Dragons Recompense

Zarel, the dragon, flew back from his escapade of plunder, destruction, and hunting. His hunting was something more fierce though. He was without mercy, compassion, and love. His hunt had destroyed an entire village in a clearing just outside the forest he knew as his home. He flew back with the taste of vengeance in his heart, a good feeling to him.

The small village was once home to the people who waged war on Zarel and his mate. Zarel and his mate were once inseparable, peaceful, and caretakers of their forest. They had dreams of raising their family in the forest and living in peace, free from the bondage their race had once been subject to.

Zarel and his mate fell victim to an attack in the night. They were unaware that it was coming, It had been planned perfectly. The townspeople had come to rid the area of dragons, driven by fear, not knowing their actions would change the course of their entire future. Zarel was lucky, at least lucky enough to keep his life. He lost the one thing that was keeping him truly alive, however.

His mate was struck first, Zarel awoke to her deafening wail. Three harpoons pierced her side, fired from crudely made ballista. There was no chance of this attack being successful if the dragons were awake and aware of the oncoming attack. Zarel did his best to fend off the attacks on her and dispatched most of the townspeople with no difficulty. Alas, the deed that changed the trajectory of the townspeople's future was already done.

Zarel landed on a large stone that overlooked his burrow. He licked the minor wounds he sustained from his escapade to rid the world of the village that took his love, his life, and his future. For a moment, he felt relief as he gazed upon his forest, fluttering with life, light beaming through the trees. There was no sign of strife, nor worry to come, just peace. That feeling quickly left him as he thought of peace. He was remorseful for what he had just done. His goal never was to cause such destruction as he did that day.

As his gaze traveled around the forest, he noticed something perplexing. A child reaching at butterflies, flitting about, running in circles trying to catch them. He noticed the child was from the town he had just pillaged. "This child must have been brought to the forest while I destroyed his home", he thought. A feeling of dread encapsulated Zarel. His revenge was not worth the blood and lives that were lost that day.

Zarel watched the child as he ran about, chasing the butterflies, following ants to their trees, and laughing at rabbits and squirrels as they ran past. For a moment, he thought, "I should put an end to his miserable life, he will never make it alone." That thought was quickly dissuaded by a familiar voice in Zarel's mind. His mate, whispered to him from the afterlife, "find forgiveness in him." A tear the size of a small bush rolled down Zarel's snout. He knew that the child needed love, guidance, and discipline, but he didn't know how to provide that to him.

The child grew tired of chasing the animals in the forest eventually. Zarel could see him grow more worried the more the sun began to fade. At dusk, the child began to cry. Zarel knew that if he was to shelter this child, he would have to move quickly. "The cry will alert the wolves and bears, and he will be gone by the morning if I don't do something," Zarel thought.

Zarel quickly ran towards the child. As he got closer, the child looked at him with horror in his eyes. Zarel grabbed him gently with his teeth and carried him back to his burrow. The child was scared and yelling for his mother. Zarel laid him down gently once inside the burrow, on a bed of eagle's feathers, and bear fur on top of sticks. The bed was laboriously made by Zarel's mate, as they were expecting eggs to be incubated there.

The child's demeanor changed slowly as he watched Zarel slump down and curl into a corner of his burrow. Zarel's day was done, he was tired and ready for a new day, one without destruction and carnage. The child looked on in amazement, his mother had left him in the forest alone with only the clothes on his back and a small trinket around his neck. Tears rolled down his face and made streaks through the dirt that covered him. The boy fell asleep soon after and awoke the next morning alone and scared.

Zarel had left the burrow in search of nourishment for the child. He knew the constant hunger of humans and that a child this young would be loud and obnoxious if he wasn't fed. Zarel found a bush full of wild blueberries and plucked it from the Earth. He also plucked a few fish out of the river that ran through the forest and carried both the bush and the fish back to his burrow.

Zarel laid the bush in front of the child as soon as he got back to the burrow. The child looked perplexed, he had never eaten fresh blueberries straight off the bush. Zarel shook the bush between his teeth creating a rainfall of blueberries on the ground. He pointed at the blueberries and then at his mouth, pleading with the child to eat them. The child understood and began eating the blueberries, messily, staining his face as he did.

There was a spring that fed a pool of water in Zarel's burrow that provided Zarel with plenty of water for himself and his once hopeful family. Once the child had eaten his fill of blueberries, Zarel walked towards the pool, motioning the child to follow. They both drank from it and at that moment Zarel saw a glimmer in the water, coming from the boy's reflection.

The glimmer was brighter than anything he knew the townspeople could make. His eyes jutted open as he saw the scale of his mate, purple and sparkling, around the child's neck. Rage filled Zarel instantly and without thought, Zarel blew heavy fire and smoke straight at the child. The child stood no chance, within an instant he was surrounded by fire.

Zarel ran out of the burrow and flew high above the forest, quickly. Thoughts of his mate filled his mind, he couldn't race away fast enough. Once again, a voice, the only voice that could calm his rage came to his mind. "Protect him" it simply said. Zarel yelled back into the abyss. "He is no longer! I have already failed you, again, why are you asking me to watch over the thing that took you from me? Why can't I talk to you without this burden being the reason for it?" "Go back, now, and protect him, our time will come again," the voice said.

The child opened his eyes to see the smoke in the room dissipate. He had been covered in a ward that came from the scale around his neck. Zarel landed roughly outside the burrow, and the child scampered to a corner of it scared for his life. Zarel slumbered into the burrow, sure that he would find bones on the ground. To his amazement, he saw the child's large brown eyes watching his every move. Zarel was perplexed. "Nothing could have survived my fire," he thought.

He moved slowly towards the child and bowed his head when he came close. The child yelled at Zarel, as that was the only thing it knew to do at that moment. Zarel looked up at him and looked him in the eyes, a tear welled in Zarel's eyes, and fell to the ground. The child saw Zarel's intentions and became peaceful.

Zarel bowed his head once more and the child reached his tiny hand up to him. Zarel nuzzled his snout in the child's hand and looked up at him. The child cracked a smile, the first Zarel had seen since the butterflies were surrounding him. Zarel felt a wave of peace and closed his eyes. A picture of his mate looking back at him with adoration in her eyes came to his mind. He opened his eyes and reached a talon out to the child. His talon struck the scale around the child's neck and at that moment the world stood still.

A plume of purple smoke rose and twisted in a helical motion around Zarel and the child. For a moment they were intertwined in thought and mindfulness. The room filled with swirling light and smoke and in the midst of it all stood Zarel's mate. The child saw her first and broke the silence that had come over the burrow. "Look!" the child proclaimed. Zarel turned quickly and caught a glimpse of his love before she was taken by the wind. Zarel and the child both heard the whisper, "love will overcome," as the last of the purple smoke left the room.