DragonHeart

Dragons don’t hide. They simply choose not to be found.

I’m not hiding. The dragon snorts, releasing a plume of smoke from her nostrils. I’m taking time for myself. I’m - oh, what do they all call it - ‘practicing self-care’.

She thumps her tail hard enough against the forest floor to send nearby birds into panicked flight. The dragon narrows her eyes in satisfaction. At least some creatures here offer her the proper respect.

The sound of distantly snapping twigs and rustling leaves registers with the dragon’s sharp senses. Someone has entered the forest. She growls deep in her throat. Who dares disturb her!

She shifts into fighting position, unfolding her large wings and crouching, careful not to jostle the sword lodged deep in her chest. The wretched thing makes it practically impossible to breathe, let alone fight, without setting every nerve in her body on fire with pain.

But dragons aren’t afraid of a little fire.

She tosses her head and refocuses on the intruder. Whoever they are, it’s clear they aren’t trained in stealth. They wander through the woods haphazardly, making more noise than a hatchling with the hiccups.

Disgraceful.

The dragon easily tracks them to a clump of bushes. She takes a deep breathe, ready to roast entire the area to a crisp.

The bushes giggle.

The dragon clamps her jaws shut and swallows the stream of fire.

Dragons are absolutely fire resistant, but their respiratory systems still frown upon inhaling large quantities of smoke. As a result, she spends several undignified minutes sneezing, wheezing, and generally hacking up a lung.

A tiny human emerges from the bushes, face smeared in berries. She looks up at the sputtering dragon.

“Da-gon ok?” The little girl asks with genuine concern in her tiny eyes, and zero fear.

That won’t do, the dragon thinks, and growls at the girl. At least she tries to. Unfortunately, the growl comes out more like a strangled gurgle, and leads to another round of violent coughing.

Alarmed by the dragon’s obvious distress, the child waddles closer.

“Bess you, bess you!” She says over and over while patting one of the dragon’s huge, silver claws with sticky fingers.

The dragon groans. I don’t even scare toddlers anymore.

With that thought, all the remaining fight drains out of the thoroughly winded dragon. She wheezes out a sigh and plops down next to the child, resting her neck and snout on the forest floor.

This isn’t how things are supposed to be.

She, as The Dragon, is supposed to be in charge, supposed to rule. Her fiercely superior strength and intellect is supposed to strike fear into the hearts of all who see her.

That’s how it had always been, ever since Leandra’s magic backfired, creating The Curse. When The Curse settled on Leandra and her estate, making the land and castle reflect Leandra’s emotional relationship with herself, it also brought all the different parts of the woman to life. In the beginning, the strongest and most powerful parts, or Forms as they call themselves, emerged first. Naturally, that included the dragon.

She was the most dangerous of them, after all. She was the one who guarded what Leandra treasured. She was the one who protected Leandra the best. She was the one who fought that horrid man who tried to destroy them, and the one who got him to leave.

The toddler tries to climb up the dragon’s leg but isn’t tall enough to get very far. Lost in thought, the dragon unfurls a wing without thinking, to make a ramp for the adventurous little creature. She hisses as the movement pulls at damaged muscles.

The dragon glares at the gleaming sword protruding from her chest.

I’m the one who paid the highest price. And what did I get as thanks?

A sleeping spell, that’s what.

After everything the dragon had done, Leandra and that pesky little Fairy Godmother put her to sleep! They got rid of her and then gave the critical role of Ruler to that scoundrel of a Form, Curiosity! The dragon rolls her eyes.

Ridiculous. Curiosity is a fool.

Not that it matters anymore, now that the dragon is awake again. As soon as the sleeping spell broke, she snatched Leandra up, hiding her deep inside the dragon's heart, with all the other treasure the dragon guards.

No one can hurt Leandra now.

The dragon tosses her head, causing the child to tumble. Instinctually, she lifts her wing to cushion the girl’s fall. The toddler giggles instead of cries, even when the dragon picks her up in a clawed grip and pulls her close to one of her massive, reptilian eyes.

There’s a note fastened to the back of the girl’s shirt:

Are you coming for dinner? Please bring Child At Heart back with you. Love, Curiosity

Clever little fool.

Unwilling to fly with Child At Heart in tow, it takes a long time to reach the castle sitting in the middle of Leandra’s cursed property. The estate is noticeably bigger now than when the dragon was put to sleep. By the time she clambers up the stone entrance and manages to hook her claws through the infuriatingly small handles of the front doors, the sun has finished its flight across the sky and disappeared beyond the horizon.

