Singing With Dragons

Singing With Dragons

It is a scrawny, loud little thing. Something so small should not be making this much noise, especially in the middle of the Dark Forest where even a flower can be a dangerous predator and trees with their almost black bark that cause hallucinations when cut. It’s a miracle the human child has survived longer than a second in the forest. Xiommeot just wants it to quiet down.

The child has already scared off what few small animals his hatchlings could have hunted for practice. Xiommeot does not understand the language of man, but the desperation in the child’s voice compels him to not leave the child. Even if they are not of the same species, a baby is a baby, and although this child is not a baby, it is still young.

Xiommeot makes up his mind and, making himself as small and unthreatening as possible, he pulls a fruit off its tree and steps out from the trees. His little hatchlings peer around his legs at the wailing human child, too caught up in its distress to notice the beasts approaching it.

Pausing a fair distance from the child, Xiommeot places the fruit on the ground and rolls it toward the child. It bumps against its legs, startling the child further before it looks up. Face stained with tears, snot, and dirt, the child stumbles back as it finally sees the giant beast that stands before it.

Xiommeot stretches his neck closer to check for any injuries only for the child to whimper. Its entire body shakes much like a leaf in a storm. Wanting to prevent another crying fit, Xiommeot looks to his hatchlings and nudges the youngest forward.

Sido is his smallest and youngest hatchling, also his only daughter. She shuffles forward, not fearing the strange creature so long as her father is here. Neck outstretched, she sniffs at the child. It looks at her and seems to be calming down somewhat, its crying now becoming sniffles.

Sido looks from the child, to the fruit, to her father. She shakes out her tiny body as she nudges the fruit closer to the child. Arid and Ithit come out from behind their father to approach the child, sniffing as the child takes the fruit and bites into it.

This fruit should be good for humans to eat. Xiommeot has seen other humans eating them.

As the child continues to eat, Sido lays beside it. Her tail curls around the child. Xiommeot hadn’t thought about the weather.

He’d seen humans wear different style clothing for different seasons, but the cold doesn’t affect a dragon the way it does a human. Sturdy dragons won’t freeze in a snowstorm, while sturdy men might.

Looking at this child, Xiommeot knows he will have not only his hatchlings to feed, but this human child as well. He does not know why this child is here, whether it was abandoned or strayed too far from the village, but he’s found it now. The child will be safe.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Xiommeot naps in a mountain cave when his offspring return from their first hunt alone. They’ve grown a lot, their heads now taller than his shoulders. Ithit is the largest, reaching Xiommeot’s own height and still growing. Despite being the oldest, Arid is smaller than his sister. Sido, the youngest, reaches just above Xiommeot’s shoulder when on all fours.

“How was it?”

“Well, we won’t be going hungry tonight,” Arid responds while Ithid drags the body of a large hairy beast into the cave with him. “We would have been home sooner.”

Ithid drops the beast. “But someone decided to wander off.”

Xiommeot immediately searches for his smallest child. A thin leg dangles at the base of Sido’s neck and is quickly pulled onto Sido’s back. With a small exhale, Xiommeot leans around his daughter.

“Frayvneth,” he says calmly. She doesn’t look at him, she doesn’t say anything, but Xiommeot knows his child. “What happened?”

Her lips press together tightly. So, she won’t talk. Xiommeot nudges her side and stays there until she sighs and climbs onto his head.

“Good job you three.” Xiommeot walks deeper into the cave with his child holding onto his horns. Once they’re far enough from her siblings, Xiommeot again asks his child what happened.

“Doesn’t matter. I messed up, they had to fix it.” She shifts, probably wavin an arm as she tends to do. “Just the same thing that happens every time.”

Xiommeot reaches the sleeping area and leans down, letting Frayvneth slide off him. He watches her as she throws several furs over herself and curls up beneath them. His smallest has also grown quite a bit. Twice the size of when he found her, dark hair cut short by some fairies living further up the mountain.

He lays down near the small bundle of furs, shifting before he speaks again, “That’s not what usually happens. I’ve seen you help them.”

A quiet mumble reaches his ears but he can’t make out what she says. He lets her know as much.

Frayvneth tosses the fur off of her. “What’s the point of helping them if I always mess up?” she glares at the stone above. “I can’t help them. No matter how hard or what I try, I’m much smaller than them. They always have to be looking out for me. One wrong step and they’ll crush me. Or smack me away with their tails or wings. How am I supposed to help them?”

Xiommeot hums. This is something he hadn’t thought about when he decided to look after Frayvneth. Her size would of course make it harder for her to fit in with the dragons and creatures of the Dark Forest.

