Mother Dragon

Mother Dragon raised me as her own. I was only a young tot when she found me that day. It was a misty morning in the forest, and it rolled in quietly as I was sitting in the leaves. She took me under her wing because she saw water in me. I had some scales on my arms, silver and grey. One or two would slide off from time to time.

Mother Dragon was married to Igor, who had a tiger’s head on a dragon’s body with eagle wings. He carried me in the sky on his reptilian back that fateful day and placed me gently in the nest. My new home was on a cliff overlooking the sea.

Igor’s fur would fold into his dark green scales when he flew. They matched the forest, my First Home. His ears were soft like silk; his dragon feet curled in as he whipped me through the air. I felt truly alive. It was so different from the thicket where I had spent most of my young life.

Until that day, I had been raised by Wolf Mother and Wolf Father. They both wore rich golden crowns. On the day Mother Dragon took me to my new Home, they performed a ceremony in which I was placed from their land to ours, Fire. They draped me in a blue robe and Igor flew low to carry me to the First Tree, where the ceremonies were performed. The tree had a heart en-carved into it. Wolf Mother sang with a crying howl, and Wolf Father kissed me on the forehead goodbye. Mother Dragon flew overhead and watched from a distance.

Mother Dragon had red-mauve scales and talons that looked almost nine inches long. Her fangs were not as pronounced as other dragons. She had some blue on her forelegs, but she was gentle when she nurtured me in my nest.

He called me Moxie when he came to visit, King Wizard. He was trading gems for eggs with mother. It was a trap though. The eggs filled his chambers with dark clouds. Mother Dragon alchemized the gems into eggs. These became my siblings. One of them was pure silver, one of them was all auburn, and one of them was cobalt blue. Their colors matched their names: Silver, Auburn, and Cobalt; Co for short.

They put me underwater to train me with Sea Dragon. I was the intermediary between King Wizard and Fire. The waves roiled over me and sucked me under. I saw a pod of orcas flying over me, as I was at the bottom then.

Now at fifteen, I’m considered a Fledgling by Fire.

Sea Dragon had silky hair and rough ears, whiskers of grey and blue. His teeth were large and pointed, and his lips curled tenderly over them when he smiled at me. He looked like a monster, but I had to do my duty.

Father Igor would carry me up during training to help me master my maneuvers. I was practicing for battle when one of King Wizard’s men flew on a dragon related to his kingdom, which was Air.

Sea Dragon trailed me across the ocean-top during that day of our training. I was practicing the fight on Igor’s back when Sea Dragon dropped me. Igor caught me and I felt terrified when I spiraled off his back as I lost the move.

He knocked me down with a whoosh off of Igor’s back. I hadn’t seen him coming, but the image of him followed me after. He wore silver-grey chainmail and a nasty grin. He slashed at me with his sword, but I ducked and turned in time before I hit the water.

I drifted down to the bottom of the sea, where I saw ashen skulls and a watery orb. It appeared like there was a starfish hovering inside. The rays of light from the sea lit up when I looked into the orb. I saw Igor’s eye looking through me.

Igor fought hard against the soldier. He tumbled into a curling dive and rocketed up to snap into his jugular, but he missed. He stabbed Igor through the heart. He dove in and swam up through the deep blue and grabbed me. He gasped for air when we came to the surface, his grip tight.

He took me away from Igor forever, and I haven’t seen my siblings since. Now I am training for King Wizard and practicing with my sword. He is training me, but I desperately want to return home and see Mother Dragon and my Fire siblings again.

I miss Igor every day. Now I walk through the city streets. I steal and trade gems for housing. But I’m going to steal a boat and get back to Mother.

I have to get back to Mother Dragon.