Chapter One

I never had any intention to be late; but Mistress Jasslee still let me get an earful when I arrived home.

"I told you to be back beforedinner!" She scolded, scooting me into the kitchen area. "Daiken and I have been worried sick!" I stummbled into the kitchen, the mister of the home, Daiken, smiling up at me, the table set with some biscuits and stew.

"Ah, Alys," he calmly greeted. "We've been waiting."

"I-I am sorry," I apologized yet again, feeling suddenly guilty for making them wait."I lost track of time, the sun doesn't seem to move as I swim around."

"Tsk, tsk!" Was all Mistress mumbled. Daiken smiled at me.

" At least you are safely home," he calmly said, clasping his hands together to say a quick prayer to God. He dropped his hands and turned solemn as he watched me dish my food. "It is said that bandit activity has increased lately; wouldn't want to get mugged or killed."

I only nodded in response, my mouth too full of stew to even speak. Mistress quickly mopped up the wet puddles I had brought in.

"Go put some dry clothes on, Alys," She commanded, eyeing my damp rags. "You'll catch cold if you run around in wet bandages." I dipped the roll in the soups broth and chomped off some before answering with a full mouth.

"Okay,I will."

I quickly slurped up the rest of my meal before taking the bowl to the sink. Mistress took it and added it to the pile of dishes she was planning of washing.

"You swim everyday," she pointed out, drying a dish. I took a rag and cleaned up the table while Daiken helped put the dishes in our old, wooden cupboards. "Don't you ever get sick of getting wet everyday? It's becoming winter as well; you're sure to catch a flu."

I laughed at her silly question. "I love swimming, mistress. I feel like a mermaid or a beautiful fish!"

Mistress scolded. "You know no such thing as mermaids exist, child."

"You didn't think dragons existed, either," I reminded her. "But one attacked us not more than a year ago. Surely, you must believe somewhat." Mistress 'huffed' and continued doing the dishes.

Daiken smiled his friendly smile at me and waved me away with his hand. "Go and get dress, Alys. Then I need you to run to Pastor Hikle to deliver a present Jasslee has made for him."

I walked to my small room. It was very clean, considering I was never in it besides when I slept. I changed into a peasant dress, tieing the bodice as nicely as I could by myself. The torso area was a little baggy, since I had no breast to fill the empty space. Twelve years old, and I still had no figure.

Mistress handed me the homemade present she had made, a nice robe for the Pastor to wear in the evenings. She also gave me two silver pieces and told me to buy some milk and cheese from Margret Mallroy on the way home.

As I left my house, a small little hut that was no bigger than any other person's in the village, I glanced around first to caution myself. Daiken had warned me about bandits, and I surely did not want to encounter one. I observed that the coast was clear, and I headed towards the St. Careloon Chapel. It was much smaller than what one would think, but it was still nice. The village huts were strewn about in a orderly fashion in front of the chapel. Our hut was merely a few houses away, but the Inn and Margrets house sat between us and the chapel.

I passed the noisy Inn, hearing men bellow out as ones told jokes and drake ale. The light flooded onto the street, lighting up a small path for me, for the sky was becoming darker and darker by the minute. The air started to get colder, I realized, as it started to bite at my nose.

However, the Chapel was nice and warm as I pushed through the oaken doors. Pastor Hikle was at the podium, reading the bible with the silver candlesticks resting behind him on another small table. He glanced up at me, and smiled, his beady black eyes squinting as his cheeks lifted.

"Child Alys, whatever brings you this lovely evening?"

I held out the robe as I approached him. "Mistress wanted to give this to you. As a gift." The Pastor was very pleased as he took the robe, and held it under one arm.

"Many thanks to her, Daiken, and you yourself, dear."

I bowed my response. I straightened to ask a question. "Any interesting news lately, Pastor? This one is mighty curious."

