The Greatest Gift

1.

Kaida didn’t usually venture so far from her nest. However, the hatchlings would be arriving any day, and she would need her strength once they were born.

She had grown tired of her frequent meals of mice and squirrels that tended to wander past her cave, so, today she ventured into the forest for something heartier. She found a herd of bison grazing on the tall grass in the valley. She picked off one of the slower ones and enjoyed a meal on the mountain side.

When she was through, she stretched out her massive wings, and let them lift her into the sky. She glided over the treetops through low hanging clouds, her scales still shimmered their metallic blue-green color, even with the constant cloud coverage in the Forest of Eldred.

The forest stretched as far as her eye could see, with one exception, the human village to the west. There, she could see tiny roof tops in the far distance. She could smell of herbs and spices coming from the village even from miles away.

When Kaida’s talons hit the forest floor outside of her cave, the air felt off. She lifted her snout to smell the familiar dampness that was her home, only to be met by an unwelcome herbal odor.

Her claws dug into the earth as she ran into the cave towards her nest. Her golden yellow eyes guided her like two flames in the dark. When she reached her nest, to her horror, she was met with an empty bed of dried leaves. She circled the debris, desperately searching for her eggs.

Her panic quickly melted into furry. Her belly turned hot as the fire built up in her chest, smoke blew from her nostrils as she took off towards the opening of her cave. She burst though the exit and up into the air. She thought of the scent when she first returned from her hunt: herbs. She knew exactly where to find her eggs.

She flew over the forest, wings flapping furiously towards the village in the distance. A mixture of smoke and embers spewed from her orifices. The humans had stolen her babies.

When she landed in the village, panic had already commenced. She let out a howl, spewing fire into the air. Humans scattered in different directions, falling over themselves, seeking shelter in their homes.

Kaida pounded her hooves through their homes, searching for her beautiful golden eggs.

She let out another howl, the flames were getting larger now, smoke dripped from the corners of her mouth.

She felt a pinch in her back. She turned to see some of the braver humans were throwing weapons at her, as she did, a shimmer of gold caught her eye.

Behind her attackers, next to a fire pit, were Kaida’s eggs; cracked and emptied.

Kaida leapt into the air, letting her wings take her over to the remnants of her babies. She whaled into the sky, her sorrow had drowned the flames in her throat, the only thing that came out were the cries of a bereaved mother.

As she gathered the shattered shells of her children, she felt another pinch in her back.

She turned to the humans, eyes focused, as she let in all the air she could manage.

Kaida didn’t remember much from that day. Flashes of flames through clouds of smoke, the sounds of screaming silenced by her bellowed roars. The smell of burnt flesh and the crackling of burning wood.

…

The next morning the overcast sky brought with it rain.

Kaida flew to the river to burry what was left of her eggs. She sat with her sadness by the river bend for what could have been minutes or hours, when, in the distance she heard the cry of a small animal.

She listened to the creature, unsure of what animal could be making such a sorrowful noise.

It was likely the wolves would get to it before she had a chance, but as the cries grew louder, she decided to follow it.

When she found the source of the noise, she hid in the shadows and watched the creature that led her here. It was a human, and it was all alone. Her eyes pierced it though the brush. It was about much smaller than a regular human, a child perhaps. But it was just as loud- if not louder- than a grown one. It was sitting in the mud, screaming to the sky, it had dark hair on its head and its lips were blue.

A scent caught Kaida’s attention, she was right, the child had attracted the wolves. It would be out of its misery soon enough. As Kaida turned to leave the human cried out once more, “Mama,”

Kaida’s heart sank. A vision of the burning village came to mind. Its mother must have helped it escape before Kaida could kill it. The wolves were close now. The rain was picking up, Kaida had to decide. She emerged from her camouflage in the trees, to her surprise the child stopped its cries.

Their eyes met, hers golden yellow, to his deep brown. She could hear the wolves now, they were no match for her, but she had done enough killing for a lifetime, let alone for the day.

