A Dream of Dragons

The forest shook as he drug his scaly body between the trees. Needles fell with each heavy step. In the twilight he looked as a great shadow, his once magnificent scales rent by battle and stained gray by ash. The blue wisp lights darted away from him as he moved, their soothing glow bringing some peace to his aching body. The red light of flame shone through the trees, the remains of the battle. Battle was all he knew of late. He, Faerdir, lord of dragons had been reduced to an instrument of war. He tipped his head back to look up at the starry sky, his antler-like horns raking tree branches aside. The sky was beautiful, untainted, much as his home had been. The home that he and his kind had carved from the very earth. Carved in the likeness of the dream. He turned his gaze mournfully to the ground below his bloodstained claws. I am diminished. He thought to himself. Hot tears threatened to burst from his eyes but he resisted them. Now is not the time for weeping. His claws dug into the earth, soil swelling beneath his great paws. With a growl he launched himself forward and shaken from his stupor, set on his way once more.

Faerdir, diminished and broken, his scales faded and burnt, his body scarred and weathered. Faerdir, hardened by war and memories of eons passed, suddenly stopped. What was that? He strained his hearing, the frills of his ears rippling in exertion. There it was. A cry in the dark. Cautiously, the dragon stalked through the trees. He came upon a large clearing, starlight trickling down to illuminate the pale grass. And in its center sat a human child. A girl.

His immediate thought was born of fear. A human in the forest, so close to the Everdream Tree. Such a thing was the stuff of nightmares, to think that they had already breached the perimeter. As panic welled in his chest Faerdir prepared to pounce. Then the child cast her gaze his way. Her eyes slid over him, his dulled scales melding with the shadows. But he saw the silver tears upon her pale cheeks. He saw the fear in her eyes. And he saw the innocence of her heart. Here was a child, lost and afraid. Silently he cursed himself. War had twisted his heart. This child was no warrior, to think that he had nearly allowed fear to lead him to slaughter a little girl. The dragon sat back on his haunches, contemplating the situation.

A lone wisp light bobbed its way into the clearing, drawing the girl’s attention. The faint blue light illuminated her face as the flaming ball danced in front of her. The girl’s face lit up with a smile and she shrieked with laughter as she grabbed at the wisp. The light darted out of her reach, flashing red then pink before returning to blue. The girl giggled some more and began after the light on all fours. Her simple and small white dress dragged along behind her. Faerdir’s great body creaked as he rose to his feet and emerged out into the clearing. The girl froze as he appeared, allowing the wisp to disappear into the woods. Faerdir drew near to the girl, his forked tail trailing behind like a giant serpent and he turned his head to observe her with one large, yellow eye. She stared back in awe, her mouth agape. Then it twitched into a smile and she laughed, her voice ringing out like a bell. The girl extended a curious little hand and touched it to the sooty scales of the dragon’s face, patting him affectionately. Now it was Faerdir’s turn to be in awe. Here was a human girl, the enemy, and she was petting him. The dragon snorted, a puff of ash shooting from his nostrils and he shook his head. The girl laughed again and clapped her hands in amusement.

Faerdir sat there with the child, allowing her to entertain herself by exploring his scales and wings while he thought. She tugged at his frilled ears and climbed his horns and crawled beneath his tent-like wings. He sat there with her until she tuckered out and curled up against his side, falling asleep with one thumb in her mouth and her other hand resting on his warm scales. This situation was beyond the dragon, the years of war clouded his mind and judgment. I must seek a higher wisdom than my own. Slowly he rose to his feet and cradled the child in his forepaws. She turned in her sleep but was otherwise still. Faerdir’s wings opened with a slight hiss, extending out and casting a deep shadow over the clearing. With three powerful flaps of his wings he took to the air, the wind rushing past him as he ascended. As he broke above the massive trees he angled his wings and began to glide. Up here the winds were strong and the air was clear. In the distance he could see the fires of human camps and the gray smudges that were their strongholds in the hills beyond the forest. Once all the lands had belonged to his brethren, now they found shelter only amongst the great trees of the Slumbering Wood.

He soared quickly over the trees, minimizing the beating of his wings so as not to wake the child. Before him lay the ancient grove, a place of deep magic. There the trees were small but old, as old as dragons and wisps. Faerdir came to a rest at the edge of the grove, laying the child down in the soft grass. Around him stood wizened old trees, twisted by age and bereft of leaves. There were thirteen trees in all, and in the very center stood the Everdream Tree. Its bark was a pale silver, almost as if coated in snail slime with the way it glimmered in the light. The leaves that adorned its branches varied in color, some a deep green while others were blue. The tree itself seemed to glow with an inner radiance, dim but warm. The last of the thirteen to hold life, and thus preserve the dream. Faerdir knelt before the small tree, bowing his great horned head in reverence.

