Elvonair's Anguish

A crown of flames crackles to where the town of Lemmington once stood. Elvonair admires the devastation she painted. She begins her slow descent from the night sky, as the shrieks begin to fade. Elvonair let a few escape. She did it not because of mercy, but in hopes they might spread word of her wrath. Her act of terror is a message that is sent back to the northern capital of Arenia.

She boasted her breath of fire. Her emerald scales glistened. The beast’s wings flapped to a strength of a storm. Her size was as wide as the town’s roads, where she glided through the trail of flames. She hoped that every detail of her deeds would be chronicled. Anyone from Arenia will never set foot in these Dragon Heartlands again.

Men called these heartlands, Lemmington. It is said that beneath its mountain terrain lies precious stones and gold.

What started as a settlement, sprouted into a mining town overnight. There was a surge of immigrants moving south from the northern capital. They rush to Lemmington in hopes of striking riches. All are blinded by greed. They never heed the precautions of a dragon’s residence within the heartlands.

To men, Lemmington may be a vault of potential wealth, but to Elvonair’s kind, the heartlands are a mating ground to survive the dragon’s existence. It is where their eggs turn into hatchlings.

It was Elvonair’s duty to steward of the heartlands. For every thirteenth black moon, the dragons that roam the earth would congregate.

The settlers of Lemmington begin to wander deep into the heartland’s terrain. They did not realize how close they are to violating the dragons’ sacred grounds.

The wilderness in the heartlands led to the terrain’s foothills. The settlers pressed on their march, hoping to be close. To their surprise, they were welcomed by an emerald dragon.

The settlers laughed at the way the dragon walked. It limped and hobbled. It was about a size of a human child. One of the settlers heaved a rock and hit the dragon’s head. The rock bounced with a thump. Its head jerked down.

“So this is the dragon that keeps these grounds!” one of the settlers taunted. “Does not look menacing to me!”

The others began throwing more rocks at its head.

The hatchling let out a whimper as more rocks thumped its dome.

“Breath hellfire and send us to our damnation!” crackled one of them.

The hatchling tried to inhale, but none came out.

Just a sigh.

The settlers began flinging their spears towards the hatchling’s wings. It pierced through its flesh and pinned it to the ground. The hatchling tried to flap its wings, but no where to go.

The hatchling let out a cry as more rocks and spears rained. The leader of the settlers grabbed his crossbow. He aimed at the hatchling. He planted his foot firmly down the hatchling’s neck.

The trigger was pulled and the whimpers and cries stopped.

“Carry on!” ordered the leader of the settlers.

Before the settlers could advance any further, the ground began to rumble. The greenery in the wilderness shook. A heaving figure approaches the settlers. The figure had black horns and scales of emeralds. Its eyes were of marble and a streak of shadow.

Elvonair marches onward. She stopped and looked around. To her horror, she sees her kin slaughtered in cold blood. She cried and unleashed her anger. She burned everyone in sight. Their carcasses were charcoal in the blink of an eye. Elvonair rubbed her forehead on the hatchling’s belly. She begs it to return. There was no life left in that wilderness, but Elvonair’s.

The emerald dragon springs up into the air and heads to Lemmington.

***

Once the heartlands are cleansed of settlers, Elvonair returns to the wilderness beneath the terrain. She carried her hatchling back to her lair. Elvonair’s heart was heavy. The hatchling barely knew how to walk. It never had a chance to breathe its own fire. It did not have a chance to flap its own wings to explore the skies. It is all because the cruelty of men led to a harmless creature’s demise.

Elvonair wept for hours. She watched the lifeless hatchling lay still. Her cries echo among the stone walls of her lair. Once her eyes are dried of her tears, the emerald dragon comes out of the lair. She walks through the wilderness where her baby was slain. She intends to erect a stone shrine or perhaps even bury it.

The day was dawning, everything was still. Until a distant snap of a twig caught Elvonair’s attention.

The emerald dragon pierced her glaze into a man and woman. Frightened, the couple dropped their baggage and knelt down.

“S-s-s-spare us, great beast,” pleaded the male. “I’m just a tavern keeper, serving with my wife.”

