A Dragon and His Girl

Melnjor opened his maw and roared his challenge to the tiny-metal-human standing before him. With one snap of his powerful jaws, the man became Melnjor’s, his armor-clad body landing heavy in Melnjor’s belly. Melnjor licked his chops in satisfaction before continuing onward into the smoke shrouded battle field. He eagerly anticipated the lengthy slumber that would follow such a grand feast. Man was not his favorite meat, but they were plentiful and moved in large groups that could satisfy the wants of even a dragon of Melnjor’s girth. Melnjor took another step forward and set his eyes on his next target…

Melnjor awoke with a snort, a puff of warm smoke encompassing his snout as he blinked bleary eyes open. He felt a slight tickle along his hind leg. A quiet giggle followed. Melnjor swung his snout around and came eye to face with a small human. The creature blinked up at him with sparkling brown eyes and giggled again, her face – for she was indeed a small girl - splitting into a wide grin.

Melnjor flicked his ear in annoyance. How dare this creature disturb his wanderings in the misty landscapes of dream-desire. He considered eating the small bundle, but before he could do so the creature slid back down his leg and began to skip across his clearing. She reached the tree line and turned back to face him, raising her hand in farewell as she stuck her thumb into mouth.

She stared at him for long seconds, idly sucking her thumb, before turning and dancing into the forest, calling out as she went, “Buh-bye Sparkly Shiny. I see later!”

Melnjor growled softly in warning, but the girl-child-human had already disappeared. He thought about giving chase, wondering if her thinner bones and softer frame would make a tasty snack. He could catch her within second and have a tender first taste of his next meal. Melnjor flicked his tongue in appreciation of the hot meat that would soon melt in his belly. He rose and circled around to face away from the girl. The small child would not be an exciting hunt and he was exceedingly hungry after his dream feast.

With a crouch and burst of strength from his mighty legs, Melnjor launched himself into the coming dusk to begin a hunt, though no creature was truly a match for him. The girl’s smile lingered in his thoughts long after he left her behind.

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Melnjor tilted his wings and flexed his claws, enjoying his gradual descent back to his clearing as the wind gently cushioned his flight. Hunting had proven to be less exciting than Melnjor had hoped. The three mountain goats and small cave bear had been unworthy opponents and Melnjor was ready to resume his slumber in the hopes of more entertaining dream-prey. Perhaps more prickle-iron-men or large horn-brows would join him in his sleep fantasies.

As Melnjor dropped out of the wet-air clouds and set eyes on his clearing, he noticed a small figure curled tight, right in the center of his sleeping patch. He roared in anger and tucked his wings, angling into a steep dive which he pulled into an aggressive landing in front of the girl. His powerful impact shot a spray of earth and snow into the air, his claws leaving deep gouges in the frozen ground as he stalked forward. The girl slit her eyes open enough to peek at him but made no move to vacate his bed.

Melnjor huffed and took another step forward, his jaw opening slightly to display his dragon-needle-teeth to this small but bothersome creature. As he continued to glare his anger, Melnjor noticed the girl tremble slightly. She closed her eyes and flexed into a smaller ball, tucking her chin and feet close to her small frame. She continued to tremble in what Melnjor slowly realized was not fear, but rather cold.

The girl reached a trembling hand towards him and cracked her eyes open again, staring at him with a dull gaze that sharply contrasted with the sparkle he remembered from earlier.

“Cold,” she breathed, her small voice barely audible as her breath clouded the air.

Melnjor was not in the habit of helping human children. He had no care for the small creature. Whether she lived or died, he wished only to return to his slumber. But as he continued to stare at her pitiful form, she began to stir and rise unsteadily to her feet, her small legs shaking and her teeth chattering as she began to take stumbling steps towards him.

Melnjor gave the air a delicate sniff. She smelled ill and dirty, her filth from the day of stumbling through the forest evident in the waste that clung to her garments. He could swallow her in a gulp and be done with it, but something about her expression had him moving towards her not to bite, but to nuzzle. He nosed her cheek, gently nudging her back towards the center of his bed. With her in place, he wrapped his body around hers and allowed his eyes to drift closed, his mind already chasing birds through the sky of his dreamscape.

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When Melnjor next opened his eyes, he noticed the soft waves of crystal-flake-water that gathered as he slumbered. He shifted and stretched. He belatedly remembered the small child who had found her way into his territory. She was still curled up in the center of the clearing where she had stayed sheltered and warm with his own bulk and heat. Her breaths were shallower than before and though she lived, she did not stir.

