fragile peace

Chapter 1

The old teller moved slowly around the young ones as they gathered by the fire. It was 12th night. The 12 night of the new sun and the time that they celebrated their home and the oldest would tell the young ones the tale.

Tull, the elder made a noise as he sat on the ground in the center of the young ones.

Making them laugh slightly at him. The old one looked at them and then laughed too.

“you are young but by the grace of The Pair, may you all live long enough to make sounds as you sit on the hard earth”.

The young ones became very quite.

Tull leaned into the flickering light of the fire.

His face taking on a red glow that made them let out a small sound of wonderment. And then Tull began to tell the fable.

It was in the long ago. A primitive time when dragon and man lived in what was called, a fragile peace.. But that peace came at a price. Man and dragon had fought and killed each other over the long haul of time. And when at last, in their wisdom, they came upon a solution to the problem. They would strike a peace. They would live separate from each other and neither would ever see or hurt the other again.

And so it was, for many suns.

One day in this time, 2 young dragons where playing in the tall lemon grass by the glimmering lake of shade. Near the boundary between man and dragon. A place called lands end. A place that they should not be.

These two, Tomtu and Borrid, were adventurous and always wanted to see the dragons lands end. It was forbidden for all dragons except for the one they called the keeper. It was his job to go to the lands end but why he did this was not known to anyone but the keeper.

This day, the sun hung low, giving off great warmth and light as the boys played.

Running a few steps.

Flying a few feet with their small and undeveloped wings.

And even though each of them knew they were getting close to Lands End, they did not say anything. They kept on moving in that direction. As if they pretended it was an accident, it would be one.

Suddenly, Tomtu stopped. He heard a sound that he had never heard before.

“Listen”, He said to Borrid,”do you hear that?” Borrid strained his head, turning it sideways to hear better and then he too heard it.

“it sounds like crying” Borrid said. And with that, the boys moved in the direction of the sound. As they drew near to the sound the tall trees and high grass gave way to a clearing. It was unlike anything the boys had seen before. It was as if the rocks had all moved to form a circle around one flat rock. And on that rock was something else they had only been told about.

On that flat rock was a small man boy. And he was crying. Quickly the boys thought that this man boy must be lost.

Borrid looked at Tomtu, “what do we do?” he asked.

Tomtu looked at the little boy. He felt sorry for it. But he was also very scared. He knew that they should never be together.

That man and dragon had what the elders called a fragile peace. One that would only last if they both followed the rules. Borrid moved closer to the man boy. He tried to move his large green and black body slowly so he did not scare him. Tomtu called out to his friend.

“stop Borrid, do not tough him..we must leave. We can not break the peace”. But Borrid was over him now and the man boy’s eyes were wide. Looking at him and in that moment, the man boy stopped crying. Borrid smiled at him. He seemed so small and helpless. So scared and alone.

“what is your name boy?” Borrid asked him. The little boy laughed and looked up at him.

“I am called Finn.” he said with a small voice that made Borrid smile wide. Showing his teeth to the boy.

“please don’t eat me” the boy said in fear. Borrid closed his mouth quickly.

“why would I do that?” he ask the boy.

“because”, the boy said,” that is what dragons do...don’t they?”

Tomtu was standing now next to the two.

“Borrid, we must go from here. We will be in trouble.” then turning to the boy, Tomtu said, “Boy do you know your way home?”.

The boy looked sad again.

“I was brought here and left. I do not know where I am.”

Borrid’s heart sank. He looked at his friend.

“we are taught to help others. If you were lost, you would want help would you not?”

“yes, yes but I am a dragon and he is a ...you know...human! What about the peace?” Tomtu said in exasperation.

Well, we will help him, isn't that a good thing? How could anyone be mad about that. We will just go over to..”

“Oh No!!” Tomtu cut off his good and kind friend, “WE can not go over to their side! I’m not doing that. No way!”.

Borrid could see that Tomtu was worried. But in his heart he knew that he should help this small little boy.

That it was the right thing to do and that no good and kind dragon or man would be mad at them for that.

The boy could see that they were not sure of what to do. Behind them it was getting dark. The suns was fading.

“your not gonna leave me here are you?” the boy asked. Borrid looked at his friend.

Tomtu let out his breath in defeat.

“ok, ok, we will take him back to the elders. But I’m warning you, they might be mad at us”.

Borrid was a good dragon and he did not want to be in trouble but how could he not help someone in trouble.

“We will tell them that we found him in the trees. Not here close to Lands end.” Then Tomtu looked at the boy,” and you say nothing. Just tell them you are lost and mean us no harm”. The boy smiled at him.

