Golden Emerald

The light from the crescent moon shown down on the lands of the kingdom of Havendale. Far away from the castle a creature drifted through the sky. The rich golden scales of the young dragon Aureum rode the winds of the frigid night air. Aureum was aware of the cold but did not feel it’s cold embrace against his warm body. His nightly hunt had left him satisfied, but still felt the need to fly. The feeling of freedom was overwhelming blissful. Besides, the night was what allowed the dragons freedom. During the day they mainly kept hidden and close to the ground. While the humans slept, the dragons hunted. This is what kept the peace between the humans and dragons. It had been that way for hundreds of years. After what seemed like the never-ending wars between the two different being, it was decided that they live separately, and more importantly in peace. Dragons didn’t see or bother humans, and humans responded in kind.

That is how the stories were told, Aureum was a young dragon and only knew of what he was told by other dragons. Humans were deadly, and that was the end of any kind of argument against it. Aureum had seen humans from a distance, sometimes hiding from them while they walked through the thick forests or rode on their wagons for long distances. They didn’t look deadly. They laughed and smiled like dragons did, but the horrors of the stories of the past persuaded his mind otherwise. His curiosity with them; however, caused him to observe them secretly. He watched as they gathered various plants, and even cooked their meat. The preparation that went into making food was exhausting to watch.

The humans lived simple lives. They weren’t magical beings like the dragons were. There were stories of sorcerers and sorceresses in the past fighting against the dragons in the wars, but now it seemed that they were all but extinct. Humans were just humans now.

Dragons; however, were still born with magic inside of them. All dragons could breathe fire, but they were each born with another magical trait. Some had simpler gifts, but the most well-known abilities were Armor Dragons, Sight Dragons, Barb Dragons, Forest Dragons, River Dragons, and the rare Healer Dragons.

Armor Dragons were born with scales like thick metal, and were nearly impenetrable against any weapons, except for their ears. Sight Dragons had the ability to see things from miles and miles away, some rarely even were able to see into the future. Barb Dragons were able to depend themselves by throwing sharp barbed scaled spears from their wings. All these gifts made these dragons the perfect warrior

Forest Dragons protected nature, and could heal and nourish plant life simply by breathing on them. They helped create a sanctuary for the dragons made of dense and thick trees. River Dragons are able to purify water with their breath and swim for miles underneath it. Their abilities were sometimes useful in certain battles as well. The rarest type of dragons are the Healer Dragons. Their scales are gold and reflect the sun brilliantly. Aureum was one of those rare dragons, and for such a young dragon he was advanced in his abilities. He was the only dragon born with this gift in centuries.

Flapping his wings and looking down on the kingdom, Aureum searched the ground for any type of movement. As he searched with his eyes, he listened to the familiar sounds of the forest. Animals walking on sticks, the creaking of the trees, the noise of a breeze blowing through leaves and branches. Then a sound disrupted his peaceful flight. It was a sound that he did not recognize and it drifted over the winds that streaked across his face. It sounded like crying, but not from any animal he had heard before. It sounded hurt.

He flew closer to the ground trying to find the source. After narrowing in down to a smaller section of the forest, he landed softly on the ground, and walked toward the source of the noise. The noise grew louder and Aureum knew he was close. As he walked past two large trees a small figure leaned against the tree as the crying continued.

Aureum approached slowly, and saw that it was a small human child. Scrapes, cuts, and bruises covered her arms and legs. The human lay against the tree that served as its only protection. He saw that the small human had an emerald bow that tied her hair back. Her face was tear stained, but clean where the tears washed away dirt that had accumulated on her cheeks. Her dress was torn in a few places, and dirt covered small parts of the bottom.

Aureum was unsure what to do next. It was a human child. He should just leave it alone. Other humans would be by soon to take care of it. As he thought this, he felt a sick feeling in his stomach. It seemed wrong to leave the child alone here. It was only going to get colder, and the wild animals of the forest would see it as easy prey. But what could he do? The child would no doubt be frightened when it saw him.

After mulling It over, Aureum decided that it would be best to at least try and help the child. He couldn’t just leave her alone. At least he could try and heal her if he could get close enough. The worst that could happen would be that her cries upon seeing him would alert the other humans to where they could find the child.

Aureum approached slowly, close to the ground trying to remain as non-menacing as possible. The small child had stopped crying now and was hugging herself around the middle. As the dragon approached the child’s eyes darted to him and they filled with terror. No sound left her mouth, and her body only shivered with cold.

