Cloaked in Dragonflies

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

Explaining to my daughter what life was like before the era of flying fire-reptiles was a nightly ritual of questions; answers, were in litanies and melodies, sometimes until the glow of daybreak.

"There weren't always dragons in the Valley; the Valley wasn't always here either." She looked at me, enormous green eyes framed by coal black lashes, her eyebrows knitted together.

"How can that be Mother? No Valley? No dragons?"

I don't blame the dragons, I blame the aerialmeisters. Peace had enveloped the land for a century; rivers and streams flowed with abundant food, and where there were forests or plains, all creatures living in symbiotic reliance on each other. Yet human greed was not yet set aside in favor of kindness.

"Look! Look out the window! There, see?" I pointed where I wanted small Evie to look. "Do you see Calellia sitting on the turret? Squint and look hard, soften your eyes and sight to take in the entire landscape and you will see her." I placed my hand gently on the crown of Evie's burnt umber hair and held it there until I felt her head begin to nod up and down. She could see the regent dragon, Calellia, who ruled her squadron with nobility, alternating fierceness with gentleness. "See her Evie? I have watched her gently roll eggs in the nest and swoop up errant babies, as well as drive intruders to the floor of the valley with no mercy."

"Mama, she is beautiful," Evie whispered, and Calellia heard that whisper, her enormous snout raising toward us. Calellia rose from her perched squat, her neck stretched forward, and wings spread to their full nine meters. I quietly watched her watching us. As she nodded her head in a bow to me, her body lifted off gently, enormous metallic-golden brown and emerald wings flapping slowly as she circled higher and higher, finally catching the updraft.

"Oh, Mama, she is leaving! So beautiful she is!" I patted my child's head and gave a squeeze to her shoulders.

"That she is, My Love. Look at her soar; her wings are so strong, yet she is not very heavy. She is much larger than your stallion, yet she weighs one tenth of him so that she can soar. Before her kind, we had dragonflies and damselflies, drab Odonata insects that pollinated our plants along with the bees. When the dragons arrived, the original black and brown Odonata species died off. These bright metallic colored ones appeared on the backs of the dragons, taking over the pollination. Come with me." I pulled her toward the stone spiraling stairs, and we hopped down them to the courtyard, gazing upward. Calellia was no longer visible, but we could hear her vocalization above the valley. I had studied her calls over the years; the low yip that raised to a crescendo to call in her squadron; a high whistle meant she was hungry and her low ho-cha sound made upon landing meant she was overtaken with fatigue and had to rest.

Twenty Years Earlier

"Padrick, don't do that, you'll make it angry!" I glared at my elder brother as he flicked a riding crop at the immature meter-long dragon. "Leave it be, it's not hurting anything."

Padrick was being raised as an airealmeister. I had watched him chain small dragons and drug them so that they would not burn off the chains. Chains were his preference since hot metal burned the leg of a dragon if they used their fire to break it. The practice was cruel and brutal, and I wanted it to stop. I didn’t want any of the dragons in subjugation to humans.

"Well, she landed here, and that maybe is going to be hurting us, if she snarls some fire out of her gullet!" he retorted. I shrugged at him and slapped his hand away. The dragon cocked her head (a female pronoun because Padrick knows these things) at me, one of her talons raised as if to touch me.

"Look, Tangine, don't go closer to her. I have things to do and if later we find you all burnt and crispy, Mother will have my hide. Hear me? Stay away!" I nodded at him, both of us knowing full well that I would stay, but not away; stay and study her, gentle her, and eventually name her.

Padrick's shadow fell across the courtyard, and I spoke softly to the creature. "Hi, my beauty, shhh, I'm your friend, you'll see." More familiar with horses than dragons, I sat near, studying her quietly for a long time. I noted the soft rumblings and chirps and watched her eyelids close when she swallowed. Eventually her rumblings became soft purrs like a kitten and her wings folded in, her tail wrapping around her short legs. The magenta moon rose, its turmeric-yellow satellite shadowing its lower right corner, as always, the same position. I left the creature for the night, to eat dinner and take a rest.

