The Dragons of Undari

Chapter One - The Beginning of a Journey

      It was a chilly afternoon.  Mera's parents had finished harvesting the dragon-nip of this season's batch of crop, and it was her job to take them into town, along with running the stand that they set up in Undari's center, where merchants from all around the world come to sell their wares, from dragon-scale apparel, to potions, swords, crops, and many more.  The King and Queen usually attend the busiest days of the season, which, is known as the Golden Week.  The Golden Week is the last week in November, where the business of the spring, summer, and fall months finally brings in a profit.  This week is the week that thousands of craftsmen and women look forward to and attend yearly, no matter what distances they have to cross.
      Mera was excited to attend this year.  Ever since she had turned eighteen, her parents had talked about this day, letting her go to the Golden Week markets on her own, and letting her manage the stand.  Mera, however, wasn't excited over watching over the stand.  She was more excited to see the bustling community, the shiny new products that line the stands, and the dragons.  Not only is the Golden Week a week where merchants from all over the globe come to sell their wares, but it's also the only time of the year where the King and Queen's dragons produce a clutch of eggs for the Hatching Event. The Hatching Event is a one-day event where the royal clutch of eggs is placed on pedestals that are on display in front of the surrounding crowd. Both parent dragons sit behind them, and the King and Queen stand between their dragons. When the clutch of eggs were laid, the hatchlings spoke the names of their companions, already pre-destined from the time of life beginning within the egg. When the ceremony takes place, the parent dragons will then look in the crowd for those who possess the names that were chosen. Then, they will ask the chosen to repeat a phrase that is somehow given to them days in advance. Mera could never figure this part out. How were the chosen supposed to know a phrase they never even heard of? More importantly, how did the parent dragons talk to the chosen? Either way, they seemed to know, as there hadn't ever been a chosen human who didn't know the phrase. After the ceremony is over, the eggs are then blessed by the King, Queen, and their dragons, and then sent home with the chosen person in a special ceremonial basket.
Mera sighed as she walked. She hoped that she would be able to watch the ceremony, but with the way their crops were selling, she felt as though she would have to stay at the stand all day just to make enough. She wanted to make her parents proud. She didn't want to live in poverty any longer, and this was going to be the year that she changed it all; her first year behind the stand. The loud crunch under her foot snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked down at the twig that lay broken under her worn out boots. She bent down, picked up the pieces, and tossed them off the side of the path into the bushes. All she needed was this tiny twig to trip her tomorrow, when she returned back to the stall for the second day of Golden Week. If she were to trip, all of the dragon-nip would fly everywhere, which was too much to lose, especially when they weren't worth all that much to begin with. She hiked up the dragon-nip that she was holding in her left arm, making sure that she wouldn't drop them on her first day either, and continued walking. She was hoping to get to Undari's center within the hour at the latest, as she already had a late start at leaving. As long as she didn't run into any problems, she should get there with time to spare.
     As she walked, her long, braided brunette hair swaying behind her, she thought about how much easier trips like this would be if she had a dragon to help carry crops, or that she could ride. The family had two horses, but they were older nags who only helped with a few farm chores that weren't too strenuous for them. Her father talked about butchering them and selling the meat for some extra gold to get new horses, but her mother insisted that they were still helpful, and that they deserve to pass at an old age after being so helpful during their youthful years. Therefore, the family resorted to walking, carrying their stuff, and doing all the farm work by hand, rather than having the horses plow the field, or carry a cart. Thankfully, the extra work that was required to tend the farm helped increase Mera's stamina, so walking to the center seemed to be a simple task.
    Mera walked for awhile, admiring the scenery and the peacefulness of being alone. However, a sharp howl broke through the calmness of the day, and shook Mera to her core. She gasped and turned around frantically, but there were only trees on each side of the path, with no animal or person in sight. With her dragon-nip held tight against her chest, she turned back towards the center with every intention of picking up the pace. Her frantic thoughts were silenced by the two large, glowing yellow eyes that blocked her path, and stared at her with an intense, but curious, gaze. Mera's breath caught in her throat as she stepped back and looked up at the dragon that towered above her. Fear climbed up her spine, as she stared into the seemingly endless pupils that sliced through the yellow irises that surrounded them. It felt as thought the whole forest was watching them, hushed by the intensity of the situation, waiting with baited breath.
