A Dragon's Treasure

A DRAGON’S TREASURE

Gruff looked around. He was surrounded by everything that he held sacred. He paused. Everything his family held sacred. Him, not so much. There was gold, and silver, and gemstones, and rings, and bracelets, and every type of treasure a dragon could want. Problem was that Gruff didn’t really want all this treasure.

What good is treasure, if you're all alone? he wondered.

What he wanted was something completely different. He wanted a warmer climate. Winter was coming, and the cave was damp and cold.  He wanted a friend. Someone to talk to. He didn't want a treasure.

Gruff sighed.

His family had been gone for almost three years.  

“Son,” said his father, the last time they had spoken, “there is a war coming, and we need to fight.”

Gruff had been so excited. It was what every dragon longed to do — soar into battle, flames erupting, enemies scattering. These were the heraldic tales of knights and magic and dragons. Tales of heroism, fighting for good.

“When do we leave?” Gruff had asked, flapping his wings quickly.

His father had looked at him, shaking his head, sadly.

“Gruff, this is a war for older dragons — dragons with battle experience.”

Gruff couldn’t believe what his father was saying.

“Battle experience?” he asked. “How am I supposed to get battle experience if I never go to battle?”

“Son, we need someone to stay here, to guard the treasure.”

Gruff had looked around. Their cave was bursting with treasure of every kind. His mother and sister were looking at him.

“What about Winnie?" said Gruff, nodding his head towards his sister.  "She’s a girl. She should stay.”

Gruff’s father looked disappointed.

“Not that I have to explain anything to you, but Winnie is one of the fiercest dragons in the realm. The king requested she lead his battalion.”

His hopes soared. “Did he ask for me?”

His father shook his head again.

“No, Gruff, the king did not request your presence. In fact, it was he who suggested that you stay behind.”

Gruff was crushed. Sure he was the youngest dragon in the realm, and sure he had not been particularly successful in training, but geez, he thought, an inexperienced dragon was better than no dragon at all.

“Doesn’t it make more sense to have me as, I don’t know, a backup? You know, in case you get injured, or something?”

“Gruff, we need you to look after the treasure.”

Gruff looked defeated. He hung his head, and his wings flopped off of his back, their ends hitting the floor. His father looked at his youngest son, feeling his pain.

“But, Gruff,” he said, “you not only need to protect the treasure, but you need to protect the village.”

Gruff looked at his father.

“You’re only saying that to make me feel better,” he said. “The village doesn’t need me. They have their own protection force.”

“Who do you think is going off to fight the war? The King does not have enough soldiers. He has called up all able bodied men and women to fight. That leaves the village unprotected. And we need you to protect them.”

That had been so long ago. Occasionally, soldiers, or other dragons passed through, and told of the fierce battles raging to the east. The king’s forces were holding the line, but the casualties were high. The invaders had technology as well as dragons and magic. Their invading forces were mighty. But they were arrogant, believing that they would waltz into the land and conquer the people without suffering any losses. The king’s army proved them wrong. They did not capitulate. Instead, they fought fiercely, vowing to fight to the last person standing.

Gruff took care of his village. At first the villagers had been frightened. Sure, they knew that there was a family of dragons that lived in the cave in the mountain, but they lived together in peaceful avoidance. Eventually they became accustomed to seeing him fly high over the village, and were no longer afraid — as long as he stayed up there, and they stayed down on the ground. But because he was young and lonely, he flew low over the village, watching them live their lives, making the villagers wary.

Every day he'd fly around the village, circling overhead a couple of times, then he’d go farther afield, checking the countryside for dangers, and dinner (Gruff was a lover of venison). He'd imagine he was on reconnaissance for the king, on a top secret mission, instead of stuck in the forest looking after a bunch of people who didn't seem to like him any more than he liked them.

Then one day he spied someone in his forest. Gruff had never seen any of the villagers walking in the forest before, so he assumed she was an invader — a pretty small, unarmed invader, but an invader, nonetheless.

Gruff dropped from the sky, landing in front of the invader, blocking her access to the village.

“I am Gruff, protector of the village. Why are you here, Invader?” Gruff demanded.

Initially startled, the invader looked around, then pointed to her own chest.

“Me?” she asked, clearly confused.

“Yes, you Invader. Why are you in my forest?”

The invader squinted her eyes.

“Your forest?” she questioned. “Did you say, your forest?”

Gruff nodded, smoke escaping his nostrils. The invader harrumphed.

“I am Callie. This is my forest!” She pointed over Gruff’s shoulder. “And that is my village.”

Gruff knew that invaders were sly. “How do I know that this is your village. I have never seen you before.”

She took a step forward and looked closely at Gruff. 

“But I have seen you. You are the dragon who is supposed to be protecting our village.” She made air quotes around the word protecting. “And the reason that you don’t know who I am, is because you never visit the village. You only soar above us, looking down.”

