Warm hues danced spread across the sky as the rising sun shone a brilliant orange. The stars faded as the glorious day began with a brilliant display of yellow, orange, and pink. No clouds blocked the view, but one could smell a storm brewing on the other side of the horizon. 

Atop a cliff face, two silhouettes watched the sunrise, immune to its shimmering glare. Their serpentine necks and angular heads remained turned towards the light. After a few moments, one of the figures bowed its head and glanced at the somehow-brighter reflection of the celestial body as it reentered the sky. The figure placed a paw on the gnarled tree roots and looked to her companion. It's another day, she cooed. She showed a soft smile to her sole companion and friend.

The other silhouette did not move an inch. The first figure did not mind and stood to her feet. I might as well start my rounds; she mentally told the green and brown figure. She cast an invisibility spell around herself with a thought and swiftly shimmered out of existence. She turned and walked towards the massive, grey stone structure that stood behind the pair. I will see you for tomorrow's sunrise, Ki. Her soft smile faded as she forced herself to her assigned job.

The tree gently rustled its leaves in a sudden breeze as if saying farewell. Otherwise, it remained unmoving and silent.

The blue serpentine figure looked to the building. Except for the vines that climbed the ruin's south-facing surfaces, the crumbling fortress seemed empty and lifeless. No torches burned on either side of its main entrance. Even the wooden doors had all decayed and rotted away long ago. Parts of the towers had crumbled over the long time she had been here, and most of the roofing was long gone as well. For the longest time, she had tried to repair everything, but she was no craftsman. Mostly, her attempts consisted of stacking fallen blocks to use as furniture or walls, but even those eventually crumbled as a result of endless weathering.

Before entering, the serpentine creature patrolled the perimeter of the small island. The rock protruded from the sea with sheer cliffs along the mile-long circumference. No plants grew on top of the stone except for a few mosses, lichens, and Ki the tree. The dragoness was the only resident.

The dragon invisibly checked the perimeter of the island and found no living things except the plants and herself. Her presence even scared away the seabirds; they did not even attempt to nest on the sides of the cliffs. She had eaten all the rodents and moths years ago to keep them from eating more holes in the tapestries and carpets.

She glanced towards the harbor to the northwest. Unlike her island, beings inhabited the distant port city. Large merchant ships came in and out of port at all hours of the day. During her entrapment, she had watched the settlement across the waves grow from a village of hundreds to a city of thousands.

As she entered the fortress, she sighed and released the invisibility spell. She gazed around the mostly-unchanging interior of her home. Tattered tapestries and tarnished silver hung from the walls. Items made of precious metals and jewels sat on makeshift stone tables. Though many of the items were old or tattered, the dragoness still enjoyed them since they filled the otherwise-empty castle.

She traveled to the largest room of the fortress. She glanced around to make sure nothing had changed. Satisfied, she approached the two golden chairs with rotting velvet upholstery that sat on the stage at the end of the room. Once there, she closed her eyes and remembered what once was, and the powerful beings who sat on those thrones.

The elvish man on the larger of the two thrones smiled at her. Even though he was on the higher ground, her larger size gave her a slight advantage in eye level. He spouted praises for her aid in the defeat of the invaders and offered her a magical contract. In her youthful foolishness, she had bound her soul to the castle in trade for food, treasure, and a life of luxury in the place she guarded.

The woman on the smaller throne beside him was mostly silent, but the dragoness never saw a more beautiful woman before or after. The human queen was extremely polite and loving to both her kingdom and her family. The dragon remembered her fondly for their duets and nightly talks.

Opening her eyes, the dragoness jumped onto the stone platform. She turned and looked out to the decayed red carpeting of the doorless room. Sunlight graced the room like a spotlight through the large hole in the roof. In her mind's eye, humans and elves in extravagant gowns and suits danced while armored guards lined the edges of the room. During the peaceful times, beings bearing gifts approached the stage to offer gifts to the two rulers and the guardian dragon.

The female dragon laid on the stage as imaginary humans and elves danced. She snapped her attention to the main doors as the heralds announced a new figure. The human man wore an outfit made from rare, expensive materials, and bore a single gift. The words were muddled, but her mental imaging was very clear as the man approached and offered a blue jewel truly fit for a dragon.

