Year 3136 of the Goblin

Aleron could claim a new territory. He had his wings spread out again as he overlooked the fields and forest in front of him while the sun warmed his wings and scales. The area he was currently in was not claimed by a wyvern yet and it was big enough and held all the necessary resources. It was a bit flatter than his old home. More gentle rolling hills and less steep mountains. There were not many dragons around as most of them preferred to stay a little more up in the north of the country. Aleron could dig a den here and live out his life peacefully as he had done before the rejection.

He tussled his wings and shook his head as a low rumble erupted from deep within his throat. No, he could not go back to the old way of living. Not even six years after the rejection. Something had changed within him. He was restless, often wondered how he was ever able to live a life so quiet and calm. The fact that he was chosen to bond with a human had set so many changes in motion and most of them were in his head. He had changed. ever since the rejection he had been wandering, trying to find peace and continue on his life as if nothing had happened.

But something had happened.

Before the rejection, Aleron loved being alone. He avoided humans and dragons alike like any other smart wyvern would do. He was wild and followed his instincts. He had his dreams though. Dreams of fighting, fueled by the stories he would hear by passing wyverns or dragons. That's how he had learned of the prophecy of the Golden Dragon. Every year, when the wild wyverns of a certain area would come together, there were more stories told and they all kept each other up to date on any new changes in the area. That had been his life and it had been enough.

The moment the boy Joseph had touched him though, that was the moment things had changed. Humans were no longer a danger. In fact, ever since that faithful day, Aleron had been spying on several human villages and small cities he had come across in his travels. He longed for contact, for a connection even if the person wasn't his rider. His dreams had been crushed the moment the rejection was spoken out loud and Aleron felt like he needed something in return of the emptiness that the dreams had left behind.

Black smoke on the horizon pulled the brown wyvern out of his thoughts. It was far away, even more to the south and close to the border of the country. He opened his ear flaps and angeled them towards the smoke. They normally rested against the side of his head but if he wanted to improve his hearing distance he could open them and spread them out like small wings. The membranes would catch any sound and direct it to his ears making it also possible he could precisely pinpoint the direction of anything he heard. The smoke was too far away. He could not smell or hear anything from that direction.

Aleron looked around a bit. Yes, he could claim this as his territory and try to make a new life again or he could go and examine the rising black smoke. He opted for the last. After six years, he knew he was still not able to settle back down again. He jumped from the big rock formation he had been sitting on and took to the air in the direction of the smoke.

He had left with the sun only just rising and now the sun was past its highest point as he finally was able to lay eye on the source of the smoke. The remains of a moderately sized human village. Buildings were on fire, and ash charred the ground black. The smoke was thick and heavy, the straw building of the houses providing more than enough fuel for the flames to consume. As Aleron came closer he could see the bodies littered around. He flew in a wide circle around the village, making sure not to get caught in the thick suffocating smoke.

There was no sign of life so far. Not from any survivors or attackers. Judging by how far the fire had spread Aleron thought the attack had happened just before dawn while most humans were still asleep. They never stood a chance. The stench that reached his nose was the worst he had ever smelled in his life. It smelled of death. Rotten carcasses of cattle and humans alike mixed with a smell of the most atrocious beings that walked the earth.

Trolls.

Most stories depicted trolls as big giant stupid creatures with a club that would attack everything that moved. None of it was true. Well, they were big but they were everything but stupid. The one thing that was correct from the stories was their awful smell. It was strange that trolls had come here though. They always stayed clear of humans and Aleron could not remember a time he had actually seen or smelled one before. Also from the stories he had heard, no other wyvern had ever seen one. Trolls preferred the desert sands and lived way more down south, far away from the borders of Cefril. Why had they come so high up here to wreak havoc on a village which did not seem that important?

Trolls weren't the only thing his nose picked up on. There had been dragons, but not wild ones. Only dragons would have been able to set everything ablaze as it was now. It was quiet now though. Aleron flexed his webbed ear flaps and carefully moved them around trying to hear anything that could mean the attackers were still close-by. He had slowly circled around to the other side of the village by now and hadn't heard a single thing that indicated either trolls or dragons to be nearby. That was a good sign. As he was about to flatten the flaps against his head again he picked up on something else though.

Aleron paused mid-air. Wyverns could hover on the same spot. A trick wyverns could do but dragons could not. He turned his head towards where the sound had come from and closed his eyes as he focused on his hearing. There was definitely something there, in one of the houses which had not burned down completely yet. It sounded like tiny feet shuffling around with once in a while, a soft childlike whimper.

The wind was in Aleron's favor, drawing the smoke away from him allowing him to slowly descent while not exposing himself to the smoke. Aleron landed on what used to be one of the bigger streets in the village. His left foot just next to the remains of a dog while a little up ahead, two dead humans lay sprawled out holding hands. Not much remained of them and if Aleron was human, the sight alone would have made him nauseous.

It was hard to explain why he landed. Aleron never cared about humans until six years ago. And even the past six years he had stayed clear of them while he occasionally had observed them. The only human he would be interested in was Joseph but now he stood in a ravaged village because he had heard feet. A survivor. A tiny one at that. He didn't want to care about what happened to these people and he took another glance at the two charred bodies holding hands. He didn't want to and yet he did. He was a wild wyvern for crying out loud! Or rather... a rejected wyvern. Did that still make him a wild flyer?

