Gulin's Dragon

Sleeping would be deep and easy on the feather mattress Tolwen tucked the blankets in around himself as he readied for a good night of sleep; a few feet away Luther was already slipping into a deep sleep and was beginning to snore. Outside the night had a chill to it yet inside Gulin’s small castle, everyone was toasty warm and satisfied from the feast Gulin had provided. Gulin was a great host to his visitors and Tolwen and Luther were special guests.

The morning came far too early, with the air crisp and clear and the sunlight shining its way into the small chamber. Tolwen was the first to stir but only enough to roll over and turn his back to the bright light. Soon Luther woke and stretched easing both mind and body back from a deep sleep. He looked at Tolwen and for a moment considered waking the sleeping wizard; however, he knew from months of traveling with Tolwen that it was best if Tolwen woke on his own. Luther made his way from the chamber to the hallway then down the flight of stairs to the main hall where he found Lady Larrena setting the table for the morning meal. Luther greeted his hostess, “Good morning my lady.”

Lady Larrena smiled, “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes, my Lady, better than I have in many months.”

“Very good. Please sit and I will have food on the table soon. Where is Tolwen?”

“Still sleeping and snoring like a thunderstorm.”

The two laughed at the thought of Tolwen snoring so loud.

In the small chamber Tolwen was suddenly awakened as he sat right up  in his bed, “No it’s not possible!”

He left the chamber and headed for the main hall, where he found Lady Larrena and Luther. Luther turned to greet his friend but was caught off guard by the look on Tolwen’s face.

 “What is it Tolwen?”, he demanded.

Before Tolwen could answer Gulin entered the hall as well. Both wizards stopped, looked at each other and at the same time said, “Dragons.”

Gulin asked, “You felt the power too?”

Tolwen nodded, “Indeed the power is overwhelming.”

Luther asked, “What about dragons?”

Gulin turned to the prince, “There are dragons nearby.  Wizards can sense when dragons are near and there are dragons very close.”

Tolwen nodded, “I would say within five miles or less.”

Luther added, “I thought there were no more dragons left?”

Gulin said, “Oh, there are still a few around but I have not sensed any for a very long time.”

Suddenly from the window came a screeching sound that sent shivers though everyone in the main hall. They went to the nearby windows looking off to the east, where, in the distance they could see the unmistakable silhouette of a great dragon circling in the sky. They watched as the dragon swooped down out of sight in the forest then reappeared, only to circle again.

Gulin was the first to speak, “That dragon is in my forest, I must go to him.”

Larrena grabbed Gulin by the arm, “My Lord, I fear for your safety!”

Gulin placed his hand over that of Lady Larrena, “My lady, fear not. I go to the dragon in peace.”

Luther added, “I’ll accompany you my Lord.”

Tolwen stated, “As will I, My Lord.”

The three men headed for the door leaving Lady Larrena to worry for their safety. The three headed for the stables and saddled three horse; within minutes they were mounted and headed to the east.

The crisp morning air would have given them a shiver or two but this morning, the shivers the three men experienced were deeper and more frequent than any caused by weather.  Man or wizard, meeting a dragon was not to be taken lightly as dragons could be unpredictable and their minds were able to  conceive of  almost anything. Luther had never seen a dragon and the wonderment of seeing something he believed was extinct up close was almost as strong as the fear building inside him. Tolwen had been around dragons before and knew they were inflexible creatures with a one track mind; it would take a lot of power to simply convince this dragon to leave the forest. Gulin, on the other hand, had been around many dragons and had found them to be reasonable creatures that could be trained and handled with a gentle but firm hand.

The closer the three men rode to the east the harder it was to steady their horses. Each time the dragon screeched the more unsettled the horse became. Finally the three stopped and dismounted, allowing their mounts to run free; all three headed back towards the castle and the safety of their stable. Now on foot, the three made their way through the forest leaving the trail behind them. Coming to the top of a hill they saw why the dragon was swooping down: a man with a one horse wagon was pinned down by a large rock along the path that lead through the forest. In the wagon was a large object covered with blankets.

Luther looked intensely at the dragon remarking to himself at the rugged beauty of the beast. It was a bright blue in color, with a double row of horns that covered its head and followed down the neck, along the back, then grew smaller as they traveled down a long tail which ended in a split tip. The creature’s hide was covered with bumps and many scars, no doubt from past encounters with man. The eyes of the creature were a very bright yellow and seemed to be watching you as it passed by. The beautiful creature was everything Luther had been told and more. As the dragon swooped down again Luther was close enough to see the scales on the under belly of the beast and to smell the powerful odor of the flying reptile.

