The Last Dragon Slayer

veryI am getting too old to be chasing dragons. The problem is that dragons are very rare and so are dragon hunters. You could say that we are both a dying breed and like most things heading for extinction by definition, we are few, very few. So I find myself on one more quest riding my old warhorse, Castor and followed my faithful old deerhound, Pollux. Yes, I do have a Crown Warrant issued by the grandfather of the present king so that it is now faded. We make a somewhat sad procession as wend our way slowly towards the high hills and the source of trouble. It seems that a small town has petitioned the Crown to rid it of a dragon which has been taking farmers stock and as I am the last and only dragon slayer in the land with a royal warrant I was summoned to go and sort the problem out. On the face of it, I doubt very much if a dragon is involved my past experience is that it is either bears or wolves that are taking the animals.

Mind you; I have had some epic battles with dragons in my long life. Riding slowly towards a distant town gives me lots of time to think back. Yes, I suppose the first time I came face to face with a dragon, I must have been about 16 or 17 years of age. That time in your life when you believe that you are almost immortal and can achieve anything you set your mind to. Ah, the follies of youth. At that time, my family lived in a small rural community. We farmed as did most of our neighbours. One day a close neighbour said that something was taking his sheep. He had assumed that it was a bear or wolves, but no carcasses were left, which was a puzzle. It was my mother who first suggested, to much ridicule, that it might be a dragon. My mother had a gift for seeing many things that other people do not perceive. It seems that somewhere in the past, my mother's family had been involved with the fey. How close I never did find out but enough to say that my mother had more than a drop of fey blood in her veins.

So a bunch of guys mounted on ponies and armed with a ragtag of weapons set out to search and kill whatever was taking the sheep. What we discovered changed my life. As we searched through the forest, loudly calling to one another, we came across a large clearing. I say a clearing, but this was not a clearing in the usual sense of the word here the trees had been torn up and left scattered around making it difficult to ride through. As I recall when we found this clearing, everyone fell silent wondering what could have caused such damage. Soon enough, we found out. From out of the centre came a sound the like of which I, for one, had never heard. A rasping roar followed by a monstrous flapping of leathery wings as the beast took off. It was indeed, a dragon. I managed to get one arrow off, but it just bounced off its thick hide.

Luckily for us, the beast was more interested in getting away from us rather than attacking us. To this day, I am still not sure what colour the dragon was. My memory is that it was a copper or bronze colour.

Later, when I returned home, my mother said that we had been very lucky. Bronze and copper coloured dragons are generally rather shy and are the least bad-tempered of all the dragons. Having had sight of my first dragon, I transfixed about dragons, and I pestered my mother for all the information she knew about the beasts. As I was to learn later, much of what she told me was a mixture of folklore and half-remembered truths from the fey. I can still recall that I was excited to chase after this beast we had disturbed in the forest. Not being able to persuade me otherwise, she gave me a sword that she had kept from her grandfather. He had been a blacksmith and clearly, he had had dealings with the fey as this sword was not the typical run of the mill sword a blacksmith might make. The sword was a beautiful slender bladed weapon that looks almost fragile which most definitely was not and its edge was razor sharp. This sword, my mother said, was a weapon that would cut through the toughest dragon hide. This sword to this day lies, light, across my back, and every time I draw it, I am reminded of my mother's tears as I rode away.

Chasing that first dragon, I soon came to understand that dragons can fly much faster than a man can ride. Although I kept up my pursuit for several months it was always a case of wherever I arrived, yes, it was here last week or a few days ago, it killed some stock but had moved on. I finally ran out of money and luck, well, perhaps not out of luck altogether. I was close to a large town with a big castle. The castle was hiring men at arms, so I signed on for a fixed term of five years to serve. During those five years, I learnt many fighting skills and useful survival techniques that have stood me in good stead ever since. My term of five years had just ended when news came of dragon making raids on a small town. I petitioned to be allowed to hunt and slay this dragon. Permission granted and I duly dispatched my first dragon. The reward plus the rather tiny horde of gold that the blue had collected gave me more than enough to set me up with my proper first warhorse and some decent armour. I had enough left over to send some coin to my mother plus I was able to pay for an application to the Crown for a Royal Warrant as a dragon slayer.