“O Everdream Tree, O child of the stars. I come to you in a time when my wisdom fails me. War has twisted your great image and has thus tainted my heart. A child of man has come to this forest, abandoned and alone. Innocent. I know not what to do. For by the sins of her kin she is my enemy and an enemy to my own. But I know not what to do, my heart is conflicted. Grant me your wisdom O Everdream Tree, O child of the stars. Tell me what I must do.”

Faerdir, clenched his teeth and waited.

“The Everdream Tree has been silent for many years, my lord.”

Faerdir turned his head to see a green dragon emerge from the shadows. Elentil. Elentil paced to Faerdir’s side, turning to face the tree.

“It mourns the passing of its kin; it cannot be shaken from its grief. The child within is alone, dreams alone, slumbers alone. It is our duty to defend it.”

Elentil cast his emerald gaze upon the grayed dragon.

“So why have you brought the enemy into the ancient grove whose duty to defend is ours?”

Faerdir returned the piercing gaze.

“A child is not responsible for the sins of their father, yet I have not forgotten my duty. I came here for the guidance of the Everdream for my own wisdom has waned in war.”

Elentil snorted green sparks.

“Surely your wisdom has failed you, to bring a human into the grove. Let me offer you guidance in the Everdream’s stead, kill the child and be done with it. We cannot afford the enemy mercies that they would not offer us.”

“Elentil I-”

“Enough, Faerdir!” the green dragon snapped, “This is war and we are on the brink of extinction. Our kind is all that stands between humanity and the dream. Remember your place. You may be lord of the dragons but war has diminished you, if you show weakness now then a new lord will have to rise.”

“And that lord should be you, Elentil?” Faerdir scoffed.

“It is not something I want, my love for you runs deep. But my devotion to our people and the dream runs deeper.”

Faerdir felt eyes upon him and he turned to see more dragons emerging into the grove. Red, blue, yellow and pink. They had all come to witness the intruder and their diminished lord.

“Is this it then?” Faerdir addressed the assembled dragons, “Are we to butcher this child in their sleep?”

“It's nothing we haven’t done before, my lord.” Elentil sighed, pain etched across his face.

“How many strongholds and towns have we burned?” chimed in a blue, Farvester.

“Do you not think there were children in those?” Vespur the red asked.

Faerdir looked about the grove and his gaze met looks of pity, sadness and remorse.

“The war has been hard on you,” Elentil continued, drawing Faerdir’s gaze, “it's time to step down and rest. It was unfair of any of us to expect you to bear the burden of leadership all these many years. How many deaths and sacrifices and losses you’ve been burdened with. Let us take it from here, my lord. You’ve done enough.”

“But…” Faerdir faltered, the years of battle weighing on his mind.

Elentil approached the child, a strange look entering his eyes as he gazed down upon her sleeping form. A pudgy hand laid itself upon his foreclaw and the girl snored quietly.

“I’m sorry, child. But this is war.”

Elentil drew his paw back from her touch and raised it into the air to strike. Before his blow could land, a wisp emerged from the Everdream Tree and drifted between the two. Elentil froze, the blue flames dancing in his sad, emerald eyes.

“The child of the stars has spoken,” whispered Faerdir, relieved.

Elentil lowered his paw and bowed his head in respect before backing away from the girl.

“But why?” asked Vespur.

“She’s the enemy, she’ll bring disaster to us all,” cried Farvester.

“No,” interceded Faerdir with the authority befitting a lord of the dragons, “She is our salvation.”

“Then you will take her under your responsibility?” Elentil questioned, his eyes bright.

“I will. I could not ask this of any of the rest of you, this is my task to undertake. And I imagine that it will consume most of my time moving forward. Elentil, you will act in my stead.”

Elentil bowed his head to the grayed dragon, “But why, my lord? Why spare the child?”

Faerdir turned his gaze to Elentil, a gaze that after years of war was finally filled with hope again, “For peace, my friend, in this girl is the opportunity for peace.”

The child grew quickly and was soon uncontent with being cooped up in Faerdir’s cave. She sought to adventure out into the woods, attempting to sneak by her scaly caretaker on more than one occasion. When he did take her out, she found wonder in nearly everything around her. She giggled at wisps and smelled flowers and splashed in streams. But for all of her charm and innocence, caring for her proved a struggle for the weary dragon. A human child had very different needs than the great serpents of the air. The girl turned out to be a picky eater, refusing to feed on the charred meats that Faerdir would bring her. Instead he was forced to forage for fruits and nuts amongst the great trees. A task that was made difficult with his size and afforded grace. She feasted hungrily on these and her juice-stained smile soothed any annoyance or bitterness the dragon felt towards the gathering task.

