Treasured

Winter's hunger rushed through Harrzna's body and mind as she prowled through the forest. Warm rays of sunlight had finally penetrated through the opening high in her rocky cave and fought off many months of hibernation. Now, thoughts of food consumed her. And just behind those thoughts, a deeper obsession also woke, stretched, and began to gnaw.

Tallisi hefted her young daughter onto her hip and lifted a bucket in her other hand. As she stepped out of her small house, the other women of the village greeted her. All felt renewed and giddy by the appearance of spring. They headed toward the edge of a nearby wood, laughing and singing, ready to spend the day tapping trees for the syrup that they would later sell to traders. Children ran around the crowd of women and Rynata reached her arms towards them. Tallisi set her down and kept one eye on her as she toddled off to join the chase.

After a few hours of work and play, the children began to plop down next to their mothers. The women pulled bread and cheese from their bags for lunch. Rynata snuggled into Tallisi's side as she munched on her bread and stared at the sap dripping steadily into the bucket on a nearby tree.

"Mama, look! It's like gold, Mama. Like treasure!"

A mile away, Harrzna's head swiveled toward the sound of that word. Through the trees, her dragon-strong eyes were just able to make out the tiny girl as her mother cradled her and responded, "Yes, my darling. And you are my treasure."

Abandoning her half-eaten deer, Harrzna crept through the trees, always staying just out of sight. Her eyes never left Rynata.

It took only half an hour for the children to be revived and begin their games again. The women turned back to their work and began building fires over which to boil the collected sap. Tallisi trusted the older children to watch over Rynata as they had all morning and turned to search for firewood. She didn't hear a child suggest a game of hide and seek. And she didn't see that her daughter ran into the woods alone.

Rynata didn't realize, having never tried it before, how quickly she could become lost in the woods. She found a hiding place inside a hollow log, but soon became impatient with waiting, especially once she heard the squeals of the other children as they were found. Wanting to join them again, she crawled out, but couldn't see anyone. Voices echoed off of the trees from what seemed like every direction. Rynata couldn't remember which way she had come. Clasping her hands together, she turned slowly in a circle, trying to find the way back. Her chin quivered and big tears filled her eyes; she was scared. Suddenly, a bush rustled. Relief brought a grin to her face. She rushed toward it and the child who must be there, hiding or looking for her.

Gleaming eyes. Blood-soaked breath. Huge leathery hand, wrapping around her, pinning her arms. No more ground beneath her feet. Wings unfurling. Trees rushing past. High in the air. Screams below. Wind ripping her breath away. And a voice in her head, growling, "Now you are my treasure."

Once the girl was in her grasp, Harrzna's only instinct was to take it back to her cave and find a place for it among her other treasures. She paid no heed to the weaponless humans who screamed after her, nor to the wriggling of her new prize.

Gliding down through the entrance of her home, Harrzna alighted gently on the ground and looked around. Her other treasures were all neatly set in their places, untouched since last autumn. They would need a good cleaning soon. But first...Harrzna chirruped happily as she saw just the spot. Gently nudging a birds nest closer to a set of cobbler's tools, she set the child down on a shelf near her sleeping rock. The moment Harrzna let go, Rynata scrambled away from her and began to run and scream. Harrzna jumped back in surprise. None of her other treasures had ever done that before. Recovering herself, she pounced and trapped Rynata between her front claws. Scooping her up, she set Rynata back on the shelf, opening her hands more slowly this time and backing away cautiously. It seemed to work. Rynata crouched miserably on the shelf, whimpering and watching Harrzna with wide, terrified eyes. But just as Harrzna sat back in satisfaction, the girl pushed herself off the shelf and tried to run again. Growling in frustration, Harrzna grabbed her. This clearly was not going to work the way she had envisioned.

Eventually, Harrzna had no choice but to leave Rynata unattended in the cave while she went out to gather material to build some kind of fence or cage. She wasn't really concerned. After all, there was no way that the child could reach the entrance and there was no other way out of the cave. Harrzna neglected, however, to consider what Rynata could do. Upon arriving back in the cave with a load of branches and some pilfered rope, Harrzna gazed around in utter dismay. While she had been gone, Rynata, in the midst of the kind of tantrum that only a toddler can throw, had emptied every shelf she could reach. Treasures littered the floor. Some things had smashed into tiny pieces. Others cracked, but were still recognizable. The birds nest was torn apart. Harrzna dropped her load of supplies among the wreckage and stared at the girl in shock. Rynata, for her part, had exhausted herself and now lay sleeping atop a large stuffed toy she had found on one of the shelves.