“Come,” she said to the child, unsure if he would be able to understand her.

“Mama,” the boy shivered, though Kaida thought it was from the cold and not from fear.

“Your mother is gone, come with me if you want to live,”

The boy sniffled and stood, almost losing his balance on the muddy forest floor. He walked over to Kaida.

“Climb on,” Kaida bowed her head, “Go with the grain or else you will cut yourself,”

The boy did as he was told, and Kaida pushed off the ground into the wet sky.

When they returned to the cave, she started a fire to warm him. As soon as the color returned to his lips, he fell asleep beneath her wing. She watched the boy sleep peacefully against her scales. She had killed many humans in her day, but she never saw the repercussions of her ravenous killings; until now, where it laid in her wing.

It wasn’t until dawn the next morning that the boy began to stir.

As he looked up at her, a crooked smile flashed across his face.

“What is your name?” Kaida asked the boy, but he only starred at her in response.

“Perhaps you understand the language, but you don’t speak it,” Kaida said.

The boy responded in some sort of gibberish.

“I have to call you something, don’t I?” Kaida said.

“Donum,” the boy said, which was perhaps more gibberish because it was followed by more nonsense.

“Donum,” Kaida repeated, “It’s nice to meet you Donum. My name is Kaida-”

“Mama,” Donum smiled.

“No, your mother is…” Kaida sighed, “Call me Kaida, please,”

While the boy had been sleeping, Kaida decided that she needed go back to his village, to search through the wreckage for a survivor to care for the boy.

When they arrived, it was worse than she remembered. If it weren’t for the simmer of smoke that continued to raise from the ash that was once the village, there would be no sign that life ever existed here.

They stopped by the river on their way back to the cave.

Kaida caught a rabbit for Donum to eat. She drank from the water as she watched him devour the meat.

She lowered her body to the ground next to him.

“Donum,” she braced herself for a conversation he would unlikely be able to comprehend, “A terrible thing happened to me, and in turn I did a terrible thing. That is not an excuse for what I did, but I would like you to know: that is not my nature. I would like to offer you my sincerest apologies,”

The boy hardly looked up at her as he pulled the rabbit meat off the bones with his teeth.

“Donum, I would like to offer you a place to stay,” Their eyes met as Kaida lowered her horned head, “With me, at least until we have another solution. Weather that be for the next few days or months. It would be my honor to care for you,”

He looked up at her puzzled.

“Would you like to stay with me? At my cave?”

“Cave,” Donum smiled. This made Kaida smile.

2 .

The view from Kaida’s new cave was magnificent; she could see all the Forest of Eldred form atop her new mountain home.

She had spent her life patrolling this land, soaring above the treetops and drinking from the waters. She had grown from her days of savage killing into a life of peace on top of the home she loved so.

Over the years her scales had faded from their magnificent blue-green metallic to a subtle mossy grey.

A hand reached over the ledge of the entrance to the cave; a boy pulled himself up over the edge. His dark hair fell in wild waves to his shoulders, his arms and legs were muscular and covered in scars.

“I’m not sure why you insist we live up here,” Donum said.

Kaida laughed, “I thought you were bringing us supper,”

“I did, it’d be here by now if I didn’t have to climb this god forsaken mountain,” Donum smiled. Kaida knew that though it was treacherous, Donum loved using his mechanical brain to find a solution to any problem he came across.

“Lucky for you, I came up with something,” He flashed his crooked smile at her.

“I knew you would. Let’s hear it,” Kaida said

Donum showed Kaida a levy system he created to get their hunt up to the cave.

“Bobcat, one of my favorites,” Kaida said as Donum pulled the dead beast into the cave.

“Couldn't you smell this from a mile away?” Donum laughed.

Kaida looked at him softly, “I’m getting older, Donum. If my sense of smell is all I’ve lost, I’m a lucky dragon,”

Donum furrowed his brow. Kaida knew that in that beautiful mind, somewhere, Donam was trying to think of a way to fix it for her.