Now the sounds of the dragon screeching were nearly deafening and air being moved by the dragon’s great wings could be felt by the three men. Gulin watched as the dragon swooped down on the man and the man foolishly tried to ward off the attack with a long spear. Gulin knew it was only a matter of time before the dragon tired of the man’s poking and flamed the man to death. Gulin motioned Luther to move to the left and for Tolwen to move to the right. When they were in position, Gulin waved them forward. Now, out in the open, Gulin announced himself to the stranger with the wagon.

“Friend, what are you doing in my forest? And did you bring that dragon with you?”

The stranger turned toward Gulin’s voice with the spear in hand, “Leave me alone.”

“Can’t do that, this is my land and what happens on my land is my business.”

“This is not your concern I am just passing through when this dragon swooped down on me.” The man glared at Gulin, “Is he your dragon?”

Gulin smiled, “Not my dragon.  He is as much an intruder as you are.”

The man looked around him and spotted Luther and Tolwen, “It is said a wizard lives in these woods, would he be this wizard?”

“I am”, answered Gulin.

“Then I ask you to use your magic to fend off this beast and I’ll be glad to leave your woods.”

Gulin took a step to the left, “I could do that, but I am a curious wizard and wonder why this dragon was lured to my forest by you. Why you attract so much attention.

“I am but a traveler going through your woods when this beast attacked me.”

Gulin thought for a moment then answered, “Stranger I have dealt with many dragons, enough to know that they do not follow and attack someone without reason.”

The dragon swooped down again, back beating its wings it hovered just above the stranger. The stranger poked his long spear at the dragon several times. The dragon was too high for the spear to touch him. Gulin Luther and Tolwen could smell the dragon now; its strong scent was overpowering and the air being moved about by its great wings was very forceful.    

Gulin waited until the dragon circled again, “Friend whatever you did to that dragon must have been very bad and that dragon is not going to give up until you pay for it.”

Tolwen added, “Gulin, the wagon, what is in the wagon?”

“Stranger, what do you have in the wagon?”

The stranger snapped back, “You just never mind what I have in my wagon, it is my property and none of your concern.”

Gulin was beginning to get upset, “Stranger if my friend is right, what you have is the one thing that will drive a dragon to kill faster than most anything. That would be a dragon egg.”

The stranger’s face grew somber, “What if I do? It’s my egg I found it and its mine.”

Tolwen added, “Friend that egg belongs to the dragon.  You are lucky that she has not flamed you yet.”

The stranger’s face went from somber to pure fear. “I just wanted to sell the egg to make some money!”

Gulin took a step forward, “That dragon will kill you if you don’t give that egg back to her.”

The stranger swallowed hard as he saw the dragon coming in for another swoop. Without another moment’s thought the stranger took off running towards Gulin leaving the wagon and the egg behind. As the three watched the dragon swooped in close to the wagon and with one foot reached out and clutched the egg, lifting it out of the wagon. The four men watched as the dragon soared into the sky and then headed off to the north.

Gulin moaned a little, “I was afraid of that.”

Tolwen and Luther joined Gulin and the stranger. Tolwen asked, “Afraid of what?”

“The dragon is headed north, north to the burning coal mine.”

Luther asked, “Why would she head there and not return to where she came from?”

Gulin answered, “Dragons lay one egg at a time and the egg must be kept in a very warm nest, the burning coal mine will provide the heat she needs to hatch the egg. In the meantime it seems we have a dragon in the neighborhood.”

The four men headed back to the castle and the waiting Lady Larrena. On the way back to the castle Gulin learned that the stranger’s name was Ghade, that he had traveled from the east in search of work, and that he was well versed in handling horses, tending to stables and mending wagons.

On their arrival Lady Larrena wrapped her arms around Gulin’s neck and kissed him, “I was so afraid for you, for all of you.”

The four men and Lady Larrena sat and enjoyed a hearty breakfast while discussing the dragon and what to do with her. Gulin said that dragons will nest any place that the ground surface is warm enough or in a cave that is well heated. As much as Gulin respected the dragon, he had no desire to have one living in his forest or anywhere nearby since dragons are hard to get rid of once they decide they like a place. 

Still, although he did not want to Gulin knew he needed to learn what was happening in his forest and at the burning coal mine. A trip to the mines was clearly in order so it was decided that Tolwen, Luther and Gulin would travel to the burning coal mines and see the dragon was up too.