The Pastor licked his lips, like he was getting ready to talk quite a bit."Well, there was a brawl just north of here," he started, pointing in the general direction."There were many, many men fighting to kill a dragon."

I tensed. "A dragon?"

"Aye, a dragon of pure black; the worst kind there is! Black dragons are known to be deceiving little creatures..." He paused briefly, like he was reminding himself of the story. "It had eaten the locals livestock and the village-men were very upset. They took their swords and ran after the beast." He made a quick sign of the cross before continuing. "I've heard though, however, that they never killed the beast, only mortally wounded it. They figured, as it flew away into the distance, that it would fall and die on it's own."

I paused for a moment, considering. "He would die... Alone?" I murmured, looking up into the pastors eyes.

"Do no feel sympathy for the creature, dear Alys. Dragons feel no emotion."

I took that into consideration, but still felt a little sad. Nobody wishes to die alone, I thought, looking away. Even if they're not human. "Thank you, Pastor, for your time." I bowed my head, then left the chapel.

Margret seemed to be waiting for me as I walked out of the chapel towards her house. She was a lonely widow who's husband died of the winter sickness two years ago. She relied on her little goat to produce enough milk to sell to keep her striving.

"The normal, Ms. Mallroy, please." She handed me the small block of hand-made cheese and a clear bottle of milk. I gave her the two silver coins and smiled at her.

"You're going to have the most beautiful smile when you're older, my dear Alys." My smile melted into a confused look. Margret laughed lowly, reaching out to touch my face, but I reflexively took a step back. She laughed at my response, taking back her hand. "Just you wait and see." I had to remind myself that Margret had gone a little crazy since the death of her husband.

But I still thanked her, and left the house in a hurry.

The next morning was a little bit more colder than it had been the previous morning. I woke up, shocked to find that goosebumps had risen on my arms when I climbed out of my bed. I wrapped myself in the blanket and walked out to the kitchen. Mistress was cooking breakfast; smelling like heated up soup from last night and maybe some porridge. I sat at the table, gazing out our kitchen window. It was all foggy, and the sun could just barely peek through.

"Mistress," I calmly asked. "How cold is it outside this morning."

A thin, worked hand appeared in front of me, placing a bowl of porridge on the table. "Cold enough to freeze the tears of the small children whom lost a mother," she replied, turning back to the counter. I picked up the spoon she had gave me, and took a bite of the cold porridge.

"Where's Daiken?" He normally would be up before me. Mistress didn't answer right away, which told me something was wrong. "What happened?" I almost shrieked. "He didn't get hurt, did he?"

"No, no, lower your voice," Mistress demanded. "He's just felt very ill lately; he went to the pastor for help."

I bowed my head as if to pray. Hopefully he'll get better, I thought, wishing with all my heart.

Once my bowl was polished, the sun had broken through the darkness, and the cottage was getting warmer. I stood from the table, going back to my room. I quickly undressed and wrapped myself in my 'swimming clothes' which was simply bandages wrapped around my torso and hips and thighs (if I even had any). I put my clothes over to trick the Mistress. I walked back out, waving at her.

"Well, I'm off. If Daiken gets home before I do, tell him I wish him the best." I took a step out the door.

"Wait, Alys." Mistress called to me. "If you're going swimming, I want you to take your bat; Daiken warned us about the rise of mugs lately."

"S-sure," I replied, a little miffed that she knew about my swimming plans.

I collected my wooden bat by the door as I walked out. I've never had to use it, but Daiken still taught me how to weild the bat. I said goodbye one more time before closing the door behind me.

My swimming place was precious to me; no one else besides me knew where it was. It was hidden among the trees, and it would be very difficult to find if you didn't know where you were going. I found it by mere accident; I had been wandering around in the forest looking for a certain herb Mistress wanted. I found myself lost, but I ended up coming upon my swimming hole instead. I spent the day swimming in it before I followed the river way back to the village.

