When I was a Dragon

The night was creeping over the pine forest, crawling across the sky and drowning us in darkness. The humans have to light up the night sky, with torches and lamps and big bonfires to scare away the dark. Every human village that I fly over has a dim glow to it. We don't do that, light the night on fire. We embrace the darkness, and the peaceful quiet that it brings. The world gets dark, and we lay down to rest.

I flew over a human village one night. There were no lights, which I found odd. Humans never let the lights go out. I landed a reasonable distance away. Humans never enjoyed the sight of a dragon. Maybe it was my size, my towering height. Or perhaps it was the scales. Humans didn't have scales, which to me, seems like an evolutionary downfall. How can they be out in the sun all day with nothing to cover that delicate flesh of theirs? Maybe they didn't like the fire breathing. As much as humans loved the light, they hated the fire that made it.

The human village was quiet too, a deafening silence. It was burned. The village had toppled down, the wood that made the houses was charcoal, the ground was charred, and the air smelled like smoke. I knocked over the wreckage of a burned house with my tail.

"Foolish things," I murmured to nobody in particular, "They leave those lamps and torches burning all night and expect their homes not to be burned to the ground. My feet sunk into the ashy ground, and the sharp smoky air cut into my lungs. I shook my head. Humans were a mystery to me, and they always will be. I was just about to fly away- before I noticed something in the corner of my eye. It was an adolescent human.

It was no bigger than a cat, more of a light snack for the human eaters. I didn't eat humans. I never would. They may be stupid, but they are still sentient. This was a small human, left all alone in a burned village. I couldn't help but feel bad for her. She was covered in soot, her pale little face full of grime and dirt. She coughed, probably due to the smoke in the air. She had thin brown hair on top of her tiny head, and she was dressed in a tan little dress with white trim. She clapped her tiny hands together as she looked at me.

"Don't look at me like that," I told her. "No, I can't take a human back, it's not right. You have a family, somewhere," Then I looked around at the charred houses, and I realized that her family was not on this plane, but the next.

I didn't want to hurt her when I picked her up, so I ever so gently cradled her in the crook of my arm, trying not to jostle her. She was a very quiet girl, very soft and sweet. Back home at my cave in the mountains, I was worried she would get cold, so I placed her in a pile of soft cotton clothes humans had lost. I had always been a collector of human things and trinkets. Sometimes they just leave their entire wardrobe out on a string in their yards, and then are surprised when a thieving dragon snatches it.

"What is your name going to be, little thing?" I asked her. She tipped her head at me, seemingly comfortable in her pile of clothes. She had these big sparkling eyes, like little emeralds in her skull. Very unlike my dim amber eyes. I had emeralds as well, along with rubies and sapphires and gold. I was a dragon, after all. I would have to get her more. More human things, more warmth, more light. I already knew I would never hear the end of it from the other mountain dwelling dragons.

"I'm going to call you Mina, my little dragonling," She smiled, so I assumed she agreed with the choice I had made. "Can you speak darling? Or are you still in shock?" The little human never answered me. She babbled occasionally, but never truly spoke. Not until she was a bit older. Humans learned at a slower rate than dragons, I later discovered.

I was right about the other dragons of the mountain giving me a hard time about my human.

"Are you keeping it as a pet? Don't they make such messes, and require ridiculous upkeep? I personally would rather have a puddle of lagoon iguanas," Sky Tamer had told me, turning up his snout to me. I had lived in the mountains my whole life. The humans inhabited either side, the valley and the desert, but we got the mountains. The humans had no idea we existed, mainly because of the dragons like Sky Tamer, who burned down the human towns when we were spotted. Sky Tamer was a brilliant dragon, covered in blue and white scales, spitting ice, not fire. There were always clouds dancing around his head, and crystals of ice on his chin. "Earth Wanderer, darling, you are, at times, completely ridiculous. The humans are not our friends, they are not our pets, and they are certainly not our children,"

"Are you upset you never had your own?" Wind Whisper asked me. She was younger than me by a couple hundred years, and acted like it. Wind Whisper was a thin dragon, with little arms and legs and wide wings, stretching far beyond my own. She was faster than me, and more maneuverable than me, but she was still petty and juvenile. "Because, you didn't have to steal a human to have a child,"

"Oh hush Wind Whisper, she's better behaved than your daughter," I defended Mina to them, because I was right. Wind Whisper's daughter was friends with my own, but she was a nightmare. Her daughter was called Fern, as she was half Earth dragon. She was thin and wiry, just like her mother. She spent her days lurking in the forest by the bottom of the mountains, much too close to the humans for my taste. They fear us. Mina was always confused as to why I dislike humans. They abandoned her, my Mina. Or perhaps they died, but in my head, humans are always the creatures that left Mina out for dead.

