The Druid and the Dragon

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Torinville was a simple place, a calm place once. Torinville was founded by the children of Torin McKay in the days of the druids. Legend has it that the clan McKay settled here after Teague, second son of Torin, fell in love with a druid girl. The druids did not agree with their kind mixing with non-druids. It didn’t help that the druid girl was a princess and already promised to another druid clan. When her parents found out about Princess Aine’s relationship with Teague McKay, they declared war on the McKay clan and drove them out of the highlands. The McKay clan eventually settled in a valley land they called Torinville in Ireland. Now you might be wondering what happened to Princess Aine after the Teague and the McKay clan left the highlands for the valley across the ocean.

Aine was prevented from leaving her family settling in a faraway land with Teague McKay. The princess mourned for her lost lover dreaming that one day she would be able to break free of her family and join him. As time passed, Aine felt strange sensations in her body. She had begun noticing changes in her body and after several months, others close to the princess noticed changes as well. The King and Queen determined that the princess was pregnant and hid her away from the other members of the druid clan. They questioned the princess trying to determine what druid boy had defiled the princess. The King and Queen were furious that Aine refused to identify the father of her child so they could arrange a marriage for their daughter and make her child a legitimate heir to the kingdom. The princess spent weeks without seeing a soul other than her parents and when she could no longer bear the solitude, she named the father of her child.

The King and Queen were furious when Aine informed them that Teague McKay was the father of her child and decided the child needed to be delivered in secret and sent away to find a new home. Aine refused to lose her child and only connection to her beloved. One night, after everyone was asleep, Aine slipped away in the darkness to seek out her forbidden love and save their child. Princess Aine was already several months pregnant and knew she would not be strong enough to make the entire journey on foot. She also knew that she could not expect any of the other druids to help her knowing it was against the wishes of their king and queen.

Knowing she could not count on her fellow druids, Princess Aine began her journey on foot, hoping that she could at least make it to the next village. If she could get away from her parents’ territory, she felt she would have a chance. Aine walked as far as she could through the night but by morning, she was still a long way from the next territory. As the sun rose, Aine began searching for a place to hide. She found a cave along her path and entered, hoping that she would be safe inside it’s walls until night fall. She searched the cave for signs of life and when she found none, she decided to settle there for the day and rest so she would be ready to begin her journey in the darkness.

Aine continued her journey for several days, the child growing inside her every day. She struggled to get enough food and water on her journey for mother and child. As Aine grew weaker, her travels were slower and breaks longer and more frequent. Aine worried that she would never make it to the land her lover had settled in and that she and her child would die on their journey. In a desperate attempt to save the lives of both, Aine began practicing her magic once more. Initially, her magic was weak due to lack of practicing all this time. She worried that her family would track her magic and had decided to give it up, but desperate times called for desperate measures and she and her child needed food and shelter. Aine also longed for a quicker and safer way to complete the journey and join her lover before their child was born. In desperation and fierce protection of her unborn child, Aine performed a spell that she had heard of that superior druid practitioners had used on long travels. The spell was difficult and surpassed the abilities of most druids, but those that had been able to successfully work the spell were able to create a bird or griffin large enough for a person to ride.

Aine performed the spell several times with no luck. She worried that she did not have enough power to perform the spell. Aine cried, believing she would die alone in the woods with her unborn child. She feared she would never see Teague again. She was saddened that Teague would never know how much she loved him; he would never know of his child. Aine performed that spell one final time. With tears streaming down her face and fearing for her unborn child, Aine pulled together all the strength she could. She opened her eyes, still nothing. Aine collapsed in exhaustion and sadness. She would never make it to Teague, and he would never know of his first child. She sat in the darkness and cried believing this would be the end for her and her unborn child. But then something happened.

As Aine sat alone in a dark cave, she felt a breath behind her. Fearing for her safety, she jumped to her feet and saw a pair of bright blue eyes staring at her. She backed slowly toward the entrance and the eyes followed her. The light began to shine as she neared the mouth of the cave and Aine’s eyes widened as she realized what was following her. Aine and the intruder were fully in the light of the sun when Aine realized she was seeing a dragon. This can’t be, Aine thought, dragons don’t exist. But here it was, a shiny black dragon with shimmering blue and black scales and the brightest blue eyes she had ever seen. Even more surprising, the dragon seemed friendly. Aine reached her hand out and placed it on the dragon’s bent head. As Aine pet the dragon, she thought, we’re saved. We can ride the dragon to the new land of clan McKay.