“Aging is a gift,” Kaida said, “Not a curse,”

3.

That evening Kaida and Donum went down to the river.

The clouds began to clear in the distance, allowing a few streams of heavenly light to the forest floor.

“Will you look at that,” Donum said.

“Sunshine on the banks,” Kaida smiled, “Not something you see every day,”

A branch cracked in the shadows of the forest causing Kaida’s scales to harden. She let a low growl from deep in her chest.

Donum’s eyes focused into the darkness, “Probably just a wolf coming for an evening drink,” he shrugged as he turned back towards Kaida, “Changed his mind when he saw us,”

Kaida glared into the trees for another moment, unwilling to let her guard down.

“Relax,” Donum said, “There’s nothing-”

Dozens of arrows guiding thick ropes, flew into the air around them, falling on top of them. With a sudden yank the ropes pulled Kaida and Donum to the ground.

Donum let out a savage howl as Kaida’s snout spewed thick smoke. Dozens of people ran out of the trees carrying thick ropes and weapons.

Donum managed to slip through the slack in the rope Kaida was creating. He pulled a dagger from his calf. He was outnumbered by dozens, but he wouldn’t go out without a fight. He raised his dagger into the air as he leapt toward the closest person. A rope caught around his neck and dragged him down before he had the chance to strike.

Kaida was trapped beneath the ropes. Her eyes quickly flickered from rage to sorrow as she watched the men pin Donum to the ground. His eyes met hers as an something punctured her side.

“No!” Donum yelled. Kaida squirmed in pain; an arrow stuck into her side.

The earth shook beneath the weight of Kaida’s head hitting the ground as she closed her bright yellow eyes.

“Kaida!” Donum screamed.

“She aint dead,” a man spit on the ground, “Just going to be asleep for a little while,”

“Let me go,” Donum screamed at the man holding him down, “Or I will rip your guts out,”

“Don’t you mean ‘thank you’” The man laughed, “We just saved your life, if you would quit with the death threats, I’d be glad to let you go,”

“Save me?” Donum asked, “She is my friend, I need no saving,”

“This here is the Dragon of Eldred, she alone is responsible for the death of hundreds, if not thousands of people,” he spit, “Maybe you thought she was your friend, but I’m sure she’s just keeping you around to thicken you up before she, you know,” the man growled and barred his teeth.

He pulled Donum to his feet. A woman came over and put a hand on his shoulder, “Are you okay?” she asked.

“Where are they taking her? I need to be with her,” Donum demanded.

“She is safe,” the woman said, “They are taking her to run some tests, then they’ll decided where she goes from there,”

“Come with us, kid,” the man said, “We’ll get you cleaned up,”

4.

Even with her failing sense of smell, Kaida could make out the pungent scent of ammonia as she awoke. The light pained her eyes as she opened them. She was in a small room, hardly big enough to fit her, the only thing she could see was a row of small windows lining the top of the white polished walls.

She growled which triggered a humming sound that came from a contraption on her snout. She threw her head back and forced her jaw open trying to get it off. But the muzzle only hummed louder before it let out an electrified wave that pulsed through her scales.

She built up a fire in her chest, as she let it out, the muzzle sent even stronger electric currents down her spine, causing her to collapse on the floor.

She remembered the fear in Donum’s eyes before she lost consciousness in the firest. She felt weak. How could she leave him all alone with those humans?

“Fighting it only makes it worse,” a raspy voice said.

"Who are you?” Kaida asked, “Why are you doing this to me?”

“Oh, honey,” the voice let out a shallow laugh, “I’m just as trapped as you are,”

Kaida looked out one of the high windows, to find another window across from hers. In it, appeared the head of a gorgeous red metallic scaled beast.

“Company you never want to need,” the dragon coughed, “A cell mate,”

“Cell mate?” Kaida’s heart raced. She needed to get back to Donum.