On being granted the Royal Warrant, I found out that there were several other dragon slayers in the kingdom although they were all elderly. I managed to contact one and was able to spend some time with him. Harold had been in his day a formidable dragon slayer, and in turn for keeping him supplied with copious amounts of beer and wine, he passed on his knowledge of dragons. It was Harold who first told me the importance of dragon names and never to look a dragon in the eye for if you did, you could well be enchanted. I came to understand that dragons belong to a very ancient linage and that they are very slow to breed. I learnt dragons if left undisturbed lived for a very long time many human lifetimes. Over this long life, dragons have acquired many skills and that it was possible to converse with a dragon. The one other interesting fact was that dragons have a peculiar fascination with gold and jewels. Harold believed that they got this lust for gold from the dwarfs in an earlier age, but I have never been able to get to confirm if this is true. One other well-known fact is that the older dragons spend a lot of time sleeping almost like a form of hibernation. However, once they are awake, they need to feed but having fed they are quite likely to go back to sleep. A lesser-known fact is that the older dragons when they are awake seem to be very bad-tempered. Old dragon hunters had a saying, 'let sleeping dragons lie'.

So it turned out that I was the only official working dragon slayer as none of the other warrant holders now felt inclined to chase dragons in their old age. Whenever a dragon did appear and if it caused a problem, I was the one sent to sort that problem out. I have to say that all through my middle years, I did very well, and the rewards from my unusual profession kept me in a comfortable lifestyle. One other remarkable thing is that I seem to have inherited some of the fey blood from my mother as I have aged but very slowly, and I have outlived all of my contemporariness. Even now, in my old age, I am still fit and well with none of the aches and pains usually associated with age. I have tended to spend less time in my later years killing dragons; instead, I have come to understand that there are better ways to deal with a nuisance dragon. Given enough time, I have found it quite possible to persuade a dragon to move on to areas less populated with humans. A little pressure works wonders when the dragon in question does not have a horde to guard. It is a different matter when the dragon involved has a horde then reason and or threats do not work, and often the only answer is the sword. Yes, the sword that my mother gave to me all those long years ago, is recognised by the dragons. They know it and they many knew its maker in ages past. So a sight of the sword is often of itself sufficient to stir the most reluctant dragon to leave.

Well, all this thinking about the past had brought me to the point of our journey. I have arrived in a little town where a dragon has been creating problems. From what the good people say, I would hazard a guess that we are dealing with a white dragon as it only appears at night and seems to avoid sunlight. Luckily, I have not had to deal with a white dragon for ages as they are scarce. Lucky because whites are very temperamental and bad-tempered. Plus they will not move in daylight and would rather die than face the sun. It seems that the sun burns their pale skins. This particular dragon has taken up residence in an old abandoned castle, and according to local rumour, it has a vast horde. I can foresee that this dragon is going to be a pain to shift.

I spent last night at the town inn sleeping in a comfortable bed, my one luxury, after several nights under canvas. I had a good breakfast and then proceeded up to the castle and the dragon. The fortress is on a hill surrounded by a wood, and there is a well-made road leading up to it. The castle has been out of commission for a very long time given that the wood has been allowed to grow up. When the castle was inhabited, a cleared killing zone would be free of trees in front of the walls. The road from the town to the base of the hill was in reasonable condition just overgrown in places. I left my horse at the bottom of the hill and Pollux and I went on foot. The roadway and the walls were damaged. The damage also suggested that I would be facing a big dragon. At the castle entrance, it was possible to gauge the size of the beast as several rows of stones from the top of the gateway arch were torn down as it passed through. This dragon was a big beast and a white and therefore miserable and bad-tempered. Wisely Pollox decided to go no further. A wise dog he should live to a ripe old age. I pressed on trying to be as quiet as possible over the loose rubble.

