The Meeting of Shyena and Beryl

    Shyena’s day began at dawn like any other day with farm chores. She pulled on her overalls over her sleep shirt, stuck her feet into her barn boots, slipped from the stone and beam farm house into the pale morning and headed for the barn rebuilt after the same dragon raid that had robbed her of her mother when she was six. She had been involved with morning feedings ever since. Pa and she did it together until at eleven, and already quite tall, he declared her ready to do it alone. She loved these mornings before Pa woke when it was just her and the animals. They had comforted her and made her strong. Pa often said these days that she was as strong as any sixteen-year-old boy he had ever known. That was a source of pride for them both.

She checked on and fed the ewe who was due to give birth soon. She moved on to the horses and the cow. She curried the horses and checked their hooves to see if they needed trimming while they munched on their sweet grass hay. Not quite yet time for trimming, she thought, and turned her attention to milking the cow. Pa did love fresh creamy milk and their brown Bess was known for her sweet, creamy milk. After the barn chores, she stopped by the chicken coop for eggs before returning to the house as the sun rose higher in the sky. She could smell coffee brewing as she pushed open the unlatched door.

“Pa,” she called out. “Are ye hungry?”

“Yes, Daughter,” he answered.

This exchange was usual for them every morning. She cooked the eggs expertly on the wood burning stove and sang as she cooked their customary breakfast of toast, eggs, and coffee. They ate together in companionable silence.

Shyena cleared up and washed and dried their wooden bowls and spoons. Pa had gone to sit on the porch and have his morning pipe. She joined him bearing cups of coffee for them both. The porch time was their time to talk and speculate about what the day might bring---rain or sunshine in order to prioritize their farm work. Shyena now did most of the heavier work but Pa was “the boss.” Today, however, was different. Pa had something pressing on him. He accepted the coffee with a nod, took a sip and spoke.

“Daughter, do ye remember the stories I’ve told ye?”

“Yes, Pa.”

“About the dragons that once lived amongst us and then turned against us.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Do you remember why they turned against us?”

“Yes, they said we had betrayed their trust and so they destroyed our village and took Mother away from us.”

Pa nodded.

“I never asked, Pa, but had we betrayed their trust?”

“Yes, I believe so, but others do not remember it that way. They blamed the dragons.”

Shyena nodded and thought before she spoke, “And thus, we became isolated in many ways from the other village folk?”

“Yes, those differences of opinion have grown over the years, but they may now change. Perhaps what has happened will allow the full story of Truth to become known by villagers and dragons.” Pa paused and puffed on her pipe giving her time to mull over what he had just said.

“How, Pa?”

“Ye know I went to the village yesterday?”

“Yes, Pa and ye came back late. I was already asleep.”

"Ye work so hard. I thought this could wait til morning. There was a village meeting. The villagers were all abuzz about a sighting and what to do.”

Shyena gulped and stared at him wide-eyed. “A sighting! A dragon sighting?” She quivered with excitement. “It has been ten harvests.”

Pa continued matter-of-factly, “Not exactly a dragon itself, but a scattering of scales and two large footprints pressed deep in the ground signaling take off by one of the winged ones.”

“And?” Shyena tugged for more.

“And, Daughter, they sought young and strong villagers to hunt for dragons and kill any they found.” He paused for another pipe puff watching her face.

“And?”

“None volunteered.”

“None.” She repeated and continued, “Why are ye telling me about this now, Pa”

“I knew ye would never forgive me if I didn’t.”

Shyena nodded. She clenched and unclenched her hands. Sucking in her deepest breath, she said quietly but firmly, “Ye know I must go. If there’s any chance of finding Mother, I must go.”

“I know,” Pa replied. “I will help ye prepare.”

Meanwhile beyond the Cho River Valley high in the Arat Mountains wherein lay the birthplace of dragons, yearling dragons were being trained in advanced winged flight and fire-fighting techniques. These included maneuvers for swerving, diving, careening, sensing distant targets, producing flame, landing precisely on targets, and much more.

Beryl loved these training exercises. He dreamed of being a Guardian whose job it was to keep the birthing place safe and free from hostiles, which included humans, especially those of the broken treaty. His schooling had provided him with images and stories of humans. He knew of the Treaty Battle that had taken place in the past, although many details of that battle had not been revealed to trainees like himself. But what was common knowledge was that humans were the worst kind of hostiles because they had betrayed the treaty. They were not to be seen as potential friends. That was the Truth from the dragon clan’s point of view. The dragon’s belief system was fraught with complexities and connections, so Beryl tended to accept what he was told hoping to be told more as he matured.

