Library: Dragon Song

Dragon Song Once upon a time there was a small peaceful village somewhere in the Batworld. Or at least it had been a peaceful village as long as anyone could remember. But one night a few apple trees were burnt into ashes at the orchard just next to the village. Soon the people of the village found out that a fire breathing dragon had moved to the mountain cave near by and it had been circling around the orchard since then. The event repeated the next week and a few more trees were burnt down again. The fear started to spread among the villagers and some of them even talked about leaving the village for some other place where they could raise their children without having to live in constant terror. Every day since then the chief of the village walked around looking very stressed. His red eyes showed that he hadn't slept for days. He couldn't do much more than worry and keep on thinking of a way to save his people from the dragon's next attack. One evening he stopped at lute player's house and got angry as he saw the musician placidly snoring in his hammock. 'Shame on you halfling! How can you just sleep when everyone else is busy fortifying their houses?' The musician rubbed his eyes and stood up from his hammock, yawned and still scratching his back started to speak. 'Please, calm down my friend. The best we can do at the moment is to enjoy the summer while we can. Fortifying the houses wont help a thing if the dragon decides to burn the village down. It's a beautiful day and the dragon is sleeping now. Above all I'm tired as spent the whole night composing my newest song. So, please, let me rest.' 'At least I have done something to help our people: I just sent my messager to the city to find a true hero to save us from the dragon for a sack of silver coins', muttered the chief coldly. The musician played a chord from his lute absent-mindedly and sighted, 'Those bragging trouble makers from the big city will surely be eager to help when they hear the magical word "reward". But they also tend to be a little bit hasty and straightforward.' He took a deep breath and continued, 'just bring me a bottle or a few of that fine wine you keep in your cellars for your guests and I'll solve the problem. It'll be a lot cheaper solution, trust me.' 'Hah! What do you know.. You, who haven't worked a single day in your life, fighting a beast like that? The pixie ale stuff has gone to your head, just like I always said it would!', the chief laughed. The musician looked at him, then shrugged and climbed back to his hammock. The next morning the chief was holding a gathering at the marketplace. Just about every villager was there. And so was the musician, of course, as he was very curious by nature. He usually found his way to anywhere where people gathered for a good gossip, celebration or virtually any other reason if there was even a slightest chance to perform his music. Just the same way people usually stopped to listen to him where ever he was telling stories or playing his lute. The chief clapped his hands to request silence and started to speak, 'we're gathered here because of our common misfortune, namely the certain dragon living in a cave nearby. We all know the situation and now I must ask for your help. Anyone who is willing to fight the beast or otherwise try to drive it away, please, step closer and report.' Altogether three heroes walked to the chief. The first of them was a battle-scarred, heavily armoured mountain of muscle. He was a gloomy warrior from the northern lands whose axe alone was about the size of a calf. The next adventurer was an old man in a colourful robe, who certainly looked like a genuine wizard, apparently for a reason. The last one of them was a woman with almost expressienless face and simple, dark clothing. She was very lightly equipped, but a keen eye might have noticed the dagger hilts sticking from her both leather boots. The heroes couldn't or didn't want to find a way to work as a team, and so it was decided that each of them was to take their attempt alone. The warrior was the most anxious of them and took his trip to the cave right away. About in an hour he had walked to the entrace of the cave. Without slowing down his pace he unfastened the axe he had been carrying on his back and lifted it high above his head. Having done that he marched promptly straight into the cave and charged! The dragon had been sleeping at the time the warrior rushed in but got up quite quickly after getting struck in the side with an axe a few times. Still being astonished by the intruder's surprising and totally impudent attack the dragon could do nothing but just watch the brute fiercely pounding it. It took a while for the dragon to wake up completely and comprehend what was going on, but after that the warrior was furiously driven away from the cave accompanied with huge flames. The dragon however was more puzzled than hurt. Its heavy, glimmering scales resembled chromium plates and could easily bear numerous strikes of an axe no matter how big it was. Needless to say, the embarrassed and slightly burnt warrior left the valley with no delay. As the huge fireball momentarily lit up the mountain, the wizard guessed the warrior wasn't going to come to claim the reward. Unlike the unfortunate warrior, he wanted to make sure he was well enough prepared to meet his foe. He waited till the sun was about to set until he decided he was ready to challenge the dragon. He sighted, grabbed his hat and staff and begun his journey to the cave. At the foot of the mountain he stopped to conjure all kinds of protective spells on himself, just in case. Then he entered the cave. As soon as the dragon was in the line of his sight he casted a mighty