Dragon Child

Prolog

Teresa ran through the woods holding the bundle in her arms close to her body looking back behind her as she ran. She hopped over a log and hid in a bush holding her breath as she listened. The forest was filled with the sound of birds singing and bugs chirping and Teresa knew that she had shaken pursuit.

Teresa climbed out of the bushes and smiled glad that the watch had finally lost her. She knew she might be punished for stealing food from the market, but she had expected lenience for her having a nursing a child. She had not expected a death sentence and had taken her child and run as fast as she possibly could, only just narrowly escaping the town. Teresa looked down at her four-month-old child; it was the reason that she had for stealing the food.

Teresa froze as the forest went silent and looked around from her hiding place trying to see what had plunged the forest into silence. Then Teresa heard a sound knowing that a monster was coming.

Then Teresa heard the sound of massive wings flapping overhead. She looked up and saw a massive dragon flying overhead, its scales shone with a brilliant scarlet hue as it flew by.

When Teresa saw the dragon doubling back, she dropped her child and ran as fast as she could away from the dragon. She may have loved the child but she would be weighed down by the child and her chances of escape where slim enough as it was.

The dragon saw her run in an instant but the fact that what the human had dropped was moving interested the dragon greatly. The dragon descended down to the ground and walked up to the bundle sniffing it curiously. It drew its head back in surprise when the bundle giggled and two tiny arms reached for the dragon’s snout.

The dragon stared in shock at the baby appalled that its mother would just leave it behind in the tiny cloth nest the child was in. The dragon looked at the still retreating figure of Teresa in the distance. The dragon looked back at the child in poked at the cloth wrapped around the child. The child laughed and clapped as the dragon’s scaly toe poked the cloth around it.

The dragon smiled at the child before it bared its teeth at the child to see how it would react. The baby laughed and grabbed the dragon’s scaly snout; the dragon drew its head back easily escaping the child’s grasp.

The dragon sighed and smiled again. The child reminded the dragon so much of its own children that it had recently lost in a cave in, the child was as fearless and always seemed to be happy, but it was so weak and small. The dragon worried about how weak this child seemed to be, it did not even seem to know how to walk yet.

The dragon looked at the outline of the still retreating mother before it looked back to the child and smiled. The dragon picked up the child carefully in its foreclaw, it was very careful because the child’s flesh was so soft. The dragon took wing and circled higher before it leveled off and resumed flying over the forest.

“If your mother won’t take care of you little one,” the dragon whispered to the baby in its own language, “than I will.”

The baby babbled something that seemed to be on the verge of language and smiled again. The dragon smiled back at it and looked for something it could feed the child. The dragon spotted a doe munching grass in a clearing; the dragon spilled air from its wings and dove at the doe.

The doe looked up at the last second and dodged the claws trying to grab it, but it failed to dodge the dragon’s tail. The doe’s body flew the air and landed in crumpled heap. The dragon landed awkwardly and set the child near the doe’s body, it wanted to see if it could feed itself or if it would need to chew for it.

The child rolled onto its belly and seemed to be reaching for the doe’s belly. The dragon frowned and moved the child to where its whole body was right against the doe’s belly. Its mother must truly have neglected the child if it could not even pull itself along the ground. The dragon saw the child grab part of the doe and pull its head to its belly. The dragon saw it nibbling on the doe and smiled knowing it could still feed itself at least.

When the child pulled its head back and gave a satisfied hiccup the dragon smiled. Then the dragon noticed that the doe’s body was still intact where the child had been nibbling. Looking closer the dragon saw a nipple on the doe at the place the child had been nibbling.

The dragon was surprised because far as it knew the only things she knew that humans ate was meat. Then she remembered that many fellow predators started with humble suckling. Humans must be the same way; it would just have to kill more milk giving prey until the child shifted to meat.

The child yawned as the dragon picked up the child after it had finished eating its fill of the dead doe. The dragon noticed the child had no teeth and was shocked; it seemed that she would much about the child’s race as it grew. The child curled into a ball in the dragon’s foreclaw. The dragon smiled at how much it looked like a young dragon when it was like this.

The dragon, satisfied that the child was satisfied, started flying back towards her clan hold certain that the rest of the clan would understand her reasons for bringing back a human child. If they didn't she was sure she could make an adequate lie that might make them accept it.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------

The rest of the clan did not take the child as well as the dragon had hoped they would. In fact they seemed to be down right outraged at her actions.

“Why are you carrying that human Sivarria!?!” one of the larger dragons demanded.

“Kill that thing now it’s a monster and should be killed before it can become a threat!” one of the younger dragons shouted.

All of the accusations and demands ceased as the two clan leaders walked through the crowd and looked at the child clutched protectively behind Sivarria’s wing. The two clan leaders looked at the child for a moment before their gaze returned to Sivarria.

“Sivarria,” the larger of the two said evenly, “why have you brought this human to our clan hold?”

Sivarria faultered for a second before she suddenly came up with an amazing lie that might be the child’s only hope.

“While I am hesitant to contradict you O mighty ones,” Sivarria said bowing her head, “This not a human child though it may look much like one. It is a member of another race that had been captured by a human.”

“What makes you so sure of this?” the smaller of the two leaders asked.

“The human carrying this child left it behind as soon as it saw me and a mother would never leave its child, not even a human mother.” Sivarria said promptly.

There was wide spread nodding and muttered agreements at this comment but all was silenced by a wave of the clan leader’s wing. The larger of the clan leaders looked back to Sivarria before asking, “While that may be true, humans are a curious beast that rarely does anything that makes a sliver of sense. It could be that this is another strange human behavior.”

