I blinked as the creature in front of me waited for an answer.

“You’re human, right?” I shakily nodded. “That’s what I thought. But it’s been a couple hundred years since I’ve seen one of you, so I had to make sure. Oh, I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You small ones die so quickly and easily.”

Bright, lively, lavender eyes peered down at me. I tried telling this . . . thing, who I was, but the words died in my throat.

“Are you okay? Oh! I should probably shrink a bit. A lot of things find me too intimidating because I’m so big. And I think my tail got tangled in some trees anyway.” A few pops cracked through the air and she suddenly got much smaller, her bright scales flashing. Now she was only a little taller than me, but still impossibly long.

“Is that better?”

I finally found my voice. “I- What are you?” I whispered.

She sighed. “I never seem to remember how easily humans forget us. I am Clíodhna, the Great Dragon of Life. Now, could you please tell me your name, small one?”

Startled, I stared at her. She looked nothing like I’d always imagined the dragons. Instead of stocky limbs and giant wings, she looked small, graceful, and serpent-like. Her legs were short, and she had tall antlers emerging from the mass of white hair covering her head. Still, I could feel the power resonating from her, and I was surprised to find her so gentle and friendly.

“Calliope,” I whispered, still trembling.

“Oh my, that’s quite lovely. Very musical. In fact, I think that’s another name for my sister. Tell me, Calliope. Why are you in my forest?”

“I-I was . . . I got lost,” I sighed. She chuckled at me.

“How old is your village? I might know where it is.”

I bit my lip. My village was older than me, but this dragon said that she hadn’t seen humans in centuries. I only knew that my hometown was quite young, and quite small.

But then I remembered what traveling Bards had said. It was on the east edge of the forest, though those directions might be unhelpful. Still, it was a slight chance to get back home.

“I think it’s on the east end of the forest,” I told Clíodhna, whose eyes were still glimmering in amusement. “It’s not very old, though. You probably don’t know it.”

“Ah!” She responded. “I have been wondering when you small ones would settle there. Dagda and I have kept that area quite pleasant. Have you found it to your liking?”

I nervously shrugged, and then yelped when she suddenly picked me up around the waist with her talons.

“I’ll take you home, small one. Just remind me to drop you off at the edge of the forest. I have something I want to give you, and I don’t know how well a village would react to me.”

The long, sinuous, serpent-like dragon somehow took to the air, weaving between trees and going quite fast. Her long tail flipped behind her, and I discovered that there was a thin line of her mane running all the way down her back to her tail. Several times, I almost thought the large antlers sprouting from the back of her head would get tangled in the branches of trees whizzing past us, but she deftly avoided them each time.

Just as I began to enjoy the ride, I realized that the trees were thinning, and she slowed down and gently dropped to the ground in a grove of trees. Rays of bright sunshine threaded their way through the branches. Clíodhna set my feet on the ground gently and let me go, before getting a little larger. Immediately, the grass became a little greener where she stood, and flowers emerged from the soil, blossoming quickly.

“Thank you,” I said breathlessly, bowing deeply before the ancient dragon.

As I turned to leave, though, she stopped me. “One moment, small one.”

Her words seemed heavy, strangely enough, and I slowly walked back towards her.

“What do you want me for?” I asked. “I promise I’m not very useful, especially to a dragon.”

She laughed merrily before breathing in deeply. “I’ve never actually done this before. All humans who have found me already had the gift or were unworthy. But I see a pure heart within you. I also quite like you, so I think you should have this.”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

What did she want? Wait, a pure heart . . . that couldn’t be right. I was a commoner. Only nobility was allowed to have the gift.

Right?

She drew herself up to her full height. “Calliope. I would bestow a boon on you. One that gives you an edge over the rest of your kind, that allows you access to the great secrets.” She drew in a large breath.

“Are you willing, small one? I do not wish to hoist something unwanted upon you.”

I slowly nodded, disbelieving.

“I have often heard from my siblings that humans find this very disorienting. Prepare yourself, small one.”

Then, her eyes began to glow dimly, and the small spaces between each of her scales brightened. The forest was completely silent, as though all the creatures were holding their breath. The great dragon began to speak.

