The Guardian of the Forest

The pearlescent fog thickened on the forest floor, smothering the delicate tapestry of moss, roots, and leaves. The pines reached into the sky, spearing the stars, and blanketing the night with their jagged branches and needles. Every creature in the forest was wreathed in fog and haloed in the moonlight as owls, deer, and hedgehogs went along their way hooting, galloping, and snuffling.

‘Where are you...’

The dragon Delvin grumbled from the large moss-covered stone archway he had made into his perch. Most of the arch had crumbled away with time and the weight of Delvin’s enormous body was not helping. His wings were folded in close, and his segmented scales shifted and clicked with each subtle movement as he scanned the forest. He made a tentative movement down toward the forest floor, being careful to stay just above the fog by moving between the larger chunks of fallen stone and collapsed trees. The fog seemed to be connected to what hunted them as if it knew where its prey was if they disturbed it.

‘Are they there?’ Came a soft voice from between Delvin’s wings. A child, a boy, only a few summers old lay flat against the dragon’s scales, gripping the thick line of spines that ran along the dragons back. They were in ragged clothes, their face was filthy, and their hair was cut ragged and short.

‘Quiet.’ Delvin snapped. The sound came from deep within him like the distant crack of thunder. He tasted blood in his mouth, his blood. This was not at all going to plan. He needed to get higher, to get a vantage point and figure out how to get out of this accursed place and back to the mountains with the rest of his kin. The wound in his side gave him a jab of pain like it was reminding him what happened the last time he tried that. It had got him badly, there was no other way to put it. What “it” was, however, was still up for debate. A rock gave way under Delvin’s bulk, his claws punching through the old crumbling stone like an axe through dry kindling. He raised his wings and tail to right himself, the force of his movement spurred the mist away in a wide arc.

‘Now you’ve done it.’ He muttered to himself then paused, waiting for a signal that his act had been noticed. He held his breath, counted the seconds, and readied his claws.

Nothing.

Delvin breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced down at his claws still covered in dust from the crumbled rocks. He hadn’t quite appreciated just how tense he was. However, maybe it was safe for a few minutes if that had not drawn that thing. He curved his neck back to look at the child gripped tightly to his spines and shaking in terror, their eyes were sparkling from tears.

‘Hey, hey, you’re doing great.’ He said in the most comforting voice he could muster which, as a dragon, is not an easy thing to do. He meant it too. That was twice now that he had made a mistake and the child had followed his instructions and stayed still and quiet. ‘Not much more to go. We’ll be safe soon, yes?’

He saw the child’s hair blown back by the force of his breath and they closed their eyes tightly but there was the slightest hint of a smile there. ‘You like that? You survived dragons’ breath, not many can say that.’ He snorted, blowing a strong gust over the child’s face. The smile appeared again momentarily, Delvin grinned and snorted again, harder this time so the child’s hair was thrown back and they almost lost their grip. They giggled quietly; it was the wet gurgling kind of giggle that follows tears, but it was a start.

‘Shh shh ssshhhh.’ Delvin said gently, raising a claw to his snout. The child, grinning, mimicked the action, holding the finger far away from their face as if they had a long toothy snout of their own. Delvin slowly lowered and folded his wings as the mist reformed around them. If it had not come after them yet perhaps it was further away than he thought. This could be their chance. He found a strong-looking tree within reach and looked up seeing the stars twinkling in the amethyst sky. He took a deep breath and tentatively began to climb.

**

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I don’t know… I want my bed.’

‘You’re a long way from that...’

‘I want my bed!’

‘Shh shh ssshhhh! You want the whole forest to know that?’

‘I want my bed! I want my bed!’

‘Okay, okay, calm down. Where are you from? Why are you out… What’s that? A letter?’

‘Daddy gave it to me. He says it’s for if I get lost and I’m lost.’