Clothing the girl proved to be a much more difficult task to conquer. Humans are fleshy and soft and require garbs to protect them from the environment. Through a combination of her continued growth and reckless behavior, the dress he found her in was soon found to no longer be adequate. When he brought this issue to Elentil’s attention, who had taken over command of the raids on human encampments along the forest’s edge, the dragon somewhat irritably agreed to bring back any human garbs he might find.

Again, the girl proved to be picky. This frustrated Elentil further as she refused the first three garbs he brought her. As the dragon torched the third set of shirt and trousers, Faerdir had an idea.

“Elentil, what wears these clothes you’ve been bringing?”

“Humans, what else?” growled the green dragon, bitterness creeping into his voice.

“Yes, but what kind of humans?” Faerdir probed.

“I don’t-”

Elentil’s eyes opened wide in realization and Faerdir nodded.

“She’s a girl!” Elentil shouted.

Faerdir laughed, “You’ve been bringing her men’s clothes. She needs something like what we found her in! A dress.”

Elentil shook his head in annoyance and set out again, this time returning with a plain red dress. Only slightly charred. The girl accepted the dress with a smile that softened the ire in even Elentil’s eyes. As she grew, Faerdir sought to teach her what he could. He mentored her on the forest and how to navigate it, human language which he had learned over years of exposure to them and how to survive on her own. Soon she was gathering her own fruits and mending her dresses from Elentil skillfully with spider silk. Elentil began to bring her books from beyond the forest and she would sit and read them to him. Faerdir would watch on with approval.

Faerdir had named her Evendir, after his own name and that of the Everdream Tree that had spoken on her behalf. She bore the name proudly. By the time her body had begun to undergo the change of maturity, she had grown into a fierce woman in her own right. She no longer wore the soft, simple dresses that the dragons had scavenged for her. Instead, she preferred hides and furs that she had fashioned into more useful garments. Evendir walked amongst the dragons and would listen to their tales of battle and the world before war. She learned the names of the many stars in the eternally night sky and she took to hunting alongside her scaly family. In time the dragons had forgotten their initial objections to her existence, instead welcoming the much needed reprieve from the horrors of war that her company offered. Her innocence and caring heart acted as a glowing beacon to them all. But Evendir was a clever girl, and she knew that there was much the dragons were not telling her. One day, she approached Faerdir as he rested amongst the trees and laid beside him.

“Faerdir? Tell me about the dragons.”

“Tell you about the dragons?” the old lord chuckled, “You know about the dragons.”

“Faerdir please, I’m a woman grown. You can stop hiding things from me. You’ve never once told me the truth about the dragons, the war, or even who I am. I’ve lived my whole life not knowing where I come from or why I am here. Please, tell me.”

Faerdir grumbled and turned away, his yellow eyes shut tight.

“Please,” she moved towards his head and layed a gentle hand upon his cheek.

“Evendir, these are questions that do not yet need answering. Go play with the wisps or read to Elentil. You have youth yet, enjoy it while you can. The worries of the world sit heavy on the shoulders of the old.”

“Elentil is gone on a raid. Faerdir, please. You don’t have to protect me anymore, and you can’t protect me forever. So you may as well stop keeping secrets from me. I am not a dragon and soon I will be old, I don’t have the luxury of eons to grow and learn. I need to know.”

The old dragon looked upon the girl, woman, somberly. The time had come and he knew it, no matter how badly he wanted to pretend it hadn’t.

“Come, child. Climb upon my back. This is talk for the heavens.”

Evendir clambered up Faerdir’s foreleg and perched herself upon his back, at the base of his neck. The dragon’s great wings beat the air around them as he rose over the trees and into the sky. They soared towards the clouds and hung there, beneath the stars. The whole of the Slumbering Wood blanketed out below them, and beyond that were the fires of the fields of man.

