The Dragon of the Grand Wood

She had the universe in her eyes. Her deep purple irises, flecked with blue and gold, were full of the infinite wisdom passed down through the generations before her. How could a creature so ancient and beautiful come in a form so strange?

Sure to keep my distance, I watched her stumble alone in the Grand Wood, miles from the nearest human civilization. The crisp night air, purring with deep thunder from the storm clouds hanging overhead, warmed around her as she made her way between the trees.

Despite the danger present from the impending storm, her energy was contagious. All nearby life, it seemed, stretched out to embrace her touch as she passed. I too, albeit nervously, hoped for a chance to feel a connection to the immense power she radiated.

The dark clouds above perfectly parted to shine a single beam of moonlight into the wood, granting divine guidance to her steps as she journeyed. She followed without hesitation.

Legend has it that the Grand Wood, where I spent many of my years coming to maturity, is the origin of all life. Said to house the exact center of the world, known as the heart, The Wood extends for miles in every direction, completely enveloping everything it touches. So vast was The Wood, entire mountains remained hidden under treetops, though they stretched high into the sky. Below, a spiderweb of rivers slowly carved out valleys that separated those mountains.

It was near one of these rivers where I first saw the girl. She sat with squirrels between her legs, scratching between their ears and eating berries they brought for her. Her magnetism mystified me. She had no great physical strength, her flesh didn’t look to be covered in scales such as mine. She certainly doesn’t have the ability to fly, seeing as she has no wings. Her legs are much too short for great speed. Her presence is not threatening in any way, yet she still maintains total authority of all surrounding life.

I suppose that curiosity is what made me follow her. I wanted to understand what was so special about this tiny human with the stars in her eyes, walking alone in the Grand Wood, miles from any other of her human kind.

And follow I did, from a distance of course. I took great care to keep the child in eyesight, hoping for a glimpse of her secret.

I watched as she stumbled through bushes, sat beneath trees, and put leaves and sticks into her mouth before spitting them back out. I watched her come to a river, and then find a log perfectly balanced for her to safely cross. She made her way higher into the mountain, following the moonlight beam which revealed footholds placed for her to climb much higher than should be possible.

She traveled so high that she started to come into contact with snow lingering from the last great cold. She unflinchingly walked into a large patch of snow. At first she seemed to enjoy the new sensation, but soon the cold must have become too much to bear, as she stumbled back onto dry land, shook off the snow, and walked on.

I watched as she walked, now shivering, into a clearing, and then back into the wood thicket on the other side. The foliage was much heavier here. Try as it might, the moonlight wasn’t strong enough to reach the child. I watched for the child to emerge through the thicket into the beam waiting on the other side, but no such thing happened. She had disappeared.

Throwing caution to the wind, I flew down, carefully breaking through the brush. I needed to get through but had to be sure not to harm the human.

It took time, as I could use only my mouth to pull away the wood, but when I finished, I found an icy water filled hole in the ground. Motionless in the middle of the puddle lay the girl, floating.

I had to help. As carefully as I could, I used my wing to scoop her out of the puddle and onto dry land.

I waited.

Nothing.

That had worked for the snow, why did the girl remain unmoving?

Heat. I needed to get the girl someplace warm. After all, what is cold but the absence of heat?

The girl seemed to have something covering her skin, a cloth of sorts. As gentle as I could, I bit onto that cloth to carry her without harming her. I decided to take her back down to the river, away from the frozen peaks.

Just as I was taking flight, a great lightning struck, thunder crashed, and rain started to fall. The girls breathing fogged the air around her face as I flew her back down the mountain.

Once we arrived at the bottom I searched for some form of shelter out of the rain.

Again, nothing.

I felt helpless.

I decided to do the only thing I could think of. I laid the girl down on the grass and then wrapped myself around her, using my wings to shield her from the freezing rain. I desperately hoped my cold scales weren’t causing more harm and that she would somehow make it through the storm.

The gentle drum of the rain begged me to go to sleep, but I couldn’t. I stayed awake all through the night, watching the child draw I. labored breaths and exhale steam.

The moon rose and fell and soon a new light broke through the storm clouds to cease the rainfall. Daylight came and the child still slept. I began to worry that she would never wake.

Her shaky breathing began to slow. Her shivering began to settle. The young one, finally, at the end of a long and painful night, seemed to find peace.

Her eyes opened.

All at once I was inches from the infinite galaxies which first drew me to this young human. I dared not move a muscle.

The child sat up. She looked into my eyes and reached out her hand. It came to rest gently between my eyes. Her touch was warm, much warmer than I would have thought after shivering through the night.

She took her hand away, and where it had been remained warm.

“You have proven yourself worthy, child,” she said with a voice so matronly and tender that all of my fears melted away.

All around us the wind began to grow. Trees swayed. Grass and leaves flew into the air. Water rose out of the river. Twigs, leaves, rocks, and mud all began to swirl around this child. Her form began to change until in front of me, there no longer sat a young human girl, but an etherial being, who rose into the air. Her beauty was beyond measure, composed of all life on earth yet simultaneously all of the wonder of the cosmos.

“You have acted selflessly,” she said. “Though you had no warmth to give, you gave. Now, my child, I will give to you. From this day forth, you and all of your kind will no longer live in cold, but in heat. As heat will come from you. Your breath will be as fire and your scales as coal. Your hearts and eyes will burn, yet you will feel no pain. From this day forth, you will be a blessing to all creation, freely giving warmth to all, as you freely gave to me.”

The small place on my head which once held a miraculous child’s hand grew warmer. My eyes ignited. A spark lit in my chest. For the first time in my many years on this world, I felt whole. I had a purpose. I had fire.

Unable and unwilling to contain myself, I threw my head back, stretched out my wings, and breathed fire high into the morning air.

I knew my purpose.

“Now rise, my child,” she said, reaching her hand down to lift me into the air. “It is time for me to return, for I do not belong in this form. I will be with you always, however, as you are always with me. All life is connected to me, and I to it. Just as you have given me shelter, so I will give to you. All you must do is ask.”

She begin to rise into the heavens, and just before vanishing from sight, she spoke a final time. Though it seemed to be directed not only at me, but at all of creation. “If you find yourself in need, you will find me at the heart of the Grand Wood. Go there, call on the name of Yggdrasil and I will answer you.”