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An excerpt from my story “Dragon Child”
Walking along the forest path, breathing in the scents of spring that lingered in the air she stretched her back, spreading her membranous wings, before slowly pulling them back against her body.
The old women who had taken her in some eighteen years ago had given her the name Ryuu*, which in the women’s native tong meant “Dragon” for the girl Ryuu, was indeed that, a Dragon, or at lest in part.
Havening never known her birth parents Ryuu had no what her true heritage was. Aside from the purple–black scales that ran down her spine and over her delicate wings, and the wings them selves of cores, she could almost pass for human.
Her eyes shaped like almonds, were a subtle blue green, and shined like small liquid pools. Her skin was mocha in color with a dapple of freckles across her nose. She had waist length black hair, save for a strip of white that framed the left side of her face. She was slim and slender, with obvious curves, Ryuu Anda was a beauty to behold.
Only her scales and wings belied her as something other then human. And with her wings being nearly as long as she was tall it was difficult to hide them.
Ryuu stopped at a grove of wild flowers, and began to pick some. She gathered an assortment of violets, sweet pea, snapdragons, morning glory, moonflower (the old woman’s favorite), lily, belladonna, and anemones. She bound the flowers together using two strips of leather creating a bouquet. With flowers in hand she picked her self up and started walking along the path once again.
Noriko had been a sweet old woman, the only family Ryuu had ever known. She had been like a mother, no, more like a grandmother to Ryuu.
Taking in the girl and raising her even though they where not related. She fed and clothed the girl, watched over her while she learned to walk and then to fly, she had taught her to read and write, mathematics and her decimals.
She taught her to fight and fend for her self, to hunt and to track, to skin a deer and tan the hide to make leather, to make a bow and arrows, to cook and clean, to sew and mend cloths, to plant and harvest a garden as well as some herbal healing.
The girl could take care of her self. Noriko had seen to that. Noriko had been Mother and father, Grandmother and Grandfather to Ryuu, Noriko had been everything the girl had needed. But now she was gone, and Ryuu was all alone.
Ryuu fallowed the path until she came to a small clearing, in the center of the clearing was a grass covered mound, and at the head of the mound was a large granite stone that had been smoothed on one side with words covered into the stone.
The words read:-
Ryuu knelt down beside the mound and placed the flowers atop it. She whispered a small prayer, and reflected on how much the old women had meant to her, how much she still meant to her.
Ryuu hated to admit it but she was lonely. Noriko had been her only friend.
After a while Ryuu headed back through the forest towards the cottage, which now felt much bigger and emptier then ever before.
It was a large two story structure. The bottom level consisted of a kitchen, pantry, dining/living room and a bath room with a front door connecting to the living room, and a Dutch kitchen door at the back of the cottage. The upper level consisted of two bedrooms, a library/office, and a second bath room. Both the kitchen and the dinning/living room had large fire places that during the winter kept the cottage nice and toasty.
In behind the cottage lies a small plot of land about an acre or so that she used as a garden to plant the food she would be eating during the winter.
Ryuu sighed unhappily she wouldn’t need as much food this year as past years. She would probably just use the extra land for alfalfa.
She knew she would need it; the old women had bought an extra horse and a new bull just before she died. The sheep would also appreciate the extra food; the chickens would probably like some corn too.
Rose, the strawberry roan mare, was heavy with foal, and Blaze, the buckskin stallion, was busy getting to know the new dapple gray mare Hoshi. There where no animals that where ready for sale but Ryuu did have some rugs she could sale, along with a few precious stones she had colleted.
Being part dragon gave her an innate ability to find and locate precious metals like silver and gold and stones like diamonds and emeralds.
Ryuu desperately needed to go to town, she needed a few things, and with the old woman gone the task was left up to her. It was a two day trip to the city and back, but if she feed the animals before she left everything should be fine.
Ryuu went into the cottage to take a quick shower and to put together her pack, it was still early and if she left by noon, she should reach the city by dusk.
After a quick shower and gathering up the cloths and food and water she would need, Ryuu set about gathering up the rugs she had finished, having had little to do for the last few months she had made quite a few, and the jewels she had stashed away, she went out to the barn to put everything in the wagon.
Once the wagon was packed and ready to go, Ryuu filled four sakes with grain and stashed three in the wagon taking the forth with her to try and lure Blaze to her.
Once the stallion was hitched to the wagon and cheerfully munching on his grain, Ryuu went about feeding the other animals and making note to pick up more food for each of them.
She whistled for “The Pack”, three dog, two wolves and a dingo came streaking across the lawn, there was a little brown and black Dachshund female, heavy with pups, named Judy, a little tan and white male Chihuahua, named Demon, a sable, male German Shepard named Claw, an all black male wolf named Ookami, a black gray and white female wolf named Moon, and a female tan dingo named Yuri who had managed to sneak away from her puppies, seeing the dingo remained Ryuu that it was time for the puppies to find homes of their own.
After feeding “The Pack” Ryuu made her way to Yuri’s den, she found the three little bundles all snuggled up together. Carefully picking up each puppy, she carried them over to the wagon and gently placed them in the back. Grabbing a small bag of dog food she horridly went about getting ready to go.
After hitching Blaze to the wagon, she left him to his feed bag and went into the house one last time. Gathered up her bow and quiver, she slid her hunting knife into the top of her right boot, and grabbed the leather trench coat hanging by the door.
Being mindful of her wings, Ryuu gently pulled the coat on, buttoning every button from neck to knees, and securely fastening the belt, making sure that her wings where pulled tight against her body, but not crushed. Her bones where very delicate especially the ones in her wings.
Ryuu recalled a time when she had been very young, still getting use to the feel of her wings, she had tried to land on a tree stump like she had seen the birds do, but just as she started to put weight on her legs she slipped and fell off the stump, and broke her right leg and crumpled her left wing, it had taken so long for the bones to heal.
The old woman, Noriko, had explained that snits Ryuu could fly like a bird her bones where hollow like a bird’s, which meant that they where very delicate and brittle and she needed to be very careful.
After that incident Ryuu always remembered to be mindful of what she was doing.
With the last of her things packed and stored in the wagon, Ryuu took the empty grain bag from Blaze; refilling the bag once again she stored it with the others in the back of the wagon, climbing into the driver’s seat, Ryuu called to “The Pack”.
“Now ya’ll watch over the place while I’m gone I’ll be back soon.”
Her answer came in the form of wagging tales and sharp barking. Clicking to Blaze, Ryuu sent the wagon down the dirt rode that would lead her to the highway.
