Ancient Myth (4)

The purple dragon curled on himself shifting and changing. His bright purple scales turned into things that resembled clothes. His large eyes shrank to more human size. His body was still on the large size and well muscled, not exactly something that most people would call not scary. "I will be weaker in this form but as long as you keep your promise I will stay like this for you, Shu."

Shu smiled at him through her tears and launched herself at his waist. The purple dragon caught her easily but let her hold onto him. "Thank you, master dragon." A rumbling filled the cave and the dragon looked down at the girl.

"You must need to eat." The dragon took care of the little girl while she went to the mouth of the cave. Shu could see the smoke rising from the flames that were still consuming the village. The dragon left her to grieve for three days. At the end the girl convinced him to travel with her to another village that shouldn't be too far. If they are lucky her aunt will recognize her and take her in.

It took almost a year to find the spot where the village had been. The charred building already being eaten by the forest. The purple dragon still didn't understand the girl's tears, yet the girl still saw him. Actually the dragon found that almost all humans could see him if he talked to them. He startled more than a few of them when they only noticed the girl at first.

The girl did a pretty good job at avoiding other humans, but she was still young and not great at staying out of sight. It didn't take many encounters for the dragon to learn why she tried so hard to stay away from others of her own kind. These humans were not as kind as the monkeys had been, most didn't seem to care that the girl wasn't full grown yet. The ones that did weren't offering to take her in or help her.

More years went by with the dragon and the girl wandering around the countryside. Year meant little to the dragon he had been around since God had created him after all and he would still be until the light went out of the universe. The life he had made here was very fleeting but it kept him from being too bored. Following a girl around and keeping her safe for years wasn't anything to him, and he wanted to know.

The humans that tried anything against Shu quickly learned the physical power of a dragon. No other animals came near the dragon unless he called them. He had no problems calling animals to die for Shu's meals. Shu didn't let him do it often though, even when he said that the ones that come would have died soon anyway. Shu had realized that soon for the dragon and soon for her were not the same thing at all.

Shu was now 16 and well and truly a full grown woman. In the protection of the dragon she could sleep well, eat well and clean well, so her clothes were the best of any human's and her clean long raven black hair shone just a bit in the sunlight. Her skin was pale even though they spent all their time outside in the weather. Her eyes were black as onix and her lips as red as an apple. She was well muscled from the hard work of travel but she had more weight than anyone else the dragon saw.

Over the years the dragon had taught her to read, write and count. She could hunt with the best of the men and she was dangerous in her own right. Hanging around the dragon let her use her mind and not just her body so she began to think of things that others missed.

"You have doubled the number of years you have seen on this rock, and I am still no closer to understanding, feelings."

Shu sighed at the dragon, "Well it is because we are still on our own. Studying only me won't help you, master dragon."

"So far you have always been shunned by others of your kind."

"Well that was because I would have been a burden or a risk, or I would not have liked the only way I might be useful. I have an idea though, master dragon."

"I am listening, Shu."

"We go to the next ocean town and try to find out what problems they are having. Maybe if we help them with that, they will be willing to let us stay."

"Sounds like a good way to get you killed to me."

"Awe, you do care about me, master." The girl leaned forward and the dragon realized her clothes had gotten a bit too tight on top again. Man it is hard to keep these children clothed, and fed. Maybe he had been too hard on the tiger asking it to protect these monkeys.

"Of course I do, you are showing me something, and you are mine, remember."

The girl rolled her eyes at the dragon. "Yes, master dragon."

They found an ocean town easily enough, the dragon didn't like the smelly towns but if he had to visit to understand, he was willing to put up with the smell. There was a noise coming out of one of the buildings. So the purple dragon moved closer. "Ah, music. I haven't heard any for years." The dragon knew they hadn't heard any for the whole 8 years she had been with him.

The girl pulled him into the inn to hear better. "Hey, do you have money, travelers?"

The innkeeper had come over when they entered. He was a big man with a sword on his belt. "Money?" He was looking at the girl so she spoke as I watched, it had sounded like he saw both of us but I wasn't sure.

"Yes, money, coins, gold, if you have none get out you are blocking people who can pay."

"How much gold?" The big innkeeper took a step back when the purple dragon spoke.

"Look pal, this is an upper class inn. If you have to ask you cannot afford it. If you are selling that woman, I might be able to get you a good meal and small room. If you aren't you should probably move on before I teach you why a sword beats bare hands."

"My woman is not for sale, human. Watch your mouth, or I will relocate it for you. I have gold, how much do you want to leave us be while we listen to the music?"

"One mark by weight, mister big shot, or get out you aren't worth the trouble."

"What is a mark?"

The innkeeper threw his head back and laughed. Then he pointed to a coin that a patron had just handed over for a beer. "That is a quarter mark. So a full-"

"A full mark would be four times the weight, thanks, got it, monkey." The girl gave the dragon one of the looks she used to show she was not happy with him. She really didn't like the purple dragon calling humans monkeys.

The dragon reached into his scales that looked like a vest and pulled out a piece of gold that was easily ten times the size of the coin. "Here, now leave us alone, monkey." The dragon moved passed the wide eyed innkeeper. The girl stayed in step behind him. The man would forget about him in a minute and think the girl had given him the stone, and been nice about it too. Probably.

The girl and the dragon sat listening to the music for a couple of hours and the innkeeper brought the girl beer and food. The dragon still didn't care for the smell but it seemed safe enough for the girl here.

The dragon didn't understand yet that there was no such thing as a safe human town. The musician screamed as one of the cloaked partorns took a disliking to her. He stabbed her in the side before jumping down from the stage and swinging at the innkeep, "You forgot to pay your protection money, keep. Now you are going to learn what the gang protects you from."

"Wait, I have it now. Just give me a moment, I will pay." The big guy had drawn his sword but he wasn't quick enough and the other man lunged again.

"Too late, old man. Now this building will go to someone who knows its worth." Three more men pulled weapons closing on the innkeeper. The dragon wasn't going to do anything but watch. Unfortunately for him the girl had other ideas. She drew a knife of her own as the men went after anything and anyone in range.

The dragon moved much faster than a man could but in that form he just couldn't stay between the girl and all the men. One managed to grab the girl and stab her in the back before the dragon punched him in between the eyes breaking the man's nose and killing him before he could even hit the ground.

The dragon felt anger and was seeing red much like what he had felt when his brothers had killed so many of his creations. Why should he feel it now when just one minor person was hurt? They don't live long anyway, why did it upset him? He didn't really care at the moment but he filed the questions away for later. The remaining men tried to run for it but they didn't get far. One died in the doorway of the inn. The other died out in the street.

When the last one fell to the ground the dragon blinked and looked back at the inn. He found himself rushing back. The innkeeper and the musician were dead. Another human was kneeling next to Shu. He had two hands on the wound on her back.