Child of the Dragon

by Shadow Firetail

Ch. 2: The secret tree

Roland made his way to his secret spot unaware that it was at this spot that his life would change forever. He made himself comfortable in his perch and began to read. While he was reading, he had an uneasy feeling that someone was watching him. A she elf named Rose was watching over him. Rose found Roland intriguing. Rose kept her distance unsure of how he would react. He had a strange feeling that this tree was meant for him. Rose watched over Roland to make sure he'd be safe.

Rose had been watching over Roland for a few months now. She finally had enough courage to go and introduce herself. As she emerged from the shadows, Roland's jaw dropped. Never in his life had he seen anyone or anything so beautiful.

She said" Hi. My name is Rose."

Roland replied" Hello. My name is Roland."

It was with this quaint little introduction that they began a great relationship.
They shared their favorite things to do. They met at their favorite tree everyday..

His father noticed a change and asked why he was smiling. The answer surprised him, but he said" I thank thee whoever taught my son to smile again."

As several weeks passed, their relationship grew stronger. One day while at the tree, Rose didn't show up. He kept going but he never saw Rose. When she got to the tree, it told her of how Roland's tears have soaked its roots. Rose waited at the tree and soon saw Roland emerge from the tree line. They ran to each others arms and gave hugs. They sat and talked for awhile. When Rose told Roland about what the tree told her, he was shocked.

They decided that their special tree needed to have a name. Roland thought R&R was a nice name. Their initials. Rose agreed with Roland upon the name. They met there everyday. While reading his book, he was unaware of the danger that slithered towards him from below. Rose saw the serpent and ran towards him but she was too late. The snake had already bitten him and dissipated. As she saw the snake dissipate, she realized that it was conjured by dark magic. Holding Roland tightly to her, she cast a spell to travel back to her home. When she picked up Roland and walked through the portal, she arrived at her home in the Dragon lands of Equestria. A small village of elves lived in the forest that could be found there. Crying out for help, Rose entered the village. Members of the elven doctor unit ran to assess the problem. Rose had a young boy clinging on to his life just barely due to the venom from the serpent. The doctors had to put him in a coma to slow down the spread of the venom through his blood. Rose was weeping for she feared she lost her best friend. What made her feel even worse is because she couldn't do anything to help him.

A few weeks and several enchantments, Roland pulled out of the coma alive with almost no ill effects from the venom. The only effect was that Roland was now blind. As he woke up and opened his eyes, he realized he was blind. Tears ran anew for his favorite thing to do in life was read. Rose wept for she understood all too well what having something you hold most dear snatched away from you. She watched and held Roland as he cried himself to sleep on Rose's shirt. When she was sure that Roland was asleep, she went to the village elders. She requested permission to take him to the Dragon stream in the middle of the forest. She was given permission.

The next morning, Rose woke up Roland early.
Roland asked " What time is it?" When Rose replied the time, he freaked.

Roland asked" Why did we have to get up so early?"

While Rose walked beside Roland, she reached for his hand to help guide him. Questions ran through Roland's mind as he was being led towards their destination. They walked in silence listening to the birds of the forest. Songs so beautiful that were never heard before by Roland. As they were halfway towards their destination, Roland began to ask questions about where they were going.

Roland asked" Where are we going?"

Rose replied" We are traveling towards the Dragon river."

Roland asked" Why is it called the Dragon river?"

Rose began to tell him the story of how it got its name but stopped as they had finally reached their destination. They stopped and sat for a bit. Rose reached and grabbed his hand and gently guided it to the water.

When he felt the water, Roland exclaimed with awe and wonder in his voice" It is warm!! Why is the river warm?"

Rose said" The water is warm because it was created by a lonely dragon."

When Roland didn't understand, she began to tell the full story.

Rose said" A long time ago, there was a dragon who was different than the rest. She never frightened the elves or tried to cause them harm. When the elves saw her troding up the road some went to greet her while others hid in fear, a fear which was rather unjustified. The dragon of skin as white as snow and eyes as blue as sapphires, had allowed the young elves to climb onto her back. She carried them halfway to the center of the village before they jumped off. The elves befriended the gorgeous dragon and honored her.