"Mother, Padrick and I saw the dragon in the chapel courtyard. She is so lovely..." My mother's sharp exhalation warned me. "Dragons are not lovely, Tangine!" She snapped at me. I moved out of her reach; our mother had the fastest hands in the world to mete out corrective slaps. She was a master in hand-to-hand combat, but mostly those hands made delicious bread and caressed us. Padrick and I both had felt a combative blow at her hands from time to time, leaving our ears ringing for a day. I had risen to the level of Kanchin, and Padrick to Levote, from her combat fighting lessons. Sparring practice with my brother was a daily routine for two hours at daybreak, no matter the weather, ever since I turned four years old, Padrick six. Next month we would learn fighting tactics and skills that only a few like our mother knew. I wanted to be the Horse Master, but Mother insisted I learn the warrior fighting skills also.

Avoiding her lightning-fast swats, I got my dinner and took it to my room to eat alone. Four hours later, as the moon began to set, I went back to the chapel courtyard to see if the dragon was still there and discovered her sleeping, soft snores blowing the fallen petals and leaves around her. She seemed not to hear me approach and I stood over her in wonder. She was covered in bright red and yellow damselflies and three-inch blue and purple dragonflies. They all sat on her, some beating their tiny lace-like wings, some rising and landing in rhythm with her soft snores. The damsels tucked their wings back while in rest, while the dragonflies kept their wings out from their bodies.

Awe-struck, I stood there smiling for a few moments and was startled out of my reverie by a rumbling sound high above. As I looked up, there appeared an entire flotilla of various sized dragons, the leader emitting flames. Closer and closer they came, as I stood frozen in place, my body refusing to follow my mind's commands to run.

The young sleeping dragon became suddenly alert, leaping to her feet, her tail twitching like an angry cat, eyes skyward. The rope Padrick had secured to her front ankle pulled her back as she moved. Head cocking to the side, glaring at this restraint, she opened her mouth into a small circle and emitted the tiniest lick of fire, instantly releasing her ankle, the rope singed in two pieces. Her eyes turned to me, and I waved my hand, palm toward the ground, calmly telling her, "It's OK. I won't hurt you." Her head whipped toward the sky and the group of flying dragons were circling down, the rumbling low in their chests, noises I could barely discern but that created a distinct agitation in her. She sucked in a huge breath and stood.

I backed away a few feet under a tree, and the damselflies and dragonflies lifted in unison from her body to cluster all over me, cloaking me from the incoming dragons. I watched the scene through the lacy wings of those covering my face. The dragon leader roared and threw a flame across the courtyard turning a rose bush to cinders. My constant internal chatter now commented silently how angry Mother would be that her favorite rose bush was now a black heap of ashes, never to bloom again. Oh, no! Mother would think the young dragon burned it! I stayed still though I wanted to run and take the juvenile to a hiding place. She was now watching the sky and purring softly, which puzzled me...until I caught a movement in the corner of my eye. She was purring loudly now, sniffing, her feet tapping excitedly. I turned my head very slowly and saw large eyes blinking slowly at the juvenile who was inching closer to the adult. It's her mom! The eyes of the mother blinked once as she sniffed, her body becoming intensely alert as her eyes turned toward me and my dragonfly camouflage. The baby chirped loudly and touched mama with a claw, bringing her attention away from me.

Present Day

"Mama, that baby was Calellia, right?" I nodded at her.

"Yes, she left with her mother Oona but came back to visit me at each new moon. In the old days there were dragons and pterosaurs, both with hollow bones. The pterosaurs were monstrous crushing, flying machines. They lived in pairs, but the dragons have always lived in groups, so the family members can warn and protect the others. In our written archives, Alio, the historian, described a situation when a pair of pterosaurs killed three nestling dragons. Two neighboring groups of dragons partnered, forming a company of one hundred fifty dragons of all sizes and ages. It seems they were brilliant fighters, sending in smaller and faster darter dragons as a distraction, and then ten fire bellows dragons followed."

"What are those?" She was frowning intently, focused on this history lesson.

"Those have the largest lungs and a reserve fire pit, like the two stomachs cows have. The pterosaurs were much larger than the most immense dragon and could crunch one of them in half with their jaws. The dragons knew where the murdering pterosaurs lived and scorched their forest, bringing them out into the open. The mated pterosaurs hurtled through the skies, their white heads, striped in red, stretched outward from long cormorant-like necks, their black-ringed eyes searching the skies. The dragons had superior speed and evaded the chopping jaws, emitting fire as they climbed, dodged, and dove. Another group of twenty dragons joined the fight just as one of pterosaurs landed on a natural rock dam high above the forest floor. To fly with their weight, the monsters had to launch themselves skyward with incredible leg strength. The male launched himself, and his force of lift-off from the rock dam loosened the natural blockade. Boulders broke free, turning the high lake into a massive waterfall, crushing all in its path, forming our current Valley. A group of darter dragons died in the ensuing flood, along with all forest creatures in its path."

