The Dragon's Debt

     The light from the torch cast eerie shadows on the walls of the tunnel as the young woman
made her way to the cavern beyond. Her long red hair glistened like liquid fire as she steadfastly
placed one foot in front of the other.How Morgan wished someone else could have performed
the troublesome task. She knew her duty to her grandfather and the truth was that this task fell
to her. She would and could do this for her grandfather. He lay dying and all hope for him to
live rested on her shoulders. Morgan would do this or die trying.

     Her blue eyes filled up with tears as she clutched the dragon's scale in her hand. The scale
represented the debt that the dragon living in the cave owed her grandfather.When he was
scarcely older than she was now, he had helped this dragon. The dragon gave one of her scales
to him as a token and told him to send for her if ever he had need. Her grandfather had
cherished the scale and kept it in a pouch he wore around his neck.Now he lay dying and
his grandfather carried his greatest possession to call in a dragon's debt.

     She hesitated at the mouth of the cavern. This was a dragon she was going to ask a favor
of. Suppose the dragon refused? She was no dragon slayer.The dragon could laugh at her.
the dragon could eat her. No she wouldn't eat her. The dragon had never eaten anyone. No,
that wasn't true. She had eaten a few people but they were horrible and cruel people that had
terrorized her village. So the dragon only ate people that should be eaten. The dragon was
peaceful and only wanted to live here in this cavern. She protected the land when it was in
danger and only asked to be allowed to hunt in peace. What were a few head of livestock
in exchange for a dragon's protection? The village didn't know of the dragon eating innocent
people, but who knew what she did in the privacy of her own lair? Maybe she lured people
there and then ate them. the thought made her stomach twist in fear. But her grandfather
knew the dragon and had only told Morgan nice things about her. The dragon couldn't have
fooled her grandfather. He was too wise and would have known if the dragon tried to mislead
him in any way.

     Still, Morgan hesitated. The dragon did not like people coming to her secluded home
unannounced. She left the people alone and expected to be left alone in return. The young
woman slowly walked into the cavern and gazed around in amazement. Instead of the gold
and jewels most dragons prized, the cavern was filled with books. And in the middle of the
cavern, a blue dragon lay on the biggest pillow she had ever seen. On a pedestal before the
dragon was a book and a fairy was turning the pages. The dragon turned her head toward
Morgan and gazed at her with large golden eyes. Curiosity was in those warm golden eyes
and Morgan approached the dragon with the scale in her upturned palm. She knew she had
nothing to fear from this wonderful creature.

     Suddenly, she couldn't go any further. It felt as if a wall of air was blocking her way.She
tried to press on but she could not. The dragon shook her head as if remembering something
and waved her claw in the air. Morgan almost fell flat on her face as the air she had been
pushing on vanished. She managed to catch herself and made her way to the dragon. Morgan
stood before her, holding the precious scale in her hands. Her knees trembled as the dragon's
warm eyes swept over her. Morgan felt herself weighed and measured in that penetrating
gaze. She bowed her head, humbled by the knowledge and wisdom radiating from the dragon.

     "So, Anthony has finally called in his favor," the dragon said in a soothing voice. "But why
would he send a wet-behind-the-ears child to do so? Is my friend in trouble or harmed? He
knows I would never refuse a request from him. I do so love his visits and he has not come
in a very long time. Tell me child, who are you and why should I not eat you for invading
my home?"

     "I am not a child and my name is Morgan," Morgan answered in a firm voice. "If you are
such a good friend of my grandfather, you would know who I am. He lies in a deep sleep,
placed there by an evil sorceress named Selene. His only hope is a potion made from one
of your teeth. Please help him, you are the only one that can save him. Once he is well, I
shall go after Selene and make her pay for what she has done to him."

     "I see you have your grandfather's spirit," the dragon laughed. "Of course I know who
you are. The last two decades, your grandfather has spoken of you often. He is very proud
of you. But you don't have to worry about Selene. I have already killed her. I owed her a
blood debt and when i heard about your grandfather, I knew the time had come for her to die.

     "How can a dragon owe a blood debt? That is the silliest thing I have ever heard," Morgan
Morgan exclaimed. "Dragons are immortal and very hard to kill. A person would have to be a
fool to try to tangle with one of you. I don't see how you can be killed, but to owe a blood debt
to Selene, she had to kill someone very close to your heart."

     "Your grandfather has never told you how we met," the dragon said softly. Morgan shook
her head. "Sit down on those pillows and I will tell you the story. It is a hard tale to tell but you
must know before we continue."

     Morgan sat on an overstuffed deep purple pillow and made herself comfortable. She leaned
forward, eager to hear the dragon's tale. Her grandfather rarely spoke of the time when he had
found the dragon. All he had ever told her was that he had saved the dragon from a fate worse
than death. She often wondered what that could be, but she did not press him for answers.