The dragon returns the girl to a triumphant looking Curiosity but refuses to join the group of Leandra’s Forms for dinner. There are so many of them. Before falling into her charmed slumber, there were only a handful of Forms. Now there are dozens. And they keep looking at her funny, with interest and pleasantness. The dragon growls to hide a shiver and lumbers away, keeping her head held high above the insipid crowd.

***

Footsteps echo off the polished stone floors.

The dragon peels open a single eye to examine the brainless creature brave enough to approach her in her private chambers.

She turns his name into a hiss as she projects her thoughts directly into the man’s mind.

Travissssss.

This man is not one of Leandra Forms. He was here when she woke up and insists on staying, despite the dragon’s objections.

Travis stops in the dimly lit doorway and bows. He seems so pathetically small next to the grand architecture in this section of the castle. And he absolutely does not look afraid enough.

The dragon inhales deeply and releases a blast of fire in his direction. She’s careful not to let it get so close it burns him, but a little sweat could do him some good. He’s so very fun to play with.

Everyone who steps across the boundary lines of Leandra’s estate is susceptible to The Curse’s magic, and Travis is no exception. The light from her fire gives the dragon a magnificent view of the man as his own Forms emerge and take over. His human appearance is replaced one after the other, first by his shadowy Form of Fear, then a protector Form shaped like a wild beast, and finally, much to the dragon’s delight, his fiery Anger Form.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take Travis as long as usual to reign in his Forms and re-emerge as his human self. He still can’t separate them out into individuals, like Leandra can, but he’s clearly improving.

She stops feeding the stream of fire and lets the room fall into darkness once again.

You’re getting better at navigating The Curse Magic, the dragon concedes to a squinting Travis.

A bright lantern appears in his hand, re-illuminating the space. It reeks of Hope.

The dragon looks pointedly at the lantern and then theatrically pretends to vomit.

“What! You keep it too dark in here for us mere mortals!” Travis jokes, and promptly transforms into a goose. The lantern crashes to the floor but remains lit.

The dragon laughs coldly as Goose Travis squawks and flaps his wings uselessly.

The fact that one of your Protector Forms is a Silly Goose is deliciously hysterical, she says and snaps her giant jaws near the goose’s tail feathers.

Goose Travis transforms into Beast Travis and swipes at the dragon’s snout.

She laughs again, easily avoiding his puny claws.

Travis regains control of his Forms and reappears as human. “Don’t belittle me, Leandra! Humor is a perfectly valid defense mechanism, and you know it!”

The dragon roars, releasing another plume of fire.

LEANDRA ISN’T IN CONTROL HERE, I AM! SHE IS MINE! YOU CANNOT HAVE HER!

Travis barely manages to transform into his armored Warrior Form in time to raise a shield up against another blast of flames.

“I’m not trying to take her!” He cries.

ONLY LOVE COULD BREAK MY SLEEPING SPELL! AND IF YOU LOVE HER, THAT MEANS YOU WILL TRY TO DESTROY HER!

“Mages have mercy, Leandra!” Travis shouts above crackling flames. “Besides the fact that you broke the spell, not me, your logic doesn’t make sense! Why would I want to destroy you if I loved you!”

DO YOU THINK I PLUNGED THIS SWORD INTO MY OWN HEART? WHO DO YOU THINK IT BELONGED TO?

“Not me, that’s for dang sure!”

The dragon swipes at Travis, knocking him over and pinning him to the floor.

Do. Not. Toy. With. Me.

With every word she presses Travis harder into the ground. If he wasn’t in Warrior Form, she’d have crushed him already.

Travis meets the dragon’s glare with eyes as sharp as the unused sword at his waist. “I will not hurt you, Leandra.”

LIESSSSSS!

The dragon flings Travis across the room.

Much to her surprise, he transforms in mid air into a Form she’s never seen him take. He shifts, stretches, and grows until a dragon matching her in size and strength roars in her face.

YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO BLEEDS! Dragon Travis howls into her mind. YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS PAID FOR LOVE WITH PAIN!

He unfurls expansive wings, revealing a criss-crossing pattern of scars across his own chest. Some have healed. Others ooze fresh blood.

Dragon Travis takes a deep breath, and Dragon Leandra retreats. She curls in on herself, expecting him to blast her with plumes of his own white-hot fire.

Instead, he shrinks, turning back into a human. Small and defenseless, he stands before the dragon. She towers over him once again, but he doesn’t so much as flinch.