It took me a while to find it again after that, not daring to go back up the water way due to someone in the village seeing were I was going and follow. I found another path, one that was well hidden. Only my eyes could see the small signs that I had made for a path to the pond.

It was a nice little opening, the water always shining brightly in the was only a couple of times were I've found a dead body in the waters. The village up near the place where the river started was a crime filled town; massacres were always going on there. The stream's waters were very clean half of the time, but, it was still a nice luxury if you thought of it.

The trees opened up in a small oval above the waters surface, shadowing the gray rocks that edged the pool in little spots that resembled leaves and branches. When you'd walk up from my 'hidden' path, the shore you were standing on would have tree roots breaching from the ground, making a nice seat. On the opposite shore was a little dug-out into the side of the hill, defiantly made from weathering. The rocks were small little pebbles over there, a change that I had made in order for some comfort when I stayed nights here in the summer.

I happily smacked through the branches of the forest, the sun already peeping through the trees thick, green canvas. I started stripping of my clothes before I got to the swimming hole, very eager to get there for some reason. By the time I got to the clearing with the tree roots poking up everywhere, I was in my swimming bandages, my bare toes curling around the warm rocks. I placed the bat against a rock hastily.

I threw my clothes over one of the roots, about to splash noisily into the water, when suddenly, I stopped.

I gasped when I looked across my pond.

A giant black object was piled over under the dug-out, and it was moving; it was breathing. I stared, not moving, studying the object. It had scales, shimmering black scales that glimmered so brightly in the dim morning light.

I took a step back, breathing in slowly. I hoped that the thing didn't notice me, and maybe I could get away.

However, the object was suddenly moving, and before I knew it, two beautiful golden eyes were staring at me, a head lifting up from the black blob.

It was a black dragon.

A small dragon; but still a dragon, none-of-the-less!

I tried to take a step back, but my body was frozen under the dragons deep, cold stare. I shakily held up my hands, clasping them together. I found myself on my knees, my head bowed.

"Please, Mr. Dragon, please forgive me for intruding your sleep!"

There was no response, and when I looked up, the dragon had put it's head down again. It's breaths were rough, ragged, like it was in pain.

I unfolded myself from the ground, standing slowly. "Hey, Mr. Dragon?" I calmly asked, taking slow unsure steps into the water. "Are you the one that the men tried to kill a little ways away...?" The pastors words suddenly flew in my head-- he'll die on it's own.

The dragon didn't respond, which gave me a little more courage to dive underwater. I quickly swam to the other side, crawling up onto the shore-- a far distance between me and the dragon. I suddenly fell, slipped on something.

I sat up, groaning in embarrassment. I looked at my hands curled into fists, and gasped. They were covered in blood! I quickly examined myself, seeing where I was injured. None of my skin was broken or slashed... I stared at the pool of blood at my knees, and I followed the path up to where the dragon was laying; the blood was coming from him.

I stood up quickly, ignoring the awful stench of blood on my hands.

"Are you hurt?" I slowly started walking towards him, making sure that his long talons weren't in reaching distance of me. "Can I help in any way?"

The dragon reacted now, his intense, captivating eyes opening and staring at me in the most confusing way. I knew what he was wondering; Why? Why help me, a dragon?

I answered with the truth I felt. "Nothing should die alone," I stated, grinning widely at him. Then my face fell. "I'm not a pretty maiden like the ones the dragons always want in the fables, but,"--I gave him a quick laugh--" I'm even better. I'm a friend. I want to help."

The dragon looked like he rolled his eyes, but I wasn't sure. I scowled angrily at him. Forgetting that he was a dragon and could slice me into pieces with one sudden move, I stomped up to his face. He watched me warily; not at all afraid. I shoved my hands in his face.

"Let me help; you owe me something. Look, you got my hands all gross and bloody." He gave me a look that I couldn't quite decipher, but it reminded me of a look that said 'that's not my problem.' I growled and him and brought my hands back to my sides.

