Kosyrir's Tree of Secrets

Swift, roving eyes first fell onto the strange creature sitting in the middle of the woods. Droplets of icy rain fell from errant leaves as sweltering steam rose up from the Earth—fragrant signals of the first signs of spring. Slits of honey-brown glowed furiously against Kosyryr’s olive-green skin, giant, feathery wings soared high-above. His face weathered with deep scaly crevices that told a story of all the things he had seen in his many hundreds of years, but today Kosyryr spotted something new.

There it was a curiously quiet thing—a child—only a few feet in height tucked cocoon-like inside of a bright blue shell draped snugly around her. Reams of puffy blonde curls hung softly against her peachy skin as she tugged at the fabric lined buttons of a water-resistant outer-coat. He looked closer through the foggy haze, what was that moving behind her— a shadow or a small animal? Kosyryr couldn’t quite make it out but as the little girl moved it soon became clear—behind her was another child, about half her size— and by the looks of it, it was a boy.

The small boy stepped out from the forked tree trunk that must have harbored them for hours as the torrential storm raged on overhead. His tan skin was hidden behind patchy layers of hand-sewn fabric, his brown eyes and sun-kissed hair were identical to the little girls, it was clear they were related—possibly even brother and sister. Kosyryr’s eyebrows furrowed as he tilted his head in wonder. It was clear they were well loved and well taken care of so how did they end up in these woods, lost and abandoned for him to find? It just didn’t make sense.

Kosyryr knew the nearest town was miles away. He hadn’t seen or heard anyone else on his journey and as he stood watching, waiting for something to happen he began to realize how silly he must look. Him—an oversized dragon, much older and wiser than the two children looking scared—but there he was frozen to the spot as though he was face-to-face with a monster. His eyes rooted to the two small children as they peered back, a mix of curiosity and longing on their faces.

It was the girl who first broke the awkward silence, stepping forward to offer Kosyryr a small leaf— a burgeoning-purple flower still attached as he held it away from his body as though it might explode, burning him in the process. Never before had such acts of kindness been bestowed upon him and he wasn’t about to let them start now.

A small shiver passed uncontrollably over him, starting in the tips of his toes and traveling all the way up through the ends of his ridged back; it was the warmth of something he had never felt—love. He dropped the flowering-leaf, watching it slowly dwindle down to the soggy dirt before fully coming apart at the stem as he pondered what sort of magic the two small children had inflicted on him.

Serves them right—he mused, his eyes scrunching tightly as he turned his nose up.

Kosyryr didn’t bother trying to put the broken pieces together as he handed the flower back to the little girl in a crumpled mess. A quiet smile formed on her face as she tucked the wilted flower into her pocket for safekeeping, Kosyryr was shocked. It didn’t seem to faze her—a dragon, the flower, being lost in the woods, nothing. She was indeed a strange little girl, of that he was sure.

He watched as the little girl grabbed hold of the boys hand and strode forward, inching closer to Kosyryr in innocent defiance. Kosyryr looked up, rolling his eyes and giving a jaunty huff as he also matched her steps, meeting in the middle with only a few feet between them. This was tiring work; he was getting far too old for all these formalities. He swore he could sense a fresh gray hair forming on his face as his back stiffened. He knew he should have just gone the other way; he would have already been back to camp by now, but alas, fate has a strange way of sneaking up on him and he was sure there was a reason, everything had a reason.

Kosyryr’s bones were aching terribly. The little girl reached out for his hand, he hesitated some before finally giving in, grimacing with the expectation that a sharp pang of electricity was about to stab him but that couldn’t have been any farther from the truth. The second their hands touched he felt it again; the glowing warmth crept over him, his heart swelled as a wide smile formed on his face. Could it be, the uncontrollable ache of love swept over them as they turned to head towards the untraveled woods and suddenly he felt alive again, all the pain disappeared from his body and he felt as light as a feather.