Aleron snuffed loudly and shook his head to clear his mind. It didn't matter what he was. He was here, standing in the middle of a ransacked village looking for a tiny human who seemed to be the only survivor. He had gone nuts. That was for sure. Aleron flexed his ears again and after a minute heard the shame shuffling feet to his left. He dropped down on his wings and made sure they flexed up next to his body as he carefully walked towards the direction of the house it was hiding in. It was burning like every other place but it had not yet collapsed.

He stopped and waited. He was sure the tiny human had heard him as he deliberately made more sound than needed. He could not enter the house though, so the human had to come out. He waited for a long time, ignoring the fires next to him as he lais down on the ground resting his head on the ash-covered soil while keeping his eyes open. If wyverns could tell time he would have claimed he waited for several hours but Aleron only had the sun and his instincts to judge the time and the sun had been hidden away by the thick smoke. He listened closely and slowly raised his head as he was certain the tiny human was staring at him.

It was a girl. Her big brown doe-like eyes staring at him in pure terror as she clutched a doll to her chest. Aleron could hear her heart race and could smell her fear, yet she remained in the doorpost without screaming or running away. The little girl intrigues him as they eyed each other without any of them making a move. Her dress was torn and she was covered in scrapes and burns. Her long hair was blackened by dirt and ash but Aleron could see it originally was the color of his scales. Her face was something that shocked him the most. One side of her face, her hair was partly burned away and her skin and ear were gone as well. Instead, there was a mess of black curled up skin mixed with dirt and blood with some strands of hair sticking to it. It had to hurt that was for sure but the girl did not seem to feel it as she was only interested in him.

Tear stains ran down her face. It was the only proof of how scared she actually was as she remained rigid while staring at him. After a while, Aleron decided this could not go on for much longer. The building she was still partially standing in, was only starting to burn more heavily and he could hear the wooden beams inside cracking and giving way under the tortures heat. It would collapse soon and she had to be out of it if that happened. He raised his head from the ground and got up on all fours showing her his real size. He chuffed softly though, trying to insinuate he was not a threat. Her eyes grew even bigger and he could hear her heart speed up again as her lip trembled, but she remained where she was. She was a courageous one for sure Aleron concluded.

When he remained still for long enough, hoping she would catch on the fact he would not attack her, she moved. She shuffled slowly away from the house and onto the street. It was not a moment too soon as a loud crack was the beginning of the house caving in. The roof came down first and it triggered the rest. The girls screamed as sparks, smoke and dust exited through the same doorway she had emerged from. Aleron felt panic grip his heart as the girl momentarily was swallowed by the heavy thick clouds coming from the house. Aleron got up on his hind legs and spread his wings and clapped them together to create a powerful gust of wind to blow away the smoke. When it cleared up, she was face down on the ground, her doll next to her hand. She was still breathing but no longer conscious. Aleron judged the situation around them and made a choice. If he was to leave her here, she would die. He moved towards the frail body and with his mouth, scooped up her doll before gently grabbing her limp body in one of his hind legs. He was careful not to hurt her with his claws as they wrapped around her. Once he had a good grip, he spread his wings and took off, away from the village and the destruction.

He flew far enough to an open area with a shallow stream and soft green grass. It was not that far away from the village, but far away enough for them to be safe. He wanted to go further but didn't dare with the girl hanging limp from his claw. Once he landed he dropped doll off the girl on the grass and gently carried her to the stream. He placed her with her feet in the cold water and her head on the grass. Aleron padded next to her and coiled the tip of his tail around her body, making sure his poisonous barb would not come anywhere close to her. He struggled a little but eventually got a good hold on her and lowered her entire body in the water except for her face. It was a little bit clumsy but he hoped the fresh water would soothe her wounds and burns. He had seen older humans give their little ones baths before and it always seemed to calm the little ones.

Her body twitched at the cool touch of the water as the loose dirt and greasiness washed away. When Aleron deemed it enough, he lifted her out of the water again and laid her down on the grass. She was still not showing any signs of life except for her chest which rose slow but steady. When the winds picked up, her body shuddered again and her teeth chattered together. Aleron growled at the sight of it, not wanting her to be uncomfortable. Something was wrong but he didn't know what. Maybe it was the doll?

He trodded away and picked up the doll again which he had dropped a bit back. As soon as he had it between his teeth, he made his way back to the girl and dropped it on her body. She did not respond but her lips had slowly turned blue as he noticed the hairs on her body were standing up straight. When the wind picked up one more time, and she reacted by shivering some more Aleron realized what was going on and he could his himself for being so stupid. She was freezing. By now, the sun was almost setting again and the night would only become cooler. Aleron stared at the frail body and up at the sky again. He could not breathe fire. He contemplated al of his choices but one thing was for certain. She would need to stay warm.

Aleron curled himself around her body and nudged her body close against his with his tail as he covered her from the top with his wing. This way, she would be protected from the wind and he hoped his own body heat would be enough for her to keep warm. He rested his head on the soft grass and closed his eyes while keeping his ears alert for anything out of the ordinary.

"You're on my territory." A threatening growl and hiss woke Aleron from his peaceful slumber. He quickly lifted his head, noticing the pitch-black night first before he noticed the big old angry wyvern before him.