The Dragon's Acquisition

Syanvatharhna was known for being exceptionally intelligent; even among the Greater Elsiem Dragons. The Greater Elsiem Dragons had long been revered as the smartest dragons to spring from the ever creating womb at the center of planet Elsiem, when they emerged some one thousand years ago. Syanvatharhna (or Syan) was also known for being as cold as she was brilliant.

The look of the Greater Elsiem Dragons (from the perspective of someone from Earth) was something like a cross between European and Chinese dragons, but also completely unique. They could grow more than three hundred feet long, at their mightiest. Syan's great-grandfather had lived long enough (over seven hundred years) to reach that size by the end of his life. Many of the dragons on Elsiem grew indefinitely, as long as they could breathe. Syan's lineage had a reputation to uphold; in intelligence, might, and of course, the kind of detachment all the revered dragons of Elsiem were expected to possess. Which was exactly why Syan found herself in a terrible predicament when the life of a small, human child became unavoidably her responsibility.

The day had started simply enough. Syan patrolled the skies over the small, south eastern island continent of Barabone. Barabone was the smallest landmass on the massive planet of Elsiem. Syan had been assigned to patrol the upper beach lands of Barabone, near the ocean's coast. She had been doing so for the last fifteen years.

Nothing unusual occurred for much of the day. She neutralized any unwarranted beings and creatures flying through the skies, using her dragon's breath, which had become powerful enough to melt the strongest of metals. She made sure to terrorize any humans and local kingdoms, as to remind them of their place on Elsiem. It wasn't necessary to take their lives. Just a little fear to keep things operating normally was all that was required. It wouldn't be long (in Syanvatharhna's opinion) before she was promoted to a more senior position among the dragon's of Elsiem. Perhaps she could even become guardian to the deities who ruled the planet. Anything was possible.

Syan found herself flying unusually low. Low enough to start to make out the individual rocks on the beaches of Barabone. This was always a bad idea, as the greedier of the humans, who dared to hunt dragons for their scales and other priceless features, might attempt to harm or capture her. She didn't have a choice, as she had become overwhelmingly hungry.

"I only have myself to blame...," she thought.

Syan had skipped lunch, having been in a rush to patrol earlier than usual, hoping that the added time she put in would increase her chances of being promoted.

She couldn't say she had never feasted on the humans. Incidences of such things were much less common than they were in the Days of Old Battles, when dragons were merciless and unstoppable, but they did occur. Luckily, for the small collection of local fishing villages on the coast, Syan would be satisfied with consuming a large group of fish, or perhaps some of the local fauna.

Her massive wings unfolded at she swept deftly towards the beach. She grew closer and closer, until she spotted something that would satisfy her hunger in the adjacent forest. A giant shadow was quickly cast as she landed with the force of a small jet. Stones and branches cascaded violently around. Syan was about to catch the meaty form of a large, hog like beast, when she suddenly caught, out of her right eye, a small and innocent child looking back at her. It was sitting among an open patch of woods and staring into Syan's deeply foreboding dragon eye, with sheer innocence and no fear.

The hog like beast made a desperate and narrow escape as Syan became distracted by the tiny human. It continued to stare back, undeterred. It was dressed in the rags Syan had seen before. The humans would wrap their infant children in old potato sacks when they were determined to abandon them. This was the case with children the local villagers assessed to be too weak to grow into the requisite rolls of their society. Syan couldn't detect any weakness in this child. She was terribly perplexed as to why it had been abandoned and left there.

Syan slowly moved forwards to take a closer look. She moved her reptilian face to meet eye to eye with the child. There was still no sign of fear. The child reached out it's hand and began to stroke Syan between the eyes.

"What an incredibly unusual way to find a human child...," she thought.

"The sincerity of this child is very admirable..."

Syan tried to remember the Great Elsiem Dragon Council's procedure on dealing with such an occurrence. She thought all they way back one hundred and fifty years to her training as a young dragon. She couldn't dredge up a single memory of dealing with an abandoned human child being covered.

"That's strange," she thought.

"They must have at least said something..."

