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

Chapter 6. Lone warrior

Time flew by, Rio was now a grumpy, lonely adult. He had been living in these woods for years. All alone, with no one to talk to, he became cold and numb. This forest was his territory now, his home. He vowed to chase away anyone who entered his forest, or even kill them if things got serious.

But one night Rio was awakened by noises and got to the bottom of it. He made himself invisible and slowly crept up the river where he heard the noises. When he was halfway up the river, he heard it even more clearly, it was the footsteps of four dragons scurrying downstream along the river... in his direction! He hid in a nearby bush, waiting for the footsteps to come closer so he could ambush them. But when they came, he froze. He just stared at the other dragons. There was a mother with her two children and another dragon, an older one that looked very weak, and all of them looked scared and exhausted

Who are they? Rio decided to wait and watch them before he would do anything. He would stay hidden until he found out what they wanted. It seemed they were heading for the cave.

"That's good, it's far away from me," Rio thought.

The group stopped to drink. One of the children said, "Mom? Are we there yet?"

the mother replied, "Almost Fen, it's right over there." She nodded toward the cave, which is behind a small forest.

"Are we safe now?" Fen asked further.

"For now, yes. Don't worry, Uncle and I will take care of you and your brother." She said with an uneasy feeling in her stomach. Then she hugged her tight.

Meanwhile, the little boy fell asleep, Uncle slowly lifted him onto his back and carried him to the cave.

As he made his way back to his pond, Rio thought, "They looked really exhausted and super scared. One was even injured... What happened to them?".

But what was that feeling inside of him? He would have attacked them, but somehow, he couldn't do it. Did he feel sorry for them?

When Rio arrived at his pond, he flew onto his big rock and lay down. He looked up at the sky, which was covered with bright, twinkling stars, and wondered what he should do and if his home was still safe until he fell asleep.

For over 3 days, Rio watched the family. Watched their every move. When they went hunting or out for a drink, when they went for a walk, and sometimes even when they slept. Rio watched them from the shadows.

He wanted to make sure that they're no threat to him or his home. One day however, Rio decided to do his patrol a bit later. He was exhausted and wanted to sleep in. When he woke up, he was on his way upstream, the Dragons were drinking at the river, Fen, the daughter, was further away from her family, exploring the rivers surroundings. Rio was still a bit sleepy. He forgot to cloak himself, he just sat half-asleep in the bushes. Fen came near him and sniffled around, hoping to find Mushrooms or Bugs... but when she sniffed another Dragon, who was not part of her family, she froze in place with big eyes glued to the bush where Rio was hiding. Her mood changed suddenly when she Realized that this dragon was one of her kind!

She jumped playful up and down, left to right, with sparkling in her eyes saying "who are you? You want to play with me? We can play tag and hide and seek or...or..." she stopped when she heard Rio growling.

"Well, a simple no would be fine...you don't have to growl at me" she said sassy with a big smile on her face.

Rio thought "shit, she found me, and she doesn't care about my warnings...what now? ... I can't attack a child... I must hide and hope they won't believe her." he cloaked himself and quietly went back home where he hid.

Later that Night little footsteps came closer to his spot. He laid flat on top of the rock and quietly stared in the darkness, trying to see who it was, even though he can already think who it is...

Fen had snuck out of the cave, she was too curious about the dragon she had met earlier, she wanted to find him and befriend him. She wondered who he was and why he was hiding in the bushes. She had so many questions and needed answers and she would not leave until she had them. Fen is a stubborn child who is not afraid of anything, and she takes every adventure she can get.

As she walked, sniffing the ground, trying to find his scent, Rio's heart pounded in his chest. He tried to flatten himself as much as possible so she could not see him.

Then, she found his scent, "Finally" she silently shouted. "I found you!" she whispered with a smirk on her lips.

She tiptoes through the grass, past the rushing stream, following her nose till she was at his Territory. She walked slowly along the pond, saw freshly killed bugs lying in the dirt. Grass that looked flat. "Someone was sitting here eating the bugs recently". She kept walking. she smelled him, but she just couldn't find him. "It can't be. His smell is so strong here..." it didn't make sense to her. She tried a few more times, but eventually she gave up and went back into the cave. Rio took a deep breath; he was so glad she couldn't find him. This was going to be a sleepless night now that Fen knew where his home was.