"Listen," I snapped. " Let me at least heal your wound a little. Or treat it so it'll heal right." The dragon made a throaty noise, and I thought for a moment that he was going to eat me anyways. But, only his wing was lifted, the sound almost deafening. The tip of his wing brushed against the trees branches, making a flock of birds flurry away.

I brought my attention back to the dragons' side. I almost gasped, but instead, gawked. The gash was HUGE! Maybe even the size of my torso, and as wide as any gluttoned fooled man.

"Wow, they, uh..." I struggled for words. "They really got you good, huh?" Blood was pouring out of the gash now, and I noticed that his wing was dripping with the deep red liquid. He must have been using his wing to put pressure on it to stop the bleeding. And the stench was almost over bearing!

I had to turn away to take a breath. "Give me a minute," I said quickly, jumping back into the water. I made sure all the blood on my hands was off before I sumberged on the other side. I grabbed my tattered dress that I had worn here, and swam back across the little pool.

The dragon hadn't let his bloodied wing down, and his massive body was heaving with deep breaths. His entrancing gold eyes were studying me intently, watching my every move. I carfully went to his side, watching him watching me. If he was going to kill me, I at least wanted to see it coming. But he only gazed at me as I slowly dabbed at the wound with my wet dress. It was quickly covered in blood, so I had to run back to the pond and wash it out many times.

Soon, I started to concentrate on actually cleaning the wound rather than watch him. It seemed he trusted me now; at least a little. I could say I trusted that he wasn't going to kill me- at least not yet, anyway.

The wound stopped bleeding after a while of dabbing at it with a clothes. I then rubbed away the dried up blood that had crusted around the wound, making his scales shimmer as brightly as the ones on his back.

"There!" I brightly smiled at him. "Now that wasn't that bad, now was it?"

I should have saw my death coming, but I was still surprised when suddenly his wing closed down on me, crushing me against his side.

The wings were still covered with blood; dry blood, but it still was a nasty, metallic smell. I tried to scream, but hysteria got the better side of me and held me still like a frightened baby goat. Why had I left the bat on the other side?

It didn't stop tears from coming to my eyes and flowing down my cheeks. I'm sorry Mistress, I thought, clamping my eyes tightly. For everything that I've done wrong, I guess. And God, I'm terribly sorry that I trusted such a... a trickster. I ignored the signs you tried to send to me...

I couldn't think of anything that would have been a sign, but that just proved my point more. Please let Daiken live, too. Mistress needs him.

The dragon growled, his scales bristling slightly behind my back. The growl rumbled deep in his chest, making my body quiver. I bit my bottom lip, a small sob breaking though my lips. "I'm sorry," I whispered. To who?

Myself?

The dragon?

I couldn't be sure, and I wasn't. And why wasn't the dragon crushing my bones, why wasn't he squeezing all my blood out of me? To think of it, there was no more pressure on me, and there was light shining against my closed lids. There was a slight breeze, and there was a smell of water.

I must have died already and was in heaven. I didn't dare open my eyes, however; I must have been afraid of meeting my real parents in heaven.

There was a deep noise, a familiar noise. I opened my eyes, and found my little swimming area, crystal clear. I quickly turned around, staring at the dragon. He was looking at me, still making the deep noise in his throat. I suddenly realized it was a laugh, seeing the clear amusement in his gold eyes.

"Y-you didn't k-kill me?" I stuttered, backing away from the dragon. Once I was far enough away, he folded his wing to his side again, this time, my body being on the outside.

The dragon lowered his head to the rocks again, a rough sigh coming from his nostrils.

I wiped at my face hastily, my cheeks still tear-stained. But more appeared and fell down the curve of my face. I walked slowly to the dragons head, sat in front of his lowered nose, and layed my head on the warm scales.

I cried aloud, then, my sobs no longer silenced. I hid my face in my arms, the breaths coming from his big nostrils tousling my short hair. I pounded my weak fist on his hard scales. "That was an awful trick," I whimpered. "I thought I was dead." My voice broke with sobs.

