The Dragon Lily

The Dragon Lily by Wally Jones

An epic fantasy adventure

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. At least that’s what the kids in school said, but Lily knew better. Of course there have always been dragons in the valley.

Lily knew this was just one of those things kids say to cause a stir and get a reaction from the other students, like the Harvest Hare not being real. The Harvest Hare has to be real. Who else would insure a healthy crop before winter and make sure the village didn’t starve?

Plus, the Harvest Hare brought presents and cookies. Presents are fun, but cookies were Lily’s favorite and life without cookies just seemed dull. That alone was reason enough to believe the Harvest Hare is real.

Luckily the school day was almost over, then Lily could walk to Gramma’s house and ask about the dragons in the valley. Lily loved her Gramma. Gramma was fun. She liked to play games and make cookies. She was also the smartest person Lily knew and always told her the truth. So if Lily was going to learn about the dragons, then Gramma was the person to go to.

Lily thought about asking her mom about the dragons, but she would still be working. The head seamstress was a kind woman and didn’t mind Lily stopping by to see her mother after school. Many kids checked in with their mothers after school. The head seamstress always wore the most beautiful dresses and gave the kids treats, like sweet cheese and logger berry juice. Lily loved seeing the dresses, but the head seamstress didn’t have cookies.

Lily didn’t want to bother her mother anyway. Rumor was the head seamstress would be stepping down soon. Mom had been given a large project and if she finished it before the deadline she would be the new head seamstress. She had even been bringing work home and stayed up late sewing. It meant a lot to her mother and Lily respected that.

Lily’s dad was currently with his work crew in the valley, so she couldn’t ask him about the dragons. He was an adventurous sort and one of the assistant foremen with the stone-cutters. His work crew went away for two weeks, then came home for one week. The trip to the valley took three days by horse and stone cart, so half the time he was away was spent traveling back and forth. He was set to return home in four days and Lily was anxious to see her dad again. She missed him and didn’t like that he was away so often, but understood the reason.

The valley was vitally important because it held many of the resources the village needed, like wood, stone, coal, and metals. The flat top of the high ridge the village sat on was an excellent location for farming and herding, but it lacked the other natural resources necessary to maintain the village. Those resources were gathered in the valley and hauled into town by the work crews. The work crews ran year round to insure the village was well supplied.

Unfortunately, the valley also held dragons. Dragons made work in the valley slow and extremely dangerous, so village guards accompanied every work crew to the valley. Mainly the guards just kept lookout since there was no way for them to actually repel a dragon. Dragon scales were simply too tough to puncture with weapons, so harming them was not possible.

Instead, the work crews built shelters and if the guards spotted a dragon everyone hid until it went away. It was a simple practice, but it kept everyone safe.

The dragons never came onto the high ridge of the village. No one knows why.

***

School let out for the day and Lily bounded through the village towards Gramma’s house with an odd half walk, half skip. It was faster than walking and easier than running. Her dress bounced up and down with an audible poof on each skip. That was one of the many reasons Lily loved dresses, the wonderful sounds they made.

Gramma’s house was on the other side of town, near the fields, but Lily didn’t mind the walk. She liked being outside and it gave her time to look around to see what had changed. Today was a pleasant spring day and it felt good to be outside. It was warm, but not bright, because the sun was hidden behind a thin layer of clouds like it might rain later in the evening.

So far Lily hadn’t noticed any new changes in the village save a few spring flowers that had sprung up here and there. The cobbler's roof still needed repairing as the thatch came unbound and the leather worker's horse refused to move one step further despite it being coaxed and pulled.

Lily skipped through the center of town and over the wooden bridge that crossed the ravine. The ravine cut through the village and roughly divided town into two halves. The two halves of town carried no unique distinction other than to call one side Near and the other side Slope. As far as Lily could tell the only reason the ravine existed was to make giving directions easier. Her family lived in Near, while Gramma’s house was in Slope.

The ravine wasn’t deep, nor was it very long or wide. No one knew what formed the ravine either. It was just sort of one of those odd things that had always been there. The high ridge the village sat on was perfectly flat other than the ravine.

The village kids usually played games in, and around, the ravine after school. They would play simple games like tag and river. River was Lily’s favorite game and she was good at it. Her long legs made jumping easy. Sometimes the kids would find odd iridescent stones in the ravine. The kids liked playing with the stones and marveled at their opalescence. Many days Lily would join them, but not today.

Lily continued through town and reached Gramma’s house a few moments later. Gramma’s house was small, like all the houses in the village. It was made of stone with a thatch roof and had a large chimney in the back.

As Lily got closer she began to smell Gramma’s baking. Gramma was a fantastic baker. She was the village baker for many years. Now she only bakes for special occasions and family. Lily knew she was very lucky to have a gramma that considered her special enough to bake cookies for.