While the dragon played with the young elves, another dragon watched from the shadows. Skin as black as obsidian and eyes as red as fire. This dragon had a heart to match his skin. The white dragon left for the day and went home. While sleeping in her cave, she awoke to the heart shattering screams of terror and anguish. When she arrived at the village where all her friends lived, not a single soul was left alive. She sat above the second highest peak of the mountain and wept. She cried and cried for two centuries. The other dragons heard how one of their own had harmed her, they sent a few to try and console her and the rest went to search for the one who had hurt her.

When the dragons found the young white dragon, her cries of anguish broke their hearts. The pain, the loss, and the suffering that this young dragon had to bear alone was too much. As they approached the young dragon whom they knew, they noticed that her eyes had changed from their beautiful sapphire blue to a deep shade of purple and they had lost their twinkle as well.

The dragons told her that they were searching for the one who committed such a heinous act.

This made the white dragon rear her head and say" when you find him, bring him to me. I want him to know the terror, the pain, and the suffering this act caused. I will deal with him personally."

Well they eventually found the black dragon and he was given to the white dragon. When he noticed that this was the same white dragon from the village he had attacked, he felt the ice cold grip of fear. As the white dragon opened her eyes, the black dragon noticed her eyes had changed colors and lost their twinkle. This made the black dragon even more terrified of the white dragon because every dragon knows that when a dragon's eyes change color and lose their twinkle, that that particular dragon has lost everything which they had held dear. It was these dragons which were the ones to be careful of. The white dragon walked up to him and began to torture him. She used her claws to take off his wings first. She gave him deep gashes all over his body, and while he cried out in pain and terror, she felt nothing. No sorrow, no remorse, and no pain. Then finally she killed the black dragon with a claw to the jugular. The white dragon went back to her peak on the mountain and her tears flowed with renewed force. She couldn't figure out why she still felt empty. She had killed the razer of the village but she still felt empty. Her tears eventually flowed their way to the river, and imbuing it with dragon magic. It is the dragon's magic that made the river warm."

As Rose finished telling the story, Roland's sightless eyes widened in amazement. He never knew that a dragon had magic or had even cried. It was strange because he could kinda relate to the dragon. He also noticed many similarities from the dragon story in his village to this story. It made him feel sorry for the dragon.

After a few minutes she left Roland so that he could get undressed and get into the river. When he waded into the river, he couldn't help but feel relaxed. He closed his eyes and just floated around. About an hour later, he heard the sounds of leaves rustling and branches breaking. Everything had become eerily silent after the noises from the trees. Roland became terrified.

Roland cried out" Rose? Rose is that you? Rose?"

No answer came from the familiar voice. When no one answered his call, he began to relax a little bit but was still cautious. He swam around the part of the river he was at for awhile but then decided to get out. When he had finally got out of the river, he felt a warm breeze on the back of his neck. It felt quite nice he thought. The more he thought about it the more he realized it was a dragon. The dragon then spoke to him asking him a single question.

She asked" Why do you not run in terror from me?"

Roland said" I can't see you."

The dragon then knew that the young boy was helpless because he was blind. She took care of the boy. She made a fire for him to warm himself by. She covered him with her wing when he fell asleep. Not to long after, she fell asleep as well. Twenty minutes after the pair fell asleep, Rose came by to see how he was doing.

When Rose saw the dragon guarding him like her son, she left as quietly as she could to inform the village of this phenomenon. When she arrived and told the chief, he decided he would see for himself. As the chief arrived, he saw it was true. He then returned and nodded that it was true. The entire village gasped with awe.

While he was ten in human years, the dragon saw him as a baby. As the dragon began to nurse him, his skin changed. It was going from pale to the dragon's skin color. When they woke up, the dragon flew Roland and her to her cave. They stayed in the cave for a few days and then she returned him to the village.

While Roland was there, he spoke with the dragon.

He asked" Are you the dragon from the story rose told me?"

The dragon replied" Yes. It is I from the story. My name is Ashira Brighteyes."

Roland sat there awestruck. The story was real. He also realized that his skin had changed as well as his ears had. They flew towards the village and they landed outside the village. Roland got off of Ashira's back with no problem at all. Ashira and Roland walked into the village side by side. Rose knew the dragon immediately.

She said" You're the dragon from the story I told Roland at the river, aren't you?"

The dragon said" Yes. I am. My name is Ashira Brighteyes."

The entire village bowed to show respect. Dragons were honored and revered in many cultures. A dragon's name is its most precious treasure. To know a dragon's true name was considered the highest honor a dragon could give.

Comments

[Nova Nexus]

This is very hard to follow and is really confusing too.