Then I made a terrible mistake, and if only I hadn't done this, maybe the world never would have crumbled.

I told my Mina that she was a dragon.

***

"Mother! Mother can we please go flying today, please please please please," I begged.

"We just went flying yesterday Mina darling," My mother lifted her head and blew wisps of smoke at me. I still couldn't breathe fire, no matter how hard I tried. All I ever got was hot air, and when I stood in the woods with my mouth open for so long, a bug flew in. I spit it out and decided that was enough for the day.

"But Mom, Fern and Umbra are flying by themselves now, and my wings haven't even come in yet," I climbed up onto her shoulder, urging her still to fly.

"But Mina, I'm tired. I would like to rest today. How about you go find some scales and get to sewing a new hood," my mother instructed me. I did need a new hood. I slouched my shoulders and slid off her back, sliding across her cold blue and gray scales. I foraged my scales, and sewed them together to cover my own scaleless body.

I often wondered why I was so different from the other dragons. I had no scales to cover my body, so I burned in the sun. I had no wings to lift myself off the mountain, and no teeth or tail. My feet got cold much too fast, and the tiny claws I had broke easily. I was nine and a half now, and I was big enough to go out of the cave and down the mountain without my mother. My friends, Fern and Umbra could fly by themselves. They could go as far as they wanted, down the mountain, over the forest, and across the valley. Fern said she saw humans the other day. When I asked what they were doing, she told me they were building something. I never thought they were all that interesting.

I slipped on my boots made of black scales lined with animal fur. The scales belonged to a friend of my mother's. I think he had a crush on her, but wouldn't admit it. He was a fire dragon, and his scales were resistant to heat. They made up my summer scales. The ones that protected my delicate skin from the worst heat. It wasn't summer now, it was only springtime, and the snow at the bottom of the mountains was starting to melt. It was getting muddy and gross, and my mother hated it when I came back to the cave with muddy feet.

My feet sunk into the snow when I stepped out of the cave. I slipped a little, but caught myself on a rock. When the snow got warmer, it made walking through it much more difficult. Last year, Fern had a wonderful idea, to ride down the mountain on a big wooden board. I crashed into a stump, but she made it all the way to the bottom. I fell on my butt after a few more steps, and debated just sitting in the snow until dark, when I could go back inside and tell my mother I found nothing.

"No Mina, you are almost a grown dragon. You can handle a little snow," I told myself firmly, getting up from the snow and continuing my trek down the mountain. Now my hands were cold and my feet were damp. There was snow in my hair and mud on the bottom of my boots. Mother always told me that I was never meant to live in the cold.

I found very few scales on my walk outside the cave. I returned with only a few handfuls, dripping wet from all the snow. I wanted to ask my mother to go past the forest tomorrow, but I knew what her answer would be. 'No Mina, we don't go near the humans. Humans don't like us. They don't want us near them.', so I didn't ask her.

My mother was a great dragon, an amazing beast of the earth. Her scales were blue and gray, dark and shiny, like a snake. She was taller than the other dragons, towering over them and rumbling the earth when she walked. She had massive fangs that protruded from her mouth and talons as sharp as a knife. It just bothered me that I was nothing like her.

"Now that is a pathetic haul," my mother said, looking at the scales.

"The scales were buried under the snow and the mud, and my feet were cold," My mother laughed. Her voice rumbled through the cave.

"Oh, you were never going to find any today anyways. You've cleaned the area pretty good. We'll have to go to the other side of the mountain to find more. Do you want some dinner?" I nodded. My dinner was a bunch of dried berries and roots, a dinner I thoroughly enjoyed, much more than sheep or fish. When I was done with my dinner, I laid down next to my mother's arm, curled up in a ball to keep the chill away. The wind was whispering outside, creeping into the cave and sending a shiver down my spine.

***

I was seventeen years old when I first traveled all the way down the mountain, past the forest, and towards the human village in search of abandoned scales. I remember what I was wearing that day, my red-scaled armor, that I had made from complete scratch. I had let my hair down instead of tying it up with vines. I hated it when it was down, but it took ages to wrap my hair in vines and pin it all up with sticks. It was so long now, it hung down past my knees. I was terrified of the humans, but I had collected all the scales I could. I was going to stay out of sight, but I failed.

"W-Who are you?" said a tiny voice. I was a little human girl. She looked just like I did. She had pink, sunburnt skin, like I always did, and light brown hair that she must have spent a long time looking after, because it was neatly tucked away. She had on a pink human-made dress with a little white trim. Maybe she was part dragon, with the way she looked like me. She looked me up and down, then gasped. "Are you a dragon hunter? Is that why you have scales?" I didn't know how to respond.

