The earth shakes, birds flee, and animals cower. Through the brush and tall limbs a dragon appears walking slowly through the forest. The Sun beams down, the air is crisp in the morning hours. Its horns graze the tallest tree tops as they are ever so slightly poking out the top of them. His body covered in large pointed scales and shinning with a blue hue on his back. His under belly Lighter in color covered in scales as well. His wings, tightly tucked on his sides, as they are too long and wide to open in the forest. A tail follows behind long, slender, and at the end splits into three ends. It slithers behind as he walks just above the ground never touching a tree. His eyes, a piercing gaze are solid yellow, but yet if you look close enough a pupil can be seen colored white.
This dragon, who calls himself Gradon, slowly wonders the forest eventually making his way towards a water fall to drink the clean cold water that collects at the bottom in a pool clear as if nothing was there at all. A place he has visited many times, and a place that’s hidden amongst the thick woods and mountains. The falling water can now be heard in the distance, but yet something is different. A strange noise accompanies the falling water. A whistling of some sort playing some sort of tune. It was not a bird for bird songs are different. “What stranger had wondered this far and come to rest here”, Gradon said to himself.
Slowly and more purposefully walking, Gradon made his way to the water fall. Though quiet large the dragon could in fact make himself not heard if he wished it, and so he crept closer and closer. Gradon wanted to see what had come upon his water fall and gauge for himself if it was something to worry about. However, what would a dragon have to fear? Gradon was larger than anything in the forest except the mountains that surrounded the valley he wondered to himself. Though, Gradon was a cautious dragon, he had learned to live a long time by seeing by not being seen.
The edge of the woods, closest to the falls, was thicker and easy to hide behind. Gradon stretched out his neck and laid his head right on the edge peering through the brush and looked upon a lonely knight sitting on a rock whistling his tune and taking drinks from the pool of water. He wore a chest plate with a sword in sheath buckled at his left side. Beside him on the ground, leaned against another rock, lay a shield and spear. A strand of cloth tied just under the spear tip colored red blew ever so slightly in the wind.
Gradon’s curiosity was sparked by this knight. How did a single knight find his way here? The bigger question, was he alone? He decided that he would stay hidden and watch this knight for a while and see if he was indeed alone. Staying hidden and blending in to the environment, Gradon watched the knight till the sun was directly above the land shinning down. The knight sat there in peace and calm drinking every once in a while. Eventually, he laid back and started to fall asleep.
The dragon walked out into the opening close to the falls and laid down in front of the knight front arms crossed and head raised looking down at him, and there he waited watching the knight waiting for him to wake. Dragons have patients as time is nothing to them. Gradon was over two hundred years old. The concept of time passed by a dragon, for he could live forever.
Noon turned to evening and the sun was now heading towards the mountain tops. The beams of light blocked by the massiveness of their peaks. The moon visible and a faint glow starting to show. Stars start to glisten in the sky over head. Birds sing their good night songs and the night starts to flow over the valley.
The color of day grows ever more deem, and soon it is night. Crickets play there fiddles, and frogs their horns. Lighting bugs carry their lanterns dancing about the open area as if preforming some play for all to see. Nothing but the night conducting and the trees the audience, every once in a while cheering and clapping with the winds help. “Oh, how the night and day change so much from one another”, the thought passed on Gradon.
The knight shivers from the coolness of the night, and slowly awakes raising and stretching his arms. Arms still stretched, his eyes clear and peer upwards seeing a dragon sitting in front of him the moons light gleaming off of him. Shocked and not able to move for a moment. The knight lowers his arms and calms himself for a bit. So, both sat and looked at each other wondering how this encounter will go down?
The knight takes a deep breath while looking at the dragon and says, “Some night isn’t it.” He then looks down grabs his make shift cup and walks over to scoop up some water and then sit back down. Gradon’s head tilts ever so slight to the right watching the knight with curiosity. He sips his water slowly and without speaking. Soon his cup is empty and he scoops another cup full of water and sits again. “That was one hell of a nap I just took”, the knight said. “Thinking I will not be sleeping for a while now”, he continued. Still Gradon sat listening and growing more curious about the knight. The play of the night was now centered on a dragon and knight sitting across one another and all in attendance were hushed with excitement.
The knight looked down and his cup which was empty again. He stood and then squatted bent over to the water taking both hands scooping up the water and splashing it in his face washing away the sleep that was hanging on. He peered slightly over his left shoulder seeing the dragon watching him. He then grabbed his cup and scooped more water. The knight stood and then sat back down on the rock.
“Will you have a Drink with me dragon”, the knight said? His cup of water raised towards Gradon. “And what would we be drinking to”, Gradon Asked? Surprised and with a small smile about the talking dragon the knight replied, “Nothing, just a drink amongst this lively play the night is putting on which we are sitting in.” “Then we drink for the play”, Gradon said. Gradon’s curiousness grew once again as the knight thought of the night as he did. “As you wish”, said the knight. So, Gradon brought his head down to the pool and proceeded to drink the cold clean water that he sat out to drink from earlier that morning. Raising his head once done and the knight still sipping from his cup, both once again sitting and looking at each other under the shinning full moon.