“We have no heart of greed, settling in your land. We only serve the miners and the ones searching for riches. We have no desire for your treasure,” explained the wife.

Elvonair snarled as she looked down at the pair in disgust, “Yet you wander here without welcome… Guilty by association.”

“You understand our tongue?” exclaimed the husband.

“I understand your language, your ways, and your nature. Especially your nature… I am aware,” hissed Elvonair.

“We are on our way back to the north, never to set foot in these lands again,” vowed the husband, bowing lower.

“Lies… puny ones,” replied Elvonair. The dragon inched her head close to the couple. Her breathing grew heavy.

The couple trembled. They could feel the heat of the dragon’s nostrils, as the beast was inches close to their skin.

With a snap, Elvonair opened her mandible and devoured the head of the wife. The body dropped and the husband watched in shock. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.

“How does it feel?” asked Elvonair.

The husband was stammering, his eyes began to water. But before he can say anything, Elvonair exhales a blaze, burning both bodies to a crisp.

Elvonair turned her back to let the bodies burn out, but before she could wander further, a soft whimper came from the burnt couple’s baggage.

The dragon was puzzled.

Another whimper came out.

A few moments of silence, the whimpers were replaced by cries. Elvonair peered through the leather baggage. The baggage’s lock piece has carvings of a chalice surrounded by a wreath. There were no clothes or coins that contained the baggage, but a tiny life form.

The dragon stared at the male infant. The thought crossed Elvonair’s mind to exterminate the babe. It was also a hatchling, fresh from birth. It was just like hers, crying and being a bright ball of innocence.

Elvonair embraced the baggage with her wings. She held it close. She gave it warmth. The dragon was not like them. She will not murder a babe of innocence. After all, she was better than them.

The warmth she gave made the infant smile. In return, he also gave her warmth. She needed it. She was to name him, Dia. Just like her first one, Diavel.

***

Unlike dragons, Dia grew fast. The boy learns fast at the age of fifteen. He had long, thick, dirty blonde hair and blue eyes.

All Elvonair knew about humans was taught to Dia. She was able to scavenge clothes and books from the old Lemmington. Elvonair made sure Dia was always fed and learned.

Elvonair taught Dia to work six of the seven days of the week. During the day, Dia was tasked to clean up what was left of Lemmington. Remnants of the old mine town still linger.

Dia learned to tame and ride the wild stallions that roamed the heartlands. He used them to pull heavy debris on a make-shift wagon.

At night, a kindling was always lit. It gives light to the dragon’s lair. That is when the dragon teaches the boy to read. Once Dia was able to read on his own, he would read as many books as he could. Books of poetry and stories. He never grew tired, even if he kept reading the same book.

On the seventh day of the week, Elvonair would let the boy rest. The dragon would take the boy up her back and fly him to the top of a mountain cliff. It is where they are to enjoy a meal overlooking the heartlands. Elvonair and Dia would be feasting on meats roasting on a spit.

Elvonair would then notice the boy staring beyond the heartlands. The Kingdom of Arenia’s silhouette is seen from afar.

The boy would often wonder what is outside their home. Elvonair was always quick to dismiss Dia’s questions.

“Monah, what goes on in Arenia?

“Monah, why aren’t any humans like me around?”

“Monah, where are my real parents?”

Elvonair never answered at full clarity. She would often answer with a dash of temperament, hence the boy stopped asking.

“You’re kind can be destructive in nature, Diavel. That ill nature got your blood folks dead,” snapped Elvonair.

Dia would never ask again, despite the burning curiosity swirling at the back of his mind.

One evening, Dia was deep into his books. He was awake later than most nights. Elvonair had taken her deep slumber. Dia snuck around the bowels of the emerald dragon’s lair. He lights his own kindling. Dia ventures deep to where the dragon kept the luggage in which the boy was found. Growing up, Elvonair would show how Dia was found in that baggage.

Dia examined the baggage closely. He admired the lock piece that was ornamented with a wreath around a chalice. He opened the baggage. Dia sees the empty content, save for the blanket that rests at the bottom. The emerald dragon had said that he was wrapped around that blanket. As an infant, he was crying when he was found in the wilderness, just outside the lair.

