Lindwell's Hero (Part IIV)

The view from the sky was absolutely breathtaking, so much so that for the first time in three years I didn't find my mind returning to my parents or the mess they had left me in. Instead I was stunned by the view of rivers and lakes, silver and gold, lining the valley of dragons. All this only seemed to complement the view of dragons below, their scales shimmering in the late-afternoon sun. The scenery was lush and green, greener than anything I had ever seen before. It was as though this dragon was trying to show me just how pure and good dragons could be, and thus far it was working.

At length we started our descent. The valley had come to a close. Our trajectory would not put us anywhere in the valley of dragons. Instead the black dragon had chosen a densely forested spot just to the side of the valley, which was itself encircled by mountains. We came down at the only open spot amidst the mountains on the shore of a pearly-blue lake. The landing was surprisingly soft, and once the dragon's claws were resting on the sand it lowered itself to let me off. I swung my leg over before sliding off the dragon. Upon finding I was off its back the dragon then stretched out its wings and flew up.

"Oh, is that what you wanted to do?" I asked, suddenly irritated again. Now I had just been tricked by the dragons, abandoned with probably a week or more's journey to get back to Lindwell, assuming I could even make it there. Before I could take my grumbling much further though I heard a splash come from the middle of the lake. Looking over I saw the black dragon soaring just a short distance away, its mouth full of fish. The dragon came back over, its mouth half shut to form an awkward smile--like a crocodile, I thought.

The dragon landed beside me, emptying the contents of its mouth on the beach in front of me. I winced at the putrid sight--I was fine with sea food, but the thought of it coming out of a dragon's mouth was disgusting. Still, my choices were limited. I picked through the pile of fish and chose out the two that looked like they had had the least amount of contact with the dragon's mouth. Next I headed into the forest, looking for some dry branches to start a fire with. The sun was beginning to set and it was sure to be chilly.

It didn't take long to gather enough wood for what I needed--the forest was virtually untouched, so anything that fell on the ground was just left there. With a bit of coaxing the dragon even lit the fire for me, and after I got together a pile of leaves and promptly started falling asleep as the adrenaline left my body, the dragon close beside me. "We need to find a name for you, I guess," I said through a yawn, "I was thinking Streak, what do you think?"

I didn't notice the dragon's reaction--I was asleep almost as soon as the words left my mouth. All in all the day had turned out well. Little did I realize as I lay there in that forest that our presence there had not gone unnoticed.