“To understand what you wish to know, we must go back to the time of the first night. Then the world was barren and dust. Nothing lived, moved or grew. It was dark and empty. Then from the heavens above came a great light and with it thirteen children. Children of pure starlight. We call them the children of the stars. They came down to the world and the world knew day for the first time. The children played amongst the dust and pebbles until eventually they tired. And the light dimmed. As night fell once more, the children laid their heads to rest and began to dream. And from these dreams came dragons. More dragons than you could even imagine, Evendir. Red ones, blue ones, pink, purple, green, yellow, white, black. And we were born from the dream of the children and tasked with shaping the world in its image. As we carved out the valleys with our claws, wound rivers with our tails and tore mountains up towards the sky; we became aware of another. The wisps. They danced across the fledgling world, nourished plant life and observed our work. Many believe them to be the fractured, dreaming consciousnesses of the children, overseeing the image of the dream. By the time we were done, life had sprung from the light of the slumbering children. The Everdream Trees had grown atop them, cradling the children within. Grass and trees had grown to cover the empty fields and mountain ranges and animals had begun to roam the world. We dragons were content to rest and watch, acting as caretakers for the ancient grove and the world around it. And so it would be for many, many years.”

“So what happened?” Evendir asked.

Faerdir cast her a sad look over his shoulder.

“At first we didn’t know what we were looking at. Shapes like giant swans, gliding across the ocean towards the mainland. Boats. And aboard them were humans. We had never seen humans before, they weren’t from the dream. We watched, cautious and curious, as they set to land. They hacked down trees and shattered stone to craft their strongholds. Many of our kind were outraged, seeing this as a perversion of the dream. But my predecessor, Belevant, the first lord of the dragons, chose peace over anger. He was sure that nothing happened without the will of the children, and eventually it was he who decided to show himself to the humans. He came to them in peace, seeking to communicate and learn. It was then that we discovered that humanity was ruled by fear and hatred. It was in their very hearts. They screamed when he came to land before them. They cloaked themselves in suits of metal and brandished weapons at him. Belevant tried to speak to them, to show them he meant no harm. And as he did a steel tipped arrow plunged into his heart. They had perverted the dream, forced it to adhere to their will. The steel was like poison in his blood. And he died of his wound.”

Faerdir took a moment to collect himself as they floated upon the winds.

“Many dragons were outraged by his death. They lashed out against man, and many more fell to their steel before we learned the danger they posed. Dragons had been invincible, dreams made life. Now we were mortal at the hands of these invaders. I arose as a leader amongst my kin, and I assumed the role of lord. And so began an endless war. Little by little we were pushed back for no new dragons were born, yet there were always more humans. They spread like a plague and they forced us to retreat into the woods. It seemed that we would be doomed to fight a hopeless battle until we eventually went extinct. And the night would claim us as humans came to rule. Until I found you, Evendir. A lone human girl in the forest, I didn’t know what to think. But by the grace of the Everdream, I was granted wisdom. You are our chance for peace. You are the one who can unite humans and dragons and put an end to thousands of years of bloodshed. You are the only hope that we can coexist, and you are living proof that it is possible.”

Evendir was silent for a long time.

“So,” she asked, “You don’t know who I was before?”

“No, Evendir, I don’t. You were so young. But that doesn’t matter now, what matters is who you choose to be.”

“I get to choose? I thought I was the one hope.”

Faerdir looked back and saw tears in her eyes.

“Evendir, of course you get to choose. Look here child, I know that was much to thrust upon you. A mind so young should not have to bear such burdens. But I want you to know that whatever you may choose, I will always be proud of you. That’s why I kept this from you for so long. The time of the dragons may be coming to a close, regardless of what happens between us and the humans. The Everdream Trees are wilting, only one remains. Once the dream ends, there won’t be any dragons. I want you to live a life you can be proud of. Don’t focus on us relics. Think of the world you want to live in, and make it a reality. Start a new dream.”

“I don’t want to live in a world without dragons,” Evendir sobbed, hugging his neck.

“I know, child, I know.”

They set down near the ancient grove and Evendir slid from Faerdir’s back, still wiping tears from her eyes. Suddenly, Vespur landed beside them in a rush of wind. Evendir stumbled back against Faerdir.

“My lord!” the red dragon cried, “My lord it's Elentil! He’s been struck by an arrow!”

“What? How?” roared the old dragon.

“We were raiding a human camp on the border, they were waiting for us. His wounds are severe and the poison runs deep. He’s not going to make it.”

“Where is he?”

“Come, I’ll show you. He couldn’t make it far.”

Evendir remounted Faerdir, her face pale with fear. The dragons took to the air and soon neared the border of the woods. Fires burned brightly just beyond the trees and he could see the humans preparing to enter the forest. Elentil lay broken and small upon the forest floor. The color was beginning to drain from his scales, leaving him a pale color. The arrow protruded from the base of his neck and his right wing was broken in several places where he had crashed into the ground. Faerdir took one look and knew his fate was sealed.

“My friend…I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t speak, save me the torment of listening to you prattle on,” muttered the dying dragon with a smile.

