The fire wasn’t as strong as it had been, but I released it, drawing a line between me and the crowd. The roar of the fire began to drown out the angry cries of the villagers.

I frantically looked side to side, trying to find any sign to where the knight could’ve gone. As if sensing my thoughts, the knight appeared on the street, emerging from one of the alleyways. I spotted the bundle in her arms. Everything stood still. The prince peaked his head out locking eyes with me. Every worry washed away, as I met them in the middle of the street.

The prince squirmed in the knight’s arm, reaching out to me. He grabbed my snout and pulled me close. We sat there for a moment. I pulled back and mustered enough smoke to send a tiny smoke ring his way. His face lit up in a smile that took all the heat from my veins.

I let out a sigh, a small smile forming.

“My gods,”

I turned to the knight; her eyes fixated on the spear jutting out of me. She tore her eyes away to look at the mob making their way around the wall of fire.

“Go,” The knight declared. She adjusted the prince in her arms and met my questioning gaze, “Go now, I’ll grant you your deal. Just go before they get to you.”

We shared a look, an unspoken communication.

I gave a nod, “don’t let him out of your sight again,”

“You’re on thin ice,” The knight grumbled.

The shouts of the mob were growing loader. Triumphant cries told me my time was growing short.

“Goodbye tiny one,” I said, putting my forehead to his one final time.

His smile disappeared as I backed away from them. I turned away, unable to look at those bright blue eyes any longer. My wings pushed hard to get momentum. I made my way over the town to the woods, my movements jerky. I glanced back at the growing fire that stained the evening sky. Not even my eyes could see the two anymore.

I had only made it halfway back to my den when my wings wavered. The edges of my vision were dark, and each blink was longer than the last. My wings gave out and I crashed into the mountain side. I didn’t even try to get up from the grove I had etched into the forest floor from my fall. A heaviness sunk into my body; one I couldn’t fight.

The prince was back with the knight.

I had broken ever rule my elders made, but my conscious was free.

He was safe.

The man stopped his horse at the edge of the clearing. He moved no further, wondering if he was really going to do this. The mountain air whipped around him, and he fought to keep the dark curls out of his face. He glanced down at the steep hills he had come from and quickly looked away, shifting in his saddle.

There was a rumble from the mountain that shook the earth. His horse reared back, and he commanded it forward again, soothing it with pats on the neck. The mountain’s owner lingered in the shadows of the gigantic cave opening.

She slowly stepped out into the light; her iridescent red scales glistened with the setting sun. She spotted him, slithering out of the cave with a snarl. She towered over him, the size of six men. She stood tall, unfurling her wings. They spanned the length of the clearing, casting him in shadow.

“You should know better than to be on my mountain, human,” The words were a hiss in his ear, the sound echoing through his head.

There was no backing out now. He kept eye contact with her as he demounted. He shifted on his feet, adjusting his armor. She lowered her long neck to get a better look at him, tilting her head. She narrowed her eyes, scanning the one before her.

He looked up at her in awe. His eyes lingered on a line absent of scales along her ribs. The skin was hardened leather, and somehow the scar looked harder to penetrate than her scales. A similar patch sat on her shoulder, only a small circle compared to the gash. His eyes glanced up to meet hers once more. They were a dark with specks of bright red, like a volcano waiting to be unleashed through the cracks of a mountain.

He cleared his throat, “I believe we’ve met once,”

She looked into his eyes, her own turning softer, “Tiny rider,” She recalled with fondness.

He let out an uneasy chuckle, “I don’t remember much of any of it.”

“Why are you here Prince?” The dragon asked.

“It’s King now,” He corrected, standing a bit taller, “I’ve just had my coronation,” The man started.

“Congratulations, but it does not answer my question, your highness,”

“I needed to see you for myself,” He admitted, “Grand Knight Alder told me stories but—"

“How is she?” The dragon asked.

“Good,” He nodded, “Finally convinced her to retire, but she’s good,”

The dragon nodded, tucking in her wings, and sat down before him.

“I’ve been told you do not leave the mountain,” He started, glancing over the forest.

“I do my best to leave humans alone…unless toddlers show up on my doorstep,” She chuckled.

He laughed, “Alder never forgave herself for falling asleep that morning,”

“One of the greatest questions of the universe is how you managed to get all the way here on your tiny legs all those years ago,” She shook her head, “How long has it been, tiny one,”

“Nearly 30 years,” He met her eye, “And I would not have had them if not for you,”

“I do not—” She began to protest.

“I came to thank you, Dragon,” He pulled out a scroll of paper from his belt and presented it to her, “I have spoken with the villagers, down in the valley. They will not harm you, and neither will any villager in our lands. You have freedom to the skies beyond this mountain,”

She looked between the King and the paper.

“This time it is written in law, no longer an unspoken rule. You are protected as long as you bring no harm,”

She took the tiny page between her claws, “thank you, tiny rider”

“I am no longer the baby I once was. I’m actually quite tall among my peers,” The King corrected her with a smile.

She stood tall, looming over the man in front of her, “Really? Because where I stand it’s almost as if you have gotten even smaller,”

He let out a hearty laugh. “You must see how your perspective can be a little skewed.”

She laughed with him before lowering herself back down to him.

The King went to retrieve his horse, “I shall let you enjoy the skies as you see fit. I would ask to join you if I wasn’t deathly afraid of heights.”

“I fear I may have been the cause of that, tiny rider” She admitted.

He blinked and his mouth fell open, “I fear I may not have been getting the full story from my Grand Knight,”

“You might rewrite the laws if you knew what all happened,” The dragon joked.

“Well now I must hear this story!” He declared.

She narrowed her eyes, assessing the King, before nestling into the grass of the clearing, “Well, it all started with you and your babbling waking me up from my favorite afternoon nap…”