"No, I forage for them," I told her.

"You should come to the village with me," she said. "We love visitors," She took my hand and led me to a human village. There were the same closely packed houses that I had seen from above, built of wood, with lanterns hanging right next to those wood houses. I was surprised that she didn't care about the fact that I was a dragon. It was a bit odd, especially with how my mother described humans to me.

"Sariah, Mother, come look," the little girl yelled. Two human women emerged from one of the wooden houses. They both looked like me. It was beginning to dawn on me, that I might not be a dragon. The first woman was tall and thin, with very light hair and skin. Her hair was down, like mine, but it wasn't nearly as long. The second woman had darker skin and hair, tied up on top of her head. She was tall as well. The little girl pointed at me.

"I found someone," she said. The first woman, with pale skin and long hair gasped when she saw me.

"Oh, where did you find her?" the woman asked.

"By the mountain. She says she's not a dragon hunter, but she's wearing scales," the little girl said. She ran over to the other woman, which I assumed was her mother. Her mother picked her up and rested her on her hip.

"H-Hello," I said. I had no more words. I didn't know what I wanted to say, what they wanted to say, or what I should say. My head was empty. I couldn't think of anything to say.

"Are you a scavenger?" The other woman asked, the one with her hair pinned up.

"Uh, well, I guess so. I've never really thought of it like that," I said.

"Have you ever seen a real live dragon?" the little girl asked. I know now. I knew. I wasn't a dragon. I was never a dragon. I was human, and the reason these other humans weren't looking at me funny, was because I was one of them. My armor made it look like I was a dragon hunter. They might even respect me.

"A f-few times I guess. They d-don't really like us," I didn't know how to talk to people who weren't dragons. Besides, my mind had just been shattered.

"Sariah, do you think we have enough dinner for this lovely young lady?" the mother asked Sariah.

"We have plenty. Would you like some dinner?" Sariah asked me.

"Uh, s-sure. That would be wonderful," I said. I later learned that the women who lived in that little house by the edge of the town were very nice people, much nicer than the others of the village. The little girl was named Lillian. She was funny and loud and curious, just like me as a little girl. Her mother was named Beckett, and she was a serious woman, who was a seamstress by trade. She had calloused hands and a rough voice, but inside she was a wonderful woman. She was kind and brave, and relentless in getting what she wants.

The woman who owned the house was Sariah, and she was an opportunistic woman. She said she would allow me to stay at the house completely free, as long as I would bring back some dragon scales from my excursions. The worst part of this event in my life was the conversation with my mother.

I stormed back into my cave, where I had spent seventeen years of my life, living a lie. I stood by the entrance. My mother had her head turned away from me.

"Darling, your silence is thundering," she said, turning her head to face me.

"Mother, I know. I figured it out. You knew I wouldn't stay a fool forever," I told her that night. She sighed deeply.

"You always were too curious for your own good. So now what? Do you wish to go live with these humans? The ones I taught you to dislike? The ones who despise me? I will not mind if you wish to leave. All dragonlings leave their mothers eventually," My mother tucked her head under her arm. Now I feel bad.

"I want to divide my time, spend some time with you, some with the humans,"

"Do you have a place to live with the humans?"

"Yes,"

"Then it is your life, be free to live it," she said. That night I stayed in the cave, and again, the wind creeped in and chilled me to the bone.

***

It had been six years since I uncovered the truth. I made the trek up the mountain to see my mother less and less. I had met somebody, a boy from the next village over. His name was Edward. He used to come to our village only during the summer, but later, his visits became more frequent, until he permanently moved here. At first, he only talked to me at the marketplace, where I helped Sariah sell our products. Then we started walking together, to and from the market, until one of us had the courage to ask the other out.

Edward was a tall man, with ink black hair and dark brown eyes. He had a crooked nose, and a big grin across his face whenever he saw me turn the corner. He was kind, and awkward around me. He got nervous talking to me, and stuttered whenever he tried to say something. I thought it was adorable that he felt like that for me. He got me a gift one day. A beautiful sword from a blacksmith from his hometown. It was delicately carved, with an inscription of my name "Mina'' written close to the hilt. It was a beautiful sword. I don't know why he got it for me, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Beckett said that she loved to see another love story play out. It didn't end as a love story.

Edward asked me to marry him two years after I met him. Sariah told me it was too fast, too sudden, but Beckett thought it was a wonderful idea. She wanted to plan a big wedding, with flowers and a beautiful white dress and a venue worthy of a queen. I wanted a small thing, something my mother could be present in, but when I asked her, she denied the invitation.