“Imps are small.”

Frayvneth scoffs. “They’re not trying to help you guys hunt or defend the cave. They live just fine around their own kind.” Her mouth snaps shut as soon as those words leave her mouth.

Xiommeot has never hid their differences from Frayvneth. She knows she’s not like them. She knows she won’t ever grow wings and soar through the skies on her own, she won’t ever defeat a boar by herself. She hadn’t complained about this, however. Frayvneth seemed fine with not being able to bring food home or defend their territory, as long as she got to be around to help them.

“That is true.” Xiommeot lays his head near Frayvneth. He thinks for a moment on how to respond as Frayvneth pets the scales on his temple. “Do you remember the cave in where Sido was trapped?” Slowly, Frayvneth nods. “I thought I wouldn’t get her out on time. But you found a tunnel. Only you could fit, remember?”

“I remember.”

Xiommeot leans his head against Frayvneth. “It’s because of you that Sido held out until I reached her.”

Frayvneth doesn’t respond for a long time. Xiommeot would have thought she was asleep if not for the light tapping of her finger against his scales. “But still. I helped that time, but what about every time after? Or today? I tried looking for a high place to scout our surroundings but when I looked for Sido and the others, they were gone. I’m small, so I know the forest is dangerous for me. I stayed in the tree like you told me to until they came back. They were angry with me. But they’re the ones who left.”

Xiommeot hums. “All three of them will be retrieving the sap of the Midnight Flower then.”

Freyvneth makes a face at that.

The Midnight Flower blooms during the night, but it is during midnight that its pollen creates a sap used by dragons to maintain their scales and keep them shiny. There is nothing dangerous about the flower, but it grows in a swamp with a smell so foul dragons will be lucky to not empty their stomach.

“I’ll talk to them.” Xiommeot bumps his nose against Frayvneth’s head and stands. “You just rest for a while.”

Freyvneth grumbles as she burrows under the furs once again while Xiommeot exits the sleeping cave.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Sido and Freyvneth are in the Dark Forest gathering fruits when a certain… sound catches their attention. It sounds like a language, though it’s not any language either of them know. Being the smallest, Freyvneth climbs from tree to tree and travels toward the sound, careful to be quiet and stay out of sight, until she reaches the source of the sound. She freezes.

There are three of them. Larger than her but smaller than Arid, two arms and two legs. One has fur growing out of his face rather than the top of his head like Freyvneth or on his elbows like Ithit does.

They look like… me. Freyvneth jolts back to herself as they speak to each other. She rushes back to Sido and they hurry home.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

“Humans.”

“Humans?” Freyvneth echoes. “So then… are they like me? Not shapeshifters?”

“Not shapeshifters. It’s too hot for them at this time of year. Those were humans.” Xiommeot confirms. “This is the first time they come this close to the mountain, though. Did they see you?”

Freyvneth shakes her head. “No. I stayed out of sight.” She’s quiet for a moment, frowning at the ground as she chews her lip. “You said before that there are a lot of humans like me that live in large colonies.”

“Villages. And yes, there are many of them everywhere. In the plains and mountains, some live at sea and others travel the land. There is word of a group of humans attempting to live in dragon territories further North.”

“It’s too hot for them,” Arid pipes in. “The land won’t grow anything for them. They would have more luck trying to take over the Rainbow Rocks.”

“Nothing would ever stay down,” Ithit mumbles from where he lays near the cave entrance.

“Regardless of where they live, the fact remains that they are everywhere.”

Despite Xiommeot saying this, he had only seen a limited number of humans. It could be because of the terrain—some places are better suited for human needs than others. The plains have ample land for growing crops whereas the Dark Forest is hostile to everything not of its same nature. Because of that, humans didn’t go into or even come near the Dark Forest. That had been the primary reason Xiommeot settled here.

“Are they… will they be okay? In the forest, I mean,” Freyvneth shifts in place.

“You said there was one with facial fur, that should be a grown man who knows what to do and what not to do. For now, don’t stray too far from the cave. We don’t know how long they’ll be out there or what they want.” Xiommeot only hopes the humans will leave soon and not come back.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

By the next sunrise, the entire mountain was abuzz. The fairies on the peak fluttered around all morning, some coming down to chatter with the imps, the lone troll from the rocky ridge came down for the first time in centuries, and the lizards ran up and down the mountain sides trying to get the latest gossip.

“Old Xiommeot,” the troll stomps on the ground outside the dragon’s cave.

