The Guardian

There weren't always dragons in the valley. When we arrived, the land was a barren wasteland. But it was Baloryx who restored order. She breathed into the stream's crevice, and I watched the water slowly seep to the surface, gurgling to life. Little green sprouts poked through the dry, cracked soil and quickly covered the valley floor with lush vegetation. While wildflowers traced her path.

"What do you think, Kaida?" She asked me.

"It's beautiful. Is this our new home?" I didn't want to seem too hopeful, but I had always pictured living in a valley like this.

She glanced around and admired her work. Then, turning to me, she smiled, "of course, my child."

It didn't take long before other dragons joined us, including many other creatures. We lived in peace for a long time until the two-legged beasts discovered our new homeland. What was once a peaceful and magical land was now filled with human destruction.

To our dismay, we learned to coexist with the humans. So we dragons kept to ourselves, making the summit our home while the humans overtook the valley floor.

"Kaida, so long as dragons live in the valley, life will be abundant," her words were encouraging, and I envisioned centuries of life in this valley. But then her bright emerald eyes darkened, and her radiant violet head dipped ever so slightly. She was quiet for a moment before speaking, " but shall anything happen to us, the valley will return to its barren self."

I gazed at her, hoping she would look at me, but she was lost in thought, looking out over the horizon. Her words were strong but fragile as she spoke, "you must promise me if anything happens to me..."

"But nothing will happen to you, mother," the iridescent blue scales on my head clacked against her side.

"But, if something does happen to me, Kaida, promise me you will watch over this valley. Not for the humans, but for the creatures counting on the valley to provide them with a home, food, and water."

A solemn expression befalls me, and I give a curt nod. The severity of the matter didn't become apparent until the night my mother was slain.

"No! Mother, don't leave me. Mother!"

A sounding crack from my tail against the cold stone startles me awake from my nightmare. The tremor dislodges a small group of stalactites. They bounce off my head and echo, crashing and scattering across the cavern floor.

"Kaida!" A low rumble enters my home. Typically, at this time, I would have ignored the call.

"I'm here, Axan."

His nimble body soared into the cave. One of the few smallest dragons in the clan, his onyx scales glistened under the morning rays.

"Kaida, he has arrived." Embers lit Axan's eyes in terror, "Omaex is here."

I knew one day we would have to face him. But I always assumed Baloryx would be with me. Sulfur exhaled my nostrils as I rose, shrouding Axan in my shadow.

"Come, Axan. Let's not waste precious daylight. I must find Omaex before nightfall."

"But...but, he drove us from our home. Slaid many of our kind in the process, and you want to find him?" Axan flew in front of my face, smoke billowing from his snout. "You can't find him," his words were spoken with finality, but there was a hint of betrayal I sensed as well.

"Axan," willful compassion fills me as I look at him. "I can find him, and I will find him. You must trust me on this matter."

Reaching the ledge, I stretched my wings. The tips almost touch the ends of the cave's mouth. A gust of wind whistled through my scales, singing a morning melody. Closing my eyes for a moment, I felt my mother's presence.

Kaida, follow your instincts first but don't forget to listen to your heart. The wind's whisper tickled my ears, but I felt her words resonate within me.

"Why?! Why should I trust you?" The dejection in his tone tore at me. I swung my head away from his piercing gaze and felt cool liquid trickle down my snout. I couldn't bear to look at him, knowing he wouldn't understand the truth. At least not yet.

Without warning, I took to the sky before he could see anything. I knew he wouldn't follow me. The pain was too great for him to overcome. Before I completely vanished out of sight, I called back to him, "because I sent for him."

My mother, Baloryx, monarch over the valley dragons, warned me this day would come. That the future of our home hung in the balance with me. And now, I faced two of the most challenging tasks; seek out the one who banished my clan from our homeland and ask him to bestow me the gift of shapeshifting.

Just the thought of asking him for help ignited a burst of flame from my mouth. Rage heated within my belly, discharging a tingling sensation through my veins. Then, my iridescent blue scales turned to ice.

Kaida, the only way to fight what is coming is in human form.

So, onward I flew in search of my greatest nemesis, Omaex.