The Dragon and the Sequoia (Oneshot)

The Dragon and the Sequoia

A dragon, hunted by elves, ran and fought for hundreds of years, the elves and the dragons being bitter enemies throughout the ages. One day, the dragon, escaping the elves for a short time before she was tracked down, entered a beautiful sequoia forest.

She wished to escape the elves permanently and knew the elves would never climb a sequoia to reach her, so she searched for a sequoia to climb.

But sequoias, being naturally very large trees, are difficult for even a dragon to climb. She could never reach even the lowest branches of the towering trees.

As she searched for a tree to climb, she found a sequoia that was smaller than the rest, in her eyes, still a grand and magnificent tree and in the eyes of the elves, even more so.

She climbed the tree and was safe from the elves. The sequoia proved to be a dryad and became a friend of the dragon. She often sought refuge in his boughs and he always appreciated her company.

The small sequoia dryad was always very sad when she left, often missing his dragon friend in her absence.

When she came back, she would always bring interesting items with her. He was unfamiliar with the ways of dragons and didn't understand what the things were for, but didn't ask, trusting whatever she was doing, even when she dug around his roots and buried things or when she snipped some of his branches.

He trusted her fully and would put his life on the line for her if need be.

One day, the small sequoia noticed something. A gradual change. He was growing taller and his leaves were more lustrous. He wondered when this change had started to occur.
He decided to ask the dragon. He was curious if this could be her doing.

He asked her about the changes he had noticed and she told him that she had been digging around his roots to fertilize the soil and had been pruning his branches to encourage growth. He also learned that she had been watering him to help him grow.

They lived this way for many years until one day, the dryad noticed something concerning.

The elves often chased the dragon into his boughs, but that wasn't what concerned him. It had been that way for years. Recently, he noticed that because of his growth, the dragon was finding it increasingly more difficult to reach his lowest branches.

The dryad loved the dragon, and wished for her to always be safe. He longed for her to continue seeking refuge in his foliage. So he always made certain to grow branches low enough for her to reach, no matter how tall he grew from her care.

Then one day, the elves noticed how well the sequoia had grown. They mused to themselves. They thought that the sequoia would supply the elven kingdom with building materials for years to come.

The elves set out to chop down the tree.
But, the dragon would hear none of that. She would never allow harm to come to her friend the sequoia.

And so, she laid in wait to ambush the elves.
She fought fiercely for the sequoia's life, gaining many wounds that would deeply scar her for the rest of her life.

After the fight, the sequoia was in tears, absolutely devastated by the damage she took for him, but also grateful and touched deeply.

Then, the sequoia did something shocking.

He told her to saw off some of his large boughs.
The dragon was shocked. Why would he want her to do that? She couldn't fathom what he was telling her to do.

The sequoia tells her calmly that he wants to give her a gift. He wants her to build a home of his boughs in his branches so she will always be safe with him.

She tried to tell him that it was unnecessary and that she was happy with all that he's already given her, not wanting to ask any more of him.

But eventually, the sequoia wears her down, finally convincing her to cut his boughs. She reluctantly sawed off the boughs he instructed.

She builds a home in his foliage and lives there with him for the rest of their days, both having scars in their sacrifice for the other and neither regretting their gift to the other.

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We all have different gifts and talents to offer, and oftentimes those gifts require us to make sacrifices. It's like we give a piece of ourselves in the gift we offer, and in doing so, we often strengthen our bond even more.