If Beryl had understood his ability to time travel, he could’ve used that mechanism to glean information from any time period in the past to inform his present choices with full knowledge of ways those choices might impact the future. But, he did not possess such mature understanding so he did not make choices from a stance supported by such data. Thus, later the consequences of his choices caused many ripples across both the worlds of dragons and humans.

Meanwhile far away in the Cho River Valley, Shyena and Pa planned her journey. He revealed to Shyena that long ago before the Treaty he had been trained to be one of the territorial guardians of the Cho River Valley and as such he had learned to fight and kill dragons, if need be. One day he appeared before her lugging an old trunk. He motioned to her to open it. When she did, she found a Great Sword, so called because its construction made it a weapon that could penetrate dragon scales and make a kill. Shyena touched it and shuddered. There were also preserved healing herbs, traveling clothes, padded armor, ropes, an ancient compass, and other things that Pa thought might be useful, including a book she hadn’t known existed called Knowing Dragons. In this book were lessons on the language of dragons and how to communicate with them.

“Pa, she asked, why have I never seen these things before?”

“I packed them away when the Treaty was signed between humans of the Cho Valley and the Clan of Dragons from the Arat Mountains. I hoped these things would never be needed again. I met and married your mother and we settled down on this farm. We had lovely years together, including you coming into our lives, before the Treaty was broken and the dragons revenged themselves upon us,” he explained. After a pause, he continued, “I will train you in the use of all these things.” And so he did.

They worked ardently together training. They packed her saddle bags with trail food for her and grain for her horse. She would take Sylvarino, a strong and healthy stallion who was her favorite of their two horses.During training sessions, they rehearsed possible scenarios she might encounter. As they made these preparations, Pa repeatedly told her stories from his life as a dragon warrior before the Treaty. He showed her scars from wounds he had received and identified the herbs now in her possession that could cure wounds and keep them from becoming infected. She never tired of hearing these stories and knew he was giving her priceless information for her quest to hopefully find her mother alive. Perhaps a captive, but alive. If a captive, she would make every effort to free her and return to the Cho Valley and reunite them.

She continued to do her farm chores. She spent her nights learning dragon language for communication She suggested that Pa find a young man from the village to fill in for her after she left, so he wouldn’t have to do everything himself. He said he probably would do so, but discreetly, which Shyena knew meant maybe, maybe not.

One morning she felt ready to leave and announced her readiness as they sat on the porch after breakfast. Pa puffed on his pipe and then took a sip of his coffee before responding.

“I’ve been feeling this day was comin’ soon.” he finally said in response He asked again the key question that had peppered their preparations, “What will ye seek?”

“Mother, Dragons, and Truth,” she answered.

Pa smiled saying, “May your choices flow in harmony with the Invisible Forces and bring forth fruitfully positive consequences for others, as well as for yourself.”

“Thank you, Pa,”

Shyena left the next day choosing to spend one more day-night cycle with her Pa. He waved to her from the porch until she and her steed Sylvarino were out of sight.

Meanwhile in the Arat Mountains, Beryl had come to a life crossroads. He had finished his training and reached the time when he was to roam the outer perimeter of the birthing place to become familiar with every rock and rill. On this solitary mission, he filled himself with the vibrational energies he needed from the lands and waters to be a true Dragon Warrior and Guardian. He welcomed this time. He flew to the outer reaches. He ensconced himself in one of the large cave habitats high in the Arats. This would be his base for several months. Here he would encounter his destiny.

Meanwhile Shyena traveled beyond the Cho River Valley and began the ascent of the Arat Mountains. The dragon tracks had disappeared, but the thrill of her quest had taken deep root in her. One day after she had conquered a particularly challenging trek, she found herself atop a bluff with a splendid view of the unknown mountainous terrain stretching before her. She paused to rest, and she fell asleep. She awoke under the intense brightness of a large full moon which throbbed with energy and mysteriously transformed the landscape before her. As she stared transfixed by the moonlight’s intensity, there appeared the silhouette of a winged creature showing against the lower part of the moon. Was that a dragon she wondered. She blinked. It was gone. She knew this sighting was a sign. Out there, dragons lived.

Meanwhile Beryl loved the full moon nights. the moonlight energy was an elixir to him. So, it was on such a moonlight flight that he happened to sense the human presence on the edge of his patrol territory. He flew a little closer and saw a female sitting still as a stone on the edge of a bluff. Upon sighting her, he chose to fly across the lower part of the moon and reveal himself as a silhouette. He knew he was breaking the cardinal rule to never show himself to an outsider, especially a human, but an overwhelming vibrational urge to do so made him risk it. Thus, Shyena received her enticing sighting.