‘Did he now? Let me take a look at… Oh…’

**

Delvin crested above the pines, with just his head poking above the waves of pine trees he looked like a worm popping out of the freshly turned soil trying to work out how to burrow back into where it was safe and warm. He saw the mountains in the west, wreathed in cloud with a single pinprick of flickering orange at the centre of the widest mountain in the range. Kyar Moryn. Home and safety. He could take to the skies, bend, and break these blasted trees beneath the beat of his wings and be home in an hour. His jaw tightened as he pictured his guts lanced mid-flight by those glowing antlers, the white-hot fire of its assault burning his blood. It was faster than him. Not something that was easy to admit but it was true. Not recognising one’s limitations was the first step on the road to being killed. Or so Delvin had been taught. It seemed facing an opponent that could walk through solid matter like it wasn’t even there and gallop across the sky faster than dragon flight had pushed Delvin several long strides along that same road as well.

‘Are we nearly home?’ The child asked. Delvin grimaced but hoped the child would not be able to read his expressions.

‘Almost. We need to go down and due west for a few hours. Then we will have you somewhere safe.’ He made sure not to use the word “home”. He was confident the child did not realise that he was taking them much, much further away from their home. He wouldn’t take them back to their home, to the place that sent them into the forest in the first place, for all the gold in the world. The dragon hold of Kyar Moryn would be safer than that, at least to start with then he could figure out what to do with the child. A thought struck Delvin like a stone in his gut. What if the others did not think of him as a hero for saving the helpless child? Delvin imagined himself seated at the table of the dragon knights, a feast rolled out for him in honour of his chivalric deed in rescuing the child that promoted him to fully-fledged knighthood, but the image seemed distant and faded. Would they even care?

**

‘So, you were to be a sacrifice…’

‘What’s that?’

‘It’s… nothing. Say, show me your hands. Yes, that’s right, they look strong.’

‘I am strong.’

‘Of course, you are. Strong as me, aren’t you? Can you hold on to these things?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, and will you hold on tight?’

‘Yes.’

‘Okay, here we go. Up and, there we are. Now hold on tight, okay?’

‘Yes.’

‘I’ll take you… I’ll take you somewhere safe, yes? Somewhere with a big warm fire.’

‘Yes.’

‘Good, don’t let go. I need you.’

**

Delvin carefully leapt from bough to bough, clinging to them with all four clawed feet, hearing the bark snap and crunch under his weight. Sometimes he found ruins to scramble over that helped clear quick distance without disturbing the mists but then it was back to more climbing, bending, and leaping. The child seemed to find this amusing, it laughed and screamed in delight at one point, but Delvin quickly silenced this behaviour. He was getting lucky, that’s all this was. At any minute that creature would reappear, and he would have to fight. A small grove had just revealed itself and Delvin wound his way around it, landing on a raised, rocky area at the centre surrounded by a small body of water. Roots burst through the surface here with a ring of white capped mushrooms surrounding the central rock in a loose fitted circle. They were nearer the mountains than he realised, perhaps only two or three more hours of this. He was breathing heavily, his arms ached and the wound at his side was screaming to be acknowledged.

‘We can rest here for a few minutes, then we must press on.’ He said catching his breath. The child slid down his side and staggered to the floor. They were rubbing their eyes and yawning. ‘Maybe a quick nap, yes? Just so you can recover your strength.’ As if the child had just been waiting for permission to sleep, they dropped like a stone. Delvin moved slowly and quietly and surrounded the child with his tail and body as best he could, he kept his head and front claws free, eyes narrowed scanning the surrounding area.

