Dracón Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the valley,” I heard as I sat on a flattened boulder watching the sun as it began to hide behind the Enchanted Forest. The message sang softly with the winds like crystal chimes and silver bells, synchronously and melodically the message swirled through and up the forest trees. Wavering through the vivacious forest canopies, the melodic winds rustled out green dragon hatchlings that took flight after shapeshifting from foliage, leaving behind a bare tree.

In utter shock, I thought, “How did I miss the dragon hatchlings? I’ve been in the forest for the past three days and two nights, cutting my way to reach Dragon Valley before the third sundown. I slept in there; how many dragons did I pass by without a clue!?”

As I continued questioning, one of the hatchlings caught curiosity and staggeringly flew towards me. “I should be frightened,” I thought. Still, the singing of the crystal chimes and silver bells through the forest kept me calm, recalling the message, “There weren’t always dracónes in the valley,” which in the moment I also heard, “It's okay, do not be startled.” Still, this time in dismay I heard the benevolent ancient sounding voice through my mind.

With a clumsy small thud, the hatchling landed two meters away on its two tree-branch-like feet that appeared to root down into Mother Gaia, gestating life force from Her. Tilting and turning its head in observance, the hatchling showcased three hypnotizing veiny green eyes with specks of blood and fire, which in that instant the hatchling let out a high-pitched cry, startling me for a moment as the ringing in my ears sounded like tuning forks. The hatchling’s eyes reminded me much of the dragon bloodstone I carry in my right pocket for courage. I noticed its eye at the center of its forehead contract and relax the most, every time changing different shades of green and fire ember reds as if it were intuiting additional information. I couldn't help but notice how perfectly camouflaged these hatchlings must have been in the tree. Their wings shapeshifted to match the various leaf shapes in the tree canopies, with shades of deep forest green to bright grape green, yet translucid enough permitting light to pass through them. On their medium eggplant-shaped heads, two wood-like horns extended from the left and right brow bone, branching out and back towards the sun as their bodies sprouted like tree branches, gestating additional life through photosynthesis.

In complete awe, I thought, “What a masterpiece, Creat—,” before I could complete my thought, a strong gust of wind that felt like a quaking drumroll swept through and rattled out from the forest floor. I quickly arose onto my two feet with claws.

"CLAWS!?" I thought.

I couldn’t think about my feet not being what they were in the moment, as I firmly clutched the dragon bloodstone in my pocket and sealed my eyes shut. Sensing a quickened overcast blanket over me, I took notice in my sense of hearing, which was heightened, capable of locating like an owl. The heightened sense of hearing must have been the effects from the hatchling’s high-pitched cry. With a heavenly gaze, eyes partially open, I could see the sun again. So, I opened my eyes realizing my sight had also been amplified with detailed focus, narrow to broader vantage points, thus discovering the hatchling had fled and to my astonishment a mass portion of the forest was also gone. However, with amplified sight, I could see the remnant trail of their movement which lead head over me.

Still clutching the dragon bloodstone, I felt my pocket quickly dampen as I heard, “Do not fear, we will not hurt you,” I felt serene sounds, vibrations, and music flood my blood. The gentle melodic, yet ancient voice continued, “But where did you find the dracón bloodstone, those were reclaimed by Cassiopeia long ago to birth us, Forest Dracón?”

I had no recollection of where I got it. The dragon bloodstone had been with me since I could remember. Throughout time, it was passed from child believer of magic to child believer.

I began to speak, but before I could express my thoughts, the voice interjected, “I see…we apologize; we are connected telepathically and can sense everything you feel and think. It is not common to have this line of communication with your kind, let alone be seen. Our energetic frequencies are higher than those of yours. However, we have not witnessed this phenomenon like yours since the human who birthed hybrid dracónes, creating our reality and setting the grounds for another dracón-centric culture.”

I finally gathered the courage to look up above towards the sky. To my amazement, it was not one ginormous dragon as I expected to witness, but rather an extensively infinite number of hatchlings fluttering around with no end and no beginning, shapeshifting from small stardust particulates to hatchlings and into One dragon.

“That must mean that the long-told stories of all dragon bloodstones slowly vanishing followed by sightings of a green dragon are true,” I thought. I quickly stated, “But, the dragon was said to have been only the size of a stag.”

The soothing voice jingled like silver bells in humor as more stardust-like particulates formed, smaller than the human eye could perceive, swirling around and weaving ruby red flowing tresses that refracted like gems, almond-shaped eyes materialized with hints of dragon bloodstone rivets and a forest green iris, dark bronzed skin with red undertones that glistened as the sun’s rays greeted it. The particulates continued intricately and precisely interweaving, ultimately faster than a blink of an eye, a vivid reddish with a complimentary green afterglow emitted like the sun setting behind a red canyon dense with greenery, spontaneously shapeshifting into human form in front of me.

“Yes, that was millennia ago when the dracón bloodstones were slowly being reclaimed…” pointing at my newfound eye, “…as you see, we are collectively all the dracón bloodstones as One consciousness. We are Ruby.”