Harrzna considered her options. If she tried to clean up and woke the girl, not much would be accomplished until she was contained. Perhaps she could just build a cage around the child while she slept. Yes...that would work. But building a cage required more dexterity that Harrzna's claws offered. She sighed, hating what she had to do next. It always itched and she always felt so small and ugly. Gathering her resolve, she closed her eyes and relaxed her muscles, allowing every bit of power to seep out of her. When she opened her eyes again, the cave seemed much larger around her and, as expected, her whole body itched. Shaking off the discomfort, she picked up the rope and a few branches and got to work.

Sleep always faded slowly from Rynata. She muttered and stretched, then waited for her mother to come pick her up and snuggle her tenderly, as she always did after a nap. But she did not hear her mother's footsteps or soothing voice. Instead, a snap and a burst of harshly whispered words brought Rynata's eyes open with a snap. All around her were branches, woven so closely together that she could fit her hand through, but nothing more. Above her head, a woman was tying the end of the all the branches together. Or she had been. One branch seemed to have slipped free from the bunch and slapped the woman in the face, because she was wiping a small trickle of blood away and glaring at the branch. Noticing Rynata, the woman turned reptilian eyes towards her.

"Well, hello, my treasure. Welcome back from dreamland. You've been a lot of trouble; I hope you know that. So you'll have to stay in this cage until you can learn to behave. And to not break my things," she growled. She turned back to her task and quickly tied shut the top of the cage. Then, without another word to Rynata, she began to clean up the mess. Things that were whole or just cracked were placed lovingly back on the shelves. Everything else was scooped carefully into a pile in the corner, where other broken bits had escaped Rynata's earlier notice. The woman, who Rynata somehow suspected was also the dragon, picked out the prettiest bits of debris and arranged them artfully on the top of the pile. It took a long time, but once everything was finally to her liking, the dragon-woman looked back at Rynata. Rynata stared back. She was still frightened, but the woman was much less frightening than the dragon.

"I'm hungry," Rynata said suddenly. Harrzna was taken aback. None of her other treasures had ever needed to eat.

"Oh. Well. What exactly do you eat, my treasure?" Rynata looked at her with all the disdain a toddler can muster (which is, of course, a shockingly large amount).

"My name is Rynata. Not treasure. And I eat food. Like bread. And cheese. And meat. And sometimes vege- um, vegegables, but I don't like them so much. But Mama says I must eat them to grow big and strong."

Harrzna was not quite sure why she felt so insulted by this small bit of treasure. Nodding curtly, she gathered her power, transformed back into her natural shape, and flew out of the cave to see what she could find in the way of bread, cheese, meat, or vegetables.

Rynata watched her go, shrinking back as the dragon reappeared. She cried a while for fear and loneliness, but soon became bored. She traced the lines of her cage with her finger. She stared a long time at all the strange things around her. Turning to see what other treasures might be on the wall behind her, Rynata bumped the side of her cage. It moved. The whole thing moved. Rynata pushed on the other side. It moved again. The dragon-woman had not thought to attach a bottom to the cage or to attach it to the ground. Giggling, Rynata walked forward several steps, pushing the cage along with her. It stopped abruptly at an uneven spot in the floor. In a moment, Rynata figured out how to lift it over the rocky lip so she could keep going. Then she realized that she was just able to lift enough to push it over onto its side, allowing her to escape. Delighted by this discovery, Rynata rushed away from the cage. She ran the length of the cave and then stopped.

There was nowhere to run to. Nowhere to go. The only opening Rynata could see in the cave was the one in the ceiling from which the dragon had left. Knowing that she had done everything in her very little power and that she could do nothing else to free herself right now, she curled up on the floor to wait. Her eyes landed on the cage. The dragon probably wouldn't like to see it out of place. She got up and dragged it back to where she had been sleeping. The stuffed toy was still inside. It took most of her strength and several tries to push the cage back into an upright position over the toy. She had just finished when the dragon swooped back in.

