Ferrin's Lair

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Ferrin crouched behind the decaying ruins of what she assumed had once been a city's worth of human made buildings. As she did so, she observed the dragons, now flourishing in the once human dominated area, going about their business. Fear and curiosity mingled with a reluctant hope that the tales of the valley dragons may yet prove to be true.

She battled constantly with the sweat that persisted in seeping from every pore in her body, threatening to obscure her vision. She was dangerously low on supplies and would need to, at the very least, fill her canteen with water soon to offset that which her body was relentlessly losing. But first, she had to know if she had finally found a place to rest. Maybe even a place to stay put for a while, To feel safe for the first time in many years.

For right now, observation was everything.

The two dragons nearest to her could not have been more dissimilar to one another. One shimmered faintly in the sunlight, burnished gold, slender and elegant of build with a long supple neck and well proportioned head.. Its wings were neatly tucked back and it moved with a precise carefulness and grace that belied its size and spoke of an acute awareness of the fact that it was in the midst of many of the much smaller and inherently more fragile humans.

The other dragon’s scales, in contrast, seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it. Its coloration, Ferrin decided, could most accurately be described as a mottled, mossy green. Everything about it was squat and compressed in appearance. Even though its presence also seemed to pose no immediate danger to the surrounding humans, she decided that this was due more to a strict economy of movement rather than any grace or agility on its part. As a matter of fact, had Ferrin encountered this particular being on its own in a forest, she had the distinct impression that she could easily have overlooked its presence unless it chose otherwise. Its coloration and habitual stillness seemed perfectly designed for camouflage.

Ferrin’s legs began to ache from holding such an uncomfortable position for so long. After observing these two dragons a few minutes more, she decided it was worth the risk of discovery to attempt to creep closer in an effort to hear what it was that they were saying to the humans grouped around them. She waited for a moment when neither dragon’s head was angled in her direction and carefully picked her way to another pile of rubble further down the slope she was on.

At last, the previously indistinct rumbling noises issuing from the smaller, green dragon began to form themselves into discernable words. The words came out in a slow, measured cadence as though the speaker had either delivered this same talk many times over, or was trying to make them as simple for its audience to understand as possible. Considering what she had been able to figure out so far, Ferrin suspected a combination of both to be possible, should the nuances of dragon speech be as similar to those of humans as she believed to be true. Its demeanor felt distinctly superior as she heard it delivering what sounded like some sort of guidelines.

“...benevolent though we are, there are many behaviors that are expected should you choose to stay within the protection of our enclave. Even more importantly, there are certain behaviors that are strictly prohibited and will result in your removal from our community and our protection. The key to understanding and remembering…”

At that, Ferrin had leaned forward, intent on hearing the details of the parameters for co-existing with these, the purported safest and most hospitable of all higher level creatures. As she leaned forward, Ferrin’s foot slid on the moss covered rubble beneath her, causing her to slide uncontrollably over the remaining distance that separated her from the edge of a steep, nearly vertical drop the height of at least three large dragons. Such a fall would be nothing short of fatal.

Survival became her entire focus as she scrambled to find a foothold as well as to throw her weight backward to offset the inevitability of gravity. Gone were all thoughts of stealth and hope for a better future. Even the pain of the debris beneath her, gouging first into her feet and legs, then into her hands as she tried desperately to find any means possible to keep her from plummeting over the swiftly approaching drop, was of no consequence.

Her fear then melded into resolve as she ran out of ground, feeling herself pitch over the ledge. One way or another, she had finally come to the end of her long, grueling journey. After so long of giving all of her strength and energy to staying alive, the choice was no longer in her hands. As she approached what she knew would be her last moment of life, she experienced the closest thing to peace that she had experienced in a very long time.

She closed her eyes before the moment of impact. Darkness enveloped her, as did a warmth that was nothing like the accursed humid heat she had been struggling against for nearly a fortnight.

This warmth was dry and even…

How to describe it? Soft, like a lovely evening breeze.

It reminded her vaguely of a childhood memory. The memory had also involved the scent of lilac blossoms on a calm evening. She had felt safe back then, in the presence of those who cared for her, protected her. Though the scent of this warm air lacked the sweetness of lilac, it smelled more of campfire than anything, she felt comforted.

How she had escaped the pain of impact was a mystery to Ferrin. She must have, somehow, slipped seamlessly into the afterlife. And, if this was her welcome, well, it could have been much worse!

Just as she started to open her eyes, she made out the unmistakable sound of voices near her. She looked around in confusion as the group of humans and the green dragon made their way toward her. The golden dragon, however, was still standing where it had been previously; only now, its long, elegant neck was stretched downward so that its head was just a few feet from the ground. Ferrin could see what appeared to be a dense fog issuing from the mouth of the golden dragon. She then realized with a start that she was suspended in the air, just far enough above the ground that, had she been inclined, she could have reached out and touched the gravel below her with her finger tips.

Her shock at still being among the living, however, was too great to allow her the power of either movement or speech. She simply remained motionless as the golden dragon gradually diminished the fog beneath her and her fall came to an surprisingly anticlimactic end.

“Speaking of acceptable and unacceptable behaviors…” the green dragon intoned disapprovingly, “This one will bear keeping an eye on. Wouldn’t you agree, Ptolarch?”

“That certainly was an unorthodox way of introducing one’s self!” the golden dragon replied in a voice that, though tinged with surprise, was far less sharp than its companion’s.