“Do you mind if I cook some food here to eat”, said the knight, “I haven’t ate all day and my stomach is not that happy about it.” “Strange you should ask me if you can do something”, said Gradon. “Your valley not mine”, the knight said, “Plus I needed to know if I need to cook more for company or not.” “And what company are you expecting”, said Gradon? “Expecting, none, for my company is already here”, said the knight. Gradon’s head raises slightly, “but as you said your valley, therefore you are my company.” “True, but I suspect we don’t exactly eat the same things the same way”, the knight said. “It would be easy to cook for me, and for me to just give you the food”, the knight said. “And you assume my food is not cooked”, said Gradon? “No, but I’m not truly versed on a dragon’s foods”, the knight said with a smile. Gradon’s head bowed and he then stood towering above the knight.
The knight squatted over a small pile of wood looked up wide eyed at the massiveness of Gradon. “Give me a minute and I’ll have a fire going for the food to cook”, the knight said. “Along with food, you must know nothing of dragons as well knight”, said Gradon, “For we are fire.” Gradon using his tail and hands grabs nearby broken logs and brings them over to the knight. “If a fire is what you require than I shall assist you in making one”, Gradon said. Gradon grabs a log in his hands and with ease starts to break them into smaller pieces creating a pile. “Now grab what you think you need for the size fire required to cook”, said Gradon. The knight creates his pile and says, “That should do it.” “Now give me a moment and I’ll have it lite”, the knight said. “As I said before you know nothing of dragons as we are fire”, Gradon said, and lowered his head close to the pile of wood. He then started to blow gently into the pile. The knight could feel heat protruding from the dragon’s mouth. Soon a glow could be seen in the opening of his mouth, and then the wood started to form ambers and soon caught fire lighting up the night around them both.
“I would have thought you would have been only able to spit fire all about and in large amounts”, said the knight as he prepared his food for cooking. Gradon not answering looked out into the night sky glancing at the stars and moon above them all the while listening to the knight talk. “My name is Lunen, my I ask if you have a name dragon”, asked Lunen? “I do and it is Gradon”, Gradon replied. “Well it is nice to know you Gradon”, Lunen said. Gradon did not reply to the knight. It is not that Gradon did not trust the knight by now, but for a dragon as stated before that time means nothing to dragons and for Gradon time would pass on this meeting with Lunen. It would fade into memory then be forgotten. This was but a curious day for Gradon and something out of the ordinary. He would enjoy the conversation and then wonder on as he does.
The food eaten and fire glowing, Lunen looked up at Gradon who was still looking up at the stars. Happy to have company at his fire he smiled. “You know I saw a Dragon once”, said Lunen. “Now let’s see, it was about eighteen years ago”, said Lunen, “It was a cold day, around midmorning I believe.” “I wasn’t that long in the army, young and full of spirit you could say”, he continued. “That morning I was on patrol with a few others circling the camp”, he said, “we came to a hill void of tall trees and such, just small bushes.” “Rain was rolling in and the rumblings of thunder could be heard”, Lunen said, “My group huddled together as the rain started to fall”, he said, “a small fire is all we had to keep us warm, man was it a miserable morning to be out and about. Anyways, my spirit wasn’t so happy then”, said Lunen. “I decided I needed to walk and try to warm up by moving some, so I took off walking a little ways”, he continued, “The rain was coming down pretty hard and lighting was starting to flash about.” “I found a Little bit of a rock cover overlooking a valley similar to this one”, he said, “I looked out across the valley and saw the rolling clouds lighting flashing through them”, he continued, “Then suddenly in one of the flashes I saw the outline.” “It was unmistakable as a dragon”, Lunen said looking up at Gradon. “It was flying through the storm, and it was faster than anything I had ever seen”, Lunen said. “When it appeared under the clouds it was heading towards my direction”, he continued, “I was shocked and couldn’t move.” “The rain pelted me in the face and the thunder shook everything it seemed”, said Lunen, “and just as it was about to go over me a bright flash littered my eyes, and I ducked my head covering my face with my hands.” Lunen continued, “Thinking that the dragon had spewed fire upon us, I realized it was a lighting strike as thunder pierced my ears soon after the light flashed.” “My eyes focused up looking for the dragon and I saw it, but it was then I saw that it had been struck by the lighting”, Lunen said. “Shocked I watched as it flew high above, wing smoking and soon it started falling towards the valley floor”, he said, “My fellow soldiers were also shocked by the lighting, but hadn’t seen the event or dragon at all. I thought about alerting my commander but didn’t. It landed somewhere in that valley”, Lunen said, “Dead or alive I couldn’t say.”