“Well, I supposed cell- neighbor would be more accurate,” the beast said, “Anyway, my name is Rowena,”

“Who is doing this to us?” Kaida asked.

“Humans,” Rowena said, “Dragon Hunters, to be specific. Do you have a name?”

“Kaida,” She said, “Why are they doing this to us?”

“Lots of reasons” the dragon replied, “Mainly for the gold. Some of us will be lucky enough to be sold to a nice kingdom to live out our days serving the humans, others however- most of us, actually- will be sold for our teeth and scales to be turned into souvenirs…and good luck charms,” Rowena scoffed.

Kaida took in Rowena’s shimmering red scales.

“I lived a good life,” she seemed to read Kaida’s thoughts. A beautiful dragon like Rowena would be a prized possession.

Later that night Kaida awoke to the sound of Rowena’s silky roar, it would have been magnificent to hear in the open sky, here however, it meant she was fighting for her life.

Kaida looked out the window to find Rowena flailing and thrashing, fighting humans in white suits. The zap of her muzzle filled the halls. She fought until she was shot in the side with an arrow. Rowena fell to the floor. Kaida looked away. She could do nothing to help her new mate, and there was even less she could do to help herself.

The lights were never dimmed in their cells, other dragons came and went, though Kaida believed she only spent a half a dozen night there. Until the day they came for her. A group of humans dressed in all white entered her room. She knew her efforts to fight would be mute, however, it felt wrong to do anything else. With her wings tied back and her mouth trapped, she built the fire up in her chest before she let out a loud roar. Her face felt numb from the electric shocks of the muzzle, but that didn’t stop her. In her youth Kaida was stronger than most dragons, larger too, though size meant nothing if you didn’t know how to use it, but Kaida did. She whipped her tail through the intruders knocking them into the wall of her cell.

She charged at them, smoke billowing out of her snout, which was light up by the electrified muzzle, right before she went in for the kill, she staggered. She remembered the small boy she found in the forest all those years ago. Her anger had left him an orphan. Was she no better now, than she was back then? In her hesitation, one of the humans fumbled for a small weapon. They shot it into Kaida’s chest. She threw back her head as the poison entered her bloodstream. She was out cold before her body hit the floor.

5.

“Wake up, beast” Kaida heard a woman's voice.

Kaida opened her eyes to see a woman standing at the edge of her snout. Most humans she’d seen this closely was usually cowering, begging for their lives; besides, of course, Sweet Donum.

Kaida lifted her head, it felt as heavy as a boulder on her neck. How long had she been out?

“This is your new home, Dragon,” The woman said. She wore garments that flowed as she moved, “I am Xaviea, your new master. And this “She fanned her long fingers above her head, “Is your new home,” In the dark Kaida could make out large stone castle behind her.

Kaida forced herself to her feet, taking a step forward.

“Ah, ah,” Xaviea tutted, “You are under a sort of enchantment, a spell, if you will. You’re bound within a certain radius of the castle, and if you are to wonder outside of it,” Xaviea held out the palm of her hand, Kaida watched as a white-hot flame appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, in the center of her hand, “You burn,”

Kaida felt the low vibrations of a growl in her chest. To her surprise no shock followed the heat of her anger. The muzzle was gone.

Before she could stop herself, Kaida pulled in the air to the depths of her belly and let fire out onto the woman. It engulfed her, but, when she stopped, Xaviea took an unharmed step towards the dragon.

“That won’t work either, my dear,” she smiled, “I can’t die on my castle grounds. And you are limited to…well, my castle grounds,” she laughed.

“You are mine now, and we can make this civil for both of our sakes or…you will be a slave to me. And I will treat you as such,”

….

Over the next few days Kaida tested the boundaries of her new home. She could roam the land around the castle, but she could not get close enough to see inside the dwelling. Above the castle, the sky was always night, likely another spell cast by the witch. A moat surrounded the castle, Kaida drank from it when she was thirsty, though it tasted of iron and mud. She missed the river in the forest, the crisp clean water that flowed generously through the land.

