Beyond the Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. In fact, there was seldom anything new. The Valley itself was wrapped by steep mountains that were almost impossible to climb. Beyond the mountains, a variety of monsters made their home in the surrounding forest, and had only grown in numbers over the years. Almost no one ventured into the forest for this reason, and even if they did, the narrow entrances to the Valley were blocked off by walls of stone meant to keep the monsters out.

In the middle of the Valley, next to its gushing river and fertile soil, was a village. The village had existed for a long time before the monsters had inhabited the forests. Although how isolated it was from the rest of the world, it managed to carry on, through some luck but mostly hard work. Even knowing they were trapped, the villagers were quite content with their lives. They hardly went hungry, except for some periods during the winter, and no bandits or lords bothered them. Many villagers felt bored seeing the same faces and sights day after day, but they knew boredom was one of the better problems to have. Still, many villagers wished that something exciting or unexpected would happen, breaking the monotony of their daily lives. But when two dragons landed next to the village one clear, sunny day, it proved a bit too unexpected for the villagers.

I suppose in actuality, it made sense. Only extraordinary visitors could make their way into the Valley. So it was only ordinary the visitor would be extraordinary. But still, being confronted by creatures as big as your house was anything but ordinary. Many villagers hid, and parents told their children to go into their rooms. A couple of brave and strong villagers picked up whatever they can hold and swing, and gathered where the dragons had landed, carefully observing what the creatures would do.

The villagers were frightened, and many cursed themselves for wishing something exciting to happen. They clutched their weapons harder and raised them further when the dragons looked at them, but they knew that it was strictly up to the dragon to decide their fate. Upon sensing their fear, one of the dragons laughed. For how loud the laugh was, the laugh was quite disarming, like a laugh a grandfather would make after seeing his grandchildren doing something silly. After the laugh, it spoke. “Now, now, we don’t mean no harm. I apologize for making such a noisy landing. Did we destroy anything when we landed?... Nope, doesn’t look like it, that’s good. Landings after a long flight are always a hard one... I have to say, this is a beautiful village you have here, it is even more of a marvel when you look at it from above, especially on a clear sunny day like today,” while speaking the blue dragon looked around the village, taking in the scenery.

By now, people were less fearful but much more confused. They were surprised to hear the dragon speak at all, but were surprised even more at how it spoke. After all, when a dragon would speak in a bedtime story, the parents would give them coarse, scary voices. Not only that, dragons always talked about eating some poor kid or stealing some treasure. This dragon, however, spoke of weather and concerns that it left the villagers dumbfounded. Furthermore, as they took several steps back and saw the creature in full, it looked quite cute! While it had scales like a lizard, its shade was a beautiful blue, its eyes were round and full like that of a dog, and its tail was covered in fur, giving it an appearance like a broom. Its companion had a much more elegant appearance, with its green scales fitting each other perfectly and giving off a magnificent glow. The fur it had around its neck made it resemble a lion, giving a sense of regality and wiseness. While it didn’t speak like its companion, they couldn’t feel any hostility in its gaze.

The blue dragon waited for a response, but upon receiving none, cleared its throat, “Ahem, now is there a leader or a representative I may talk to?”

From the crowd, a small figure made its way through. An old man emerged from the crowd after some ‘excuse me’s and squeezing through the villagers. He had raised a stick to use it as a weapon when the dragons landed, but now it was serving as a cane, which it was more suited for anyways.

“Oh, great dragons! I am this village’s elder, for what reason are you visiting this village?” the elder asked.

The dragon laughed once more, “Haha, there is no reason for such formality, I’m not much for such things, and my friend back here doesn’t speak your language, so it wouldn’t matter much, would it? We simply wish to stay here to rest. We have been flying for a long time, and your Valley looked just the right size to do so. Of course, we will compensate you for the inconvenience, and we promise to settle some distance away from the village and cause no trouble,” the dragon assured.

Then, from the claws of the dragon emerged a pouch big as a sack of flour. It placed the pouch on the ground, and from it spilled gold coins with splendor that matched the noon sun. The villagers were mesmerized, but the elder scratched his chin, “We thank you for your gesture, but our village is isolated from the outside. I’m afraid we don’t have much use for gold coins. If you only wish to stay and cause us no harm, then you are welcome to do so.”

The dragon scratched his head in response, “Well, I suppose you have a point, very well. I thank you for your hospitality, please don’t even think of us as being here.”

The dragons began to walk off, the green dragon walked much faster than the blue one, as it was more eager to be away from the villagers. A couple of steps in, the blue dragon turned its head, “Oh, by the way, those aren’t gold coins, they are chocolate. I figured it would be a better gift.” Then it trotted off, to catch up with its companion.

