The Dragon's Tear

The sound of snapping branches and falling trees echoed through the forest. Something massive lumbered about, half stumbling and half running through the pines. The small boy held his breath and pressed his back harder against the rough stone wall behind him, trying his best to sink into it and become invisible. Sharp points in the stone dug painfully into his shoulder blades, fear welled up inside him and he desperately wanted to cry out for his mother. But he remembered the look of panic on her face as she stashed him in the small alcove.

"Stay still and don't make a sound or you'll end up being some dragon's dinner," she tucked a knapsack filled with cheese, fruit, and bread along with the water skin next to him. "Here's some food and water. I don't know how long I'll be gone so you need to be brave for me, Little Love. I promise, I'll be back for you as soon as I know it's safe." Then she tapped his forehead with her finger, ran it down to the tip of his nose and tapped it softly before she kissed the top of his head. There were tears in her eyes when she covered the opening with pine boughs and disappeared from view.

Now the knapsack was nearly empty, only a few dried plums and the crust of the bread remained. The last drop of water had been swallowed hours ago making the distant sound of the mountain stream an enticing call to the boy. But as his mother warned, he'd stayed hidden in the tiny alcove, stomping down his fear through two dark chilly nights, doing his best to ignore the acrid smell of urine in the far corner, while listening carefully for any sound of dragons or his mother approaching.

Whatever approached certainly sounded large enough to be a dragon, but it lacked the graceful stealth the predators normally possessed and it clearly was not flying. But if not a dragon, it was most likely some other dangerous beast that would enjoy eating small children just as much as dragons did and it was headed straight for his hiding spot.

A deep, mournful roar reverberated through the trees. The creature was in pain but, more importantly, it was right outside the alcove where the terrified boy hid. The ground shook with a huge thud as the creature flopped onto its belly and hot air from its nostrils rushed into the boy's face. A second later the pine boughs hiding him were torn away from the opening and he found himself staring into the icy blue gaze of the beast.

"Mama!" He shrieked, no longer able to hold back the fear and desperate for the comfort of his mother. Something warm trickled down his leg as tears spilled over his cheeks. A leathery white claw with three long black talons stretched toward the boy. He clenched his eyes shut, waiting for the inevitable pain of being sliced open. Instead he felt the claw wrap gently around his waist and pull him carefully out of the alcove and high into the air. From deep in the creature's chest rumbled a sound not unlike that of a kitten's purr; something about it felt safe and the boy chanced a peek.

The dragon that held him was white as fresh fallen snow but where the sunlight fell on its scales, they shimmered in patterns of pale purples, blues, and greens. It was standing on its hind legs and was nearly as tall as the towering pine trees around them. It's tail stretched so far behind it that the end was hidden from view by the bushes and trees. All along the tail, up the ridge of its back, and to the top of its head black spikes that shone like obsidian jutted at varying angles. Despite its massive size and towering height, the dragon was surprisingly slender and sleek, almost snake-like. It had the most subtle widening of shoulders and hips where its long slender legs branched from its body and above the shoulders the neck narrowed to no thicker than the boy's waist and stretched nearly twice as tall as a grown man before widening at the jaw. The dragon's face looked nothing like a snake or lizard. It was round at the back with long pointy cat ears and a long dog like muzzle that narrowed until it ended with two long slit nostrils above two menacing rows of sharp black teeth. Above the icy blue eyes with black slit irises, two long purple and black horns twisted like dangerously sharp icicles. But despite everything he saw that should terrify the child, the soft rumbling purr continued to calm him and soothe his fears and he felt the dragon looked at him more like a cuddly little pet than a delicious morsel to eat.

"Nice dragon?" The boy timidly whispered. The beast almost seemed to smile and dipped its head ever so slightly as though nodding its reply.

Seemingly satisfied that the child was no longer terrified, the dragon dropped him into its other claw that was cupped against its chest giving the boy a safe comfortable place to sit as the dragon began walking clumsily toward the stream. That's when the boy noticed the dragon had also grabbed the knapsack and water skin. What would have taken the boy nearly a half hour to travel the dragon covered in less than a dozen awkward steps. Once at the water's edge the boy was set gently on the bank and the dragon gently pushed the water skin into the stream to fill it with the cool liquid before handing it back to the boy who guzzled it greedily. Meanwhile the dragon shook a nearby huckleberry bush until the little purple fruits fell to the ground. The boy watched in wonder as the beast used its talons to push them all into a small pile then tossed the knapsack next to it. The dragon looked at its sharp talons and shook its head.

