Story 3

Dragons were rare and majestic beasts that roamed the Earth. They were intelligent creatures and observed the humans and their destructive tendencies from a safe distance. All of the dragons, few that remained alive because of their highly sought-after body parts and their status as the ultimate trophy, had agreed to never involve themselves in the affairs of the humans since doing so would only bring destruction upon their kind.

Humans, for their part, knew of dragons, but they were regarded mainly as creatures of legend. Very few individuals were able to see dragons and live to tell the tale. However, that did not stop a few malicious individuals from seeking them for personal gain.

Despite the tense relationship between the two species, one particular individual, a young boy who had just been brought into the world, was blissfully unaware of everything surrounding him. He had no knowledge of dragons or other evil humans. He was born pure of heart and soul, and he would remain that way, even after his mother abandoned him the Forbidden Woods. Make no mistake, for his mother loved him dearly. Unfortunately for both of them, her rare beauty had made her a target – a highly sought-after prize for some of the more powerful male individuals in the realm. She knew that the babe would fare poorly if they had managed to catch them, and so, she did what any loving mother would do. She gave her son a chance.

Like any other living creature, the babe soon grew hungry and impatient at the lack of attention he was receiving. Little did he know that his ruckus would soon attract the attention of all the fierce beasts living in the wood. The creatures, sensing an easy meal, slowly encroached on the unaware babe. One creature, an eager and opportunistic orc, moved quicker than the rest and made quick work of the child, or at least he would have, if the mightiest creature living in the wood did not come to the boy’s aid.

A dragon, Dinral, quickly flew in after having observed the entire affair unfold. Posturing over the child, she made for one intimidating sight that none of the other creatures had the courage to challenge. One ferocious roar ensured that any of the would-be predators scattered and fled with their tails between their legs. Once the child’s safety was all but guaranteed, Dinral took a moment to process what she had hastily done. She was unsure why she had saved the child, but once she glanced into his eyes, she knew he would be hers to care for.

And so, Dinral raised the child, and the child grew to possess all the wisdom and power that the dragons were renowned for. Although they had a small family, they were both incredibly happy – the mother dragon with her human son and the human son with his dragon mother. They both lived happily together in the Forbidden Wood and they would have likely stayed that way, until Dinral failed to return from a hunt at the border of the wood near the neighboring kingdom of Draxis, a kingdom whose king was lauded as the dragon slayer.

Author’s note (4/8/2019):

This story is loosely based on the reading Saints: The Wolf-Mother of Saint Ailbe by Abbie Farwell Brown. In the story, a wolf takes it upon herself to care of an Irish baby named Ailbe. The boy soon begins to be able to communicate with the wolves as he grows amongst them. Eventually, the boy is discovered and grows with royalty. Despite his royal upbringing, the boy never forgets his first wolf mother, and later on in the story, Ailbe ends up protecting his weak wolf mother.

I really liked how Ailbe never forget or became ashamed of his first mother. I think “never forget your roots” really applies in this scenario. In the original story that I posted on my blog, I wanted to experiment with using cliffhangers. I decided to keep the cliffhanger to give me a chance to think about how I want to proceed from here. Per usual, I knew that this would not be a good story to me unless I included my favorite mythical creature. In the story, I replaced the wolf mother that raises Ailbe with a dragon mother that raises a potentially fierce warrior. I am not sure if anyone will notice this, but I included some minor details in this story that could potentially contribute greatly to the story in the future. Until next time!

Bibliography: This story is part of the Saints and Animals Unit. Story source: The Book of Saints and Friendly Beasts by Abbie Farwell Brown (1900).

Image Information: Escalofriante Camino. Source: Pixabay.