    The dragon made no attempt to scare her, or attack her. It almost seemed like stone for the few seconds that felt like eternity to Mera. Then, with a slow and swift movement, the dragon lifted its tail, which was as thick as an old oak tree, and lifted it above Mera's head for her to see. The tip was freshly severed, and blood dripped from the mangled flesh that still hung by a thread of tough skin, no longer covered by shiny pearlescent scales. Mera gasped as she looked at it, not sure what this dragon was asking of her. It made no sound, and no movement other than raising it's tail. It's eyes never focused on anything else. Slowly, she placed her bundle of dragon-nip on the ground, and looked around for the long grasses she used to make crowns with as a child. The dragon watched silently, with only his eyes moving, following her as she walked back and forth, picking long grass. It didn't seem to mind the ever so slowly pool of blood that was forming beneath it's mangled tail.
    When Mera returned, she had an armful of long grass. She wasn't sure how helpful it would be, but she wasn't sure what else this dragon expected of her, and she didn't want to find out what would happen if she just walked, or ran, away. She would rather run away. Even though this enormous dragon was stunning, and it's eyes were mesmerizing, it still terrified her. She wondered what she looked like to the magnificent creature that stood in her way. Did she look like a bug? Did she look like a mouse? As she braided the grass together in a thick rope-like strand, she glanced up and had to hold in a scream as the dragon had elongated its neck so that his head was positioned directly above her, watching her hands work. Its tail still hovered in front of her, dripping blood slower now, and the puddle slowly sinking into the dirt below.  She knew what she was going to do - she was going to tie the pieces back together, so that they could heal on their own.  Simple, right?  As she looked up at the tail, then down to the chain of grass that she held in her hands, and then back up at the dragon's never wavering eyes, she got a feeling of dread.  Would this dragon eat her if she accidentally hurt it?  Did it realize it would hurt until she got the tip of the tail in place and tied together?  All of these questions flooded her mind, but she kept silent, knowing that if she spoke, she might startle it.
When she completed the braided grass bandage, she took a deep breath.  Calmly, she touched the hanging piece of tail, waiting for any response, and then, seeing that there was none, she cradled it in her hand, making sure to be gentle and slow.  Now that she was holding the tip of this tail, which had to be at least ten to fifteen pounds, she noticed that the bone of the tail was not severed, and that the tip that she was holding was purely muscle.  Holding her breath, she pushed the tip of the tail back onto the stump, and quickly wrapped it, finishing her work with a tight knot, and then stood back.  The dragon let out a hot sigh, as if it were holding its breath also, and then took its gaze off of her to examine its tail.  It did a quick once over look of it, and then unfurled its massive wings.
Mera watched in amazement, and realized that she had dragon-nip with her, "Wait!  Don't go just yet, I have a gift for you!"  She knelt down in front of the dragon, who was now staring back at her, pulled her bundles of dragon-nip to her, and pulled out a smaller tied bundle of dragon-nip stalks, tied neatly with her mom's finest ribbon, which, was really just twine that her mom made using hair from her hairbrush.
The dragon peered at the bundle, then lowered his head down to her.  The tip of its muzzle just barely fit into her palm when it picked up the dragon-nip ever so gently.  It looked at her, a softer expression in its eyes, then turned, and heaved itself upwards into the air.  The wind created from its powerful wing beats blew Mera backwards, as she held onto the bundles of dragon-nip tightly.  As soon as the dragon appeared, it was gone.  Mera had only closed her eyes for a second to shield them from the flying dirt, and when she had opened them, it was almost like it had vanished into thin air.
She stood, dusting off her shorts and her shirt, and shivered.  She wasn't sure if it was from the cold, or the excitement and terror of seeing a wild dragon up close.  It was a new sight for her.  She had only ever seen dragons from afar, owned by others, and she wasn't allowed anywhere near them.  Always mesmerized by them, she had always tried to convince her parents to go to the Hatching Event, in an attempt to get their own, but ever since the death of Wilquim, her great-great-great grandmother's dragon, who, she was told, wasn't near as big as the one she just encountered, her parents, and the others before them had refused to go to anymore Hatching Events from then on. She wasn't exactly sure why, as it was never spoken about, but they were persistent on reminding Mera why there were no dragons on their farm ever since. As she looked around one last time, she took off in a sprint towards the center, seeing that she was with the dragon for longer than she thought.