The boy grabbed the baggage and crept back to the heart of the lair. Elvonair still laid asleep. He gathered his belongings and stored them in his baggage.

Dia dug out a pouch. Inside, he collected all sorts of coins during his cleanup of the old Lemmington grounds. Gold, silver or nickel. It did not matter. The boy knew they were of value. Inside the lair, there were little chunks of gold ore. Dia has accumulated them over the years. Bit by bit, he stuffed his pouch.

At the dead of the night, Dia slung the baggage onto his back and ventured out into the wilderness. With a kindling in hand, he was cautious about walking past the rustling leaves. He then made his way out to the old Lemmington grounds. Dia was familiar with the ruined town. He knew which pathway to take if he was to venture further out.

He was then close to the boundaries of the heartlands. It is where Dia ventured the farthest. Once, he had a close encounter with his fellow man years prior. It was a group of men hunting for game. The boy was instructed by Elvonair to scare them off. What lies further at that point is unknown to the boy.

Wandering in the grasslands, the boy ends up on a road. From the books of poems he read, all roads lead somewhere.

He followed the trail, past a few little wildlife. Dia knew when to avoid beasts and he knew when to stay still around them. He knew how to hunt them, as long as his monah was there to guide him. But not anymore.

***

The sun was rising for the new day. Dia walked past a settlement and their stone dwellings. They had sheep and cattle. They have roosters that crow, that made Dia jump. The inhabitants begin to start their day. Dia was tempted to stay and wished he could linger more. He decides to carry on, as his monah would always be wary of men.

The farther he trekked, the more people he encountered. They were on horses and carriages. Some pushed hay on wheel barrows. Most, like Dia, ventured on foot. He was eager to start a conversation, but then grew shy. He tried to eavesdrop on nearby travelers. However, he never understood the places and people they were subject to.

He followed the flow of the crowd. At the end of the road, the kingdom of Arenia stood proud.

The road stops at a high wooden door, where people are slow to enter. The kingdom is surrounded by towering white bricks. Dia’s jaw dropped at what he was seeing. The heartlands never have such structures. It was only in the books that he read about such buildings.

Dia was close to the entrance. At both ends of the door were guards. They wore armor of steel and donned the colors of yellow and blue. Stitched on their fabrics were an image of a crown and cutlass. The guards’ horses were arrayed up beside them.

Looking along the outer wall, hung a large fabric of yellow and blue, along with the crest Dia saw on the guards.

The guards at the door are yelling, “No thieving and trickery within the king’s grounds!”

The guards stopped each and every traveler. Travelers must present a parchment of sorts to be granted entry. Some were turned away because they did not carry any. Those who were stubborn were whipped and beaten.

Dia looked around the crowd and saw a tarp covered wagon pulled by a horse. The travelers within that wagon began distancing themselves, because of what inside the wagon reeks.

The boy sneaked passed a few travelers and uncovered the tarp. A wagon full of fish was loaded. Dia jumped up from the wagon and covered himself with the tarp.

The wagon rolled forward and stopped.

“What stinks here?” asked the city guard.

“Please, allow me to make the sell!” pleaded the owner of the fish wagon.

One of the guards inches himself closer to the wagon and gagged at the smell, “Sell this?”

“I’ll let the buyers know it is good for supper. Rub it with salt and the unflattering smell disappears!” explained the owner. “I can’t let this meat go to waste.”

“We outta turn you away, crook!” threatened one of the guards.

The wagon owner then whispered, “I can sell all these fish for a good price and nothing goes to waste. Perhaps you and your good men can share my potential earnings.”

The guard grunted and pondered for a few moments. “Let him in!” he commanded.

***

Dia marveled at the sight of the streets of Arenia. Different scents and aromas filled the air. From the fresh baked pastry to roasted spiced meats, it all enticed Dia’s nostrils.

The inhabitants were haggling and gossiping, some were settling disputes. A man set up a small platform and jest for the children. The whole streets have something to show and sell.

Dia kept walking and people distanced themselves from the boy. The smell of the fish lingered on the boy’s tunic.

One of the shops sells fabric and clothes. Dia marched into the bright shop.

“Fresh set of garb?” asked the shopkeeper.

