The Dragon's Heart

Once upon a time, in a distant land far beyond any world we know today lived a dragon. She was a bitter soul, humans had wronged her, her whole life and she despised them. The world outside of her cave was plagued with war. She could smell the blood in the air. She could hear the screams of all the people in the kingdom, but she paid no mind to it. The kingdom had done nothing but provoke her.

Her cave was like the Shining moon on a dark night, it was absolutely beautiful. Jewels and treasure were piled high, some even reaching the ceiling. There was a large bed of animal skins of all kinds in the corner, and if you listened hard enough you could hear a murmuring stream in the depths of the cave.

The battle was still raging outside when a half-dead knight stumbled into the dragon's cave holding a squirming bundle in his arms. The dragon awoke from her slumber and was about to pounce on the knight when he hollered,

"Wait, I mean you no harm."

At this point the knight was on the floor and almost dead from blood loss.

"Take her", he said holding out the bundle in his arms.

"Protect the princess please", he begged.

"No revenge" the dragon asked still wary of the knight and his intentions.

" No, I just want her to live", he said with dying breath. The dragon paid the dead knight no mind and went over to look at the infant. The child was absolutely stunning. Hair as black as coal and eyes as green as a meadow.

In that moment the dragon knew what she had to do, she had to raise the princess as her own. She first had to come up with a name for the child, as she was not told one by the knight.

"Cassiopeia, is what I shall call you", the dragon murmured fondly.

In the cover of night she went to look for food for Cassiopeia. After a few months with Cassi she started seeing humans in a whole new light. Not all were wicked and cruel, they were just brought up to be. She swore to herself that she was going to make Cassi the best human ever.

As Cassi grew, so did her beauty and attitude. She was more firery than a dragon, and twice as intimidating. She tried to give Cassi a "normal" human childhood, but that was quite difficult for a dragon. The hardest was clothes, she did not want to go and steal some from the nearby village in risk of being seen, so Cassi was often in the nude in the summer months or draped in animal skins in the winter months. She also could not teach her how to read or write, as she did not know how to herself.

When Cassi was five her mother started teaching her how to defend herself, just incase she came across any other humans. Cassi always wondered why she needed to learn how to fight, because she thought she would become a fearsome dragon one day like her mother.

"Mama", Cassi called out one day when she was practicing fighting.

"Yes, my little starshine" the dragon responded.

"When am I going to become a dragon like you?" She questioned.

"I don't know my darling, but know this. You are already the fiercest dragon there ever was, on the inside." The dragon said wisely.

"Thank you mama", Cassi said shyly.

"Or maybe you won't become a dragon", she joked. "Maybe you will lose your arms and become a wyvern, or maybe you'll lose your limbs altogether a be a amphiptere."

Cassi laughed and told her mom to stop teasing her. Her mother seemed just as jovial, but she wasn't on the inside. She hadn't had the heart to tell her daughter that she would never become a dragon, she hadn't told told her a lot of things, but it was for her protection. She vowed she would tell Cassi everything on her sixteenth birthday, and so she did.

The years passed and Cassi became a force to be reckoned with. She excelled in all types of fighting, and also with a few types of weaponry. She grew stronger every day, and the dragon knew that she could not keep her in the nest forever, that one day she would spread her dragon wings and fly.

It was finally Cassiopeia's sixteenth birthday, or as close to it as the dragon knew. They celebrated it on the day that Cassi came into her possession. It was finally time to come clean. She told Cassi everything, how she came into her care, and how the kingdom that was closest to them was rightfully hers. Cassi was overwhelmed with all of the information, so she went to go reflect by herself.

She wasn't mad at her mother, she was very thankful she had taken her in and raised her as her own. She was quite disappointed to find out that she wouldn't become a dragon though. After that fateful day she became engrossed in her training, she wanted to take back her kingdom. She became a master swordsman and archer by her eighteenth birthday, and her mother couldn't be more proud.

When she felt she was ready to go take back her kingdom she told her mother of her plans. Her mother was supportive and told her that she would go with her and fight to the death if she had to. Cassi was trying to be smart about her plan of attack so she kept going to the kingdom to gather intel. Her mother had to steal her a dress so she could blend in with the others. Wearing the dress for the first time was interesting to say the least. It took them over an hour to put it completely on Cassi, and she didn't like how constricting it was.

Cassi went to the kingdom every day for a month when she felt like she had enough intel on how to over through the kingdom. During her time snooping around she learned of who her birth parents were and her real name. She was Princess Gwendolyn Lamonia, rightful ruler to the throne of Edraitha.

Today was the day where she would get her kingdom back. She went into the kingdom and started towards the palace, while her mother waited in the woods for the signal. Cassi got to the palace and requested an audience with the king, and she didn't have to wait very long which was surprising. Two guards escorted her into the throne room, and she had to say it was stunning. The king was sitting on the throne drinking wine without a care world. Cassi walked up to him and stared.

"Who are you, and why do you not bow? Peasant", the king yelled.

"I am Princess Gwendolyn Lamonia, and you are sitting on my throne."

Before the king could even call for help his head was rolling on the floor. She struck down anyone who dared to attack her, with her sword, while she was running up to the highest tower. She waved a purple flag in the air to signal her mother.

With her mother by her side Cassi made her way down to the ground level of the palace. She threw open the huge front doors, with some help from her mother of coarse. She was met with thousands of people staring up at her.

"I am Princess Gwendolyn Lamonia, rightful ruler of this land", Cassi exclaimed. "Your people invaded my kingdom when I was merely a babe, and I have come to take back my throne. I have already killed your king and some of his guards, I do not want anymore bloodshed, but there will be more if there has to be."

Lets just say no one was willing to fight a fierce looking girl and her dragon. No one had said a word, but an old lady starting making her way through the crowd. When she got to the steps she bowed and said.

"I was your nursemaid when you were an infant, I tired to save you from the attacks, but I couldn't find you. I thought you were dead, but here you are standing here with your fathers eyes and your mothers hair. I always dreamed this day would come, I never thought it would."

The old lady started crying and then ran up to hug Cassi. Cassi hugged her back with just as much strength, she thought no one would know who she was. In reality a lot of the villagers had heard of her or remembered her from when her parents had ruled. She thought everyone in her parents kingdom parished. Then like a tidal wave everyone bowed and yelled,

"Hail Queen Gwendolyn Lamonia, ruler of Edraitha."

And it that moment the dragon knew that she fulfilled her destiny, and had raised the best human possible.

....And they all lived happily ever after

The End