Tales of Gwendol

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Some say they came to Gwendol from a land far across the sea. Some say they came from a nearby cave that has depths that are as infinite as one’s mind could imagine. Others think they are from an entirely different realm. Their origin will possibly forever remain unknown. But things are definitely certain. We need to stop pushing further and further into their territory and start giving them the respect they deserve. I believe that there is much that we can learn from these fascinating creatures.

The End.”

A middle aged looking Half-Elf named Lucina scoffs. She slams a book together and sets it aside. The book cover reads, “DRACONIC by Bertie Bouller”. Lucina pushes her white hair behind her elven ears. Several scars are visible on her face. It’s contradictory to her eloquent features. She’s Gwendol’s most experienced dragon slayer and doesn’t think of them to be fascinating at all. As she shouldn't. Most of her scars are from the dragons.

Bertie, a youthful gnome with red hair and freckles, puts some new logs on a small campfire. He stands proud at a height of 3 feet. He looks eagerly to Lucina. “Now maybe we can work on your statement of blessing for the..”

“No.” Lucina interrupts him. “Do you think writing this book is a game?” She asks. Bertie looks confused. “Absolutely not. I have listed some thought provoking statements in there,” he says.

“Their blood will be on your hands," says Lucina. “Those that read this and try to confront a dragon on their own.” Bertie’s eyes begin to soften with disappointment. “Well,” he says. “perhaps I’ll just publish something that you can comprehend with your simple mind.”

Bertie grabs his backpack and begins to pull out some fresh parchment from his bag. There’s several drawing of dragons and Lucina as well. He tucks them away after getting a single piece of parchment and a quill. He sits beside Lucina and begins to write.

Lucina looks hard at Bertie. She may not agree with his ideas but he has been a good companion to her the past 5 months on their dragon hunts. She would almost consider him a friend although she would never dare say it aloud. Yet she feels like he has learned nothing of their expeditions of slaying dragons that are terrorizing nations. Perhaps it’s where he hasn’t lost anyone he loves to a dragon. Or maybe it’s his youthful nature that is bright and full of wonder. For whatever the reason of his fascination amongst these winged beasts Lucina feels like she will never understand.

Crickets chirp nearby as a cool breeze shifts in the wind. The wood in the fire crackles. They have set up camp in the woods not far from an open field. The night has welcomed a cool brisk air as well as a full moon.

Bertie continues to write angrily. “Done.” He says. “I don’t even need to write a whole book. This should suffice in your eyes.” He passes off the piece of parchment to Lucina without looking at her. It reads:

“Dragons are mysterious and foul creatures.

They bite.

Some even breath fire or ice.

So stay the Oblivion away from them.

There’s no knowledge to learn from them so if you see one pray to the Divine and run.

The End.”

Lucina grins. “Now that’s some wise advice,” she says. “If you put that as your first page you will have my blessing. That or you let me write the first chapter to forewarn those who are mad enough to go searching for a dragon.”

“But that will just dismiss my views completely.” He says. “We need to understand that we are pressing more and more into their territory. They aren’t the bad guys. We are.”

Lucina glares at Bertie. “Take that back right now,” she demands. Bertie defiantly looks at her. “I can’t believe you would dare say that,” says Lucina. “You know damn well the destruction they are capable of. Especially after our last..” Lucina stops talking and stands up to look deeper into the woods.

There’s a faint sound of wings flapping in the distance. “Dragon,” she whispers. Bertie grabs his book and tucks it into the inside of his linen coat. Lucina quickly grabs her water canteen and puts out the fire. Smoke rises as the fire hisses.

They both run to a nearby tree where they have tied up their horses. Bertie stays close to her. Lucina readies her bow just in case.

The sound of wings flapping gets closer. They can hear the dragon breathing heavily as it flies directly over them. The leaves on the trees shake as water falls to the ground. Some of the water lands on Lucina. It’s oddly warm for such a cool night. There’s a brief moment of silence. There’s a clash as loud as thunder. Trees fall near the open field as a dragon lands heavily. The dragon skids ungracefully for a small distance before it comes to a complete stop. The clash echos in the nearby area and then there is silence. The dragon doesn’t move.

Bertie tugs at Lucina’s cloak. “Look,” he whispers. He isn’t looking towards the field or dragon but at Lucina’s arm. She looks down and tries to hold her arm in a patch of moonlight that is making it past the trees. She notices that it’s not water from the trees but blood. A loud scream of anger comes from the field. Lucina and Bertie look over. There’s a human beside the fallen dragon.

Lucina rushes to the field as Bertie follows. As they get closer they both see a male human with brown hair. He’s weeping as he is holding onto the head of the lifeless dragon. It is fully grown looking close to 40 feet from head to tail. Lucina inspects the dragon as she approaches. There’s a huge bite wound that goes entirely around the dragon’s stomach and back. Blood continues to rush out of it. She also notices to what appears to be a saddle on this dragon. Never in her years has seen or even heard about someone being able to ride on the back of a dragon.

Bertie rushes over to the human. “Are you okay?” He asks. The human continues to hold the dragon as tears silently fall from his eyes. He has a few scratches himself but nothing in comparison to the dragon.

Another set of wings can be heard approaching from the same direction in which the dragon and it’s rider came. These wings sound odd to Lucina. Not like a dragon but something different. Something larger.