Aureum stopped moving after the human made eye contact. He lay down on the ground keeping his wings tucked behind him. The child kept looking on, she was too terrified to move in anyway except for involuntary shivering. Aureum simply waited, and slowly he rest his head on his front legs.

The child kept staring in horror. He wished there was a way for him to communicate that he was there to help her. After a few minutes, he thought of an idea that could help. He took a deep breath and then expelled his breath toward the child. A golden shining mist erupted from his mouth and made its way toward the shivering figure. As it got closer the child watched as it touched her leg, and her cuts and scrapes healed in a gold light.

The child looked at her leg and then looked back up and smiled and then giggled with delight. She slowly stood up and walked closer to Aureum until she sat down right in front of him. She continued to smile. Aureum took an even bigger breath and expelled the golden mist once more from his mouth. The mist surrounded the child, and all her ailments glowed bright as they healed. As she laughed and smiled, she breathed in some of the shimmering gold air.

As the mist subsided the child laughed and giggled as she ran her hands over her arms and legs.

“Gone,” she said.

Aureum smiled at her happiness, and she giggled at his massively sharp teeth that appeared from under his lips. She stood up once more and walked slowly toward the dragon. She put a shivering hand toward the dragon and her fingers touched the side of his cheek. She smiled as the warmness and then hugged the dragon. It was strange to be embraced by something so small and scale less, but he was happy she was no longer crying. She pushed herself off of the dragon and continued to stand next to him.

“Adela,” she said pointing to herself.

Aureum let out a low roar in an attempt to say his name. Adela giggled and then pat Aureum on his noise, “Aureum” she said confidently.

Aureum’s eyes grew wide. Was Adela able to understand him?

He rotated his head to one side and looked at her. Maybe he heard her wrong and she was simply saying her own name again and it sounded like his. He decided to ask another question to test his theory.

“Where is your home, little one?” he roared softly.

Her face grew sad, and she simply shrugged and shook her head.

“That’s alright, I will keep you safe until we find it,” he responded.

Her face light up and she hugged him again. Aureum titled his wing down as a way for her to step onto his back. She climbed his wing and sat on his back. She lay flat against his back until her shivering subsided. Aureum wasn’t sure what to do. He couldn’t bring her back home to other dragons, and who was to know where her human protectors were. He would have to find somewhere to keep her safe until morning. Then he could find her parents. He remembered of a cave that was close by that he had used on occasion during storms. That would have to work, at least for tonight.

As he walked, he soon heard the even sound of the child breathing while asleep on his back. She nearly slid off the sides a few times, so Aureum put his wings straight up to keep her secure. Soon they made it to the cave, and after finding some dry leaves for a bed, he slid Adela down his wing onto the makeshift bed. He then place his wing over the top of her as a blanket to keep her warm. Aureum soon fell asleep after. If anyone had walked by the cave, they would be able to believe the sight of a small child and a dragon sleeping peacefully.

He hoped to find her family the next day. They searched all day hoping to find something that would remind Adela of home, but nothing seemed to look familiar. Days later they still didn’t have any luck finding her home. Aureum hoped that the small child was aware enough to know what home looked like. In his observance of other humans speaking, she didn’t know very many words, but she seemed to understand him. It was still strange that she was able to communicate with him. Aureum had never heard of such a thing from the ancient stories.

To any other ears it would seem like he was just roaring, but to her it was like he was just another human conversing with her. Aureum didn’t dare go talk to other dragons about this. He knew what they would say about her. They would warn him of the dangers of having the child and possibly tell him to abandon her. He hoped they didn’t worry too much in his absence, but had been known to leave for long periods of times before.

Aureum knew he couldn’t do what the other dragons would suggest. The best thing he could do would be to find her family, and get he back to where she belonged. Although, that thought made him just as sad as the thought of abandoning her. Over the passing days, he had grown fond of her. He knew he had to get her home, but his unique bond with the human made it hard to think about. He never thought he would have a friendship with a human.

He knew he couldn’t take care of her forever. He managed to find berries, and attempted to cook meat like the humans did, but he knew he wasn’t doing it right. Adela; however, didn’t seem to mind the taste. She ate it all the same and smiled.