"I do it!" The boy offered happily as he began scooping the berries into the sack. While he loaded them the dragon shook some pine nuts loose from the pinion trees, pulled some mushrooms from the ground, most impressive of all, snatched a brook trout from the stream, and roasted it whole by breathing hot flames over it. That made the boy clap for joy and laugh as he swallowed the hot pieces of fish the dragon broke off for him. Once the knapsack was teeming with berries, seeds, and mushrooms the dragon dipped the water skin once more to fill it all the way before scooping the boy back up and cradling him gently in its cupped claw. Then the dragon stepped across the stream and began walking away from the alcove, away from the stream, and away from the village on the outskirts of the forest where the boy had lived. When he realized what was happening he beat his little fist uselessly against the silvery white leather that covered the dragon's chest, "No, no, no! Mama come back! Mama come back!" But the dragon either did not understand him or did not care. It continued climbing higher as the boy cried his protest until eventually the small child cried himself to sleep.

William… the wind called as it rustled the boy's shaggy blond hair. William…The wind whispered in his ear dragging him out of his dreams…. William Morris…The wind prodded him awake.

He was no longer clutched against the dragon's warm chest. Instead he was nestled atop a soft bed of snow with the dragon's tail wrapped gently around him like a protective cradle. The dragon was curled in a big circle so its head rested upon the tail and it breathed warm air over the boy as they both slept. The world was dark with clouds blocking out the moon and all but a few stars that glimmered at the edge of the horizon.

William Morris! Now he was awake he realized that wasn't the wind calling his name. William! And those weren't stars on the horizon, they were torches. William Morris! It wasn't one voice, it was many, all calling his name.

But before he could think who it was and answer the call, the dragon woke with a terrifying roar. William was snatched up again in the dragon's claw and the beast spread its huge black veined icy white wings, beating them frantically as it tried to climb into the air. The dragon rose awkwardly, rocking from side to side and dipping up and down as it left the ground, making the child sick to his stomach from the unnatural swaying motion.

Dragon! The same voices that had been calling his name now shrieked in terror. It's getting away. Shouted one terrified voice. Kill it! Demanded another more angry sounding voice.

Whoosh, an arrow zipped past the dragon's head barely missing its ear, before falling harmlessly back to the earth. Hot tears rolled down William's cheeks. He wasn't sure what scared him most. He didn't want the dragon to take him from his mother, she promised she'd be back for him. But the dragon had been kind and gentle to William and he didn't want to see it get hurt. Another arrow flew past the dragon's shoulder. The dragon beat its wings more frantically, trying to fly away faster but it lacked even more grace in the air than it had on the ground. It was the third arrow that found its mark. There was a sickening thunk and the dragon roared in pain, sounding much as it had the first time William heard it.

Despite the pain it was in, the dragon managed to fly a little further, cresting the peak of the mountain before half gliding, half tumbling into the snowy drifts covering the far side of the mountain. All the while, the dragon kept its claws gently cupped around William, protecting him from the fall. When they finally came to a stop, they had slid down nearly half the steep slope leaving a bright crimson trail in the snow behind them.

William scrambled up the dragon's arm and over the jagged ridge of its neck so he could pat the beast's cheek comfortingly. His mother would know what to do if she were there, she always made all his bumps and scrapes better. All he could think to do was whisper, "S'okay, s'okay." The Dragon whimpered in pain and a single tear, bigger than William's hand, rolled down its cheek and dripped onto the snow. As it hit the snow it hardened into a glistening diamond. Drawn to the sparkling gem, seemingly against his own will, the child climbed down the Dragon's neck and tramped through the deep snow. Just as he lifted the huge stone in his hands, he heard the distant shouts of men as they finally reached the top of the mountain and saw the bloody trail. Fear gripped him. He knew these men would kill the dragon and he worried they'd already hurt the dragon badly enough it wouldn't survive. But he was just a little boy, he couldn't save the dragon and he couldn't stop the men from hurting it more. He looked at the Dragon and in that moment he wished with all his heart that the men would leave the dragon alone and it wouldn't die.

Miraculously, the men at the top of the hill all turned away and began heading back the way they'd come. At the same time the dragon's painful moans morphed into gentle purrs and the blood stopped gushing from the arrow wound in its shoulder. William felt his heart leap inside his chest. Maybe the Dragon would be okay. As if to prove him right, the beast pushed itself up into a sitting position and twisted its head over its shoulder, closed its teeth over the end of the arrow shaft and yanked it out. There was one small spurt of blood that followed it, but it seemed to harden into a scab almost instantaneously.

"You be okay!" William beamed.

Again, the Dragon almost seemed to smile and dipped its head as if nodding in agreement. Then for absolutely no reason, it reached out with one long black talon and slashed a large gash down William's forehead all the way to the tip of his nose. William shrieked in pain and the dragon looked at him and its bloody talon with horror in its eyes.

William scrambled backward wondering what he'd done to make the dragon suddenly turn on him. He wanted the pain in his forehead to stop, he wanted his mom to be there to make it all better, but most of all he wished he were back home in his bed. The world seemed to tilt dizzyingly and everything went dark.

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Read more of William's story in Chapter Two: The Dragon and The Monster, coming soon.