A Crown of Gold

The Choice

Unsurprisingly, the village didn't exactly rejoice at my return. Their entire basis of life was built around safety in the village, and danger outside. I didn't just crack that shaky belief that kept the life of the people in an ignorant balance, I shattered it. Father told me to ignore them—that they were just afraid of a possibility away from what was familiar to them.

"Maybe don't mention the dragon," he advised.

Most of the old women welcomed me back warmly, as most of them had been outside the village—only settling in their later married years. They all asked me how I was gone for so long, where I got the riding leathers, who I was with.

Of course I didn't tell the truth.

Instead I told them I walked the path leading away from the river, camping out and eating berries until I came across a town larger than our own where I was fed and clothed in return for work. I told them about Mavis, and how she was kind to me. That part wasn't a lie, I only filled in the rest using her and her village in place of Sephraim and our cave.

Sometimes, I'd have to step away so I could cry without them seeing. That'd only lead to more questions.

At night, I'd slip out the back door of the cottage and lie down in the grass, gazing up at the starry night sky. I missed flying. In fact I longed for it. The thought of being perennially on the ground left a weight in my chest.

My heart had already decided that I'd have to go back to her, and yet I couldn't just leave the village again. I couldn't vanish on my father.

If only I could just have both.

The thought festered in my mind the more I thought about it. I came undeniably close to speaking to Sephraim, calling out for her in my mind. But each time, I'd shake it away. I had to be sure I could balance both, I had to know it was possible before I tangled them together.

A week later, the village people proved that was never to be.

-•-

It was a cloudy day, a sign of the seasons changing again. The orange-leafed trees began to loss their colorful foliage, leaving them bare. I was in the kitchen of the cottage, chopping up some berries when the shouts sounded from the village square.

I set the knife down, grabbing my new fur cloak and making my way to the crowd. I placed my hand on Maryanne's shoulder, a girl a few years older than me.

"What's going on?" I asked, pushing myself up on my tiptoes in an attempt to see over the crowd.

"The hunting party's got something different," she answered, her head bobbing back and forth looking through the cracks in between people. "They've brought it back alive."

I pointed one shoulder forward, jamming it between the restless bodies as I shoved through. Eventually I broke into the center of the circle.

It was a horse, or that's what I thought it was at first. It had a pearly white hide and a silky mane to match. It danced nervously around—as much as it could with one of the village men gripping a rope slung around its neck—whining as it did so.

That's when it caught my eye. The horn.

It stood straight up from the center of its forehead, twisting up in a straight line just like Darius's. Only this horn was a shimmering, iridescent white. Maryanne appeared at my side, her eyes widening at the sight.

"It's..." she began, her lips parted as she stared.

"It's a unicorn," I answered, just as baffled. The word sounded ridiculous leaving my mouth. A unicorn, standing here in the village center.

I really shouldn't be surprised, I thought to myself, The girl who rode a dragon.

A man I recognized stepped forward, his eyes lingering on the fairytale creature as it bucked and neighed.

"This creature was found grazing at our outer crops," the man began. He was short and had a bald head, a black scruff thickly covering his chin. "If this creature exists, who's to say there aren't more? More beasts sent to consume our livelihood?"

I felt my stomach churn anxiously at the mention of other creatures.

"This beast could be the first of many." The man yanked a dagger from his hip, lifting an arm up to brandish it to the crowd, "God has sent this creature as a light warning! He has given us our first test."

I rolled my eyes at his words. The village has its fair share of religious fanatics.

He slowly lowered the dagger, turning his attention back to the unicorn. He adjusted his grip on the knife's hilt before storming toward the creature. I felt panic rise in my throat, my body jolting forward.

"Stop!" I yelled. The crowd quieted down a bit, the man turning back around to glare at me.

"Do not disgrace yourself even further, child." His face was pinched as he looked at me, as though he smelled something bad.

"Why kill it?" I asked, "This could be a... a miracle!"

I attempted to speak their language, but winded up tripping over my own facade.

"Yes, yes a- uh, a gift sent by God," I stammered, quite frankly trying to pull something together to bullshit them out of executing a helpless creature. "You can never be too careful in interpreting these things."

The man rolled his eyes scoffing at me, "Don't try to speak to me of interpreting God's signs, heathen."

Maybe I should've attended a few more of the religious gatherings during my childhood.

The man turned back around, and leapt forward. "Wait!" I tried, but was grabbed by one of the other men from the hunting party. He gripped my bicep tightly as I struggled.

The man holding the dagger began muttering a prayer, and I shouted for them to stop. But it was no use, the man finished his prayer before slashing the dagger across the creatures throat.

I squeezed my eyes shut, turning my head away as it stammered on its feet before collapsing. When I opened my eyes again, the once beautiful creature now laid in a pool of its own blood, the light fading from its eyes.

I was enraged in that moment. At the people around me who did nothing, at the hunting party, at their God.

They'd never except a dragon's presence, I concluded, If they're willing to execute a harmless creature because of some misplaced faith, then a fire breathing dragon would have no place here.

I yanked myself from the man's grip, glaring sharply at the other man still holding the bloodied dagger. I felt the buzz of familiarity as I glared at him, a warmth spreading through my veins. That fire was back in me, my eyes burning.

The man stumbled back, his own eyes widening. "You-you were sent from Hell!" He shrieked, pointing a finger at me. "You're a child of fire!"

I felt the fire slowly diminish from inside me, my eyes returning to their usual red. I found myself smirking, "You have no idea."

I was right, this was no place for a dragon. Which meant it was no place for me.

~

This chapter is wack. I'm aware of that. In case anyone is offended, I do not mean to mock religion or anything of the sort. It just happens to make a good motivation/reasoning.

For future reference, it will most likely not come up again or if it does it will be very slight/an imaginary religion.

Thanks, Redible.