The cave became their statuary and hide out. They laughed and drew on the walls with black burned sticks from the fire. Aureum would blow the healing mist from his mouth into the air and she would dance around in it.

After several days, they took to the skies to see if that would prove to be any more helpful. Aureum flew low at first, but as he was surer of Adela’s grip, he flew higher. She laughed and giggled every time they flew. After a few more days they finally saw other humans in a small village. Aureum decided to fly farther from the cave that usual, and closer to the direction he knew Havendale castle was. Adela started to make excited noises and Aureum landed in the cover of the woods near the village so he could hear her. Adela slid down his wing and stepped onto the ground.

“Do you recognize this place?” Aureum asked

“Yes” she said quietly.

“Will they help you get home?”

She nodded, but seemed hesitant. She then turned and hugged his nose again.

“I’m sorry I can’t come with you,” he said closing his eyes.

She nodded again, and pushed herself off him and then walked out of the cover of the woods toward the town. Her feet shuffled as she walked, and she looked back a few times into the eyes of her dragon friend. Aureum watched her until she reached the first set of houses. She rounded a corner and disappeared from view. He heard some people gasp as they saw her, and then heard numerous voices talking.

“It’s her!”

“How long has it been?!”

“I saw her, I want to collect the reward!”

“No, I’m the one who saw her first!”

“Let go of her you oaf!”

Then he heard crying. He knew that cry. It was the same cry that he had hear that night in the forest. It was her. And they were hurting her.

Aureum didn’t wait to think of the consequences, he was angry. He leapt from his hiding spot and flew into the air. He rose up over the houses, and roared as loud as he could. The voices went silent. Then he landed right near a group of humans that surrounded Adela. Their faces pale and terrified at the sight of him. Two different people held her arms tightly. Tears coming down her face. He roared in their faces and shot fire into the air above him. They all started to run away. They dropped Adela’s arms abandoning her and ran for their lives. As the child ran toward the golden dragon, he noticed her hands seemed to be different somehow. Almost as if she were holding a light bug in her hands. As Aureum dropped his wing for her, she climbed onto his back and they took to the skies once more. They flew away quickly leaving the village behind them.

Many more days passed after the incident in the village and Aureum and Adela stopped searching for a while. It seemed that they would have to find another village that would be able to help her, and it was obvious that no one in the other village was her family.

Aureum knew what he had to do, but wasn’t sure if he was brave enough to do it. He would need to go to the castle of Havendale and allow the king and queen of the kingdom to find her family. It would be dangerous, and possibly even deadly for him to approach so close to the castle, but he needed her to be safe. And being raised by a dragon was no way to live.

One day after playing in the river, they sat around the fire in the cave drying off. Aureum turned to Adela and told her his plan. She seemed enthusiastic about the idea. At least what she understood of it.

“Mama and Papa!” she said putting her hands together and holding them close to her.

“Yes, they will help you find them,” he said.

Later that night, as the gold dragon watched her sleep under his wing, he felt a sadness growing inside of him. He hoped that she would at least remember her dragon friend. He hoped that she wouldn’t grow up to hate dragons, to despise them. It was sorrowful to think of a grown version of this child hating him. Aureum didn’t sleep that night. He simply watched over her as she slept.

The next day, Aureum, with Adela on his back, flew toward the castle of Havendale. About halfway toward the castle Aureum noticed off in the distance something flying in the sky. At first, he thought it was a flock of birds, but they were moving to swiftly to be birds. These were dragons.

He looked in the direction of the castle and saw an army marching toward a large open field. Emerald green banners swayed in the wind, and sunlight shone off their armor.

Aureum quickly landed and hid in small grove of trees tucked away from the clearing that he assumed they were both heading for. He dropped his wing and Adela got off his back and leaned against him and she looked on toward the field. She looked like she wanted to walk out as she saw the army, but he told her to wait as they watched to see what was about to unfold. As the army stopped their march in the middle of the field minutes later the dragons landed on the field. Armor, Barb, and Sight dragons were among them.

This was a battle.

“The Kingdom of Havendale find the dragons guilty of the kidnap and murder of, my daughter, Princess Adela. After many years of peace with us, you will pay for this day with your lives.”

The dragons roared back and looked at each other.

Aureum knew that they were shouting their innocence, but the humans didn’t. The dragons raised their headed to the sky and they all breathed fire into the air. The heat could be felt from where they two unlikely friends lay hidden. Aureum was panicking. Adela was here and alive and a war was about to start because of it. He looked down toward her and noticed she was gone.