Xaviea returned to see Kaida a few nights later.

"I would like to apologize for how things went the other night," Xaviea said.

Kaida turned her back to the witch.

"I have something of great value in that castle," Xaviea explained, "And people…humans, are constantly trying to take it from me,”

Kaida dipped her head down into the murky water and drank.

“It’s why I brought you here; to help protect it…to protect her,”

Water dripped from Kaida’s snout as she looked at the woman.

“My daughter,” Xaviea admitted, “She means the world to me and…I would do anything to protect her. I just thought…hoped, you could help me,”

Kaida took in the witch’s words. Perhaps she was not an evil witch and just a mother desperate to protect her child.

“Do you have children, Dragon?” Xaviea asked.

Kaida’s heart sank at the question, there was no right answer. She thought of Donum, and his beautifully crooked smile, his ingenious mind and kind heart. But she was not his mother. He would do fine in the human world on his own, though it pained her to think she would never see him again. And the eggs she lost all those years ago, were her only chance at hatchlings, and they were stolen from her, by humans, just as they were trying to steal Xaviea’s child.

Kaida’s golden eyes glossed over in pain as smoke billowed from her nostrils.

“I am sorry is that is a sore subject,” Xaviea paused, “Perhaps we can start over,” at a flick of her wrist Xaviea produced a pile of raw meat at Kaida’s feet, “It’s not all bad here, I promise.”

....

Kaida was unsure of how many years had passed while she fulfilled Xaviea’s wish and protected the castle. Over the years many humans trespassed on their land seeking to steal the daughter from her tall tower. Human after human would come to challenge Kaida only to be met with a terrible fate.

Kaida never saw the daughter, every so often she would catch a glimpse of her silhouette high up in her tower. But Kaida continued to protect the women, through every man woman or child that dared cross her path. And Xaviea kept her promise and rewarded the dragon with fresh meat and freedom to roam of the castle land.

One evening when Kaida was resting by the castle gate, through the dark she saw a shadow climbing the side of the stone wall. She waited for it to drop into the castle grounds before she took off. She moved like a snake over to the intruder. A man dressed in a silver suit, donning a metal helmet.

Once he caught sight of her, he drew his sword into the air. Kaida pushed back onto her hind legs and expanded her massive wings, spewing flames into the air, lighting up the entire castle. She dove to the knight, fangs drawn. Suddenly he pulled the helmet off, “Kaida!” he cried.

Kaida pulled back to see a man with dark curly hair, though he was much older than she remembered, there was no mistaking him, “Donum?”

His sword was still gripped in his fist, “Kaida what are you doing here?” He asked in disbelief, “You’re the Witch’s Dragon?”

Kaida explained to him that she had no choice, that she was bought by the witch after the Dragon Hunter’s captured her in the woods that day. “Why are you trying to kidnap the witch’s daughter?” Kaida asked.

“Daughter?” Donum asked, “I am here to rescue the Lost Princess. The witch stole her nearly a decade ago, I am here to save her,”

“That’s not true,” Kaida shook her head, “She is protecting her daughter from monstrous humans,”

“Monstrous humans?” Donum scoffed, “I heard what you did all those years ago Kaida,” his eyes pleaded with her as his grip tightened on the sword, “That you destroyed my village. Killed my family. Tell me it’s not true,” he begged.

Kaida bowed her head, “It’s true,”

Tears glazed over Donums eyes.

“I am so sorry, Donum,” Kaida said.

“Really?” Donum spat, “How many men have you killed protecting that witch?”

Shame filled Kaida as Donum explained everything to her.

Xaviea had been a midwife for the Queen decades ago. She spent weeks living in the castle before the birth of the Princess. During that time, she formed a secret relationship with the King. After his daughter was born the King told her it was a mistake and he broke it off, however she had fallen in love with him.

