Dragon’s Queen

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Caitlyn was not sure what was happening when she heard a loud screech. And then another, and another. The next thing she knew, her mother appeared in the back garden where she was playing, screaming for her to run inside. Her mother came running as fast as her legs could carry her, grabbed Caitlyn by the wrist and ran with her into the house. Caitlyn could see the panic and determination on her mother’s face when she shuffled her into the safe room just inside the sitting room.

“Stay here darling, your father and I will come and get you when it is safe. We love you, sweet girl.” Her mother said, brushing Caitlyn’s blond hair out of her face.

“Mom?” Caitlyn asked, her voice wavering. “They’re back aren’t they? The monsters.”

Her mother hovered in the doorway, “Don’t worry sweet girl, your father and I will protect you.” Her mother said as she shut the door; a faint glow surrounding the door as she activated the wards around the room. Moments later, another surge of magic went through Caitlyn as her mother activated the wards surrounding their manor.

Her parents were paranoid, and had made this room when they built their house, wanting to make sure that Caitlyn was protected from the dragons that seemed to follow her wherever they went. The family had been attacked once when Caitlyn was just a few months old; and two more times while they were traveling to get to Caleka. Neither parent knew why they had been attacked so frequently. When Caitlyn was born, her family had lived in a remote village on the sea; and no dragons had been spotted there for decades prior. Now that village is nothing but rubble after the attack that made them flee to Caleka. After the destruction of their village, they had been staying in an inn and her father had overheard other patrons talking about Caleka, saying that it was a safe haven and that dragons had never been seen there. After that day, the family came to Caleka and had been safe since then, but that all changed with this attack.

For what felt like hours, Caitlyn sat in the safe room, not knowing what was happening to her parents or to the village just steps away from their house. No sound could penetrate the safe room, so Caitlyn could hear no screams or roaring coming from outside. She wanted to be out there, to be able to help her family, but there was nothing that she could do. Her father was a fae, and her mother was a witch; but neither of their powers had shown in Caitlyn yet, and her parents were getting worried that the powers would never show.

Finally, Caitlyn felt the wards surrounding the manor go down; her parents were safe, they were coming to get her. She let a small smile come to her face. Just moments later, she heard a loud bang coming from directly to her left, not where the door was. It wasn’t her parents, something was in her house. Her smile fell and her face paled. The banging kept coming, and coming, and coming. Caitlyn watched in horror as the wall on her left was buckling and crumpling. She tried to move as far away as she could, trying to make herself as small as possible. There was nowhere for her to go, no way out of the safe room. She could not make it to the front door, and the ward was still up; it would only go down if her mother took it down, or if she died.

Bang.

Bang.

Bang.

The wall broke. There it was. The dragon was there, sniffing the air, looking for something. Caitlyn tried her hardest to hide in the corner of the room, but her bright blonde hair made her stick out clearly. The dragon took one more sniff, its massive head turning right to stare at Caitlyn. Yellow eyes staring into Caitlyn’s green eyes, into her soul, she couldn’t look away. She could not move. The monstrous, red, scaly dragon delicately moved into the room, never looking away from Caitlyn. With every step, Caitlyn’s heart was beating faster. Why couldn’t she look away? Where were her parents? Why couldn’t she move? What was going to happen to her? The dragon stopped, inches away from her. Caitlyn could feel the hot breath of the dragon on her face, their eyes still locked together. Caitlyn tried as hard as she could, but she still could not move; it was like she was glued to the spot. Out of the corner of her eye, Caitlyn could see the dragon moving its claws closer to her face, it was going to kill her. To her surprise, the dragon brought its long, gleaming claw right up to her face and placed it right between her eyebrows. A burning heat went through Caitlyn and blissful blackness embraced her.

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“Caitlyn!” She was jerked awake by her best friend Gemma yelling her name and bursting into her room. “I will never understand how you can sleep as much as you do.” Gemma said with a laugh.

Caitlyn wiped away the sleep from her eyes and leveled Gemma with a glare. “Not all of us can function on 2 hours of sleep, Gem.” Her friend just shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Gemma’s fae powers had manifested with the ability that she did not need as much sleep as the average fae, she could take in her energy from nature around her. The two girls had known each other since Caitlyn and her family moved to Caleka, and Caitlyn had never known her friend to sleep over 3 hours; which made sleepovers a nightmare growing up.

“If I slept like a normal fae you wouldn’t love me as much, Cait. And you would never be on time for anything.”

“You’re right,” Caitlyn said, her eyes glinting. “I wouldn’t be on time for anything.” Cait finished, laughing at the disgruntled look on Gemma’s face. Getting out of her bed, Cait began to get ready for the day. “So, what are we doing today?”

“Same this as everyday, Cait. The little dragons need some extra love today, maybe we can find some nice toys for them today.”

Gemma was not only her best friend, but she also helped Cait with research and care for the dragons that had made the valley their home after the attack sixteen years ago. Everything had changed since that day when six year old Caitlyn had been touched by the dragon. Since that attack, none of the dragons who had made the valley their home have attacked, they have become a vital part of the everyday function of the village. Caitlyn’s calling was to take care of the dragon’s needs. She was the only person who could go into their nests and take care of the little ones. Their small village had only benefited from the dragons moving into the valley; they were able to assist with everything from tilling the fields to burning the crops if they went bad.

Putting her blonde hair up in a ponytail; Cait looked over to Gemma, her friend was looking at the plants she had previously placed around the room making sure that Cait was actually taking care of them. She was, but Cait could see that they were not up to Gemma’s standards; she walked up to the large montessori plant under her window and stuck her tan finger in the soil. As she watched, Cait saw the leaves become more green, and it reached higher towards the ceiling.

“Come on Gem, you can play with the plants later. Those littles get feisty when we’re late.” Gemma looked at her, a knowing look in her eye. “I know, I know. I wouldn’t even be on time if you didn’t wake me up.” Cait grabbed her bag and started to make her way to the little dragons waiting for her. Walking out of her house, she heard a big commotion coming from the nests. The villagers were yelling and trying to calm one of the dragons. Sprinting over there, she saw one of the larger momma dragons getting agitated because one of the villagers had wandered a little too close to her eggs. Using her fae speed, Cait was able to reach the nest just as the dragon was rearing up. Shoving the villager out of the way, Cait held up her hand to the dragon and locked eyes.

“Calm!” She said, her yellow eyes flashing gold.