He looked around frantically and then saw that she had started to walk over to the battlefield. He little legs nearly tripping her alone the way. After hearing her father’s voice, she ran toward the familiar sound. Aureum ran after her. If fighting broke out before she made it there, she would be killed.

Aureum reached her as soon as she made it to the space dividing the two angry armies. Everyone, dragon and human alike, looked on in disbelief as a small child and a young dragon walked in between the two groups toward the middle. Aureum escorted her, ready to protect her if needed.

Once they reached the center a man dressed in armor with an emerald green cape ran toward Adela. The way that she reacted to him Aureum assumed it was her father the king that ran toward her and embraced her.

“Adela, my beautiful daughter” he said tears streaming down his face.

“Papa,” she said resting her head on the metal covering his shoulder.

After a few moments of reunion and relief, he then set her down and his face turned to fury. “You beast! How dare you kidnap her!”

He then drew his sword and moved toward the dragon. Aureum made no attempt to protect himself as risk of putting Adela in danger, or hurting her father. He swung his sword and sliced the side of the now red and gold dragon. The gash dripped crimson red blood onto the ground. The other dragons roared in protest. They moved forward to begin the fight. Aureum lay on the ground hoping that it would show he didn’t want to fight back.

Adela ran toward her dragon companions’ side “NO!” she screamed, and hugged his face.

A Barb dragon threw a scaled spear toward the king and it pierced him right in the chest, going through his armor like a nail into wood. The king stumbled back and fell on his side reaching out for Adela.

There was a huge intake of breath as the dragons prepared to start the battle in a fiery blaze, but then something happened that no one expected. As the flames erupted from the mouths of the dragons, a large wall of emerald light blocked the wall of fire headed toward the soldiers. Everyone stared at this nearly blinding light in awe. They finally located the source as they saw Adela’s hands raised above her head green light radiating from them.

Again, both armies looked on in amazement at the power radiating from this child’s hands. As she lowered them, she walked over to her father. His hand slowly and weakly touching her face.

She looked back at Aureum. He knew was she was asking for. She wanted him to help her father. Aureum stood up and limped toward the fallen king. As he reached the dying king he slowly leaned over and pulled the barb out with his teeth. The king yelled in pain. Soldiers started to rush toward their fallen king, swords drawn, but Adela looked at them, and her hands glowed again. They stopped in their tracks.

Aureum took a deep breath and exhaled the gold shimmering mist on the kings wound. After a moment of glowing golden light, the king sat up in a sitting position on the ground. He grasped as where is injury once was, and smiled. He stood up quickly, and then joyfully picked up Adela in one arm hugging her again.

He then turned to the dragon. “Thank you, dragon.” He said placing a hand on the creatures scaly head.

“Aureum,” Adela said placing a hand next to her fathers.

“Thank you, Aureum. And please accept my apology,” the king corrected.

Aureum’s wound was treated by healers from the Havendale Kingdom. Although they were scared at first, they seemed to warm up to the idea of being so close to a dragon, especially seeing the fearlessness of the princess while close to the creature.

Aureum was invited to the castle and appointed the official body guard of the child, which he gladly accepted. It was clear that Aureum meant no harm to the people of, or princess, of Havendale. Years later Aureum would tell the detailed story to Adela and she would share it with her kingdom. As the months and years passed on, more and more dragons started to appear around the kingdom. With the help of Adela translating, they were able to establish a truce. A promise to live united. Human and dragon alike.

The dragons proved to be a protection and a help to the kingdom. Crops flourished with the help of the Forest Dragons, and clean water was readily available with the help of the River Dragons. Aureum healed any sickness or injuries, no matter how big or small. The warrior dragons defended the kingdom, and new weapons were created using the spikes of the Barb Dragons.

Adela grew up and became a great sorceress and warrior. Years after Adela’s magical bravery on the battlefield, it was discovered that a Healer Dragon was the only dragon that could awaken magical properties in a human. With his healing breath Aureum not only saved her, but allowed her to become something even greater.

From then on, she became known as the Dragon Princess, as she always flew into battle against enemies of the kingdom with Aureum. The legend of their friendship and special bond was handed down to each generation as an example, and reminder, for humans and dragons to protect each other. And more importantly, that dragons and humans can live together peacefully.