“I will miss you, Elentil, you were the best of us,” Faerdir whispered tearfully.

“I know, my lord. Thank you. Where is the girl? I should wish to say my farewells. I grew quite fond of the brat.”

Faerdir looked to where she had been just a moment ago and found her missing. He turned his head frantically, searching for her but to no avail. No. Faerdir prepared to leap into the air when he heard Elentil take his final breath. The dragon’s scales faded to gray as his body turned to stone. The dream had left him. Fighting tears, Faerdir took to the sky.

Evendir was consumed with rage and grief. The human camp was filled with steel and barrels, and large shapes concealed beneath tarps. She crept along the edge of the bustling camp, hiding in the shadows as men rushed past to arm themselves. A putrid smell emanated from a barrel she hid behind, and her stomach plummeted as she realized its purpose. Fuel, fuel to burn through the forest. Rage consumed her as she thought of these armored men, burning and killing their way to the Everdream Tree. And end to the dragons. She wouldn’t allow it.

Quickly, Evendir set about her task. She poured the barrels out into the soil, one per batch before moving to the next. She moved quietly, years of hunting game alongside the dragons paying off. The forest had sharpened her senses and lightened her steps. She flitted from shadow to shadow like a ghost. Next she grabbed a torch from a stand and dipped it into the spilled fuel. Fire flooded across the ground, igniting the barrels. She ran as they exploded into flame and set to burning the next batch. Chaos erupted across the encampment. Horns bellowed and men shouted into the night air. She could hear them as they clanked after her, their armor glistening in the glow of the fire. Evendir had just managed to ignite the second batch of barrels when an armor clad figure slammed into her. Her lungs deflated as she crashed to the ground and she gasped helplessly for air as the soldier bound her. She was dragged before a man cloaked in crimson and gold, his gaze cruel and cold. Before he could speak there came a terrible roar. The men cowered as Faerdir crashed to the ground before them, teeth bared and throat glowing with the heat of ready fire.

“LET HER GO!” the dragon roared in the language of man.

The gold robed man was taken aback.

“You speak?” He inquired in his nasally voice.

“I speak and I demand. Let the girl go!”

The man smirked.

“I’m afraid I cannot, humans are bound by laws and those who break them must be punished.”

“She knows not of your laws, human. She was raised by dragons! Now-”

“You stole a child?” the man’s voice lashed out like a whip, “You stole an infant girl?”

“I found her, abandoned!”

“After you slew her parents no doubt, you monster.”

“ENOUGH!” Faerdir roared.

The men shook in their armor, the old dragon was a force to be reckoned with when enraged and they recognized as much.

“Yes, quite.”

The man drew a dagger and pressed it to Evendir’s throat.

“Then she is a traitor to her own kind.”

Evendir looked at Faerdir, fear in her eyes. The dragon wanted to tell her that everything would be ok, to reassure her. But he knew better.

“Please, leave her be. Take me instead. Just let the girl go.”

The man blinked then nodded and cut her bonds. Evendir fell to the ground and coughed, blood dripping from where the blade had pressed into her throat. The man shouted an order and the tarps were thrown back, revealing mounds of steel chains. Men rushed forth, chains in hand and cast them over the dragon, binding him. The steel burned his flesh and his scales boiled. Despite his might, Faerdir screamed. The cold man knocked an arrow into his bow and took aim for the dragon’s heart. Evendir screamed and begged as a soldier began to drag her away. Tears streaming from her face. Someone shouted in pain, the arrow released, and there was a sickening thud. Evendir sank to her knees, the arrow head protruding from her chest. She had put herself between the arrow and her friend. The last look on her face was a smile, the same smile she had bore that time in the clearing.

Faerdir roared in the pain of loss. No no no no no. He began to rise, a lord of dragons in his fury. Diminished no more. Evendir is not…she can't be. The chains shattered against his skin and men fled as his wings opened to blot out the stars. Evendir had wanted to know the world, to see the sights that spanned its surface. She had been happy. War took that from her. It’s not right!

The lord of the dragons snatched her up in his great claws and took to the air. His wings flapped like a hurricane with winds that smashed the tents and chains below. He rose, flying higher than any dragon before him. He flew West, faster than the winds or sea. The heat of his inner fire burned bright and the ash cascaded from his body, revealing the shining golden scales beneath. To those below he was living fire, streaking across the sky and disappearing below the horizon. And for a time there was darkness. Then, light came from the East as he returned, higher still. A shining ball of flame. A living sun. Golden light poured down from the sky, banishing the night’s dark. And as the first light of day kissed the leaves of the Everdream Tree, the last child woke. And dragons were no more.