A glow like a fallen star caught his eye. It was some distance away, moving through the trees like they weren’t there, the light of it spreading between the boughs in thick waves. Delvin curled his body tighter around the sleeping child, his eyes not wavering from that light. The outline at the centre of it became clearer, a stag of immense size with twin metre-high antlers curving from its head with dagger-like points. The creature was near featureless apart from two black eyes set into its white face. It moved its head glacially from side to side, constantly looking, searching. Delvin kept his head low, he slowly moved a wing over his body, covering him in the dark mottled green of his wings skin. The creature paused. Delvin froze. It raised its head and a high-pitched echoing howl materialised in the air, reverberating around the trees, and returning to the source where it cut to silence immediately as if the sound had been swallowed by the creature. The child stirred and opened its eyes slowly then closed them sharply at the unexpected brightness.

‘What is it?’

‘Sshhh…’ Delvin whispered and angled his wing to cover the child more and shield it from the light. The distant creature was moving again, further into the darkest parts of the forest, the trail of light following it before disappearing. The child faded into sleep once more and Delvin took a shuddering breath. There was the sound of movement in the grove, twigs snapped, and leaves rustled.

‘You need to move.’ Came a small voice, high-pitched and worrisome. Delvin turned to see a forest cat stalking toward the dragon, the mists parted from its path, reflected by some unseen aura the cat possessed. Its fur was dark brown with patches of white, their ears were stuck up with long tufts of fur sticking out of the tips.

‘I will leave when I am ready.’ Delvin growled. The cat paused in its advance.

‘She comes for that.’ The cat hissed, indicating with its head to the child. ‘It is not wise to take her offerings away from her, you know better than this.’ The cat began to pluck a small selection of mushrooms from the circle with its teeth and then deposit them near the water.

‘This child is not an offering.’ Delvin snarled in reply. This child is my path to the knight’s table. He pushed that thought aside. It made him feel strange. The cat leapt back, fur raised and hissing.

‘What makes this one so special?’ It spat. The child stirred, scrunched up its face and returned to sleep.

‘You’re disturbing them. Leave us.’ Delvin growled, snorting a challenge to the tiny cat. The cat growled in reply and then scattered into the darkness of the forest.

**

‘You’re hurt.’

‘I’ve had worse, these scales can deflect swords, arrows anything. A little cut from an animal won’t hurt me. Are you hurt?’

‘No. What’s that?’

‘It’s nothing, a little blood. Don’t look at it, just watch the sky.’

‘Why?’

‘Because it’s safe up there. Nothing can hurt you up there.’

‘Can we go there?’

‘Yes, once we’ve got out of the trees, I will take you there.’

‘Is it coming back?’

‘Yes… Yes, I’m afraid that it will.’

**

The night moved on, shadows shifting as the moon arced across the sky. The mist had risen by a foot at least and traversing the forest was getting harder. The child was slipping, Delvin could feel them struggling to hold on as he moved.

‘Come here, climb into my hand I’ll carry you the rest of the way’

The child groggily slipped down Delvin’s side, bumping along his rigid hide and Delvin swept him up. He was perched on a rock currently, a high angular shard of a mountain that some millennia ago had tumbled down from the mountains. He was close now, so very close. He saw the light trail from the corner of his eye. It was getting closer. It was finding them. The trees seemed to close in around them, blocking the sky and plunging them into a deep, rich darkness broken only by the light of their approaching predator. Not now. Delvin thought. Not when we’re so close. Then Delvin heard the creature’s call again, it reached a fever pitch that rattled his bones and shook his teeth. There was no doubt that it had spotted them now.

Delvin was running, heedless of disturbing the mists and barrelling forwards as fast as he could on three legs, the child cradled in his free hand. Trees in his path broke and splintered from his momentum as he surged for safety. He heard the galloping hooves surging towards him, the cries of animals diving out of the creature’s path and cowering from Delvin’s relentless advance. The creature sailed through the trees, unobstructed by them and disturbing not the leaves or mist as it leapt and galloped. The child gripped Delvin’s hand tightly and was looking behind, eyes wide in panic.

‘It’s there! It’s there!’ The child screamed. It was too fast. Or Delvin was too slow. Either way, he was out of time, he could not reach the mountains without flying. This was going to hurt but he had no choice.