Shyena sought rock cover for her and Sylvarino for the rest of the night and slept peacefully dreaming of dragons until sunrise awakened her. She fed Sylvarino some grain and ate a bit of her crumbled energy food Pa had packed washing it down with sweet water from a nearby brook. She shouldered her pack and started making her way leading sure-footed Sylvarino down a wide rock stairway beside the brook which she hadn’t noticed the night before. She was about halfway down when a great rushing wind and a distinct dragon smell assaulted her nostrils. Shocked, she dropped the reins and Sylvarino immediately turned around and fled back up the stairway whinnying all the way. That was the last sound she heard as great talons closed around her and plucked her from the rock stairway lifting her into the air pack and all. Oddly, she felt no fear only very intense curiosity. She watched the land below and contemplated what to say first to this dragon. She decided to keep quiet until they landed as she didn’t want to shock him in case he might drop her.

Beryl didn’t know what to make of the female he held in his talons.His curiosity was definitely aroused so he decided to take her to his base camp and observe her to learn more. He landed, setting her gently down before he unfolded his talons. She surprised him by speaking to him in old fashioned, but understandable dragon.

“Thank you for that smooth flight and landing, My name is Shyena. what are you called?”

“You speak dragon?” Beryl stammered.

“Yes, a little.”

“Why are you here in the Arat Mountains?”

“To find my mother,” Shyena replied, deciding to say nothing of killing since her heart wasn’t in it and her Great Sword was attached to her saddle and that was presumably attached to Sylvarino.

“My name is Beryl. Weren’t you accompanied by a lovely horse?”

“Yes, but he fled at the smell of dragon, though he did whinny apologies as he fled.” She smiled at Beryl.

“Tell me about your search for your mother,” Beryl requested.

“It’s a serious story and I do not want to alarm or disturb you.”

“Is it a long story and are you hungry or thirsty?”

“Yes, to all three,” she answered simply. “I only have a small bit in my pack here. I will share.”

“I will provide energy food and drink for you,” Beryl answered and continued, “You are the first living human I’ve ever met, and you do not seem like an enemy, but I suppose only time will tell about that.” He sent a small flame to start a fire laid out in his cave and continued speaking, “Come sit by the fire. Our nights are cold. I will make preparations while you get settled and then we’ll eat and then you can tell me your story.”

He prepared and served food and drink, which she consumed quietly enjoying the warmth of the fire and thinking about what to say and how to say it so as not to make him angry, but still tell the truth.

“Thank you. whatever that was, it was delicious and energizing. Now, why I am here. It is the truth as I know it. I suspect there are factors I do not know.”

“I was born in the Cho River Valley during the last years of the Treaty between dragons and humans. I heard stories of times before the Treaty and then like a fierce storm came the time of the Broken Treaty. I never understood who broke it, but I experienced the violence. The dragons came burning most of our village and our barn on our farm on the outskirts of the village, though not our stone house. It would not burn. Mother and Pa tried to put out the flames on the barn. They put me in the stone house and told me not to move. They hadn’t been at the flames long when there was a great sound of dragon wings. One of the wings knocked Pa to the ground and then one of the dragons picked up Mother and flew away. Pa roused himself and ran into the stone house sobbing. I was sobbing too, so he wrapped me in his arms and told me they were gone and we would somehow survive this together. He kept saying to me, ‘ I could hear her calling your name as they flew away. I think that is what made me get up and run into the stone house to be with you.’ I was six years old. Now, I’m sixteen and I have never seen my mother since that day. I do not even know if she is alive. I seek the truth of what happened to her.”

Beryl was impressed with the obvious strength and courage of this human female, but he was hesitant to trust her fully because he knew his elders would severely disapprove. However, he didn’t feel any threat from her and he decided to trust his instincts.

“I may be able to help you in your quest, especially since you are weaponless and speak dragon. Those points will go a long way with my elders. I have to take you there to them. However, I must exact a promise from you, which if you break it, things will not go well for you or any humans.”

Shyena nodded firmly.

“Do you promise never to reveal any information about the birthing place of dragons, which is where we must go?”

“I do,” Shyena answered solemnly.

“Then, we leave in the morning at first light. Sleep where you wish.”

“Thank you. I’ve slept on hard ground before, so this spot by the fire will work for me.” So saying, she curled up and slept deeply until the morning came.

Beryl showed her how to mount him and said it would be more comfortable for them if she rode him as he flew to the birthing place. And so they flew. Only time would tell what would happen, but Shyena was hopeful and now that was enough.