“Calliope. Guím beannacht ort. Leis na huirlisí cearta, beidh tú in ann leas a bhaint as cumhacht na Beatha. Bain úsáid as na cumhachtaí seo go ciallmhar, nó tabhair aghaidh ar phionós. Imigh leat anois, agus síocháin leat.”

Disorienting didn’t describe the sudden surge of power. It seemed to fill me, and I gasped. I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe, and dropped to the ground. For some reason, though, I felt complete. Almost like I was meant to be hunched over on the forest floor, in front of a dragon who looked somewhat confused.

All my emotions were raging through me like a storm. I felt like grinning madly as pools of sweat drenched my body. I half expected something dangerous to come out of the trees, and yet I felt so entirely alone. The warmth and peace radiating off of the scaly beast in front of me was my only comfort, and I almost had to stop myself from rushing over and hugging her for safety. My breaths were quick and shallow, but I tried to pull through.

Why am I like this? My thoughts seemed to nag me as an overwhelming pressure began to seep through my limbs, down to my very core. I decided that I would rather experience a large array of emotions than this heavy, empty, numbness.

I have to get up. I have to be better.

The chill of these thoughts continued to invade my heart, their words piercing me.

I’m not enough. I don’t deserve this, right?

It hurts. Why does it hurt?

Stars, help me.

After several minutes like this, I finally regained control of myself. Still, it took all my strength to slowly lift my head and look the dragon in the eye as a single tear slipped down my cheek.

She huffed out a breath. “That was certainly . . . something. Why didn’t the others tell me how draining this was?” She curled up on the ground, causing more flowers to sprout and turn their faces towards her, as though she was the sun. She gently sniffed one.

“Well, it’s done. You can now command magic with the proper tools, small one. I hope you use it well. Though I do not know how you feel about music, I hope you enjoy it. I must rest now, Calliope. That took more out of me than I expected. If you would, though, don’t tell anyone of what has transpired here. I would rather not wake up to a village of small ones, like yourself, who wanted me dead for no good reason.”

Shakily, I nodded.

“I enjoyed your presence, small one. It’s been an age since one such as yourself has stumbled upon me, and you were quite entertaining. Farewell, Calliope.” She slowly unfurled from her nest of leaves on the ground, and lifted herself into the air with a great heave. But then the dragon drifted toward me and touched me on the head with her snout. I stumbled back as she laughed merrily, her eyes twinkling, before she zipped off into the trees.

Bewildered, I stood up, trembling. I felt full of energy, but still, weariness seemed to spread throughout my body as I slowly walked toward where Clíodhna had rested. The grass was slowly withering once more, though when I gently touched a pale purple petal, it suddenly sprung up.

I jumped, startled, as warmth coursed through my arm and the flowers stretched toward me. Slowly, I crouched down once again, careful not to trample them, and touched the purple flower again. It seemed to shudder and lean into my palm, which both freaked me out and made me grin madly.

Suddenly, I saw a small piece of bark, or what looked like one. I stood up and carefully navigated through the flowers to where it lay on a patch of grass that was still green. Small sprouts surrounded it, and when I picked it up, comfort erased all my nerves.

It shimmered in shades of gold and amber after I had touched it, and I gasped as I realized it was a scale.

Strangely enough, it looked like it should have been bark. But it felt soft instead, almost like a leaf or a petal. For some reason, this delighted me, and I clutched the small object close to my chest. I thought about what I would do with it. Perhaps a necklace. Yes, that could work. I would make it into a necklace, and then I could have it with me always.

Soon enough, though, I remembered that I should be getting home. As I found my way through the trees, I picked up sticks to cover for my disappearance and marked a small path back to the grove of trees with small stones.

I hid the scale within my sleeve, because Clíodhna hadn’t wanted to be discovered. As my thoughts began to unravel and what had happened began to sink into me, I internally thanked the dragon. I had always wanted to be a Bard, and now I also had a reason to leave home and stop bothering my parents. For a second, I thought I saw a flash of dark pink and purple in the trees, but it was gone in an instant. I decided I shouldn’t puzzle myself over unimportant things.

I skipped back home quickly, and had to stop myself from humming. I didn’t know what the consequences would be now that I was blessed, but I couldn’t risk it.

And even as I imagined Mother’s anger, I was happy.