Melnjor did not know why he felt a small prick of worry. He should not care about this girl. She was human and she meant nothing to him. Yet he found himself opening his maw and calling forth his fire-liquid. The flame tickled as it wound up his throat and along his tongue, exiting between his fangs and scorching the ground around where the girl lay. He was careful not to spread his fire too close to her, lest he do more harm to the helpless creature. Confident that she would remain warm without him near, Melnjor launched again into the sky.

He returned to the clearing sometime later, dropping the small doe he had hunted directly in front of the girl. She made no move to eat. Melnjor nuzzled her and prodded the doe closer. He snorted and growled in an attempt to rouse the girl, yet she still did not wake.

Melnjor felt his worry prick again with more insistence. He did not know much about the eating and sleeping habits of humans. A majestic and mighty dragon like himself could eat much and sleep for long stretches of time, but her body was already thin, and she had slept for many hours. Melnjor felt sure she should have woken by then. He could leave her and return to sleep, but her brown eyes and small smile played through his head again and pushed him toward a mercy he was not familiar with.

Melnjor reached a foreleg out to the girl and carefully curled his talons around her. She continued to hold herself in a tight ball and did not wake as he took flight. He pumped his wings with powerful strokes, angling towards the section of forest to the east which he knew contained a small human settlement. He would set her there, he thought, and be done with the child. Then he could return to eating grown men as he rested in his empty clearing. The thought cheered him immensely and he flew faster, the cold wind offering soothing touches to his wings and flexing muscles as he continued his journey.

The village came into sight and Melnjor circled, observing the small dead-tree-human-box structures for movement. He quickly descended towards the structures, landing with a roar to signal his dominance. He puffed his wings and expanded his mind, filling the village with his mental roar,

” I AM MELNJOR THE MIGHTY, RULER OF THE AIR-WIND-SKY CURRENTS AND KEEPER OF THE SPIRES OF THESE EARTH-TOOTH MOUNTAINS. ANY BEING WHO DARES STRIKE AT ME WILL MEET MY WRATH.”

Figures began to step slowly forth from the structures. Their wide eyes and scents of fear told Melnjor that he had been perfectly menacing, which pleased him immensely.

“These puny humans should cower, for I am superior,” thought Melnjor the mighty.

Yet as he thought it, he considered that humans were what the small girl needed if she wished to survive. He reached forward and gently released the girl, allowing her small body to slump to the ground at his feet. As he backed away, he again projected his thoughts to the village,

“The girl is ill. Help her.”

Melnjor began to step back from the child, satisfied that his burden of mercy had been fulfilled. As he moved, he felt the urge to stretch his snout once again towards the girl. With a small nudge and a surge of his will towards the girl to heal, Melnjor marked the girl’s cheek with a small glimmering star. As he pulled away and launched back into the sky, her whispered “My Sparkly Shiny,” drifted behind him on the wind.

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Many years later…

Melnjor twisted in the air and arced his tail around to slam into the leathery hide of the nightmare creature, his spikes scratching at the beast even as its needle thin claws tore into his flank. Melnjor had not encountered this creature before. It possessed none of the majesty of the dragons. Its dark hide, bulbous gleaming eyes, and sharply protruding beak marked it as something new. Its piercing screech and knobby tail provide further weapons against the dragon, wearing down his strength and landing many painful injuries to his wings and torso.

Melnjor could feel his focus slipping away as he blinked his weary eyes. He swung his head around to relocate his target, loosing a mighty stream of flame and illuminating a burning trail in the dark sky. He had only a moment to process his surprise before he felt the creature slam into his wing. His bones crunched and crumpled into each other and as he began to spiral towards the earth, bellowing his pain, he could only wonder how he was beaten by this unknown creature of the night.

Melnjor distantly felt the devastating shudder as his body crashed to the ground. He fought to blink his eyes open one last time, his last desire to stare into the sky as his life expired. As he turned his gaze to the stars, he felt a small tickle along his hind leg. The tickle spread into a warmth that began to radiate through his broken body. Melnjor lowered his gaze and found sparkling brown eyes staring up at him. The eyes belonged to a face with a bright star shining brightly on a cheek that was covered in tired, wrinkled skin.

“Heal, my Sparkly Shiny,” she whispered.