Lunen was staring intently into the fire now full from the meal as he told his story. “Why didn’t you tell your commander that a dragon was down”, Gradon asked after remaining quite for so long? “The dragon didn’t attack us and I wasn’t about to be the reason for attacking wounded creature”, said Lunen. “Though, I probably would have been promoted and all for doing so”, Lunen said. “Life would have been so different for me”, he continued. “Do I here regret in your voice for not going a killing a dragon Lunen”, Gradon asked? “Regret, no”, said Lunen, “When I saw that dragon that day every minute of that event was burnt into my mind.” “He just flew free and wild”, He said, “He didn’t live under the rules of anyone.” “I wanted to be the dragon”, Lunen said. “We marched the next morning away to some battle for some king, but I never forgot that morning”, said Lunen. “Ten years later after I lost my love I had had enough of war and bloodshed”, Lunen said, “I was going to leave, and I didn’t care if it got me killed.” “I mean I didn’t have anything to live for”, Lunen said. “I didn’t know what I was going to do or where I was going, but I knew I had to go”, Lunen said. “It was a rainy day and a sudden lighting strike happened and the memory of that morning I saw the dragon came back to me with the flash”, Lunen said. “I packed my gear, snuck out of the barracks, and set out to find that valley the dragon had fallen in”, he continued. “I did not know if he was alive or dead, but I wanted to see, and if he was, just gaze upon his magnificence”, said Lunen, “Once I found him, if I did, and if I got to see him, I would let him decide my fate, and I would be happy.” “If I never find him it wouldn’t matter, I would wonder till the end of my days free and wild as he was”, Lunen said.
“You have searched for a long time for this dragon and you don’t even know if this is the right valley”, Said Gradon. “Hah, yes but at least it has a dragon in it”, said Lunen. At that moment Gradon stood and opened his wings spreading out across the entire opening they sat in. Swinging them high over Lunen. Gradon stood there head high and loudly spoke, “And so what do you think of this dragon’s magnificence?” Lunen shocked form the gesture stood mouth open and humbled said, “It is truly a sight to see Gradon, truly.” Suddenly a beam of moon light hit Lunen’s eyes. He brings his hand up to his face to block it for a second then slowly moves it out of view. Looking up at Gradon’s wing he sees a hole in his left wing scared and about the size of his fist, but there was for sure a hole.
“Can it be that you are the dragon? Is it even possible for that to be”, asked Lunen? “The dragon before you is indeed the dragon you saw ten year ago”, Gradon states. Lunen wide eyed and mouth open stars straight forward in to nothing and then just sits down. Gradon brings his wings back to his side and lays back down in front of Lunen arms crossed once again. “I can’t believe I found you”, said Lunen. “Actually it was I who found you”, Gradon said. “Hah, true”, said Lunen.
“Death is not the answer that you seek Lunen”, Gradon said. Lunen looking up tears in eyes. “I am a dragon and I can live forever and therefore time passes by me, leaving me only memories”, Gradon said, “but even memories can be lost to me and forgotten.” “I had forgotten that day that I was struck by Lighting and landed here in this valley”, said Gradon. “The memories you hold will forever be with you”, he continued, “cherish the good ones and live on with them, and never forget.” “The ultimate death is to be forgotten and to die not known”, Gradon said. “The torment of living forever, you look at things differently and seem to not care for simple things as soon you forget as time passes”, Gradon said. “If not for who you are I would have died here when your army came.” “Chance doesn’t happen by mistake”, Gradon said, “It happens by the actions you take.” “You found me and have now looked upon me Lunen”, said Gradon, “you stated, once found, that the dragon can decide your fate, is that still so?” “Yes”, Lunen replies. “Then it shall not be death, but I will help you find what you long for”, said Gradon.
“Why and how would you want to help me”, said Lunen? “Life searches for life, for it seeks to live”, said Gradon, “and you gave me life when even I didn’t know it.” “If freedom is what you seek then live here under my gaze and you shall have a restful life in this valley”, said Gradon. “And what do you get out of it Gradon”, Lunen said. “Let us just say I get to have a conversation and hopefully create memories that time can’t even take”, Gradon said, “and so, what is your answer?”
“I will stay if not for freedom then to at least have decent company to talk to if that suits you”, Lunen said. “Company and a good conversation would indeed be nice”, Gradon said bowing his head slightly. So both Lunen and Gradon sat by the pool of clean cold water having conversations. It didn’t matter about what, just that neither was alone anymore. Both wondered the valley together for years until Lunen’s dying days. Gradon had come to know Lunen very well and was truly sadden by his passing. Gradon made Lunen a promise before he passed however, and that was he would remember Lunen and that time would not let him be forgotten. Though Gradon wonders on, he carries memories of a friend who he never will lose and forget as Lunen’s life will live on through Gradon.