Harrzna gaped at the small girl standing next to the cage, which was just where she had left it. What magic was this? How had she gotten out? Well, well, well. No wonder the woman called her a treasure. I am certain that humans are not generally magical, so this one must be special indeed. Perhaps I should not underestimate her. Feeling suddenly awkward but not wanting to show it, Harrzna placed the half-eaten deer from earlier in the day before Rynata and spoke to her with her mind. "I brought you meat."

Rynata's lips curled up in disgust. "But - no! It's not - you have to cook it! No!" Now it was Harrzna's turn to curl her lips in disgust. Why would anyone want to ruin perfectly fresh meat by cooking it? But she also felt intrigued. No other treasure had held her attention for so long after bringing it back to the cave and this had fueled her obsession. Many long years had been spent hunting for all kinds of treasure in an attempt to satiate the feeling that all dragons have.

Dragging the deer a safe distance away, Harrzna drew in a deep breath and let it out in a stream of fire. From the corner of her eye, she saw the small girl jump back. She wondered how powerful the girl might be and, conversely, how helpless she might be. It would be interesting to find out. Returning her mind to her task, Harrzna wondered how long she needed to cook the meat for. It already looked awful to her. Her stream of fire petered out and she pushed the deer back toward Rynata. The girl took one look at it and shook her head. "No. More."

Harrzna grumbled, but breathed fire on the deer again. Twice more Rynata sent it back for further cooking. Harrzna could have sworn that by the last time, the girl was enjoying bossing her around. By the time she was finished, Harrzna could barely look at the deer without gagging. She pushed it toward Rynata and said, "Eat."

"It's too hot." Harrzna felt her grip on her sanity loosening. Of course it was hot! It was cooked! Just as she was about to erupt in fury, Rynata spoke again. "It's too hot. Have to blow." And then she proceeded to to blow air and spittle on a section of the deer. Harrzna realized that the child had not really been speaking to her, but seemed to be reminding herself of something that she heard often at mealtimes. After a minute of blowing, Rynata seemed satisfied and tried to pull a chunk of meat off, but couldn't. She looked up at Harrzna and said, "Help, please."

Harrzna thought that she nearly died in that moment. It must have been part of the child's magic that pierced right through her scales and melted her bones. Time, breath, heartbeats; all stopped as Rynata's guileless eyes locked on Harrzna's. And then she said again, more insistently, "Help, please," and the spell was broken.

With a small shudder, Harrzna stepped forward and dragged a claw through the meat. The cut was ragged, allowing Rynata to grasp small pieces and pull them off. Harrzna watched her eat, fascinated by her tiny fingers, her utter disregard for cleanliness, the small appreciative sounds she made as she munched.

Abruptly, Rynata announced, "All done." Then, looking down at her grease-covered front and hands, "Ew." Again, she turned her powerful gaze on Harrzna. "Help, please." This time, Harrzna was at a complete loss. Could this child not bathe herself? How was Harrzna supposed to clean her? She certainly couldn't lick her clean, not without scraping the soft skin from her body with her rough tongue. And not without gagging as bits of cooked meat settled onto her tongue. Ew, indeed. The dragon looked around. Her eyes fell on the trash pile, where shreds of the birds nest could still be seen. With a claw, she carefully picked up the bits of grass and set them in front of Rynata. The girl looked at her as if to say, "What am I supposed to do with that?" Harrzna groaned and finally went through the process of transforming into a woman again. She had never done it twice in a day before and it was much harder to release her power the second time. Annoyed at the incredible inconvenience, she picked up a handful of grass and roughly wiped the girl's hands and face. Rynata squirmed and whined. When her skin was relatively clean, she looked down at her clothes again and then back at the dragon-woman. Harrzna had no idea what to do about that. She told the girl to wait and began to wander around the cave, looking for ideas. Eventually, her gaze fell on a chest that she had once taken from a travelling merchant. Something sparked in her memory and she opened it to find all sorts of clothing. Digging through the pile, she finally found something that looked like it would fit Rynata. The thought of treasure wearing treasure was immensely satisfying, so she quickly dressed the girl in the small garment. It was a little large, but it would do.