Sivarria almost stammered a response when the child yawned and opened its eyes.

Looking around the child saw Sivarria’s face floating above it and it squealed in joy clapping its tiny hands. Sivarria smiled down on the child stroking its tiny head softly with the tip of her wing, the squealed in delight again and started sucking on Sivarria’s wing tip. This gave Sivarria the idea for her next lie.

“More proof that this child is not human,” Sivarria said confidently, “every human no matter how young fears us and flees us as soon as they see us. Yet here this child is joyful to see me. Moreover, the child has no teeth and humans do."

Again, mutters of agreement and several of the dragons around Sivarria smiled at her encouragingly. Once again, silence fell as the clan leaders raised a wing.

“So then how do plan to care for the child if it has no teeth in witch to eat with?” the larger clan leader asked.

Sivarria smiled knowing that she had convinced the clan the child was not a human and was now in the clear.

“All I have to do is kill more milk giving prey for it to suckle on before I eat it myself.” Sivarria said, “In fact I have already fed it today and should have no problem feeding it often.”

The smaller of the leaders sniffed and said, “Fine Sivarria, you may keep the child. However, it will be yours to take care of and yours alone, no one else will be allowed to aid you in caring for it. If it dies, you will not be allowed to bring home more of its kind.”

Sivarria knew that was the best deal she was likely to get so she bowed her head and said, “Thank you O mighty ones, I shall do as you command.”

Sivarria picked up the child, carried it to her cave, and looked for place to lay the child down. She knew that the child’s soft flesh would be shredded by the hard rocky ground of her cave. She could let the child sleep on her, but the child might roll of her and hurt itself on the ground. Then she remembered her pile of old scales, as with many dragons she kept every part of her safe through out her life. She knew the pile would keep the child from rolling out of its bed and where dull enough not to cut the child.

Sivarria sat the child carefully in the middle of the pile of scales; the child laughed and started gumming one of the scales. Sivarria stroked the child's head with her wing claw and the child grabbed hold of Sivarria and managed to pull itself up into a sitting position. Sivarria was glad that already her care had already made the child stronger than when she had found it mere hours ago.

Sivarria smiled and whispered, “Well aren’t you just a strong little hatchling.”

The child laughed and clapped under such obvious praise. Sivarria smiled and started to lick the child clean. The child laughed as Sivarria’s tongue knocked it down and continued to clean it as it squealed and giggled. The child kept clapping afterwords as if wanting another bath from its new mother and Sivarria obliged and sent the child into a new wave of laughter.

Soon the child had worn itself out, lay down on the scale pile, and closed its eyes falling into a peaceful sleep. Sivarria softly stroked the child’s head as she whispered, “Your going to need a name little one. I can’t just call you 'little one' forever, how do you like Rhzvanzin?”

The baby cooed in its sleep and Sivarria smiled again as she whispered, “Then Rhzvanzin it is. Rest well Rhzvanzin.”

Sivarria curled around the child’s bed and placed a wing over the child and the child cooed again. Sivarria smiled as she slipped into sleep, happier than she had been since her children had died.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back in Teresa's home village she was being lead up to the gallows having been caught shortly after her flight from the dragon. The noose was slipped around her neck and one of the two men that had led her here opened a scroll and began to read.

“The guilt has been accused of theft from the duke’s own food stores,” a guard read off a scroll, “She is sentenced to death by hanging.”

Another guard led a bound Teresa up to the gallows at sword point. Teresa stumbled and fell flat on her face before getting back up. One of the guards slung the noose around her neck and tightened it.

“Have you any last words before you die?” the first guard asked.

“Yes!” Teresa shouted, “Please, I only stole the food to help me feed my baby! Please! I need to find him!”

“Yes we have heard of this baby of yours,” the second guard sneered, “yet when we found you and searched your home we found no child. Just a bunch of children’s toys. We are led to believe you have lied.”

“I told you! A dragon took him from me when I was running! Please if you let me go now I might find him before he is devoured!”

The second guard put his face right next to Teresa’s as he whispered, “As of now, both you and your fictional baby are now officially dead!”

The first guard pulled a lever, the floor beneath Teresa fell away, and the noose around her neck tightened further. As she hung there dieing she heard the gathered crowd cheer and jeer at her. Her last thought was that she would meet her baby again in the after life, she hoped.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two clan leader stood alone in their own personal cavern and discussed the day’s events. The larger of the two was pacing about their personal cave obviously agitated as it cursed under its breath.

“How could you just let her keep the child like that Zasvron!?!” the larger of the two clan leaders finally demanded of the smaller, “the child is obviously a human no matter what Sivarria says so why don't we kill it!?!”

“I let her keep the child because she is a valuable member of the clan. It is obvious she will not let the child go simply because we tell her to she is so enamored with the child.” The smaller said, “If I had said no she would have left the clan with the child or challenged one of us to a fight for leadership. While she is smaller than we are she is the craftiest of our number and might have even been able to win through some sort of trickery. If the child is indeed as she says it is and not a human after all, I will let her keep it. If the child shows that it is indeed a human we will dispose of it and have learned much about our enemy.”

“I say we kill it now!” the larger of the two leaders snarled.

“And that is why I am the supreme clan leader and you are not Albervork! You lack patients." Zasvron hissed before settling back onto her bed, "We will wait and see how things turn out before we decided if we should kill the child, he may become of use to us.”