“Hi Gramma!” Lily burst through the door announcing herself loudly.

Gramma was bent over the wash basin cleaning a large bowl and a spoon. She would have been startled had she not expected the sudden intrusion. Lily came over after school more often while her father was working in the valley. Gramma enjoyed having her granddaughter over and treasured all her time with Lily.

“Lilypoo!” Gramma replied back.

“The kids at school said the dragons weren’t always in the valley, but that can’t true. The dragons have always been there, right?” Lily blurted out excitedly.

“Please close the door and sit down. I’ll have a snack ready for you in a minute,” Gramma answered calmly while she finished washing the dishes. Then she went to the over-sized stone oven and peered inside. Lily walked to the sizable round table and took a seat as directed.

“Cookies?”

“Yes, and a few loaves of bread.”

“What kind?”

“Shortbread and crushed sage. Almost done.”

Shortbread cookies were Lily’s favorite of favorites and Gramma’s crushed sage bread was highly prized throughout the village.

“Who’s the bread for?”

“Your father. I worry about him working in the valley. He always looks malnourished when he returns. And my neighbor that works with the blacksmith. He burnt his arm rather severely the other day, so I made the family a few loaves of bread.”

“That’s nice of you.”

“It is important for those who can to help those who cannot,” Gramma replied turning to look Lily in the eyes. Then she turned around and continued looking into the oven.

“I understand,” Lily answered taking Gramma’s wisdom to heart.

“Done.” Gramma pulled a long flat board from beside the oven and reached inside the oven to pull everything out. Then she spread it all out on the table in a single sweeping motion.

“Wow!”

“I’ve had many years of practice,” Gramma said with a small giggle. She returned the board beside the oven, went to the cold box to pull out the logger berry juice, grabbed two cups, then took a seat across from her granddaughter and ate cookies.

Gramma watched Lily as she ate and was amazed at how strongly lineage ran in the family. Lily could be a duplicate of herself, only forty years younger. Lily had the same light-red hair, minus the grey, and the same freckles across her face. Lily’s mother was the same. All three women were tall, thin and graceful. They loved dresses, especially the brightly colored ones. And cookies.

“What is this nonsense the kids at school are saying?” Gramma asked starting her second cookie.

“They said the dragons weren’t always in the valley.”

“Oh?”

“But that can’t be right because that would mean the dragons came from somewhere else.”

“That is true. When I was around your age my great-grandmother would tell me tales about the valley and the dragons. I still remember one of them clearly, but I never put much thought into it,” Gramma said.

“You had a great-gramma?”

“I did. She looked just like you. I get my love of baking from her. She taught me everything.”

“What was the story?” Lily asked anxiously.

“All you and I have ever known is that there are dragons in the valley. My great-grandmother told me that when she was a young girl there were no dragons in the valley. The valley was safe and whole families would go there to work, hers included.”

“What?” Lily exclaimed.

“She would tell me tales of when dragons first came into the valley. It was a big ordeal. Many families were lost as the dragons rampaged. The village was cut off and times were grim. After many seasons the village managed to put together a small force and returned to the valley. They were able to grab a small hold at the entrance to the valley and pushed further inward from there. We’ve managed to stay ever since.”

“So there weren’t always dragons in the valley?” Lily asked in disbelief.

“Not according to your great-great-great-grandmother,” Gramma said counting the number of greats on her fingers.

“So the dragons did come from somewhere else.”

“That I don’t know, but it makes sense given the dragons sudden appearance in the valley.”

“I wonder where the dragons came from,” Lily pondered.

“Good question. I don’t think anyone in town would know since that was six generations ago. And that’s only if anyone ever knew, which I’m not sure anyone did. It is a complete mystery.”

“Someone should go investigate and learn why the dragons came to the valley and where they came from,” Lily said with enthusiasm.

“Perhaps, but not you,” Gramma said with a stern voice knowing the inquisitive and adventurous nature that ran through Lily’s father. As similar as the women in the family were, Lily still shared many traits with her father.

“Why not?”

“Because you are a twelve year old girl and have no knowledge of survival in the valley.”

“I could learn,” Lily smarted back.

“You could, but you are not allowed to go anywhere near the valley. It is not safe.”

“But...”

“No, and not another word. You have to be smart about this.”

“Fine,” Lily answered a bit dejected, her mind still reeling.

“Thank you.”

“So the kids in school were right about the dragons. At least they’re wrong about the Harvest Hare not being real.”

“I agree,” Gramma said with a smile, noting that some things are better left unsaid.

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The author, Wally Jones, and artist, J. Dorsey, give full permission to Vocal and its sponsors to use both the story, The Dragon Lily, and the accompanying original artwork, freely as they see fit.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters in this story are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The names, incidents, dialogue, and opinions expressed are products of the author’s imagination and are not to the construed as real.