In a desperate attempt to win him back she went to a peddler who told her he could give her powers that would make the king fall madly in love with her. The catch was that she would need to sell her soul in order be able to wield this kind of magic.

Once she did, the only love spell powerful enough to entrance the king required the blood of his adult child.

“She lured the young princess away from her home years ago. Once the Princess turns 21, Xaviea will kill her and put a spell on the king to make him fall madly in love with her,”

If it were true, then Kaida had spent the last decade responsible for more brutal murder of innocent men.

“I am eternally sorry,” she said, “You will never know the regret I have in my heart for the pain I have caused on this earth,”

They sat in silence for a moment, “I know you, Kaida,” Donum said, “And I know what you did to my village was terrible, but I know that in that moment, whatever reason you did it for, I’m sure you didn’t believe it was wrong. And for that reason, I forgive you,”

Kaida starred down at the boy she had found in the forest all those years ago. She lowered her scaley snout down to his bearded face, “I can never make up for what I took from you, Donum, but I will do everything in my power to help you today,”

She nodded her head back, “Get on, let’s rescue the princess,”

Donum pulled himself up onto her back as he had done so many times before. Kaida flapped her giant wings until they were soaring up towards the castle, as she neared the tallest tower, Kaida could feel the heat on her scales. Donum pulled his hands back, “Kaida, what’s going on?”

“She put a curse on me, I can’t get too close to the castle, you’re going to have to jump,”

She could feel her skin boiling beneath her scales, she pushed though the pain until she got close enough for Donum to jump, “Go,” the pain was unbearable, “I’ll fly back around for you,”

Donum leapt off her toward the tallest tower, grabbing on to the window ledge. He slowly pulled himself up and into the room until he was out of sight.

As she flew away from the castle the burning sensation eased. Kaida landed on the grass below the castle, waiting for any sign of movement. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, she decided to fly back up to him. She caught sight of two people in the window, she braced herself for the scalding hot pain as she swept beneath the opening.

Donum and the young girl landed on Kaida’s back and the three of them glided down to the ground.

Thank you,” the princess cried.

“Let’s get you home, Princess,” Donum sounded like a prince.

An eerie laugh echoed through the castle grounds, as Xaviea appeared before them, “Guess someone isn’t getting any dinner tonight, hm,” she looked at Kaida.

“A prince to go with my princess, I’ve always wanted a matching set,” Xaviea flicked her wrist and Donum and the princesses’ arms and legs were bound in a glowing golden thread, “Back to the castle with you!” She snarled.

An invisible force dragged Donum and the princess toward the castle.

"Stop!” Kaida growled

Xaviea’s eyes widened, “You can speak,” she kept her hand pointed in Kaida’s direction like a weapon.

“Let them go,” Kaida demanded, “Or else,”

“Or else?” Xaviea cackled, “Stupid dragon. I can’t die, you can’t kill me,”

“You’re right,” Kaida said, “I can’t kill you…here,”

Kaida dove towards the witch, ripping her from the ground with her with her sharp teeth.

Kaida pushed off the ground, her wings carried her up into the sky. She flew as far away from the castle as she could. As she did, she could feel her scales begin to burn.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the witch cried, “You’ll die-”

The witch screamed as Kaida clenched down deeper into torso. She flew through the clouds; she could smell the molten burning of her skin. Higher she soared until the clouds were below her and she could finally see the moon and stars above. The pain was torturous, fire spread from her skin to her wings. Before long, her wings would fail, and she would plumet to the ground. Kaida dug her teeth into the witch once more, wanting her to burn with her. The fire engulfed her head now. She was burning alive. She fell from the sky, and as she did, she thought of Donum. She imagined him saying her name once more, offering that smile she loved so. It was all just a memory now. But one she was grateful to have.

Somewhere beneath the burning creatures, Donum, unaware of the sacrifice Kaida had made, offered a crooked smile to the princess.