Life can be cruel as a Dragon | Rio's Story

Chapter 3. grow with every step

Months went by and Rio grew fast, he had everything he needed. as much food as he can devour, clean and crystal-clear water to drink and a safe retreat to sleep that also protected him from the weather.

every nice sunny day he played around in the blooming meadow. little bugs and butterflies flew away as he ran past. he would often run up a small hill and jump down to learn how to fly. however, that didn't work out so well but sometimes he glided a little bit, which encouraged him to keep trying. he really wanted to be able to fly. He often wondered what was outside of his little home. he had no idea what was waiting for him out there.

Rio was now a handsome juvenile dragon, he wanted to go up the hill again to practice. he stood up there, looked down and took a deep breath and said, "today is the day, today I'm going to fly, I can feel it". He spread his wings, walked to the edge, closed his eyes, and jumped. he felt a wind push him into the air, he flew! he didn't dare to open his eyes, but when he did, he saw the wind, he could see it like a transparent bluish figure of a dragon, he looked at this figure in amazement. he didn't even notice that he was flying. when he regained consciousness and the figure disappeared, he finally noticed...and yelled "AHH! HOW DO I LAND?!" but it was too late. he crashed into a tree.

when he hit the ground, his head was pounding, and he felt a bit dizzy. "What was that? A ghost? Am I imagining things?" said Rio softly to himself. suddenly the earth trembled, and the water bubbled and shone in a bright blue. a fountain shot out of the lake; a huge figure was now standing there in the lake. It had no particular shape, it was like a big blob of water with glowing eyes, even the mouth glowed. Rio was startled but couldn't move. The monster turned to him and looked closer. "Rio, you have to get out of here as soon as possible! THEY are on their way! They know you exist now! you should have been more careful!" said the monster in its deep, watery voice. oh yes, our little Rio really should have been careful... one day he went for a walk and saw other dragon children who in turn told their parents that there was a lonely and abandoned dragon child and that's how the exiles have noticed it.

"Go? But where? Son of the great royals? What are you talking about? And who are you anyway?" asked Rio confused.

"Hush now, one day you will get answers to your questions little dragon, but you really have to go now. My little wind friend will help you, you two already know each other" said the monster and winked at Rio. A little creature emerged from behind the monster, in the form of a dragon. transparent and shimmering light blue. That was the gust of wind that Rio felt as he flew.

"But where should I go? I only know this place. I don't know what's waiting for me out there and..." Rio fell silent. the monster was already gone. he sighed. the wind dragon smiled at him playfully. Rio smiled back briefly. "You don't know the answer to my questions, do you?" he asked. The little wind dragon shook his head and giggled. "My name is Gale, and we should really take off now." said the wind.

Rio looked back to where he had felt so safe all along. suddenly it shouldn't be so safe anymore? he sighed and hoped that one day he would return. Along with the wind, Gale, he walked to the edge of the mountain, took a deep breath, spread his wings, and let Gale catch him. the wind gave him enough lift so that he could glide. Now he would roam around, fighting for survival and spending the nights in the open. not at all what he imagined...

They flew for days and even weeks. over forests, large meadows, lakes, rivers, and small mountains. They landed at the four lakes by the swamp. Rio was very exhausted, but Gale showed him where to find food. he dragged himself to the bugs and ate a few. It was already night and he saw a few bushes where he could lie down to get some rest.