lightning bolt at it. Despite all the preparation something went badly wrong. The dragon's mirror-like scales somehow reflected the bolt right back towards the caster and only his protective spells saved him from an instant electrocution. Being temporarily blinded the wizard fought the panic and managed to stagger out of the cave alive even if humiliated. The third hero was already on her way to the mountain when the lightning bolt shook the ground. She knew it was her turn to challenge the dragon as her keen eyes caught a shadow of the fleeing wizard against the momentarily illuminated cave enterance far away on the mountainside. As a former hired killer and an assassin she had a different approach to defeat the beast. She sneaked into the cave, hid herself into the shadows and listened carefully. The dragon's nostrils glowed in faint, pulsating red light that casted a continuous play of restless shapes and shadows on the walls of the lair but still gave enough light for the assassin to see clearly. She patiently waited until she could be sure that the dragon had calmed down and was sleeping again. Still hiding in the shadows she observed the dragon until she could be sure she had found an unprotected spot between its scales. She took a very thin, long dagger and a small bottle containing some constantly swirling dark green liquid from her bag. With the dagger in her one hand and the bottle in the other she sneaked to the dragon and made a fine cut on its skin between the scales. The victim snorted a little, but didn't wake up. The assassin quickly poured all the liquid from the bottle over the cut. She hold her breath to avoid inhaling the fumes that rose from the liquid. After that she silently moved back to enterance and took her stand behind a large rock to watch and listen. The assassin had tried to poison the dragon with very strong blend of many venoms that would have killed any human or animal in seconds. But dragons are different. They were already rare in number those days and very little was known about them any more. The assassin was not aware that dragons' blood itself was strong poison and corrosive enough to eat its way through cheaper metals. That's why she patiently yet uselessly waited till the dawn but the sound of snoring just didn't cease. Finally she had admit being defeated by the superior opponent with no actual fight. But at least she had tried and won her arch enemy, fear, one more time. Early in the next morning yet another traveller was making his way to the dragon's cave. Not an experienced adventurer this time, but just a small halfling with a lute. The musician sat on a stone near the cave entrance and started to sing and play his lute quietly. It was a serene yet a little bit sad song and that's how the went: There's a valley and there's a village in it There's a mountain cave for a dragon to fit It's an ordinary village and the people living there they are quiet, decent and fair But their guest is unfamiliar and strange making them fear because they shun the change The fear feeds hate and the hate feeds misery They ask who's to be punished, who's guilty The dragon in the cave is not evil either but just another jaded, poor creature Being a magnificent fiery vegetarian lizard trying to get fed without burning every orchard Spreading death and disaster just by breathing drives him to despair, makes his fate daunting Reluctant to hurt, peaceful and kind reptile destined to live an outlaw life in exile This is your story woeful and lifelong Tell me am I right or am I wrong I am just a simple musician singing my song but tell me am I right or am I wrong The musician waited for the last chord fade away and then let his lute down. 'You are right', replied a sad, quiet voice from the cave. 'That's what I though.', the musician said, 'I'm a night owl too and I saw your first visit to the orchard. I immediately knew it wasn't an attack or anything like that, but it took me a while to understand what it was all about.' The dragon walked to the entrance and stuck his head to the bright morning sun light. 'Oh, you're a hobbit! And a fine musician too!', he said. The dragon slowed down his breath a little in order to avoid lighting anything into fire. 'Yes, you are right, I'm a vegetarian dragon and not only by choice. Apples are my favourite, even though are tiny snacks. But they are just so delicious, that I can't resist them. Sometimes I get a little bit too excited when I find apples and then I may accidentally burn down things I shouldn't.' The dragon puffed making the air quiver and continued, 'People usually just scream and flee when they see me. Some of the most daring may actually attack me like the uneducated brute with his silly axe yesterday. You are pretty much the first person I've met for ages who actually bothered to try talk with me.' The musician stood up and said, 'Ok, now that we know what situation is, I'd better go back to home and try to clean this mess up.' He waved the dragon goodbye and returned the village. That was the story itself, but there are a few things one might still want to hear. First of all the musician got the wine bottles he had asked for, in fact the chief demanded him to take as many bottles as he could store up. The dragon made friends with the people of the village. He made a very handy acquaintance, especially when some badly frozen wells needed quick defrosting in the winter. The farmer got a new and very enthusiastic scarecrow who kept the hares, birds and elks far away from the fields and the orchard. Small bush fires broke out now and then but they were quickly extinquished. Also the yearly apple yield remained rather low, but that's another story.

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