The child began to stroke the dense, jade colored scales on Syan's forehead. She liked the texture of them and laughed a laugh only a child could produce.

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Twenty Four Years Later:

There wasn't a single being on the planet Elsiem that didn't know the names Syanvatharhna and Chillo. The legends, wherever they were told, were always the same (with some embellishments based on local custom). The incredible bond of human and dragon had long since been thought of as myth. As something only remembered from The Days of Old Battles.

Syan had taken full responsibility for Chillo. She had named her using the sacred dragon tongue told to her by her great-grandfather. Chillo was an old word from dragons, which meant, ironically "new direction."

After lengthy deliberation, Syan decided to raise Chillo as her own. The two bonded quickly. The more Chillo grew, the more fierce a union they formed. Chillo quickly revealed herself to be a gifted dragon rider as she grew into her teenage years. Beings, both dragon, human or otherwise were amazed to see Chillo riding comfortably and confidently on Syan's massive, scaled back. They flew all across the lands of Elsiem. People had only heard legend of such things. Wherever they went, people would point to the sky, and exclaim in amazement.

"Has the age of dragon riding returned!?"

"How is this possible!?"

"It can't be!?"

It wasn't long after Chillo's mastery of dragon riding that a terrible and all consuming war broke out on Elsiem. The once nurturing womb at the center of Elsiem began to spew the flames of destruction and chaos. No part of the planet was free from the great conflict.

Alliances were made between men and men, dragons and dragons and men and dragons. Sides were picked, alliances were broken, and new ones were formed. Old grudges were exacerbated to the point of bloodshed. Ancient foes became unexpected allies. The entire planet became a battleground. It was in the heart of this war that Syanvatharhna and Chillo cemented their legend. The Greater Elsiem Dragons sided with the humans who still preferred law and order. When all the sides had been picked, humans and dragons (and their allies from across Elsiem) fought a growing force of evil that seemed poised to destroy Elsiem. This evil force consisted of wicked humans, greedy dragons, monstrous creatures and beings from obscure and unknown lands who wished to profit from the war. Tyranny had raised it's brutal ax high into the stars above Elsiem. It was only a matter of time before there would be catastrophe.

Many battles were fought, far across the planet. When the conflict reached it's apex, the battles began to coalesce at the human capitol "Affeniax," on the main continent of Talll. The continent of Tall had been run by humans on land, and dragons in the air. It became the final focal point that would decide the fate of Elsiem. In battle after battle, Syan and Chillo proved themselves a critical tool of the human-dragon alliance. The image of a human riding atop a dragon became a source of abundant propaganda for the war effort. Syan and Chillo became well known to both ally and foe.

The conflict only grew fiercer as it condensed into Affeniax. Legions of all kinds of vile beings surrounded the capitol from all sides. The human-dragon alliance responded. They drew all their allies from the face of Elsiem towards the heart of the continent. Massive warfare broke out on the land, sea and sky around Affeniax.

After a battle that lasted for fourteen days; the forces of evil were finally vanquished. Not once during those fourteen days were Syan and Chillo able to rest. Many soldiers from that battle (both friend and foe) would spend the rest of their lives telling tales of seeing Chillo, riding atop Syan, vanquishing terrible creatures.

The dust had settled across the planet. The war ended, and with it, there was reconstruction across Elsiem. A new era began. The ever creating womb at the center of Elsiem once again gave birth to stability and freedom. Inspired by Syan and Chillo, and in a new found spirit of human and dragon relations, the art of dragon riding slowly returned. It would be another thousand years before anyone forgot the names Syan and Chillo.

As to what happened to them after that great battle, the accounts varied widely depending on what part of Elsiem they were told.

Among the tales of the small fishing villages on the coast of Barabone; it was held with great certainty that Syan finally got that big promotion she had been working so hard for. Very few people believed that a human being could join a dragon among the ranks of the deities that ruled Elsiem. Generations of children from Barabone's fishing villages, however, would tell countless stories of dreaming of a beautiful, fierce deity riding atop a radiant dragon, and wearing what looked like a potato sack.