The dragon forced her mind away from the past with a shake of her head. She dispelled all thought to the recesses of her mind and refocused on the empty castle. As much as she loved the past, she was the cause of her present. She had created and since accepted her fate. Without another thought, she left the throne room through a passageway behind the thrones.

Moss squished under her paws as she traveled through the maze of passages. After walking for several yards, she emerged into a hallway. She continued her rounds through the various rooms of the castle to check for signs of intruders. Per the norm, nothing had changed while she had enjoyed the sunrise.

She headed to the armory and verified that the rusting weapons were in the same places as they were a few hours ago. Strong and brave knights once used to care for and carry the weapons around on their daily patrols. She had fond memories of the knights. They were great entertainment, both when they dueled, and when she helped them train for defense against other dragons. All of them would have risked their lives to protect her. Now, she found herself doing their job alone.

When she checked on the library, the books were still dusty and untouched. Once, this was considered the most extensive library in the world. Now it sat empty. Before, scholars from all around the world came to study and add to the collection. Now, not even the lone resident read the tomes.

She had tried to read the books once in an attempt to make them more than paper bricks, but the delicate pages made for human hands were not compatible with her large, clawed paws. Sometimes she tried to remove the dust, but she either choked on it or needed a bath to clean the grime from her fur. Either way, she never made any headway against the dirt, and usually, the only outcome of her efforts was both dust inhalation and a good washing.

The kitchen was cold and empty, in stark contrast to the once-lively warmth it contained. Not even rats dwelled in the room, as there was nothing in there for them to eat anymore. The best cooks in the kingdom used to make food just for her. She even once had personal servants that brought her food and kept her beautiful by brushing her fur, cleaning her teeth, and manicuring her claws.

Though she tried not to dwell on the past, every room she visited held fond and happy memories of another time. Nothing but the past filled her thoughts, anymore. She had stopped believing in a future beyond her current situation long ago. She was a relic of a bygone era, and she would be frozen in time on the island until the waves inevitably consumed the small landmass.

Only then would she be free, since the royals who could free her had long vanished from the island and left her to die among the rubble.

But she could not die. She could not age. The 'gift' of immortality that she had so foolishly accepted when her mind was still childish prevented her from withering away like the castle.

The royal dragon shook her head and snorted as she padded down the stairs not made for her long gait. It was time to peruse the more-secret underground cavities in the castle.

She peered down a long hall filled with decrepit iron bars. The dungeon was as dusty, rusty, and crumbly as it had always been. At one point, skeletal remains had given her someone to pretend to talk to. Like everything else, though, they had aged and dissolved into dust while she remained eternally young and beautiful.

She continued her rounds, heading next for the treasure room. She did not want to see the piles of dust that had once been her 'friends.' They reminded her too much of the past.

She hated her immortality and the spell that trapped her in the dying castle. She was lonely. Her magical muteness inhibited her from calling out to anyone else for company or help.

The treasure room's lock had not been touched. She decided to descend the stairs and enter the only room she felt still had some life in it: the grotto that served as the one accessible entrance into the treasure room.

In the hidden grotto, no new boats or footprints had appeared while she was gone. Of course, she thought to herself, nothing ever changes. No one else comes here anymore. She faintly heard the echoes of times past: children splashing in the shallows; fishermen in small sailboats offering their daily catches to the kitchen staff; merchants haggling over prices. However, it was only her imagination.

She paused before wading into the warm waters of the grotto. She watched the shimmering minnows dart away from her presence. The dragon noted that the normally-still waters of her secret sea turned in turmoil caused by the waves outside. She glanced across the water at the sunlight that gleamed through the dangling vines that covered the entrance. The tide was high, and only the smallest of rowboats could slip through the vines.

The serpentine dragon swam into the deeper water in the middle of the grotto. After casting an invisibility spell over herself once again, she dove under the surface and exited the grotto. Her ears strained as she listened for the beautiful songs of her maternal ancestors or potential mates drifting through the currents, but she heard nothing but the waves crashing against the cliff face behind her. The open ocean remained silent.