“Old Ta-Weh.” Xiommeot walks out with his kids. Freyvneth sits atop Sido, out of the way of all the creatures running back and forth. “You never came down for a commotion before.”

“I need to know if I need to leave my little cave, weh.”

Xiommeot nods in understanding. He’d thought of the same thing all night long. While his kids slept in the depths of the cave, Xiommeot had lay at the mouth of the cave, not sleeping all night as he listened for any signs of the humans.

Freyvneth jumps from Sido’s back onto Xiommeot and settles at his neck, hugging onto him tightly.

“Everyone, please, order!” the Elder Fairy calls out. She waits until the creatures settle down. “We do not know that they are here with evil intentions. They could have simply gone off the road.”

“This far into the forest? There is no road that leads all the way here!” a lizard protests. “What if they’re looking to expand their village?”

“Then they will not get far, the Dark Forest will make sure of it,” the Elder Fairy responds sharply. She sighs, composing herself before speaking once more, “I know our kind have had disagreements with them—and the rising conflicts in the lands around us don’t help the humans’ case, but perhaps, if we show them out of the forest, they will leave us alone.”

“Show them out? Scare them away, I say!”

“Chase them out!”

Every creature began talking, interrupting, and shouting protests.

Xiommeot growls. It’s a low, deep sound from within his chest that rumbles like stones falling. It has its intended effect, as the creatures all fall quiet. Xiommeot huffs and turns his attention back to the Elder Fairy.

The Elder Fairy nods toward him in thanks. “Old Xiommeot, Old Ta-Weh, aside from myself, you have lived on this mountain the longest. Do you have any suggestions?”

Neither of them speaks at first. They can’t just leave, these creatures have built lives here. But they can’t also fight the humans or drive them away, it would cause tensions between the village and the creatures of the Dark Forest.

“Weh,what’s your little one say about it?” Old Ta-Weh nudges Xiommeot, looking toward Freyvneth.

The creatures all look to her as well, some clearly untrusting even though they’d lived with Freyvneth for little over a decade now.

“I…” Her grip on Xiommeot tightens. “I think… I don’t know.” Murmurs begin to spread. In a small voice, Freyvneth adds, “Lead them out? Tell them to not come in? It’s dangerous for them.”

“We should attempt to reason with them before trying anything else,” Xiommeot agrees.

Old Ta-Weh nods sagely. “You don’t begin a peaceful co-existence by throwing rocks. They could just be lost and need a way out.”

“Who will lead them?” a lizard asks.

No one speaks up. Everyone suddenly has errands they need to run or a pest to rid their garden of.

“I can do it…”

“Freyvneth,” Xiommeot hushes her but it’s too late, the other creatures heard her.

“Little Freyvneth wants to go!”

“Let her do it!”

“You would let a child go instead of a grown creature?” Xiommeot glares at the others.

“She volunteered.”

“Why don’t you or old Ta-Weh go, then?”

“They’ll run or attack at first sight of a dragon, weh! How can you not know that!” Ta-Weh crosses his arms and taps his foot. “And they are not fond of trolls, either. A lizard would be seen as a little animal just trying to help the humans and a fairy would be seen as a benevolent spirit, weh!”

The creatures murmur amongst each other but still none step forth.

“If it will make Old Xiommeot feel more at ease, I can go with her,” a rather young, pale green lizard scurries up to Xiommeot. Ah, a Lizard of Pale Death. Small enough to be unnoticable, yet deadly enough to make a grown dragon ill.

Xiommeot is unsure about it. The lizard can protect his child, but she is too small and if the humans decide to capture her even the lizard won’t be able to stop them. He looks at his other three offspring. Dragons are made to be resistant to a lot, be it spears, blades, and a majority or magic spells. Freyvneth is not a dragon, but she deserves her independence.

He huffs. “Very well.”

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

The next morning, Freyvneth is sent off by Xiommeot, who still does not look too happy about the situation. Sido, Ithit, and Arid offer to trail her at a distance, but Freyvneth rejects the offer and, surprisingly, Xiommeot agrees with her. The dragons are too large and noisy anyway, they’ll scare the humans. So, with the little lizard curled around her shoulders, Freyvneth set out to where they had last seen smoke coming from.

The lizard makes some small talk as they travel, just a few observations about their surroundings or a question here and there. Do you think the humans will be scared? Will they run? Will they attack us?

Freyvneth doesn’t know. She’s never interacted with her species before but if there is one thing that remains a constant among every species, it’s that they tend to fear those who are alien to them. A fairy who has never seen a dragon will naturally fear them, just like a dragon will be wary of a magic user.

