What I did last night was inexcusable. I disregarded orders from the King to stay away from the girl and instead I flew right up to her tower, meeting her face to face. That was a bad move on my part, I should have stayed on my patrol, something could have snuck in while I was away and that would have resulted in something bad - the King would've had my head. 

It was one act of impulse that shouldn't have happened, after all my years of training in the Dragon Hold I should have known better than to disobey a rule during my quest. Failing to meet all requirements by the end of the quests would result in an immediate dismissal from the Human world and back into the Dragon Hold for a hundred year sentence in The Pits. I shudder at the thought of the dark cave. All 233 years I lived in the Dragon Hold The Pit was always there, ominously gaping at the bottom of our home. It was dark, cold, and small; there was hardly enough room for a grown dragon to fit, its rocks sharp and rough on our thick Dragon scales.

There were always stories of fallen dragons who had returned from a failed quest, confined to The Pit for a hundred or more years; their wings cut off from living so long in the small space that the rocks tore them to shreds, their horns shaved or broken. Most who go into The Pit never come back out alive, not able to survive their full sentence. I only ever saw one dragon come out of The Pit alive, but even then she was frail and had to be taken to her final living place at the edge of the mountains closest to Human society, where she had lived the remainder of her years giving prophecies for the Dragon Holds future. We never heard news of her, but the one time we did was when I was about 150 years old, still learning about Dragon Quests. The news was to announce her death and that a full ceremony would not be commenced due to her status in the Dragon Ranks. I remember feeling bad for her, feeling sad that a Dragon had to go through with living a life in such a place and survive; only to be cast out from her own home. 

The sun was nearing the mountains, blending into light pinks and oranges; I hadn't even noticed the passing of time as I remembered The Pit and the poor dragon. I shook myself and continued on patrol, being extra careful to fly low so the girl would not see me, nor I her. 

It was difficult as the sun grew steadily lower in the sky, darkness falling over the castle, to stay low; to stay away as the girl started her song. It was different from the previous night. It was still sad, still longing, but there was something else there, something I couldn't quite place. Hope. Maybe. 

I listened as I flew, circling the castle over and over, almost in rhythm with her singing. After the song ended I heard no other sound and continued my rounds, strictly staying on task, The Pits still clear in my mind and a thought came that was so crazy that I couldn’t help but act on it. As soon as I blew words across the wind to her tower in apology I wished I could take them back, afraid I might break the rules once again. There was no doubt she would have any idea as to what the words meant, but this was my way of saying sorry for having to stick to the rules.

I flew on, not expecting a reply and was surprised when I heard a few small notes come from the tower, not quite enough for me to understand the meaning but I gathered that she was grateful for the words I said and continued flying on through the night with a little bit of a swell in my chest, the same feeling that I felt about the broken old dragon from The Pit, never to be whole again; that which I knew to be true for the girl as well, and for that I spent the rest of the night weeping silent tears against the wind.

© 2015 Amber Steinbeigle. All Rights Reserved