With fresh horses and supplies for staying overnight just in case they needed to stay, the three headed for the northern area of Gulin forest. The trip was several hours long and they had plenty of time to plan their strategy, which included trying to convince a mighty dragon to leave a naturally warm area with her egg. It would not be easy.

After several hours of traveling they stopped their horses, tied them off, unpacked the overnight supplies just in case the horses got run off by the dragon and set up a small camp. Now on foot, they started walking through the forest to the north, as the smell of the dragon and the coal mines filled their senses. Stronger and stronger the smell grew,  and when they walked into a clearing, Gulin pointed straight ahead where smoke could be seen coming from just over the next hill. Gulin motioned for silence as the three continued on.

Just as their vision allowed them to see the top of the trees on the downhill side of the hil,l they flattened to the ground as a loud screech from the dragon filled the air. Gulin whispered to his companions, “So much for keeping our presence a secret, she knows we’re here.”

Now  as they  belly-crawled their way ahead, the heat from the coal mines could be felt through the ground, through their hands. They  continued to forge ahead, with the cover grwwing thinner and thinner, from trees to bushes until the bushes were gone too. Straight ahead they  could see where the ground dropped off into the coal mine. As the coal strip just under the ground burned away the ground would drop off into the mine. The three could see the dragon sitting in the middle of the mine, her tail wrapped around to both warm and to protect her egg. The dragon stared at the three men and the stare gave all three men shivers in their spines and in their souls.

Moving very slowly the three men moved to one of the large stones that bordered the mine; just as they reached the stone and plastered themselves against it, they felt the blast of heat from the dragon’s breath. They could feel their own breath being taken away from them by the heat.

Tolwen asked, “Gulin what is your plan? She doesn’t seem to ready to listen.”

Gulin smiled, “We’ll wait for her to calm down a bit and hopefully accept us being so close.”

Luther added, “Another blast of heat like that and our lungs will be charred.”

Gulin turned to face the stone and slipped around the stone enough to see the dragon; she was acting strangely and nudging the egg with her nose.

Gulin said, “Oh no, the egg is about to hatch!”

The dragon raised her huge head towards the sky and bellowed several times then looked down at the egg. Then suddenly the dragon lay down on the burning ground and curled herself around the egg.

Gulin said, “Something is wrong. The dragon should be at full alert knowing humans are this close to her and her egg.”

Tolwen and Luther inched their way to the other side of the huge stone. Sure enough the dragon appeared to be going to sleep, smoke was coming from her nose and her mouth and there was little other movement from the great beast.  Gulin cautiously stepped out from behind the stone. The dragon raised her head slightly and a small blast of flames shot from her mouth. Gulin was ready to jump back but the dragon made no other movement. He took a step closer but again there was no movement by the dragon. Now only a hundred feet from the dragon, Gulin stepped ahead.

Gulin announced, “It’s ok, you can come out the beast is dead.”

Luther and Tolwen slowly stepped out from behind the stone and the three walked slowly up to the dragon. Gulin reached her first and he placed the palm of his hand on her neck. He could feel there was still a breath or two left in her but she was going fast.

Luther asked, “Is there nothing that can be done for her?”

Gulin shook his head, “Up and close now I can see she is very old and even dragon have to die sometime.”

Luther said, “It is very sad to see such a mighty animal die.”

“Indeed, my friend, it is sad”, Gulin added.

Tolwen said, “That would explain why she was so determined to get her egg back, she know it would be her last.”

Luther asked, “What is to become of her egg now?”

Gulin was about to answer when a sudden noise near the dragon startled all three men. After steadying themselves, they all looked at the egg and saw it was rocking back and forth. Then to their shock, the egg began to crack. It cracked more and more until a large piece of the egg fell away and a head emerged. The head was a golden blue with large golden eyes and a thick sturdy beak. Slowly turning its head from side to side, the creature began to peck as the remaining part of the egg. Within minutes the egg shell laid in pieces on the floor of the coal mine and the creature was standing taller than the men, stretching her wings and screeching at them. The dragon moved toward Gulin and bumped his hand with her nose.

Tolwen leaned towards Gulin, “Well my friend it appears you have your very own dragon.”

“So it would appear”, Gulin agreed, “But what do I do with it?”

Tolwen and Luther both laughed as they made their way from the dead mother dragon and its new offspring. Tolwen shouted over his shoulder, “I suggest you feed her she sounds hungry.”