“Y-y-yes,” Dia stammered. “How can you tell?”

“Not what I can tell, but the smell… Putrid!”

“What do you offer?”

“How much can you afford?”

Dia reached for his baggage and pulled out his pouch. He reached for a piece of gold ore and handed it to the shopkeeper.

The shopkeeper blinked twice, then his eyes widened, “Anything that the young lord wants!”

Dia fancied a dark green tunic and disposed of his old one. He looked in the mirror and pictured himself like the princes and knights in the books he read. The shopkeeper even offered to give Dia a haircut and a bath.

The boy leaves the shop, and the shopkeeper yells him to comeback anytime he needs to. He grins from ear to ear.

Dia skipped along the streets, checking out every shop and stall he passes by. His stomach soon growled, for he hadn’t had any feed since leaving the heartlands.

The boy would have preferred it if he sat and ate. He wants to bask in his stay in the kingdom. Dia searched for a suitable place, until a tavern further down an alley caught his nose’s attention.

The tavern was grilling pork and chicken outside the streets. It has a unique aroma coated by spices. Dia’s stomach growled once more.

He entered the tavern, and looked around. It was not as lit as the fabric shop. Only candles and small windows provide little light to the room. But the aroma of the roasting meat called him further.

Dia walked towards the bar keep and sat on a stool. The bar keep was balding on his dome, and had a boil at the side of his nose.

“Meat and mead?” asked the bar keep.

“Yes, please,” nodded Dia.

The bar keep filled a tankard for the boy, and layered a plate with slabs of meat.

Dia reached for his pouch, until a hand pushed it down his baggage.

“One should not be parading fancy clothes and a hefty pouch in this part of the city...” whispered a man. He had long slicked back hair and a well trimmed beard. He had broad shoulders. He donned a dark gray tunic. “...especially without an escort. Lightning can strike and all you own will be gone in a blink of an eye.”

Dia kept his pouch in the back pocket of his tunic.

“Oy, Pudge! I’ll take care of this young man’s tab!” commanded the man who whispered. He sat next to Dia, “The name is Carthos.”

“Captain of Arenia’s City Guards!” yelled one of the men at the other table.

The rest of the tavern raised their tankards towards Carthos, “To the fine captain!”

“Enough, enough, people!” calmed Carthos. “I’m not on duty at the present, so right now, I’m just a humble son of a stone mason.” The captain unfolded a flap on his tunic. He reveals the same crown and cutlass crest as the city guards have.

“Thank you, captain,” said Dia, as he began to eat.

“You’re not from around here?” Carthos asked.

Dia shook his head, his mouth stuffed with food. “Far south from here,” he answered as soon as he swallowed a mouthful.

“Country side, eh?” Pudge, the bar keep said.

“Raised by my mon… mother,” hesitated Dia.

Carthos replies, “Never met my mother. Also raised by a single parent. Father said she was from the country side as well.”

Pudge cleared his throat, “Well, these countryside women all come here to Arenia. They try to become courtesans to warm the beds of lonely and wealthy men. Once they have made enough gold, they leave without a trace.”

“Pudge! Do you not think before you speak?” hissed Carthos. “Do not listen to Pudge, my dear boy… Does this boy have a name?”

“Dia…”

“Odd name even for a countryside boy… your last name?”

Dia stammers to grip for an answer. He gulps his tankard and yells, “Emerald. Dia Emerald is my name.”

“That does sound like a courtesan’s name,” smirked Pudge.

Carthos smacked the bar keep’s head, “Back to work!”

The Captain of the city guards ordered another platter of meat and mead. He is to dine with the boy. Carthos asks, “So what brings you to Arenia, Dia Emerald?”

“I want to find work in the city… like my mother did before,” Dia lied again.

Carthos smiles, “My father is always on the look out for a stone mason’s apprentice! You seem strong enough for the job.”

Dia nods, as he and Carthos clanked their tankards together.

***

The rest of the day, Dia stayed in the Tavern. He drank and feasted along with the patrons. Carthos and Pudge taught him songs and poems. They heard stories from the other patrons about old heroes of tragedy and triumph.