She could faintly hear the sounds of the ships from the port as they began to set out for the day. Based on her perception, they gave the island a wide berth, as they typically did. They had a good reason to avoid the island, as it was a death trap for the large ships commonly used by the people of the town. They ran aground in the rocky shallows, and the dragoness pushed them away if they sailed too close. She did not like dealing with the mass of ships that came when a ship ran aground in the corals and rocks.

If the men attempted to climb the wet rocks and vines or enter the secret grotto, she would have to stop them, as none of them had the clearance required to come onto the island. The magical contract forced her to do such things. Of course, no one had clearance anymore, as there was no royalty in the fortress to give it. Loneliness was not an emergency that offered temporary clearance, either.

A few larger fish meandered through the coral that surrounded parts of the island, and the dragoness snatched up and ate one that foolishly swam right past her nose. Though she never needed to eat, she still occasionally hunted for fish. Usually, she hunted only because she was bored, or because the fish stupidly ignored a massive predator among them. If she was honest, though, the taste of fresh meat in her mouth was delicious. The food reminded her of the long-ago meals her mother brought her when she was nothing more than a mere hatchling full of potential, and the meals that she hunted for herself when she roamed the seas.

She paused as strange splashing noises came from around the island. She effortlessly swam around the island and followed the sounds to find their source. When she rounded the corner, she noticed a fleet of small rowboats dashing their way through the water. The invisible dragon swam to the surface. She found young male humans and elves from the port town foolishly racing their boats closer to the cliffs than she preferred, but she could not blame the creatures for being just as foolish as she was when she was young. Young creatures lacked the experience to be able to know what was idiotic and what was wise.

"You can't catch me!" One of the boys laughed into the wind as his boat fought the rough seas. "These waters are nothing for me and my amazing WaveBreaker!" He continued to row around the island with a joyous laugh. A smirk spread across his face. "I am going to win this race and you can't stop me!" As he rowed around the jagged rocks, he neared the vine-covered southeastern side of the island.

With a silent mental snort, the invisible dragoness lowered her head into the water and forcefully nosed his boat away from the edge of the cliff. The boat veered a bit off course but mostly continued on its path around the stone island. Though a bit rocked, the boy manning the boat never noticed her and neither did any of his companions.

She enjoyed the company of children, but it was her responsibility to protect the island from all intruders, no matter how small. Maybe one day, the curse would be broken and she would be able to leave and explore a world beyond the island. Until then, she would find pleasure in the simple things and do her best to preserve the castle in the memory of those who once lived there. Her memories and the upkeep of the castle were the only things that kept her mind rooted in sanity. With a small jolt, the dragoness realized that she had become unfocused. She refocused on the boys before any of them endangered themselves.

Another boy laughed as he caught up to the first boy. "You hit a riptide!" the second boy mocked as he pulled alongside his companion. "Now I am going to pass you since you rowed too close to the island, stupid!" he laughed mockingly and began to pull ahead.

The dragon looked to the other five boats in the fleet as they each gave her home a wide berth. Much to her chagrin, she did not need to entertain herself by adjusting the course of any of the other vessels. She remained there, hidden until the last boat passed the island and headed back to the harbor to the north.

When the last boat passed and the boys rowed away, the dragon rose out of the water and silently flew to the top of the plateau. From her new vantage point, she could watch the boys row their boats back to the harbor.

Suddenly, a voice came to her sharp ears. "Guys!" it weakly huffed from below her. "Wait for me!"

The invisible dragon panicked slightly. She raced to the cliff edge the voice had come from beneath, only to see a tired male child much smaller than the rest struggling to row his boat around the island. Her eyes widened as she noted his proximity to the jagged rocks to the south.

Somehow, he had made it halfway around the island without her noticing. She ran to the eastern cliff and dove down fifty feet and seamlessly entered the water with a splash that the rough waves easily hid. With a frantic heartbeat, she swam through the churning ocean towards the child. She reached the vessel in time to watch a sudden wave slam the little boat into the rocks. The small watercraft shattered from the force. The child was flung into the mercy of the waves.