“You’re the one who taught me we all house monsters born of pain within ourselves, Leandra.” He whispers it, but the cavernous room catches his words and turns them into echoes. “You don’t have to keep living with that sword in your heart. You can remove it.”

Dragon Leandra recoils. I would not survive! she snarls.

Travis raises his hands in surrender. “I believe that you believe that. It makes sense that, at one point, it was true too. But you are stronger now. And you are not as alone as you like to insist.”

When she doesn’t respond, Travis backs out of the room. He removes himself from the dragon’s lair, leaving only the lantern behind.

From the shadowy corners of the room, Curiosity materializes. The Dragon doesn’t want to talk with him.

Leave. She shifts away from him, only to be greeted by another Form. This one wears the shape of a woman resembling Leandra but with purple hair. She smells familiar but the dragon doesn’t recognize her.

Who are you?

“I'm Whimsy,” the Form says. “Although I used to be Magical Child.”

The dragon snorts. Can’t be. I know Magical Child. She said she’d never grow up.

“A lot has happened since you went to sleep,” Whimsy says with a smile that makes the dragon nervous. It’s too soft. Too kind. It hurts.

So you gave up your magic, then? Pity. Did they bewitch you? I thought you were smarter than that, the dragon taunts.

Whimsy doesn’t take the bait. She simply shakes her head ruefully. “Turns out, growing up didn’t mean losing my magic. It just meant it changed.”

The dragon huffs, blowing out tendrils of smoke in Whimsy’s direction.

“Lots of Forms have changed,” Whimsy continues. “Rigidity became The Architect. Religion became Grace. Perfection became Integrity. Harsh Judge became The Navigator.” As Whimsy speaks their names, the Forms she mentions appear around them.

“You don’t have to remain as you are,” Curiosity says softly. “You are allowed to change.”

The dragon rears up onto her back legs and roars, forcing the circle of Forms to back up.

I AM A DRAGON! I WILL NOT BE CHANGED!

“You can stay a dragon!” Whimsy cries. “You just don’t have to stay a wounded one!”

I WILL NOT REMOVE IT!

“Why?” Curiosity asks.

I WILL NOT LET US FORGET! I MUST KEEP US SAFE!

She unfurls her wings and stomps, causing the ground to shake.

“DRAGONHEART!”

The dragon freezes. It has been so long since anyone has called her by that name.

“DragonHeart,” Curiosity repeats, looking up at her with wide, expansive eyes. “Let the scar remind you, not the pain itself.”

I CANNOT!

She beats her wings, readying herself to fly away, but then her muscles pull against the sword. Her roar of defiance becomes one of pain.

Large hands catch the collapsing dragon, guiding her gently into an equally large lap, one somehow big enough to hold her.

How can this be? I am the largest Form. I am the one who holds all. No one holds me.

Slowly, trying not to upset the sword any further, the dragon lifts her head. A face she recognizes looks back at her - the face of Softness.

You were encased in stone the last time I saw you.

Softness nods towards the group of gathered Forms. “They helped set me free.”

But you were so small! You’ve always been so small!

“Yes. But then I grew.”

That isn’t possible!

“It is, DragonHeart. So much more is possible than we ever imagined.”

Curiosity taps Softness on the knee. She gathers him up in one of her hands and holds him the dragon’s eye level.

“You have carried us far, DragonHeart,” he says. The gleam in his eyes looks suspiciously like tears to the dragon. “You’ve always fought for us, always done your best to help kept us safe. Thank you. Will you let us now help you?”

The dragon feels tears of her own threatening to overflow. She forces them away with a growl.

Dragons don’t cry!

Curiosity crosses his arms. “Unless I’m very much mistaken, dragons can do whatever they want. Am I wrong?”

The dragon lowers her head ever so slightly.

No.

He relaxes his posture and nods. “Now, can we please help you get rid of that crusty old sword?”

She closes her eyes and steels herself, preparing for angry shouts.

Not yet. I’m not… I not ready…

Surprisingly, no one gets mad, or even frustrated. Instead, the gathered Forms nod and offer compassionate smiles.

“What do you need instead?” Curiosity asks.

I’d like to sleep.

“Would you like any of us to stay with you?”

No, she says, adding a belated, Thank you, as Softness lowers Curiosity to the ground and shrinks back to her normal size. They bid her goodnight and disappear one by one, until the dragon is alone in her chambers once again.

Travis’s lantern still provides a steady light, even if it doesn’t reach into the furthest recesses of the room.

The dragon looks down and gingerly brushes the sword digging into her. Even that faint touch ignites a shooting pain across her chest.