The day turned to night. Patrons come and go. Dia had taken his rest from the mead and sat on his stool, while Carthos remained with his tankard. Pudge was preoccupied with serving the incoming patrons.

One of them asked for a particular wine that stopped Pudge to his tracks.

“A port wine, you say?” clarified Pudge.

“Aye,” nodded the patron.

“It is almost an insult to this city to ask for port wine not coming from The Castell winery,” Pudge said.

“Good port wine is not made as it used to be. Not since the deaths of The Castells,” one patron recalls.

“Such tragedy to what happened to them. To all of them. The ones that burned in the old Lemmington,” Pudge says.

“To the Castells and the fallen of Lemmington!” toasted Carthos.

Everyone raised their tankards and drank.

“What happened to the Castells?” asked Dia.

Carthos wiped his chin, “You are probably too young to remember, but the citizens of Arenia went gold graze. Rumors whirled around about a possible gold mine south of the kingdom. Everyone fled south. The poor hope to reverse their fortunes. The rich try to get richer. Of course, the wealthy ones can’t live without a fine glass of port wine. That’s why The Castells tagged along.”

“The Castells didn’t deserve to die,” one of the patrons yelled. “Sad that there’s no heir to their winery. No one else to bear their banner of chalice and wreath… even their poor boy was slaughtered by that beast!”

Dia felt a lump down his throat.

“We could have been the richest kingdom on this continent, if it wasn’t for that damned dragon!” spat Pudge.

The tavern grew silent.

Carthos stands up. He walks around the tavern. The captain looks at all men and women in the eye, “We are ready to fight back if the dragon chooses to show herself. Our king has ordered us to construct ballistas to combat the dragon. These hulking crossbows will pierce through any scale and bone that creature is made of!”

“Death to the dragon!”

“Avenge the fallen!”

“Glory to Arenia!”

The tavern cheered to a frenzy. The men and women drank and toasted to the dragon’s demise.

Dia felt heavy on his knees and covered the chalice ornament in his luggage. “Thank you for the meat and mead. Pardon me, I must take my leave,” Dia said to Carthos and Pudge. He rushed out of the tavern without even hearing what they said.

It was already nightfall. The streets of Arenia are still at its hustle and bustle. Dia sped past the merchants and stalls, making his way to the entrance. The giant city door was within sight. All Dia must do is walk out the city entrance, and make a run for it.

Dia marched without looking around. A few more paces until he is out of the city, but a hand grabs his tunic from behind.

“What’s with the haste, Dia Emerald?” questioned Carthos. The captain wasn’t alone, he was accompanied by Pudge and the rest of the tavern patrons.

“Captain Carthos, the meat and mead is appreciated, but I must hurry back to attend matters at my country side home,” Dia pleads.

Carthos smiles. He signals Pudge to look at Dia’s luggage.

“There’s no mistake here, Captain,” began Pudge. “The crested chalice is indeed of the Castells.”

Carthos gripped tighter, suffocating Dia, “Care to explain the crest on your baggage and the pouch of gold ores you have, boy?”

“Let go of me!” struggled Dia.

Captain Carthos sneered,“It was said that the night Lemmington burned down, the dragon found an infant. It nurtured it as its own. For once, I may believe the rumors. Word has been sent to the king. We shall mobilize the soldiers to march south to your dragon mother!”

“You won’t come near my monah!” yelled Dia. He reached at the back of this tunic for his ore-filled pouch. Dia smashed it in Carthos’ face. The captain’s grip loosened.

Dia drops to the pavement and rushes forth to the gate.

Carthos orders Pudge and the soldiers to come after Dia.

The boy took off the slings of his luggage and threw it at one of the guards. Dia mounts one of the guard’s horses and speeds off to the night.

***

Dia rides to the heartlands and back to the lair. He saw Elvonair waiting. “Did you have fun on your little adventure today?” asked Elvonair.

“I know what you’ve done to my parents, monah!” said Dia. “The Castells weren’t after the gold!”

“Your kind was not meant to be here in the first place, Diavel!” answered Elvonair.

“Why nurture me? Why raise me as your own kin? Is it guilt? Your kind is too proud to carry guilt, monah!”

