Dragon Tamer

Many years ago, our lands held men and women with the ability to use magic, spells, and incantations. With creatures as tall as trees or even mountains! Much stronger than any man or animal we know today, animals were different; the tiny lizard was one of the mightiest creatures. They flew with wings stretching across the sky. These dragons had magic within their veins, allowing them to fly, talk telepathically and even blow fire or ice. They could spew liquid acid or toxic fumes. Some could cast healing magic while others could change their skin into something more robust than diamond or lonsdaleite.

I will share this story with you about a little girl who grows to become more than anyone thought possible. In this world, magic still exists. Unicorns roam the forests. Pixies steal items that shine brightly in the daylight. Goblins attack humans to eat their flesh. Many creatures have been hunted by humans making many of these remarkable creatures bound for extinction. With the creatures slowly being taken from this world, the magic along with it began to fade. Our story starts in one of these many forests holding the secrets of magic still hidden in time, concealing the world's most complex creatures.

Birds sing in the bright warm spring morning. The trees are full of healthy green leaves, and in the tall grass beneath the trees, bathing in the sunlight, was an elegant creature. Silver-grey scales covered its body. The sun reflected off the scales giving them a glossy glow. Its massive wings pressed gently to its body as its rest. The creature's chest rose and fell gently with every breath.

This creature is a dragon. She is the last of her family, as human's hunted them one by one. To this day, she has never seen another dragon, but she knows she will see another dragon one day if she keeps her faith. The breeze picked up slightly, carrying a new smell to the sleeping dragon's nose, one she knew all too well. This was a human scent.

She opened her luminous green eyes, slowly raising her long neck over the grass. The smell was faint, as though it was far or from a more miniature human. Knowing humans, there would be more if she would stay.

The dragon stood up, making sure to keep low to the ground to verify she was safe to leave. The smell was more pungent now, and before the dragon could move, a human child had fallen through the grass onto her snout. Startled, the dragon whipped its head back. The human child fell into the tall grass pile before the dragon. The child was laughing and rolled onto its stomach, getting itself off the ground.

The child's blue eyes met her green ones with a smile on its face. It's a hatchling. The dragon thought to herself. The toddler reached toward the majestic dragon, tripping over its feet and tumbling into its chest. She grew stiff, not sure what to do. She couldn't smell, hear or sense any other humans around. It was as if this 'hatchling' was the only one in the forest for miles.

Taking a better look at the child, she noticed its stomach was small, and the clothes it had were torn in some places. The child looked lost. The dragon remained in place as the child kept petting wherever it could reach as it babbled to itself.

The dragon looked down at the child, knowing she wouldn't be able to abandon it here. The elegant dragon rose to its feet, keeping its wings tight to its back, causing the 'hatchling' to fall onto its face. She knew that humans are fragile and the big ones are deadly to most life. She would have to be careful moving the toddler. Reaching her head down, she bit the back of the child's shirt as if it was a scruff. It worked for a few seconds as she lifted the child into the air, but the child slipped out of the shirt, landing on its butt with a soft thud. The child began laughing at the dragon seeing the annoyance on its face.

After a lot of struggling, pulling, and dragging, the shirt was back on. The child's thin short brown hair stood on its head as it laughed, rolling around in the grass, trying to crawl away again. The dragon reached out with its front talon grabbing the child in its hand carefully in a way the child couldn't move but wasn't suffocated. With a tired sigh, the dragon held the child to its chest, not losing its grip. Human hatchlings are so crazy. She thought to herself before taking to the sky at a moderate speed, with the child enjoying very much putting its arms out and trying to fly too.

The silver dragon was extraordinarily agile and slimmer than other dragons, especially the male dragons with had more muscle than her. Her talons were as black as night and her wings sliced through the air like a sharp knife slicing through the water. She flew high into the sky over the clouds, using them as camouflage to keep from being seen by more humans.

Miles away at the edge of town sat a worn farmstead. The dragon hid in the tree line, watching the farm from a distance as a woman working in the fields, looking over at the tree line with sadness in her eyes. She looked like she had lost something. After wiping her brow, she went back to her work. Over at the stables, an older man was also brushing the horses with sadness in his heart. This must be the family, the dragon thought to herself before setting the now sleeping child on the ground.

Using her tail, she hit a tree loud enough to catch their attention before leaping off silently further into the forest to watch from a distance. The child was so exhausted it didn't stir from the noise, but the man and woman did. The man calmed the horses and grabbed a bow before heading into the woods. Coming upon the child, the man smiled with joy and tears as he held the smiling child. They held each other tightly. He ran back to the farmhouse to the woman as she cried, holding her child tightly with the man joining their hug.

The child smiled and reached toward the dragon in the woods, which started her. She was very good at blending in, but this child looked right at her. The mother and father looked at where the child was reaching. The father ushered them toward the house. They began walking back, and as the dragon took to the sky, the mother glanced back only to see a tail out of the corner of her eye. Looking to the sky, the man asked what she was looking at. The woman hugged her child lovingly to her and smiled at him. "Nothing, dear. It was nothing; let's get Lorraine inside to eat; she is so skinny."

With one last glance at the wood line from the woman, they entered the welcoming home. That dragon would be engraved into the child's mind as she grew up, but in her teenage years, it would be tucked away into her subconscious mind, not to be brought up again.

To Be Continued.