It takes a while, but the lizard eventually smells the foreign humans nearby.

Freyvneth ducks under large leaves and bushes as they inch closer to the humans’ camp. She can hear them talking to each other and walking around their clearing and as she carefully moves a leaf aside to have a clear view, she sees them.

They look the same as before, if a little worn down and tired, but they’re much more alert this time.

“Something other than us is here,” the lizard whispers.

Not having enhanced smelling, hearing, or sight, Freyvneth glances around their clearing for anything out of place.

“There, on that tree,” she motions at it with her chin. Laying in a tree near the human with no fur on his head is a Paradise Lizard. Docile most of the time, but they will fiercely defend their young and nest from anything they deem a danger.

They won’t attack those that look like them, right? It sometimes worked like that. A dragon would hear something and upon seeing another dragon, they would communicate defensiveness or hostility. If the other dragon happened to just be passing by, then they would mostly ignore each other. There is no use in fighting if neither one is interested in it.

With this in mind, Freyvneth braces herself and pushes the leaves aside, stepping out from the bushes.

The humans turn toward her frighteningly fast. She freezes under their stares, watching for any signs of hostility while the little lizard communicates with the Paradise Lizard. None of them move for a long while, just eyeing one another.

The men eventually speak, though Freyvneth does not understand anything. She tilts her head, wondering what these men are saying.

“Freyvneth,” the lizard on her shoulder nudges her, “the Paradise Lizard wants these men out of her nesting grounds.”

Still looking at the men, Freyvneth inches to her left. The men watch her before one slaps the other on the arm. They quickly gather their things and stumble over roots and stones to keep up with her.

“It’s a good thing they’re smart,” the lizard says.

“I don’t know how else I would have told them to follow.” There were certain mannerisms that could mean ‘hello’ to one species yet it could be a declaration of war to another.

She travels through the trees, maintaining a distance from the men while keeping an eye on them. She wants to talk to them. Freyvneth has many questions—what are you doing here? Who are you? Why do you lack fur on your head?—but even if she were to voice them, it’s not like the men would understand. They call out to her, but what is she supposed to say.

After one of them trips on an overgrown root, Freyvneth frowns down at them. “Be careful, you should be able to see the roots.”

They stare back at her, confusion clear in their eyes.

One of the shorter ones looks toward the fur-less, speaking to him about something. The fur-less nods slowly to whatever is being said. Freyvneth is not enjoying this as much as she thought she might. Of course they wouldn’t be able to communicate by pointing at things and sounding them out or drawing on the ground. This lack of communication keeps her limbs tense and ready to run.

They keep moving at a slower pace.

“Is there no one that speaks the human language on the mountain or in the forest?”

The little lizard thinks for a moment. “Perhaps the Elder Fairy, but it wouldn’t be wise to send her. Fairies are often captured and sold for their magic. The only other ones would be Old Xiommeot or Old Ta-Weh.”

And it’s obvious why those two couldn’t interact with humans. Too big. Too unfamiliar.

Eventually, the edge of the forest is within view. Freyvneth leads the humans all the way to it, who knows and they might have turned back? She points out of the forest until the men seem to get it and walk out. One of them lingers near the trees, a small frown on his face as he turns around but Freyvneth has already hidden. The three men walk away and Freyvneth begins the trek back to her cave.

This experience had been… not special, that’s for sure. Nothing exciting had happened, they hadn’t communicated or attempted to communicate enough. It left her wanting more.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Freyvneth had always known her place was by her family’s side. She is a part of the dragon family living on the lone mountain range in the middle of the Dark Forest. She is also the only odd one out.

“Sido.”

Sido hums in response, glancing at Freyvneth riding on her back. “What?”

“What do you think of me?”

“Where did that come from?” Sido stares.

“I mean… I don’t…” She’s unsure what her point exactly had been with this conversation, but now that she’s said it, Freyvneth wants to try to communicate it. “I don’t look like you guys. I don’t look like anyone living in the forest or on the mountain.”

“So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’?” Freyvneth huffs. “I’m not big like you guys so I can’t help you out—”

“You’re still mad about that? We said we were sorry!”

“I’m not—” Freyvneth growls. “I’m not mad about it. I’m just pointing out that we’re different and I can’t do everything you guys do. I want to know what you think about that.”

“Well…” Sido faces forward and continues walking. “It means we have to keep a closer eye on you and we sometimes miscalculate how much you can help us, but I don’t really mind it. Father picked you up and decided to raise you as one of our own.”

“Well, yes… but it’s not. I mean. You don’t think it’s… that it would be better, without me here?”