“agreed”. The boy said, holding out his hand. Borrid did not know what he was doing. Then the boy touched Borrid hand. He folded his small fingers around Borrid’s claws and then moved his hand up and down.

“what does this mean?” he asked the boy.

“we are friends now and friends always”.

Chapter 2

By the time the two young dragons had gotten back to their home caves, every elder was worried. But the one that was most worried was the keeper.

He had a great sense of smell and long before the two young dragons had gotten to the cave, he could smell the sent of humans. He was sure that the humans were coming and had gotten all the dragons together to fight.

Once Borrid and Tomtu can in the cave carrying a man boy, they dragons were in an uproar.

“Where did you get that?” one of them yelled.

“put it back before you break the peace” another yelled. And others were simply billowing smoke and spitting fire into the air in protest of the boys presence in their cave.

Borrid’s Father was an elder and came to the boys.

“What in the world have you two done? Its just a little one. Where did you get it?’ he asked them in a fiery voice.

The boys were scared and Borrid was now thinking that he should have listened to his friend.

“father, we found him. He is lost. He was scared. He needed our help”. His father’s eyes softened a bit.

“where did you FIND him?” he asked.

The boys looked at each other. Borrid remembering their agreement to lie about this part of the story. But when Borrid looked at his father, he could not do it.

“I can not tell you a lie” he started to say. Tomtu shot him a look but Borrid kept on.

“We were playing and we got close to lands end”. He stopped. The crowd of Dragons were now enraged.

“That’s it” one screamed, “it is war now”.

“Calm down” Borrid’s father said. “lets hear the boy out”.

Borrid was really scared now. He could see that everyone was mad at him.

“father, He was in the clearing, laying on a flat rock. He was crying and alone. How could we just leave him there?”.

Now the cave fell silent.

One by one, the others either walks off or sat down. Borrid and Tomtu were confused but happy.

“See” Borrid said to his friend. “I knew it would be alright. Right father? You understand now?”.

Borrid’s fathers eyes grew soft and warm. He placed his hand on his sons chest.

“you have a good heart son. We understand. No one is mad at you anymore”.

From the back of the cave a voice called out.

“bring the child here to me young ones. I will take him back there in the morning and do the right thing”. The keeper said.

And Borrid lifted the boy up and brought him to the keeper. Placing him down gently by a small warm fire.

Borrid’s father stood over them and watch his son. His gentle and sweet son being so careful with the small helpless boy.

The keeper looked into the boys eyes. Breathing slowing and softly into his face, moving his head back and forth slowly and in a minute, the boy was sleeping.

Then the keeper turned the boy over on his belly and pointed to a small birth mark on his back.

“he has the mark” the keeper said.

Borrid looked his father.

“how did he do that?, what is that mark?” he asked.

“The keeper has much wisdom and much burdens” his father said. “come now, let us get some sleep too”.

Tomtu said goodnight and Borrid and his father went to their cave. Once inside, Borrid had a thought.

“father, can I take the boy back with the keeper tomorrow?”.

The old dragons head sunk low. His eye sad.

“I’m sorry my son, you are not old enough and what is right is also very hard. It is not for young ones like you”. Borrid thought he understood.

“I know father. Today I was worried. It was hard to do what was right and help him but I did it. Doesn't that make me worthy?”.

“no my boy. There are many things you do not understand. And it is not until young ones are much older that we explain about the fragile peace. Its very late now go to sleep”.

Borrid was not tried. He wanted to know now.

“Father please?” his father looked at his son. He was too young but he was also a good boy. And he did not want to lied to his father.

Now, his father thought “how can I lied to him?”

“Ok Borrid, but the truth is not easy to understand or hear. You must be strong. Do you understand?”

Borrid shook his head yes.

“in the before time, man and dragon fought and killed each other. That was until the peace.”

Borrid smiled. “I know this, everyone knows this”.

“Yes son, but do you know what the peace is? It is an agreement that we will never see or hurt each other. The human’s ways are different than ours. And even though they offered this peace. Some of them still hunted us.”

This was the part Borrid did not know about. His father continued.

“and each of them had a mark on them. A mark of the hunter. And so when their elders find a human with the mark. They know he will, someday, hunt dragons and break the peace. They bring the hunter to the rock and leave him there”.

Borrid did not understand.

“why would they leave him for us?” he asked. His father’s heart grew heavy.

“So, my son, the keeper can do the right thing. And when the hunter is gone, the peace will be kept”.

Borrid could not speak. His mind was trying to take it all in. He began to cry.

“Father no. the keeper is going to kill him? That’s why the boy thought we were going to eat him? He is just a little boy and we are so big. He would never hurt us. We are friends”.

he begged his father to understand.