"You are wearing their clothes now. You live in their houses. You light fires, just like them. Now, you are marrying one of them. It's such a human concept, marriage. Dedicating your soul to another until one of you dies? Ridiculous," my mother said.

My mother may not have come to my wedding, but Beckett made up for it. She never got to have a big wedding, so she wanted one for me, and her own daughter, Lillian. Edward and I got married in December, the dead of winter, the venue covered in snow. It was beautiful. It had been four years already, since I uncovered the truth. Then, a year later, I had Laura.

Laura was one of the best things to ever happen. She was a beautiful baby girl, with the same emerald eyes as me, and the same dark hair as her father. One day, Edward decided we would travel over Mount Hope, the mountain on the other side of the valley, to meet his parents, and introduce them to Laura. I remember the climb over the mountain, the way Laura kept fussing. Her little nose and cheeks got all red from the cold. I bundled her up further and kissed her on the forehead.

"I lived on a mountain for a long while," I told her. "And it was so cold! Oh yes it was. Are you a cold baby? Is it too cold?" I raised my voice at the end of my sentence so Edward could hear my complaints.

"It will be warmer at the bottom of the mountain," he said, leaning over to kiss me on the cheek. "Oh dear, you are cold. However did you spend half your life living on a mountain?" Laura kept fussing the entire trip, no matter how much I sang to her, or rocked her. All I was thinking about was what my mother would think of Laura. My mother always loved tiny things. Trinkets from humans, little dragonlings, baby humans. Anything small. I figured she would love Laura.

My mother-in-law certainly loved Laura. She cuddled her and rocked her and kept murmuring about how she was going to just eat her up. My father-in-law was less impressed.

"My granddaughter and my son are going to be living in that backwater valley for the rest of their lives, aren't they?" he asked me.

"I love it there. It's my home, I could never leave," I was going to defend myself further, but decided it was best not to. I shouldn't fight with the in-laws.

I had no idea though, of the war that had just begun on the other side of Mount Pestilence. A war between humans and dragons. Instead, I was sleeping soundly in a nice warm house, with my daughter by my side. Soon I would make the hardest choice of my life.

I slept in the back of the wagon on the way back, going over a well worn road, only the occasional bump disturbing me. The ride was so peaceful, so serene, Laura curled up next to me. Then we arrived in town. There was smoke from the village, screaming. I could tell even from a distance. Something was terribly wrong. There were carriages full of men and women in armor, all ready for battle.

They were killing dragons.

Beckett and Sariah ran to greet us, Beckett informed me right away that these people showed up, and began fighting the dragons that lived in the caves on the mountain. My mother lived in those caves. I handed Laura to Edward and hugged him tight. I unhitched one of our horses from the wagon, and I rode like the wind.

"Mother! Mother! Where are you!" I was at the base of the mountain. She didn't usually go down this far. There were men screaming at me, telling me to get away from the forest, there would be dragons emerging at any time. Then I saw her.

They had slain her, my mother, the great beast of the mountain. They had taken her life. She was lying dead on the ground, near the entrance to the forest, spears in her side, magic burns on her face. Her talons were cut off, and her wings were open, spread across the ground. I hopped off my horse and ran to her body.

"Mother," I whispered. The tears had started now. I was crying like I had never cried before, sobs racking my body, shaking and wailing. There was yelling, at me, at the dragon in the sky that was circling the village, at nobody in particular. They were launching spears tipped with my mothers talons at the dragon in the sky. I couldn't tell who it was from down here.

"Mother, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't here," I sobbed. "You have a granddaughter," I sank to my knees, where her face was, dead on the ground. "Her name is Laura, she's-" I wailed again, before finishing my sentence. When I had cried out all the tears in my body, I started running back to my house.

In my house there was a box, with the armor made of red dragon scales that I had previously worn. On a diet of human food, I had lost weight. The armor was loose, but when I adjusted the straps, it fit fine. I unpinned my hair, letting it all fall down. It was longer now, almost to my ankles. With a little dirt on my face, I would look the same as I did when I arrived in this village, six years ago.

I walked out onto that battlefield, with my sword, gifted to me by Edward, and my armor, made from dragon scale, and I fought. They were here to kill my mother, my family, the people I loved. So I fought these people, with everything I had. There was blood on my face and in my hair and in my mouth. There was dirt all over me. I was cut up from head to toe by human weapons.

One of them looked me in the eye. She wore beautifully crafted armor, but I was blinded by rage, I couldn't see much else. Only her tiny crown atop her head. A princess, on the field of battle. She looked me in the eye and asked a question I will never forget.

"Why are you fighting us? You're supposed to be on our side," she yelled. "You're a human,"

"No. I am a dragon,"