Sido pauses and looks at her again, clearly annoyed. “If Father thought you would have been better off with the other humans, he could have just as easily left you on the outskirts of some village and not looked back. That counts as something, right?”

“I guess…”

With a sigh, Sido continues, “If you want to see what your life could have been like, I don’t think Father will say no. You can ask and he would let you go as long as you’re safe.”

Freyvneth decides she will ask.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

After much thought and an argument, Xiommeot decides to let Freyvneth go to the human village. She won’t be alone, he’d told her to take Silkee, the same lizard from before, to accompany her. There is a village to the south of the forest, close enough for Xiommeot to visit if Freyvneth takes too long, but far enough that the forest and the village won’t be in each other’s way.

“I heard from Sido that you allowed Freyvneth to visit the village?” the Elder Fairy approaches him.

“I did.”

The Elder Fairy hums. “It’s spread like wildfire, the whole mountain must know by now. Many were wondering if this is your way of sending her back?” She speaks slowly, almost deliberately.

Xiommeot glares. “This is not me ‘sending her back’. Young ones will become curious, and it is better to feed those curiosities in the safest way possible. Small Meadow is one the few villages that is not outright hostile to outsiders. They trade with elves and dwarves, allow traveling magic users to stay in their inns, and I’ve heard a sorceress lives among them as the local healer. I’ve sent Silkee with Freyvneth, she’ll be fine.”

“Yes, there is no doubt Freyvneth will be as safe as she possibly can. But, Old Xiommeot, have you thought of what will happen if Freyvneth likes what she sees? She might want to live that life.”

Xiommeot grunts. He had thought of it. By blood, Freyvneth isn’t his. Anyone who looked at them would know that much. He would just have to hope that Freyvneth will come back.

~~~~~~*~~~~~~

Over the next several moons, Frevyneth continues to visit the village. Sometimes she returns with gifts, other times she brings stories. She says the sorceress is nice and has begun to learn human speech. Xiommeot is happy for her. He is. Truly. But then she doesn’t return.

Xiommeot paces the cave, thinking perhaps she’d stayed to talk with her human friends, or perhaps the village held a festival that day—Freyvneth has been mentioning a festival often these days. She could also be in danger, part of him thinks.

Xiommeot takes to the skies in the direction of the village.

As quietly as he can, he lands in the outskirts and lowers his body as he approaches the brightly lit village.

He changes direction to one of the homes further out as Freyvneth’s familiar laugh reaches his ears.

He does not understand what is being said, but the tones are calm and happy. A questioning tone and the silence that follows makes him strain to hear.

“Freyvneth, would you like us to take you home?” Dragon speech?

“Is that what she said? I couldn’t really understand that.”

“Yes. If you would like to spend the night here, I’m sure we can accommodate you.”

“No, no, it’s fine.”

A group of people walk closer to the doorway and Xiommeot quickly ducks behind the house. Freyvneth walks out with a woman and two children following. Sorcerers? So there were more magic users than just the sorceress he’d heard of.

They watch Freyvneth leave before the children are ushered back into the house. The sorceress turns to follow them but not before casting a glance behind the house.

Her lips move but it is only after she enters the house that a soft whisper carried by wind reaches Xiommeot, “She is a good child. You’ve raised her well.”

Xiommeot’s nostrils flair with pride. To be told by a human that he’d done well in raising Freyvneth is better than not knowing whether he was doing something right or wrong. With the sorceress’ words in mind, Xiommeot returns to the cave to wait for Freyvneth.

He does not close his eyes until she has entered the cave and comes to lay beside him. She presses her lips against his cheek, which she’d said is a way humans show affection.

“I know you’re not sleeping.”

Xiommeot opens his eyes to look at her and can’t help but marvel at just how small she is. He responds with only a soft hum.

Freyvneth smiles. She’s been doing that more, lately. “You don’t have to stay up for me. I’ll always come back. I don't belong there, anyway. You’re my home.”

Something lifts inside of Xiommeot. Each day Freyvneth’s time in the village extended, every time she left with a huge grin on her face, every time she came back with wonders made by her kind… Every time she wasn’t in the cave left Xiommeot bracing himself for the inevitable. To hear that she will willingly return every time she leaves…

Xiommeot can never let her go. By blood, she is not his. But she is his child, his family. He raised her. And she will stay with him, with Sido, Arid, and Ithit. She will stay in their little cave in the mountain among the forest. He will not let any human families take her away. Xiommeot will defend his child.

After all, dragons are not good at sharing what belongs in their hoard.