She takes a deep breath. This time, when she exhales, instead of releasing a stream of fire, the dragon releases the door deep inside she’s been holding closed ever since she woke up.

Leandra?

The dragon feels something stir in that hidden place.

Leandra, wake up. You can come out now.

The stirring intensifies until it turns into an unraveling sensation. For a moment, the dragon pulls apart and disappears into a dark mist. When the darkness pulls itself back together, a woman stands next to the dragon. They stare at each other, unblinking, until the woman reaches for the dragon and embraces her.

Stop hugging my knee, Leandra. You should hate me.

“I’ve done enough of that.”

I locked you away. I deserve it.

“You were afraid.”

Dragons don’t get afraid.

Leandra rolls her eyes. “Dragons are such humble creatures.”

The dragon sniffs haughtily but doesn’t push Leandra away.

I can’t stand it when you get hurt.

Leandra points up to the sword. “And yet you refuse to let go of your own pain?”

The dragon sighs and eases down to the floor, laying on her side like she did with the toddler in the forest.

Leandra puts her hand on the dragon’s now accessible snout. “You don’t have to remove it yet. You can carry it as long as you need.”

It’s getting heavier.

“I know. I could feel it when you trapped me inside.”

And you truly think it would be better to remove it?

“I think that wound won’t ever heal if we don’t.”

The dragon looks over at the lantern. Travis’s lantern. And you want it to heal? You want to love someone new?

“I want the opportunity,” Leandra whispers. “I want to see what can happen.”

The dragon groans but rolls further onto her side to reveal the sword.

Okay, the dragon cringes. Do it.

“What, now?!”

Yes, just do it. Do it now, before I change my mind.

“Are you sure? We can wait!”

Leandra!

“Okay, okay, I’m going to pull it out.”

Wait!

Leandra freezes.

How much do think it’s going to hurt? No, never mind. I don’t want to think about it. Just do it.

Leandra hesitates.

Just rip it out, like you would rip off a bandage.

Leandra squeaks.

REMOVE THE SWORD, LEANDRA.

Leandra grabs hold of the hilt, lets out a fierce roar, and pulls it free in one swift motion.

The dragon’s roar of pain quickly eclipses Leandra’s. It’s so loud Leandra worries the castle might shatter into a million pieces around them. Forms start appearing all around them, drawn by Curse Magic.

Blood pours out of the dragon’s now open and gaping wound. Spreading unnaturally fast, it pools around the dragon, Leandra, and her other Forms as they materialize.

Leandra presses her hands against the wound to try to stem the flow, but it’s as if she doesn’t exist.

“Make it stop!” Leandra’s Fear Form screeches, before shifting into a howling wind that fills the room.

“I can’t!”

“What do you want to do!” Curiosity shouts, pressing his hands against her own. It doesn’t help.

The dragon goes limp.

“She passed out!” Softness screams. “You have to make it stop! We’ll lose her!”

By now, blood has filled the entire room and risen up to their knees. It’s bright red and hot as fire.

Leandra and Curiosity look at each other with knowing glints in their eyes.

“Do it!” She yells at him.

“I won’t be able to take it back! It will be permanent!”

“DO IT, NOW!”

Curiosity plunges one hand into the dragon’s wound and another into the rising ocean of red.

“DO YOU NEED A VOICE? TAKE A FORM!”

At his words, Leandra feels the internal tug of her Curse Magic activating, followed by the familiar unraveling sensation. She dissolves into a dark, swirling mist. Slowly at first, but then more rapidly, every drop of blood in the room is drawn into the mist with her.

When the room is spotless, the mist condenses. It pulls itself back together, revealing two shapes where there once was only one. Leandra re-emerges as the magic settles, as does a woman with long, damp, hair the color of blood.

“Welcome,” Leandra says to the new Form. “Who are you?”

The new Form smiles darkly, revealing sharp fangs. “My name is Pain.”

Murmurs and gasps fill the room from other Forms. Curiosity examines the newcomer with interest. The dragon, conscious again, groans in Softness’s arms.

Leandra pales but offers her hand. Pain extends her own in return. When they shake, a rumbling sound echoes and thunders in the distance.

“The estate is expanding again,” Curiosity explains to the new, and rather confused looking Form. He turns to Leandra and adds with a grin, “We continue to grow.”

The dragon breathes rings of dark smoke in Curiosity’s direction.

And yet, The Curse remains. She projects the words into all of their minds.

Curiosity picks up the abandoned sword and places it in Leandra's hands. “There are worse fates, DragonHeart, than to greet yourself over and over, and always meet someone new.”