"The next fifty dragons rapidly dove downward onto the pterosaurs, attacking from above. The bellows dragons converged from the sides, flying parallel to the pterosaurs, emitting huge rolling waves of fire. The darter dragons dove downward with incredible speed, hitting the pterosaurs in teams of seven, then veering off to escape being burned by the fire spurts of their larger cousins. The dragons drove the female pterosaur into the side of a cliff just above the churning water on the valley floor. Her wings caught in an enormous tree that slammed into her from the raging flood that her mate had created. She screamed, a high ear-piercing screech, alerting him to her trouble. He dove toward her, shaking off the darter dragons, chomping the ones who were clamped on to him. As he shook his massive head, body parts of the darter dragons spun through the air, collected by turquoise tarantulas for their young."

"Turquoise tarantulas?" Evie breathed solemnly, interrupting the history lesson. "Those are the friendly ones, right? The ones who work with the dragonflies and damselflies to clean the forest?" I nodded yes and squeezed her shoulder. My darling bright daughter never forgot anything told to her, not the tiniest detail.

"They are, yes, but back then, they were ten times larger. The spiders were grateful for the free food raining down to them but were quick to hide from the dragons' fire. The male pterosaur destroyed some of the bellows dragons as he dove to his mate, but he couldn't save her."

"Why not?"

"The tree pulled her downstream to a crevice between two escarpments. He tried to pull her loose from the jumble in the water, but failed, and she was broken in two as she hit the crevice. He roared in anger and despair for a minute, but pterosaurs have short memories and greater care for self-preservation. He turned to leave; then all the dragons converged on him and burned him up. Only one of his claws was left; it is preserved in the chapel steeple, in clear resin. The revenge was meted out for the nestlings and none of the pterosaurs were ever seen in our valley again. That is from the oral history passed down which Alio recorded in the Valley Template."

Evie looked toward the steeple.

"Evie, you must beware of the dragons. Not all are friendly with humans."

"But Calellia is!'

"Remember, I was kind to her, so she sent the dragonflies and damselflies to hide me from her mother Oona that first time. "

Dragonflies

Oona returned with her daughter the first month and the colorful dragonfly Odonata insects concealed me again. Finally, deeming it safe, Calellia shared me with Oona. On each following visit, Calellia was much larger, until I could hear her wings beating across the valley. Each visit was the same; I heard her wingbeats, went outside to wait, and the insects concealed me. I finally named the ones on my face and hands. I could tell them apart by very subtle differences in spots and behavior, or where they landed on me. There was Julie, San, Mare, Xyl and Rachel, the red damselflies on my face; Marshall, Ryan, Lex, Sam, and Morey were large blue dragonflies on my hands and wrists. Once Calellia arrived and exhibited contentment through her purring, the flies moved from me to find a spot on her. Oona did not visit me, but watched her daughter from afar, her keen vision and hearing, coupled with supersonic speed enabling her to cover long distances quickly.

Ten Years Earlier

"Padrick! Stop! Unchain her, she will hurt herself and be of no use to you!" I grabbed his wrist, glaring at him. He raised his fist to strike me but backed away when he saw the anger in my eyes fixed on him.

"You think you can hit me? Padrick? I will stomp you into the ground, big brother, you know I will." I used the heel of my palm and hit him in the chest above his heart, the force pushing him back two feet.

"Now she will pay in pain for what you did, Tangine, I swear. I will tighten the chain; she will be hungry and thirsty until I break her. Then I will come for you and show you how to act toward your older brother and men."