‘Hang on!’ Delvin bellowed and with a beat of his mighty wings, he leapt into the air, snapping and splintering half a dozen trees and throwing a maelstrom of dust and debris as his wings beat and flapped. In a second he had cleared the trees and was surging higher, he paused for half a breath to check his path. The mountains were close. He could make it! He formed his body like an arrow, diving with wings folded to pick up maximum speed then spreading them wide to glide just above the tree level clearing a hundred metres in a single beat. He had barely crested the tree line when the creature pierced his wings. A dozen needle-like spears of light ripped through the leathery hide of Delvin’s wings and sent him tumbling to the ground, bellowing in defiance. He crashed through pine trees, throwing up dirt and dust as he fell, followed by the roar of crunching bark and rock.

Delvin opened his eyes to a blurry yet stunningly bright figure of the stag approaching slowly through the trees. Pain seared through his body, the copper taste of blood in his mouth. Something was broken in his chest, and it ground against his ribs with every breath. The child was no longer in his hand, it was crying, backing away from the approaching creature with panicked, stumbling steps.

‘It’s coming! Nonononono!’ Pleaded the child but Delvin was far away, in his vision of Kyar Moryn, seated at the round table by the enormous hearth with the other knights telling tales of their heroic deeds, their self-sacrifices in the face of overwhelming odds. He thought of the legends like Xeron Heartseeker, who lanced the great rogue dragon Plaxidesoux with a single strike of his tail and Uderon the Ashmaker who raised an invading army to ashes in less than a minute with his mighty flames. He wondered what his legend would be when they found his remains, a broken beast who couldn’t even protect a child.

‘Please! Wake up!’

It struck Delvin then that those in Kyar Moryn who speak of self-sacrifice are so often alive to tell their story.

‘Please!’

Perhaps to be truly heroic you cannot be the one who tells your story.

**

‘You’re a what?’

‘A knight, well, sort of. Like a knight in training. Big shiny armour, feathered hats, saves the day. A knight.’

‘You’re too big to be that.’

‘Ahh, yes. I suppose I am in your world. In my world, I’m quite small, like you.’

‘Where’s your sword?’

‘I don’t need one, I have my claws, see?’

‘Where’s your… your…’

‘My horse? I don’t need that either, I’ve got my wings, see?’

‘Do you have friends?’

‘Yes, I do, lots of them in fact. We’re going to see them; they live in the mountains. Only they might not call me a knight. I’m not one quite yet as I said. I’ve got to do something heroic first. Big hero stuff.’

‘Big hero stuff!’

‘Yes, that’s where you come in.’

**

The child opened its eyes, shut them, opened them, and shut them again. The scene had not changed. Fire and smoke bordered in shadow and darkness. Delvin was lying still at an awkward angle, wounds in his body were slowly leaking red blood. The damage from his breath had been extensive and all around the child was the roar of crackling wood, the creaks of collapsing burning trees and the squeals of the forest creatures running from the scene. A few feet away from Delvin lay the creature, robbed of its bright aura and now resembling a blackened oversized stag on thin limbs. It was collapsed at the epicentre of the blaze, the ground around it cracked and scorched so heavily it seemed to absorb the light around it. Ash fell like snow all around them in great clouds drifting on the hot winds of the fire blanketing the scene in grey, stealing its colours. Tears cut rivers through their ash-blackened face as the child sobbed in great shuddering waves, rising, and falling as it sat not sure what to do or where to go.

‘They live in the mountains… Nothing can hurt you up there…’

The dragons' words drifted through the child’s mind. They looked up to the sky, blocked out by the rising swirling smoke. As they lowered their eyes, they saw a path burned through the trees by the dragons' fire and at the end of that path, through the winding, broken boughs of the pines were the mountains. A single spark of orange glinting like a jewel in the rock.

‘Somewhere with a big warm fire…’

The child stood up shakily and began to walk through the path the dragon had burned for them towards the mountains.