The Guardian Dragon

Derrek

The dark shadows sway over the ground as the sun descends behind the trees. The magic holding me in human form is beginning to strain. A dragon cannot hold a shape forever, although with practice they can last in one a very long time. I haven’t ever practiced much, so the longest I can stay in any form is a few hours. I look behind me, seeing the distance I’ve run. I passed close to several dwellings when I was still fairly close to the town, but I haven’t seen any for quite a bit. I believe I’m far enough from the town to revert to my natural form. I release the magic holding me in the form of Emmalie. When I do, I feel my back elongate, soft skin turns into hard sky blue scales. Nails give way to long silver claws, hair gives way to horns, and the blunt teeth of a human grow longer and sharper, turning into deadly fangs. I grow larger, easily twice the size of a large human car. I whip my tail behind me as I set my front paws gently on the ground.

I pad through the dark trees as the sun finally sets. My eyes easily see the ground in front of me as the sky darkens, plunging the world into a dream. Being out at night is always a joy; the animals are silent as they rest in their nests. Those that don’t are silent as they travel through the woods. The quiet whoosh of an owl passing overhead draws my gaze up to the stars.

The stars shine brightly with the souls of past dragons. Every living being has an eternal home waiting for them in the sky. When a creature dies, its soul sets out on a wandering journey leading it deep out into the dark sky. When it finds its place, it will stay there forever, its light shining brightly. Dragon souls shine the brightest. The brightest star is the North Star, the first Guardian.

North was a dragon that lived at the dawn of the earth. Dragons are well known for their wisdom, which is passed from generation to generation. However these dragons, the first dragons, were mindless, violent creatures. The dragons would constantly fight, often to the death. North emerged as a young male, strong, confident and fearless in a chaotic world. He united the dragons and laid down the fundamental dragon rules that endure though modern times. The first and foremost of the rules is that a dragon shall never kill another dragon. The offender would be shamed in public and sentenced to become a wandering spirit, a soul forever doomed to roam the world. The other rules tell us not to steal, lie, kill or torture animals that are not hunted as food, such as predators, a recent one against ever revealing yourself in dragon form to a human, and many others mostly meant to keep the peace. Many dragons don’t always adhere completely to the rules, but the important ones are always respected and upheld. When a rule is broken and then attention of a Guardian falls upon it, they decide what the proper punishment will be.

When Derrek and I fought seven years ago, I was scared for several weeks afterwards that he would tell a Guardian about my disrespect for several of the territorial rules. I had never broken a single rule before, but he had stretched my limits. I guess that his pride prevented him from presenting it to a Guardian; it is never a good feeling to be bested by a smaller dragon. We haven’t talked to each other since then, even though our territories border each other. Before the fight he would often come into my territory to hunt, claiming that he didn’t realize that he crossed the border. He would also sometimes take on human form and sneak up on me, scaring me out of my wits. On the morning of the fight, I had been sleeping peacefully outside in the sun, deep in the middle of my territory. Derrek had thought it was a good idea to sneak up on me, in the form of a human, and make me believe I had been discovered. The one problem was that he had done it many times before, so I expected it. When I realized he was there, I immediately commanded him to leave, a command which he ignored. Looking back I technically did not break any rules, even though I had threatened to. We also both disregarded the ‘Unnecessary Risk of Discovery’ pact made among dragons in order to lower our chances of being found by humans. This would have simply gotten us a severe reprimanding as long as it didn’t cause any permanent damage.

I am startled out of my musing by a large form crashing down from the trees on top of me. Branches snap as the creature drops heavily though the forest canopy, landing on top of me. The sudden impact makes my knees buckle and I collapse under the weight. I try to remove myself from under it, but the creature pins me down. I look over to one of the paws holding me down, and see unmistakable maroon scales. Razor sharp ebony claws dig into my scales, extracting a yelp of pain from me.

“Let me go Derrek!” I cry out, struggling under his weight.

“Feels different to be on the other side, doesn’t it?” He growls, digging his claws past my scales and into my skin. I force back the pain, clearing my mind of it. I cannot let myself become subject to its influence.

“What are you doing here?” he asks, his voice deep and gravely.

“I was taken by humans!”

“Liar!” he growls.

“I’m not lying!” I cry as he digs his claws deeper into my hide, “I promise, it was an accident! I didn’t mean to come into your territory.”

He reluctantly lets me go, retracting his claws from my flesh and deftly jumping away from where I’m lying on the ground. I take a minute to stand up, my muscles still in shock from being surprised like that. I turn my head towards my shoulder and begin to lick clean my wounds. As I do this he circles, looking me up and down, trying to judge my sincerity. I give him a long withering look that stops his circling and he sits down.

“So what exactly happened?” He asks after a few minutes.

I begin to tell him about how I had been in my cave when I had heard humans roaming around it. How scared of discovery I had taken human form and pretended I was a lost runaway girl. I detailed the different men that had been there and what they had acted like. As I continue to speak Derrek’s face gradually becomes more and more concerned. Once I finish talking about my escape into the woods, he finally speaks.

“Well I think the most important thing is that it seems you were not discovered, although it is worrying that the humans were able to find your home in the first place. It was hard enough for me to even find your cave the first time I came looking for you. I hope for all our sakes that they do not return, although I hardly find that likely. If I had to guess, they will probably go back to gain a better knowledge of what you were doing there. And soon. I don’t think you will be able to return to your territory for a while.” He kneads the ground with his claws nervously before continuing. “I would offer for you to stay in my territory, but I am afraid that if the curious humans find indicators of dragons in your territory, which they will if they return as is likely, they will come looking in mine to.”

“What are you suggesting to do then?”

“Well, there aren’t any close-by territories apart from these two, which will soon be swarmed with humans, and the nearest Guardian, Hrgar, is out dealing with the teen dragons that where almost discovered in Reno. Along with that, these forests and mountains are becoming more and more populated by humans, every day chances of discovery increase, as they are everywhere. I can think of only two things that could keep us safe. First is to find a Guardian and figure this out, second is to go up to Canada, where I’ve heard the forests extend for hundreds of miles without any humans in site.”

“Are you sure? I haven’t left my territory since I was first assigned it five hundred years ago, and I haven’t seen a Guardian for about a hundred years either.”

“I’ve never left my territory either, but we need to try, we can’t just wait for them to find us.”

“When should we leave?”

“Well, there is no time like the present.”