It was a hot summer day in Elf’s Wood. The meadows around
Spirit Hill were blooming with herbs and flowers, as far as the sight goes. The
wind was blowing gently, carrying seeds and blossoms across the air. On a
meadow near the gulf two kids were playing, running and jumping around some
bushes, celebrating the first days of summer. Nearby, their fathers enjoyed the
cool shadows of Holly’di Rock – one of the few places, where dragons could be
at peace. Boderion and Djhoya were two of the few dragons that found love
outside their kind. Djhoya was happily married to the elven priestess Elvemeera
and was blessed with a son by the name of Terdassile. Half elf, half dragon,
the boy was carrying the name of Thall’dragon (meaning Dragon-born) – the name
that every half-dragon child had. Not favoured by the others, these children
had to hide, but here, at Spirit Hill, they lived in peace and harmony among
the priests. Dhjoya was Guardian of the sanctuary and Terdassile was to inherit
his father as a guardian one day.
Boderion,
however, didn’t have that kind of luck. He was Guardian of the Lowland Shire,
where dragons were feared and even hunted. His human wife, Allemona, was taken
from him and later killed when she laid dragon egg. He managed to save it and
the egg hatched into a beautiful, red-headed dragon-girl. Boderion gave her the
name Ruby, for she was his most precious jewel.
Every
summer Boderion visited Djhoya in Elf’s Wood.
Ruby and Terdassile got along very well and these few months they were
spending together were the happiest moments of the year. The two of them, they
were almost the same – body of an elf, body of a human; dragon horns and wings and
tails, dragon feet, claws and breath, but their hearts were soft and kind. They
weren’t wild as the dragon children, suspicious and mistrustful, but tender and
warm like their mothers. They didn’t belong to the mountain caves and castles
like their dragon fathers, but to the city, among people, to be part of the
community. But they were not destined to be. Even among the priests Terdassile
felt like an outsider. And Ruby, she didn’t have even that. She lived with her
father at the Ark Mountain, where only the forest sprites were her company
during the winter. And every year, when the first summer flowers started to
bloom, she couldn’t wait to go back to Spirit Hill and spend some time with the
only one of her kind she knew. Terdassile was always waiting for her, standing
at the edge of Holly’di Rock, holding a Rubby Flower in his hand.
Summer after
summer he was standing at the same spot from down, waiting for them to come.
But one summer she never came; nor her, nor her father. There was no word from
them, but Terdassile still waited there, every day and every night, holding the
red flower in his hand, staring at the horizon.