     "Many years ago, when your grandfather was just twenty, he came across a sight few
people ever see. A dragon was taking her young daughter on her first hunting trip. My mother
was a purple dragon. All the shades of purple were in her scales. I thought she was the most
beautiful dragon I had ever seen. My father was a red dragon and he seemed to glow when
the light hit his scales in a certain way. My mother was different. Peace rolled off of her in
waves. All of my fears were calmed with one look in her deep blue eyes. I was just a few
years old, old enough for my first hunting trip but my mother couldn't bring herself to teach
me to kill. Finally, my father demanded she teach me or he would. So she took me from the
safety of our cave and led me to a wide meadow where many deer were foraging. She told
me to never pick a mother or a young deer. They still had a lot of living to do. I choose a big
male that looked as if he had seen many years. As i swooped down on him as my mother had
taught me, I heard her scream."

     A tear rolled down the dragon's face. Morgan's heart went out to her. She had also lost her
mother at an early age and the pain was still in her heart. It had lessened over the years but it
still caught her unawares at odd moments. Her father had given her to her grandfather to care
for. Her grandfather had wrapped her in love and guided her as she grew into adulthood with
understanding and patience that her father did not have.

     "I still her scream in my dreams sometimes,: the dragon whispered. "It was a scream of
unimaginable pain and terror. I whirled around to help her and saw a woman with long black
hair standing before my mother. Her arms were raised over her head and she was chanting
strange things. Lightning ran down her arms as she extended them toward my mother. It
surrounded her and she screamed as it ran through her body. She writhed on the ground as
the woman laughed and pulled a huge sword out of a scabbard at her side. She raised it high
and plunged it into my mother's heart. My mother screamed one last time and then her body
lay still on the ground. I was frozen in mid-air, grief and terror warring in my heart. Slowly, I
flew down behind some trees and waited for the woman to do the same to me. Life didn't
matter to me anymore. A part of me had died with my mother.I didn't want to live without
her and didn't know if I could."

     "A hand appeared out of nowhere and rested on my face. I stared into eyes just as blue
as my mother's. But those were in a human face. I gathered myself to run but his eyes stopped
me. I didn't sense any evil from him, whereas the woman had radiated evil. He beckoned me
to follow him and I did. Somehow, I knew he was a good man that meant me no harm. He led
me to another cave high in the mountains. Your grandfather read everything he could find on
dragons to help me, but I think he learned most of it by trial and error. He taught me to hunt,
read, talk and looked after me until I could live on my own. For the first few years, he seldom
left my side. He taught me that all humans are not alike. There are good humans and bad
humans, just like with dragons. When I could live on my own, he brought me to this cave. I
help to protect your village and the villagers leave me alone. There are times I go away to
find others of my kind and new books, but I always come back. This is my home."

      "But how did you learn who Selene was?" Morgan asked. "And why did she kill your
mother? What purpose did that serve?"

     "Dragons are not immortal, but we do live a very long time," the dragon replied. "Your
grandfather had run into Selene once before, when she was killing a red dragon. He did not
know it at the time, but that dragon was my father. He followed her to try and see what she
was doing. He knew he could not stop her but hoped one day he could. When she attacked
my mother,he saw me on the other side of the meadow and thought he could save me while
she was distracted. He made his way across the meadow and led me to safety. In books he
read, he learned that wizards once drew power by killing other wizards and dragons. Selene
wanted to live forever and also have great power, so she learned the places where a dragon's
scales could be pierced and proceeded to kill as many as she could. Your grandfather studied
and became a powerful wizard so one day he could stop her. Selene snuck up on him and
placed a powerful spell on him that can only be broken by a potion made from the tooth of
a dragon. She thought the only way to get  a dragon's tooth is to kill a dragon. But if the
tooth is freely given, the potion works better. She didn't know that he had once saved a
dragon that would give up a tooth gratefully. When I heard what had happened, I went
hunting. I snuck up on her just as she did to my mother and ate her. Then, I hurried back
to wait for you. I couldn't go into the village without raising a panic and maybe getting
killed, so I waited for you to come to me. I am glad you finally made it. Now take this
piece of tooth and go save your grandfather. Tell him he owes me a visit when he recovers
and take my scale back to him. Come with him the next time he visits and I will tell you
some good tales about him when he was your age."

     The dragon handed Morgan a piece of one of her teeth wrapped in cloth and gave her
a gentle push toward the cave entrance. Morgan turned back and waved to the dragon.
Then she hurried on her way back to the village. She had asked a favor of a dragon and
lived to tell the tale. Her feet carried her home to brew the potion for her grandfather.
Then, when he was well, they owed the dragon a visit.