Elvonair grew silent. She raised her head and looked down at the boy, “The day I found you, the settlers from Arenia were getting too close to the very heartland of the dragons. The very lands we consider sacred. The settlers found my kin. A mere hatchling. Too little to defend himself, yet slaughtered for the gold they seek. He carried the same name as you… Diavel.”

“You never gave yourself time to grieve properly, monah,” said Dia. “I’m just a mere replacement to your slaughtered kin!” Tears began to cover Dia’s eyes. “You should have killed me instead!”

“You are lucky that I spared you, human! Greedy and ungrateful! Why bother returning?” asked Elvonair.

Dia wiped the tears from his eyes and walked back to the lair’s entrance. “I came to warn you. They know how to kill you…”

“Let them,” dared Elvonair. “I’ll be waiting.”

***

Outside the lair. Dia could hear a thumping on the ground. The leaves of the forest rustled early that morning. A retinue of soldiers led by Captain Carthos. The captain is now decked in his armor along with the blue and yellow colors of Arenia. Behind them was a ballista, pulled by horses. The ballista was loaded on a flat wagon and loaded with a spear. The spear spans a dozen feet.

Dia sped up to the incoming soldiers and spread out his arms, “Not another step, Captain Carthos!”

The unit halted their advance.

“How stupid can you be,” remarked Carthos. “The dragon killed hundreds here, including your folks, and you stand by to protect it?”

The soldiers laughed.

“Men, once we slayed the dragon, feel free to mine these mountains to your heart’s content!” promised Carthos.

As the captain commanded them to advance the march, out came Elvonair. She stares down at the soldiers. Her snarls made a few soldiers shriek.

Carthos was in disbelief at what he was seeing. The soldiers were trembling beneath their armor.

“Ready the ballista!” commanded Carthos, as he hopped on the giant crossbow. Carthos fires at Elvonair and missed by a split moment. The dragon was quick to fly, and the spear thrust deep into the lair’s outer walls.

Elvonair brings down the fire on the soldiers. The soldiers of Arenia grew to a panic, witnessing their comrades burn. Their skin melts off their bones and others to ash.

The dragon swoops down and bites a few more of the soldiers, but a few soldiers rally around the dragon. They ready their steel twine nets. They threw the netting up, swooping it over the dragon like a blanket. The steel net pins the dragon in place.

Elvonair, now immobile, yells to Dia, “Run back to the lair!”

The soldiers reload the spear into the ballista once more.

“Hold her in place!” ordered Carthos.

As Carthos readies the trigger of the ballista, Dia jumps to the tip of the spear. The boy rocks the ballista off-centered. The spear launches forth, piercing the lair’s rock once again, with Dia in between them.

The spear impaled Dia’s chest and the boy looked at Elvonair, coughing up blood. The boy tries to gasp for air until he is lifeless and still.

Blinded by fury, Elvonair broke free of the steel net. She gashed her wings, but it did not matter. She torched everything in sight. Hellfire broke lose, unleashing her wrath on the land, this time not letting everyone escape.

***

Elvonair carried Dia’s body on top of the cliff where they used to feast. She rubbed her forehead on his belly like she did to her first Diavel. She would never wish on any of her kind to lose a child, let alone two.

The winds on the cliff grew stronger, carried by another one of her kind. A beast of sapphire scales drops down to Elvonair. “I didn’t realize you took your stewardship role that seriously. I understand that you care for these lands, but humans too?”

Another dragon drops from the sky, this time it has scales of ruby, “Elvonair, have you forgotten that our black moon of gathering is upon us?”

More dragons plunge from the skies. A dragon of diamond scales says, “Is it true that you’ve taken a liking to this tiny human?”

“Elvonair fancies humans,” teased one of the dragons, and the rest of them hissed.

Elvonair rubbed her forehead at the boy’s body one last time, she set her sights on Arenia. “They will feel pain. They shall know our wrath. Let it be known across these lands and beyond, that our kind will be the harbinger of death and suffering.” Elvonair roared to her kin and they roared back in unison, ready to take flight to Arenia.

Dia was right. Elvonair never gave herself time to grieve. Perhaps, once the Kingdom of Arenia is in ashes, she will have all the time she needs.