I laughed in his face. "You will let her go now. You cannot beat me or her. I will not allow it; there will not be rule by pain while I live and know this Brother: women are equals to men." I reached behind my back for my staff, and he stepped in toward me. Releasing the staff from the band at my waist, I swung it and hit him in the temple. Padrick dropped like a felled tree onto the soft straw behind him. I had placed my strike exactly as planned so he wouldn't crack his head open. He would be out for hours. The dragon was watching, her wings folded in, snorting her fear through the clamp muzzle he had placed around her snout. "It is all right, love. You are safe now and will be free soon." I inspected her ankles and talons, then her chest and snout. Unclamping the snout, I ran my hand down her thick neck. Unlike its appearance, the dragon was not scaly, she was soft like a serpent, and liked my touch, a soft purr rumbling deep in her chest. "You are gorgeous, aren't you?" Her eyes were a deep golden brown with green and red flecks. Catching her gaze, I used an age-old method of calming wildlife, catching the eye, then blinking for two seconds, then again and again. Her purrs became louder, and I bent to unlock the chain on her ankle. She side stepped in fear until I again stroked her chest, speaking softly to her. Her agitation was increasing, and I turned to see Padrick awakening sooner than I expected. "Stay still, Girl. I will be right back." I patted her chest and spread my palm toward the ground to show her she was safe.

"Padrick! You wake too soon, arrogant asinine brother. Stay down or I will have to thrash you more thoroughly. Understand?" He jumped to his feet in a challenge, and I hit him in his mid-section with my staff, then swept it behind his knees to put him down. As he fell, I tapped his temple lightly and he went to dreamland again.

Turning back to the winged creature, I unlocked the ankle chain while she patiently stood still. Running my hand up her leg to her chest, then to her snout, I patted her gently. "Your name is Liberty, young one. You can fly now, go on, fly home, and tell your family to stay far away. I will deal with Padrick. Go! You're free!"

I stepped back as she crouched and then launched into the air. She circled above once, twice, then hovered, looking at me. I waved my arms to say, 'fly away,' and she slowly caught an upward draft. I watched until she was a tiny black dot in the sky. Climbing the rock cliff steps, I rose to the top of the escarpment and found Calellia in her nest. She chirped at me and blinked her large turquoise eyes in greeting. I sought solace with her after my intense interaction with Padrick.

My position as Horse Master kept me busy yet my thoughts were frequently focused on the cruel training methods the arielmeisters used on the dragons. My stables and charges knew I had no tolerance for cruelty or punishment in the horse training I oversaw. Over the years, I had tried to gentle my brother, but he was deaf to my pleas and lessons.

Descending the escarpment, I contemplated how each of us turned out under our warrior mother’s tutelage. I realized I had just created an enemy in my brother.

Present Day

"Evie, I'm home," I called to my daughter. I walked though my living quarters calling her name with no response. Peering out the back, there was no sign of her, and I strolled to my mother's quarters. "Mother, is Evie here?"

"No, I haven't seen her. She had best not be in there with Padrick's beasts, or I will tan her hide myself!" She held my gaze.

"Mother, Padrick was inappropriate with me today and I put him in his place. I hope you understand; he left me no choice."

"Truly, Tangine? No choice? Is this about how he treats his beasts? That is not your concern, and you must keep to your business."

"I will not, Mother. I will not keep to my business when he is using cruelty and swaggers brazenly about, saying women should know their place." At that I saw a flicker of anger cross her face. "I tapped him out with my staff when he raised a fist to me; I then set the latest torture victim free." She gazed at me as if reading my soul, her eyes burning into me. I would not break the gaze and in admiration, she smiled.

"Well done, Daughter. Keep Padrick in his place and teach him kindness. That should always be allowed. Now, go find your daughter before night falls."

As I crossed the courtyard, a shadow fell over me and looking up, I saw my brother. It startled and shocked me to see Evie hog-tied under one of his arms. As I took a step forward, he held up his hand. "You. Stop!" he screamed in fury. "She is now mine and will become my trainee. I will teach her what you refused to learn, the warrior route and how to subdue the dragons." He cruelly dropped her on the ground, and I heard her moan behind her gag. He came toward me.

"PADRICK!" I yelled this with all the fury of the ages, and my mother appeared behind him. She gasped, seeing her granddaughter tied up and on the ground. "You will die today, Brother." Evie was doing her best to scoot her way toward Mother. Padrick noticed and put his boot hard on her neck. Evie and I both froze; she in fear, me in sheer rage.