“I’m sorry son, but small boys grow into big men and the humans know best in this matter. We have this peace because each of us sacrifice. They offer the ones with the mark. We send them to the other world. This is the price of our fragile peace”.

His father came close to him and as the weight of this knowledge came down on Borrid, his father held him until he fell asleep.

As he watch his son dreaming. He thought that his son was a boy no more.

Now he was burdened.

Like all that came before him. And in the dark, he wept for his son’s innocence.

As the first light came into the cave, Borrid’s father rose from his sleep and made his way to wake his son.

He had thought it would be a kindness to let Borrid say goodbye to the man boy.

He was surprised to see that Borrid was already gone.

And a moment later, he heard the roars coming from the keeper’s cave.

Chapter 3

Borrid was holding Finn tightly as he ran through the thick trees and bushes. The boy was confused and scared. It had been hours now that they two had been making their way through the forest. Finn did not know where they were. Borrid thought he was getting closer to the boundary.

“Why did we have to leave in the night?” He ask his dragon friend. Borrid did not want to tell him.

“I wanted to be the one to take you home” He answered the boy at last. Finn made a sad face and poked at the dragon with his finger.

“You can’t take me home” he said to Borrid. Borrid stopped and looked at Finn.

“Why not?”

“Because they will just bring me back to the flat rock”. The boy sadly. Borrid was shocked.

He began to wonder if Finn knew about the peace and what was going to happen to him.

“Finn, what do you know about the peace?”

“I know that they say I will break it. But I would never hurt you or anyone! That is why they left me there alone. But then you came and helped me.”. Finn ended.

Borrid did not know what to do. But he knew that the little boy was right. He had seen the look on his father’s face. The look in the keepers eyes.

There was no way that they would listen to him or a small boy. The elders were in charge. The rest must follow.

Borrid could see the clearing ahead of them. He sat Finn down.

“I must take you home, back to your people” he said again to Finn.

“NO dragon can go there...they will hurt you. They are afraid of you”.

“But they do not know me. You can tell them I saved you”. Borrid said. The boy looked sad again.

“I am just a boy, our elders do not listen to small boys”.

Borrid sat down next to Finn. He knew now they could not go there. He guessed that elders, human or dragon were all the same.

“I do not know what to do” he said to his small friend.,” I want to help you but where in the world would we both be safe?”

and then an idea came to him.

“Finn, what if we walk along the boundary. Maybe we could find a place where we could stay”

The small boy smiled at him.

“you and me? Together?”

“Yes, together”. Borrid agreed.

“But how will we live? Eat? Stay warm”. The boy asked. Borrid thought for a moment.

He did not know what humans ate.

But he knew how to hunt and find a cave.

Borrid was a dragon so fire was no problem for him.

“I can hunt, I can make fire anytime I need” He said to Finn. Finn smiled.

“Can you fish?” Finn asked.

Borrid laughed, “Whats that?”

“I’ll show you” Finn offered.

Then Finn felt sad.

“we will never see our families again?”

Borrid did not know the answer to that. He would miss his father and friends but what was right was right.

“I hope we will in time but now we have be safe”.

The pair came to the boundary and then started walking towards where the sun fell.

After a time, on the 12th day of the new sun, they found a lake.

And inside this lake was an island.

And on that island was a small cave.

Finn showed Borrid how to get fish.

Borrid kept a fire going and both of them were warm in that cave.

And when they were older, they would go to the flat rock and if their was a child there, they would take them to their place. Their home.

In time, Tomtu came looking for his friend and then after he went home, returned with his mate and stayed on the island.

Time passed and kept passing.

The pair saved child after child.

The stories spread of a place where humans and dragons lived together and helped one another.

And from time to time, others would join them there.

Eggs were laid.

Baby were born.

And that island became this home.

Tull was tried now, his old body needed to rest.

He looked at these young faces.

Both dragon and human. And behind them lay hundreds of families.

A young one raised his hand.

“Elder, what ever happened to the rest of them and the peace?”

Tull thought about his answer for a while. Like his father before him, Tull did not want to lie to anyone.

“Many of them, both human and dragon are still out there. Still believing that they are right. That their way is the only way. We live here and hope for them. We stay strong and devoted to our peace. Our gentle peace. In the hopes that one day they will see there was always another way for us all”.

Each of the young ones bowed their heads as they had been shown and Tull spoke words.

"We remember you, the pair, the ones that delivered us all from a dark time. And we honor you by remembering that we all can live in peace and living together”.

Then in turn, each them came the other with their hand out. Small fingers wrapping around claws.

And they repeated the words.

“Friends now, friends always”.

The End.