Once the tears stopped falling, I felt my body fill with weariness from the heat of his scales and the burning sun. I let my eyes droop shut.

I lifted my head from the beasts muzzle. He still had his golden eyes plastered on my tiny frame, only they were a lot more... well, they weren't warm, but they were less cold then they had been before. I wiped at my face, rubbing away the salt that had stayed behind from my tears. I realized that I had fallen asleep on his nose as I groggily sat up.

I sniffled, then my stomach growled. I flushed slightly. "Hey, you hungry?" I stood, brushing my bloodied rags of dirt. "I could catch you a fish or something." The dragon shook his head in the tiniest of ways. "I'm not that good at hunting bigger game; like deer and stuff," I pointed out. "But I guess I could try." The dragon shook it's head in a small way again before I could head out.

"What do you want, then?" I asked, bending over, putting my hands on my knees so I could level my eyes with his.

He gave no response.

I sighed. "Nothing, then?" He made a quick nodding gesture. I stood straight staring up at the sky.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed. It was already getting dark. Where'd all that time go?

I hesitantly turned back to the dragon. His eyes were finally closed, and his breathing had finally calmed.

"Hey," I declared, pointing at the general direction of my village. I waited till the dragon looked up at me. "I live in the village nearby. I'm going home, now, okay?" He closed his eyes again, unconcerned. I bit my lip in hesitation. "I-if you need anymore help, I'll be there, okay?"

The dragon opened his amazing, golden eyes and stared into my eyes, into my very soul. Then laughed deeply in his throat. I flushed, turned, swam across the water, grabbed the wooden bat, and ran all the way home.

I made it home before dinner this time, Mistress and Daiken (to my intense pleasure) were just setting the table when I stumbled in.

Daiken was the one to freak out first. "You're all bloody!" He cried, standing up so quick he sent his chair to the floor. "What's happened?" He started coming over to my side, but I raised my hands defensively.

"I'm fine, Daiken. There was just another dead guy in the pool today; I had to drag his bloody body out of the water. I managed to get some on me even." Daiken calmed immediately and I placed my bat by the door again.

Mistress continued to set the table after staring at me in shock. "How terrible," she whispered. "When will this idiotic war end?"

Daiken picked his chair back up and sat in it. He was staring at me, studying the blood on my rags. "It doesn't look like human blood," he whispered, eyeing me with suspicion. I sucked in a breath, giving him an innocent look.

"He had obviously been there for a while; probably since last night. The blood was no longer rich and ripe. He had been dead long before."

Daiken accepted this explanation and I slipped back into my room to change. Once I was in my nightgown, a light blue soft material, I quickly ate dinner and washed my bowl before either Mistress or Daiken were done.

"You're in such a hurry, Alys. What is it?" Mistress asked, slurping some broth quietly. I didn't know why I was so fidgety, so I came up with the best assumption I had

"I've been hungry all day." I stopped, thinking how the dragon must have been hungry also, but still refused my help. I looked over my shoulder to gaze at Mistress. "Do you think tomorrow that I'll be able to take a couple of snacks to go swimming?"

Mistress smiled at me. "Of course; what would you like?"

"How about some venison...? I mean, that will be good all day." Mistress laughed.

"Okay, that will be fine." Surely the dragon would like meat. I smiled at the thought.

Then I began to realize how lucky I was to be home right then, to be alive. The dragon could have eaten me and I would have been gone. Daiken and the Mistress would have spent years and years looking for me, and I would have been in the black dragons tummy the whole time.

Maybe he let me live because he saw that I didn't have much to eat, I was very thin, and hardly had meat on my bones. Maybe he knew that it wouldn't be worth it.

Suddenly, even if I had slept half the day away on the dragons muzzle, I was so tired. I yawned and bade goodnight to both of the grown-ups. I curled under my covers in my bed, and fell sleep immediately.