The dragon had made its home in the grand hall of the old castle and was curled up asleep. At least I thought it was sleeping but as I crept around the dragon stirred and it lashed its rather large tail bring down part of the wall where I had hidden. I had to move, and I searched for the door that would take me up to the balcony where in times past the musicians would have played. Like all castles, there are many hidden stairways and passages were servants could move around unseen. I found the door and quickly climbed the narrow stairs. Cautiously I moved out on to the balcony to get a better look at the dragon. It was difficult in the gloom of the great hall to see clearly, but I could see well enough to make out a giant white dragon, and I could also see that it was a female and she lay curled around an egg. This egg would never hatch here in this damp cold castle ruin. But it did explain why the dragon had remained in the castle for so long.

The dragon opened one eye and spoke in a harsh whispery tone.

"I can smell you a little man or yet" the dragon hesitated

"perhaps it is not just a little man as I can smell fey. I have not had sight nor sound of the fey for many a long year. The fey were once our friends in ages long past when we were young, and the land was free of man. Show yourself, why do you lurk hiding in shadows?"

I remained hidden and silent in the little stairway for I knew from experience that it is never wise to converse with a dragon. But I was now in something of a dilemma. My plan, which had been to slay a sleeping dragon was now in tatters, and I now faced with a wide-awake large female bad-tempered white. A little bell chimed in my head. I only knew of one female white dragon, and I was almost sure that I knew her name. Having a dragons' name is the most useful weapon a dragon slayer could have, but it would mean getting into a conversation with the beast. It was a gamble in which the stakes would be very high – my life if I were wrong. Putting such thoughts to the back of my mind, I took a deep breath and stepped out on to the balcony. As I did, the dragon lurched to her feet and then crouched ready to spring the short distance up to the gallery. Rapidly I played my trump card.

"I name you Tanwen, the White Fire dragon.

The dragon let out a deep sigh and sank into a crouch.

"You are of the fey for they named me so ages and ages ago. I had almost forgotten until now. I suppose that you now want me to grant you three wishes, but choose wisely for I, Tanwen, will kill you once you have had your wishes."

I could not resist the opportunity to find out a little more about this dragon while I had the chance.

"Tanwen, tell me how come you are here in this damp and mouldering castle with an egg when you know full well it will not hatch here."

"So little man, one wish you have. Be careful for you only have two left. I came here several moons ago. This castle was empty and there were deer in the wood to eat. So I linger here but taking the cow so close to the town was a mistake for which I am paying a heavy price. The egg was an accident, a mischance. I am old, very old, and I had not planned to lay it here, and I fear now that it will never hatch."

In a moment of weakness, I knew what I had to do. Dragons have been my life, and although my job is to rid the land of them the thought of a time when dragons might not exist filled me with deep melancholy and sadness.

"Tanwen for my second wish I want to send your egg to a place that you know where it will hatch in peace and grow…"

The dragon cut me off.

"Why would you want such a thing. It seems to me that you are selfish for what will men do to another dragon?"

"No, "I replied, "It seems to me that land without dragons would be an empty, hollow place, and I could think of nothing worse. Yes, once your offspring has grown, we might have to watch our livestock, but I genuinely believe that that would be a small price to pay to keep the magic alive.

"So," replied Tanwen, "you are of the fey as I could smell for only the fey would think in that way. You are an unusual part man and part fey. But I thank you for your wish. My child will now thrive down the ages yet to come. Now you come to your last wish and please choose wisely for I have no wish now to kill you but I will if I get the opportunity."

I thought long and hard before I spoke.

“Tanwen, you are old indeed, and perhaps ancient would be a better description of your age. Your wings are ragged and the damage does not repair itself like it once did. I could offer you the rest you seek if that is what you wish."

"Indeed, I could think of nothing better." the dragon sighed.

At that moment the dragon, Tanwen, gently collapsed into a heap of lifeless bones scattered across the floor of the hall. When the dust has settled, I took a tooth as a token that I had done my job as the last dragon slayer. Riding home, I was comfortable in the knowledge that somewhere a dragon still lived and that I was now due for a long-desired retirement.