Most villagers were puzzled, what was this chocolate? Was it some precious metal from foreign lands, or was it some relic that held some unbelievable power? Only the elder understood the weight behind the word. He picked up one of the coins. And peeled the gold wrapping, then bit into the coin. Upon tasting the first chocolate he had ever since the village was isolated, a tear rolled down his cheek. Soon more villagers joined in and asked for a bite too. Most still couldn’t fully comprehend now that they were dragons living in the Valley, but each bite of the chocolate made them feel that their arrival wouldn’t be all bad.

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The sun had set, but the moon shone upon the valley so brightly that its splendor was still in full display. The bright green grass now shimmered in dark blue, matching the night sky chock full of stars. The green dragon had already fallen into a deep slumber, but the blue dragon stared at the flickering lights coming from the village with one of its eyes open. Then, it saw a small girl attempting to sneak from a distance. It perked up a bit in response and when it did the girl hid behind a rock, trying to escape its gaze. The blue dragon whispered to not wake up its partner, and called out to the girl, “Do you need something from me? If so, come closer so we can talk quietly, the dragon back there gets quite cranky when its sleep is interrupted.”

After a bit, the girl peeked out from behind the rock but still seemed reluctant to approach, and hid behind the rock once more. Not hearing anything for a while, the girl peeked once more and was met with a giant eye staring back at her right in front of her. She almost screamed, but then the dragon plugged her mouth with a piece of bread. The bread took many chews to swallow, and the dragon curled up near her in the meantime. By the time she was able to chew a bit and appreciate its flavor, she was calmed down.

“Now, what’s a small kid like you doing staying up so late?”, the dragon asked. The girl tried to answer back with her mouth still filled with bread.

“Hm…You shouldn’t speak with your mouth full, it’s considered bad manners, didn’t your parents teach you that?”

The girl swallowed the last bit and responded, “I don’t have any parents.”

The dragon was taken aback, “Huh, well, I am sorry to hear that,” it apologized.

“It’s okay,” the girl responded.

“Here have another piece,” the dragon handed another piece of bread to the girl, which she started chewing.

“So did the village enjoy the chocolate?” the dragon asked. The girl chewed faster to swallow the bread so she can answer the dragon.

“Yup, it was really tasty, but the adults said kids only get one a day now. I think they just want it for themselves.”

The dragon chuckled, “That may very well be so.”

The dragon watched as the girl gobbled up bite after another. The night was getting deeper, but the girl showed no sign of being sleepy. The dragon was a bit tired from its journey, but it enjoyed watching the girl eat, so it was content.

“Can I ask you something?” the girl questioned.

“Sure, but I only answer questions I like”, the dragon replied.

“Is it true that dragons eat humans?” the girl whispered.

“What made you think that?” the dragon asked back.

“Old man Osgar told us that dragons can only speak like humans after they eat a hundred people,” the girl explained.

“Haha! It’s true, and if a dragon eats a thousand humans, it is able to be as gullible as one too!”

“Really?”

The dragon paused for a bit, to process her response. “No, the reason we can speak like humans, is because we learned to do so when we were human.”

“You were a human? How did you become a dragon? Can I be a dragon too?” the girl asked eagerly.

“Now, now, if I just went around telling people how to become a dragon, everyone would become a dragon! Then nobody would fit in their little homes, and all the poor craftsmen would have to waste their time making furniture too big for anyone’s taste.”

“Hmph! You’re no fun!” the girl pouted.

“Haha, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But why would you want to become a dragon? You become too big to crawl under a comfy blanket and make a ruckus anywhere you go.”

“Because you can fly! You can go anywhere you want to go!”

“That's true, but you also can go anywhere you want to go, little girl. Sure, it might take a bit longer than flying, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”

“I can’t leave the valley without flying, no one can.”

“Hm? Why not?”

“The adults tell me the valley is surrounded by scary monsters that will eat any humans.”

“Is that so? Did you see the monsters yourself?”

“Of course not, I would have to climb over the rocks by the entrance to the valley, and if I did, I would get eaten the second I do!”

“I suppose you’re right. Still, I would feel very curious, and I would want to see if it was true with my own eyes.”

“Bleh! That’s because you’re a huge dragon that doesn’t need to be afraid of anything! I’m just a little girl!”

“Haha, I suppose you have a point, I apologize.”

“Whatever, it’s fine,” while she accepted the apology, the girl looked away from the dragon, trying her best to show that it really wasn’t fine.

“Hm…you still seem mad, how about I tell you about the places I visited both on wings and feet as an apology? Would that make you feel better?”

The girl perked up in excitement but forced herself to calm down to not show it. “Hmph! Maybe…”

“Haha, great! Anywhere particular you want to know about?”

The girl thought for a bit, then shook her head.

“Hm… is that so? Well, I suppose I can always start with the land of the elves.”