Gruff had to admit that was true. But his family had never mixed with the villagers, or any humans, for that matter. 

“Dragons and humans stick with their own kind. There is no mixing.”

“Why not?” asked Callie.

Gruff stopped to think about it.

“I don’t know. It’s just the way it has always been.”

Callie smiled. “We could change that.”

Gruff snorted, small licks of fire escaped his nose.

“How?” he asked.

“Well,” said Callie, “you can come into the village and meet my family. That’s the first step. And you can stay for dinner. I was just collecting mushrooms in the forest before you almost landed on me.

Gruff thought about it. He was hungry. And he could check out Callie’s story at the same time. If the villagers said she was one of them, then why not? If she wasn't, he could eat her.

Gruff and Callie walked into the village together. At first the villagers were frightened and confused, running to hide in their homes. Not that thatch roofs were much protection against a dragon.

“Why is he here?”

“What is he going to do to us?”

“Is he angry?”

“Will he burn our village down, and eat us?”

Callie heard their questions, but never wavered. She took Gruff to her small home, where Callie, her elderly grandparents, and her brothers and sisters all lived.

Her grandparents were not frightened. They were as brave as Callie. In fact, Callie’s younger siblings were so excited to meet Gruff that they tried to climb up on him.

“Whoa!” said Callie. “Gruff is our guest. And our friend.”

The children backed off, but peppered him with questions.

"What's it like to fly?"

"Do you breathe fire?"

"Do you have a treasure?"

"What's your cave like?"

"Do you eat people?"

Gruff stayed for dinner, Callie’s grandmother moved their dinner to the outdoors to accommodate Gruff's size.  Gruff used his fire to cook the meat, and the family was impressed. It was very handy to have a dragon as a friend.  Eventually the other villagers came by to meet their dragon. Gruff took the village children for rides on his back, making them shriek for joy. Everyone had a wonderful evening.

Later that night, when he had said good night and flown up to his cave, Gruff tried to remember why humans and dragons did not mix. He knew it was just the way it had always been. But Gruff now knew something else. Humans were no better or worse that dragons, just different. And different didn't mean they couldn't be friends.

Gruff made it a habit to visit the village a couple of times a month. When he visited he supplied the venison, and cook it in the large roasting pit in the town centre, and everyone in the village came together for a meal with Gruff.

He saw Callie more often. When they met, they would talk about their lives. Gruff found out that Callie wanted nothing more than to join the king's forces fighting the invaders in the east, but she had to look after her brothers and sisters, and help her grandparents. Gruff commiserated, telling her about his duty to the village and the treasure. Both longed to join the battle, but knew they had to stay in the village.  

Finally, a messenger had arrived in the village, bearing news of the war.

The king’s army had prevailed, and had repelled the invaders, decimating their numbers and driving them back to the far reaches of their territory. But the cost had been high. Gruff found out that his family had all died — his mother, his father, and his sister Winnie, had all been killed in the final epic battle. He was now alone.

Callie had better news. Her mother and father were returning to the village. Both had been wounded, but their injuries were not catastrophic.  When they arrived Callie was joyful, but at the same time, knew her life was no longer the same. She was used to making the decisions, and helping her grandparents look after her siblings. But once her parents returned, she was no longer in charge, she was just the oldest child.

Gruff continued to visit the village. But despite his visits to the village and his special relationship with Callie, Gruff was still lonely, living all alone in his cave.

Winter arrived, and Gruff made a decision. He was going to leave the village and the mountain. It would be hard to leave the village — it was the only place he had ever lived. But he really knew that leaving Callie would be the hardest thing. They were best friends.

“Callie,” he said one day while she was gathering firewood in the forest. “I’m going to leave. I can’t live here anymore. I’m just not happy.”

“But, Gruff, you can’t leave. What about me? What about the village? What about the treasure? You promised your father you would guard the treasure.”

“My family’s dead, and I don’t really care about the treasure.” He paused. “I thought that I would give the treasure to the village. Your village would be wealthy beyond anything you could imagine.” He looked at Callie. “You could build a fantastic house for you and your family. You could get anything you wanted. Your every wish could be granted.”

“I don’t care about that,” she said, looking at Gruff.  

They walked along in silence.

“Where are you going to go?” asked Callie

Gruff shrugged his shoulders, and gently flapped his wings. “I don’t know. Somewhere warm. Maybe find a war, and fight against evil. There are a lot of wars going on. I will volunteer to be a fighter for good.”

“I want to come!”

Gruff smiled. His wish had just come true.

**********

After Gruff had given away all his treasure, he and Callie left the village, flying high in the sky. They didn’t know where they were going, just that they were on a quest to make the world a better place for both humans and dragons.