Rynata ran her small hands over the fine cloth for several moments. Harrzna was pleased to see that she seemed to like it and stood back contentedly. A small sound from the girl caught her attention. It was a sniff. Then another. The tiny shoulders shook and then a hiccup wracked her whole body. What was happening? Feel slightly panicky and very un-dragon-like, Harrzna grabbed Rynata's shoulders. The girl looked up at her and Harrzna could see huge tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I want my mama," Rynata cried. Then, in what was nearly a howl, "I WANT MY MAMA!!!" She dissolved into sobs while Harrzna stood stiffly, feeling more than ever as if she might die from this pain that did not even belong to her. Tears came to her own eyes, which was an entirely new and terrifying experience. Feeling weak, she dropped to her knees. Rynata, apparently interpreting the action as an invitation, threw herself into Harrzna's arms and continued to sob. All Harrzna could do was hold her and cry. After what seemed like forever, Rynata grew quiet. Her breathing evened out and became soft snores. Harrzna carefully straightened her cramped legs. When some of her strength had returned, she carried the girl over to the cage, pulled out the stuffed toy, and lay her gently on top of it. Then, finding that she could not gather enough power to transform into a dragon, she staggered over to her sleeping rock and immediately fell asleep.

Much earlier in the morning than she would have liked, Harrzna found herself being jolted into wakefulness by another howl. Rynata had woken to find herself still in the cave with the strange dragon-woman and still without her mother. Her sorrow and rage were wordless, but infinitely powerful. Harrzna could neither comfort her nor distract her. Desperate for some sort of control, Harrzna grasped at her power and shifted into dragon form. The shift surprised Rynata, but only long enough for her to pause before letting out an even angrier shriek.

Harrzna looked down at her, feeling better able to think from this greater height. She had been able to please the child before by giving in to her requests. And every time she had, Harrzna had felt that she was learning how to treasure her prize more. The satisfaction was intoxicating, even if it did not last for long. Maybe she could bring Rynata's mother to her. But no. She hadn't been paying enough attention to the woman to recognize her again. Harrzna never paid any mind to the people whose treasures she took, only to the treasures themselves. Well, then...she would have to take Rynata to the village and let her find her own mother.

Rynata increased the force of her cries again and Harrzna abandoned her planning. She would act now and figure out the rest as she went. Scooping Rynata up, she unfurled her wings and leapt into the air, leaving the cave behind. The girl was quiet now, clutching the hand that held her.

Before reaching the edge of the forest near the village, Harrzna realized that she would have to transform yet again. Yesterday there had been only unarmed women and children near the woods. Today, especially with a child missing, and especially if she planned to go right into the village, there would be people with weapons who would be sure to shoot her down at first sight. She landed and struggled to release her power again. She felt weaker and more vulnerable than ever, but Rynata looked at her and whispered, "I want my mama." The only thing Harrzna could do then was to lift Rynata onto her hip and walk toward the village.

When they were still a distance from the village, someone saw them coming and shouted. People came running onto the road. At the front of the group was a particularly desperate looking couple. Rynata reached out to them and they cried out in relief, reaching for her, too. Harrzna stopped walking abruptly and clutched the child closer to her. The parents, confused, looked to her face. When they saw her eyes and understood what she was, they froze.

After a long, tense moment, Tallisi spoke, her whole body trembling. "Please," she said, "please let my baby come home." Harrzna stared at her for a moment, then glanced down at the child in her arms. Rynata was looking back at her.

"My name is Rynata. Not treasure. And I want my mama." Harrzna knew that the girl was wrong. She was a treasure. She was the greatest treasure that Harrzna had ever found. It was within Harrzna's power to keep her, but something told her that to treasure her properly, Harrzna would have to let her go. It was very much like releasing her power in order to take on a woman's form, but much, much more difficult. The obsession for treasure that haunted her every moment roared within her not to let the child go. It thrashed and stormed and filled her every sense with longing. She almost gave in a hundred times in those few breathless seconds, but with a last surge of strength, she let go and handed Rynata to Tallisi.

Tallisi was so absorbed in her daughter that she didn't see the dragon-woman fall to the ground. And she didn't see her last, small smile as the raging monster inside devoured Harrzna's soul.