"I warn you once, Padrick. Untie my child - your niece! Let her go and I will be easy on you. If you continue to abuse Evie, that abuse I will mete out to you tenfold." Padrick grinned crazily at me and lifted Evie to his shoulder. He snapped his fingers, and his lieutenant brought his horse to him. My brother mounted with my daughter and galloped away before I could stop him. I screamed in indignation and rushed his lieutenant, beating his legs with my staff, spinning and whirling around him, hitting him high, then low, until he crumpled in the dust covering his head. "Where is he taking her, you fool? Tell me now and you can live!"

"I don't know for sure, but probably to the stone church."

I whistled for my bay steed Reynold. Grabbing his mane, I swung up to his bare back, clutching the mane, and whispering war words to him. He pranced sideways toward my mother. "I need my weapons, Mother. Your son won't come home ever again after today, you know that, yes?" She walked alongside my prancing steed, her shoulders slumped, tears trickling down her face. She went into my quarters and brought my staff, my blade, my bow and arrows, and the trusty hatchet that had so many uses.

"Go in peace, Tangine. Padrick has gone mad, and our beloved Evie must be brought home safe. You have my blessing, and would your father's, if he were alive. Bring her home safe; watch your back, Padrick is cagey."

Flying Arrows and Dragons

I found them at the stone church high in the mountains, as suspected. He had beaten my daughter and she had welts across her face, shoulders, and legs. I controlled my fury in order to save her. "Padrick, your death awaits you, come out and receive it."

He rushed me full on, his superior weight toppling me to the ground, but my blade found his upper arm, then his upper back. He released me so he could kick me, but I rolled away and ran for my staff, and my bow and arrows. I shafted an arrow and hit him in his left thigh. Padrick screamed in pain and rage, but limped toward me, so I released another arrow. Wanting him to suffer as his beasts had under his cruel hand, neither my first nor second arrow were aimed to kill. "Padrick, this is just the beginning of your pain, you fool. You will feel agony like the poor dragons did; a lot of it, before this fight ends in your death. Do you want the staff now, or more arrows, or perhaps the hatchet?" I grinned at him, blood running down my lip from my fall. He stepped forward and I hit him on his forehead with my staff, then on his right ear, sending him stumbling back.

"You'll see, Sister," he retorted, laughing. A giant of a man came out of the cave and picked up Evie. "See? She will fly like the dragons. Can Evie fly, Tangine?" I looked at him in horror. "Well, let's see, shall we? Bordon, throw that thing off the cliff!"

"NOOOOOO" I screamed and charged Bordon. He swatted me away with his superior size. I clubbed his foot with the staff but there was no reaction. I ran for my arrows and let one loose hitting him the neck, realizing too late how close he was to the cliff. Padrick had run to his cave for weapons as I watched his companion fall over the cliff with Evie. Peering over the edge I saw Evie's body falling through the air, her eyes focused on me, while the giant man tumbled over the rocks below. Then I couldn't see Evie any longer and fell to my knees screaming.

Sobbing, my entire body shaking in grief, I felt a strong wind blow over my body, then heard chirping and flapping wings. The freed dragon I named Liberty set Evie next to me and gently pushed her toward me with a wing. Evie was covered head to toe by Valley fireflies, blinking on and off, their lights and the tiny beats of their wings healing her wounds. I held her gently, rocking her, being careful not to harm the insects.

"Now you both will die!" Padrick shouted from the entrance to his cave. I sat still, just wanting to protect Evie and get her away from this place. "Do you hear me, stupid sister? You should have become a warrior, Tangine." I looked at him on his cave perch, shouting at me, enraged. A shadow fell over him and I heard Callellio's wings and vocalizations. She was coming to save me.

Padrick looked up as my lifelong friend descended, powerful wings beating slowly, hovering over her prey, eyes locked on him. He raised his bow, aiming an immense fire arrow at her eye. Callellio roared in rage, emitting an incinerating blast of fire that spewed from her belly for ten minutes. Everything below the flame was incinerated, and the cave imploded. I heard Padrick’s loud screams of pain; I watched him burn, his cries slowly dissipating as he died in a pile of ash.

Calellio Valley

"He is dead Mother, killed by one of the creatures he so loved to hurt. Long ago I befriended the dragon Calellio, and she killed him to save me. The young dragon I released from Padrick’s chains and named Liberty saved Evie from falling to her death. No more arielmeisters, Mother. It stops now, with Padrick's death. The Valley will be known as Calellio Valley. There weren’t always dragons in the Valley, but we have them now, and they will be treated with respect and kindness."