D is for Dragon

There was a dragon in the sky. She didn't know where it came from. Her first instinct was to run and hide in the cottage. But mother told her to be strong; that fear was a weakness. If she ran, she'd be spotted, and eaten on the spot. If she stayed, it probably would ignore her. She stared up into the sky and did not move. The dragon circled above, spiraling lower and lower. The little girl took several deep breaths; the dragon was growing larger as it came closer to her, much larger than she anticipated. But it was too late now.

The dragon landed with a thud on the little piece of dry land surrounding the cottage. Morrigan stared directly at the dragon's purple talons; ominously, it was the only thing at eye level. Her eyes moved upward, and she squinted into the dragon's face. It looked back at her with oddly familiar gold eyes. The dragon roared, blasting her with wind and sound. She dug her feet in and refused to be pushed backwards, though she did clamp her hands over her ears. She glared at the dragon. If it was going to eat her, it probably would have done so already. The beast huffed, and started to shimmer and blur. It made her queasy just looking at it, so she closed her eyes.

"Morrigan." The dry voice crackled in her ears. The little girl opened her eyes. The dragon was gone, and in it's place was her mother, looking as stern as ever. "I thought I told you to pratice your exercises."

"I was. I needed more space, so I came outside. Are you the dragon?" She asked. It was the only thing that made sense; that or Flemeth killed the dragon, but somehow she doubted that.

"Brave, but foolish, girl. You think you'd still be alive if I wasn't the dragon?" Flemeth laughed, mirthlessly. Morrigan's cheeks flamed red in embarrassment. She made the wrong choice again, and didn't know it.

"I didn't know you could change forms." She said, trying to salvage what little remained of her dignity.

"There's a lot of things you don't know, girl."

"Will you teach me?"

"Yes. I will teach you how to change your shape. You can run with the beasts of the forest to your heart's content. You can even make friends with them; or at least you can try. But only if you work hard and do exactly as I say." That sounded wonderful, but as young as she was, she knew that Flemeth was very careful about her wording, and she could tell something was missing.

"Will you teach me how to become a dragon?" She persisted. Flemeth peered at her daughter with narrowed eyes.

"You will never be a dragon." With that, Flemeth brushed past the crestfallen Morrigan and into the cottage. "Continue with your exercises, girl."

She stood there fuming. Never? Not if she had anything to say about it. One day she would prove to her mother that she was just as strong as her. One day. She wiped away the tears that were welling up in her eyes with one hand and pulled out a misshapen wooden staff with the other. She took a deep breath and sent a fireball careening into the nearest bush.

A/N: I've said before that this was going to be non-linear, so we get to see a young Morrigan in this one and the next one. Yey for being on a writing kick!