The Story of Serah and Garonx

I wake up with a start, staring into the darkness that might as well be the void. Something disturbed my slumber, what could it have been? Slowly I stretch my limbs, the soft clink of gold coins as the tumbledown around me echoes around my chamber. I pause, listening hard for the ragged breathing of the terrified intruder that might be. There! In the corner, I can hear the soft trembling whimpers of an invader! Inhaling deeply, I light the deadwood I have stocked up in the corners with my fire, then turning my bright emerald green eyes to the invader, I see it's a young human child. I lean in closely, smelling the fear roll of this youngling. She, for I can determine it is a female child, is dressed in what I presume to be a dirty pale gray nightshirt with bare feet. Her tear-stained face is staring up at me in terrified silence under a mess of tangled dark brown hair.

"What is a child of Man doing here?" I rumbled. The child just continues to stare at me, a new look of wonder starts to mingle with the fear. "Well? Are you going to answer me?"

"I-I-I just c-c-came in here to g-g-get out of the r-r-rain." She sputtered. Crying hard she exclaimed, "Please don't eat me!!"

I drawback in surprise. "Eat a human? I'd never do that, I'd never get the stench off my breath. My Name is Garonx, I am the guardian of this mountain. Who are you and why are you here?"

The child looks slightly taken aback by my statement, more wonder creeps into her expression as some fear leaves. "I am Serah, I ran away from the village below. A plague came and I am the only one left. I'm alone now..." her voice trails off, tears fill her eyes from the grief.

I don't know what came over me, but "Stay the night here child. Be honored, most of my kind wouldn't think twice of running you off." I settled down for sleep, wracking my brain about why I would invite this girl to stay. It baffled me, then it came to me. I too am alone. The last of my kind. The others sensed the coming of Man and retreated silently into the Other Realm. I open my eyes with the first rays of light coming into my chamber, Serah was standing a few feet away staring at me in awed silence. With a groaning stretch, I stand up, ignoring the child I walk outside. As I have done for the past two hundred years, I stand on this cliff edge taking a deep breath of the sweet morning air, extend my wings clad with the burnt red scales and I fly through the clouds at a leisurely pace to shake the sleep from my mind. After about fifteen minutes I start my return to my home, I see Serah staring at me from the cave mouth. I land gracefully, staring back at the small crystal blue eyes. "What?" I growl, after years of solitude, I am not the best at conversing, mornings have never been my favorite time of day either.

"I'm hungry" Serah replied bashfully.

"What am I to do about it?" I replied, confused by this statement.

"Do you have any food that I might eat?" she replied inquisitively.

"As I don't eat but once every ten years, I don't have any food lying about" I sighed with indifference.

Tears started welling up in Serah's eyes, she stood there staring at nothing in disbelief. She had managed to survive for ten years, a week before her eleventh birthday she finds herself alone in the world. Hungry, cold, and tired, Serah jerked her head up, looked at me with a very hard gaze even as the tears fell. "I'm HUNGRY!" she shrieked.

I was slightly taken aback, the mere child was making demands of me, ME, a fire-breathing DRAGON that towered over her by at least thirty men...and yet, I was also moved by her tears. "I don't know what to do for you, child, I can't exactly grow wheat."

After some debate and discussion, I flew off in search of food for Serah. I followed the scent of baked bread to a merchant's cart, gripping the entire thing in my claws I flew back home, wondering how I got into this mess. Upon dropping the cart on my cliff, Serah quickly set about sorting through the contents among the wreckage. There was a month's worth of food, some furs, a few gold coins, and some trinkets.

Somehow, this human child had wormed her way into my lair. Sure, she has her uses. Serah can do things I can't, like fit into the tiny cracks in the walls to fetch the coins that sometimes falls inside while I sleep. She also helps to clean under my scales when I can't quite reach them. I had resigned to being alone for the rest of eternity, to find companionship in a human of all things...I don't know how it had come to happen.

As the years passed, Serah transformed into a beautiful woman, her spirit maturing with each passing day. Serah had found a comb and mirror among the many carts that I had grabbed in the beginning and was able to tame her wild mess of knots. I had switched from snatching carts to napping cows and deer as needed. It drew far less attention and once the meat was smoked it lasted longer than the meager scraps found in the carts. The hides were used to craft clothing for the girl, the bones became her tools. Serah had become quite proficient in terms of survival, she would venture forth from the cave at dawn and usually come back with something that she went looking for. She had even built herself a little garden for fresh fruits and veggies, which is a feat to be proud of considering we live on a mountainside.

"What do you have planned today Garonx?" Serah inquired.

"The same as usual, frolic in a meadow with a flower behind my scales" I replied teasingly. "After that, I might go for an afternoon flight."

"You can rescue a princess after that" Serah replied with a laugh, fully well knowing that I plan to count coins until I get bored and then fly about aimlessly while basking in the warm sun above the clouds.

"I would, but it would make a lot of knights lose their jobs" I chuckled. "What about you, young one? What adventures might you get into today?

"I thought I might venture down to the hot spring, clean myself up, and go into the town to trade a bit. Did you want something while I am there?"

"Hmmm...I wouldn't say no to a honeycomb treat. I have grown fond of those since you first brought one home." I replied, my eyes getting a bit dreamy just thinking about the sweet taste of a toasted comb.

"A mistake on my part, even if it was to apologize for fighting with you about going to the market in the first place." Serah retorted with a smile. I will see what they have."

Several more years passed, it seemed like just yesterday the brat wandered into my cave...and my heart. Thinking back over the years, it was quite the journey. We had a fair amount of screaming matches, Serah never was one to shy away from challenging me on anything. It was hard to see her now, wispy grey hair streaked with white, living out her final moments. I could smell the end was near, the villagers came up to the be with her, though she never sought love she had won the hearts of all in the village. At first, they feared me. Now they accept that I have been a guardian of sorts for years. The people cried openly, I tried to hide mine.

"Garonx, you overgrown oaf, I can see your tears. How can you pretend to not be crying after all we have been through?" Serah demanded in a soft voice.

"Easy child, I don't want to seem weak, especially after all we have done through the years." I sighed.

To everyone's surprise, Serah laughed. She laughed so hard it shook her entire fragile body. "You IDIOT. It's not a weakness to show your emotions, it is a true coward that hides them." With a final sigh, Serah was gone.

With a wail of despair, I launched myself into the air. I screamed to the villagers below as I flew they could have everything in the cave, I wouldn't be back. I followed the trail of Serah's spirit to a rift and I followed it through, it was selfish but I didn't want to part ways with my friend. On the other side of the rift, Serah smiled warmly. "Welcome home, Garonx."