[Part 1]

This is but one story of Kerda, my sister dragon. She was given a great power, and this is the tale of how she learned its origin.

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A small blue dragon entered the large, dark cave, looking around apprehensively. An elf entered behind the dragon, urging her on. "Come on, Kerda," he murmured. "You can't just go back now." Kerda nodded slowly, and then released a long, low note, a call from one dragon to another.

From the shadows deep within the cave, something stirred. Milky blue-white eyes fixed themselves on the visitor as the ancient blue dragon that resided within the cave awoke. Easily over a hundred and fifty feet long, she could easily have swallowed Kerda and her elf friend in a single gulp. “What do you want, youngling?” she asked irritably, seeming annoyed that she had been awoken from her nap.

Kerda replied quietly, looking intently at the floor. “I wish to hear the story of the Spirit Dragons,” she said simply.

The old dragon looked surprised for a moment, then snorted in contempt. “I thought your entire generation was convinced the Spirit Dragons were just a myth us oldsters made up. What makes you so sure they exist?”

”Because I am one,” Kerda replied defiantly.

This time the dragon looked even more startled. “YOU are a spirit dragon?” she asked incredulously. For the first time, she seemed actually interested, and stretched her head out from the shadows to look into Kerda’s eyes for the first time, and then nodded to herself as she noted her faintly glowing eyes, the easiest recognizable sign of a Spirit Dragon. “Very well then… In that case, you must learn the story. It goes something like this...”

“Long ago, before the elves came on their majestic ships, before the humans and their animals followed them, before the very idea of centaurs and fairies and gnomes existed, the land was shared by the dragons and the dwarves. Well, perhaps shared isn't the best term. The dragons stole from the dwarves, and the dwarves stole from the dragons, and every so often there was a killing. In general, they didn't like each other. But they coexisted, to a degree, at least, for a while. But eventually there was an incident that could not be ignored: The dwarf king was killed by a dragon on a treasure raid. The dwarves were unable to forgive this, and attacked the dragons. The dragons retaliated, and it nearly descended into all-out war. The only thing that prevented it was a very unusual intervention by the gods themselves.”

“When they saw what was happening, the gods conferred among themselves. For the first time in history, the Dragon Gods and the Dwarf Gods got together and talked. They could, of course have simply ordered the dwarves and dragons to stop fighting. Unfortunately, that would hardly be worth it, as they would be sure to start fighting again in a few generations, and the whole process would repeat itself. But eventually they came up with a plan. There was to be a competition. Thirteen dwarves were to be selected, one from each clan. Thirteen dragons were to be selected as well, one from each of the thirteen colors: blue, green, orange, red, purple, gold, silver, bronze, brown, black, white, turquoise, and pink. Each of the twenty-six was to be set challenges, with, they were told, a prize at the end, both as a reward and as a way of keeping score. These challenges were always set by a Dragon God and a Dwarf God working together; to make sure that it was fair.”

“The challenges that were set were done on another plane, I am told. Each was different, but all were equally challenging. One was simply a maze that had to be completed in a certain time, another simply a wall that had to be passed, another a long straight path with traps. I could describe each to you, if you wished, except for pink and turquoise, as they failed to come out, and what we know is only what the competing dragons told the others. This is thought to be the reason those colors died out, since they did not have the power of the others, and the protection of their respective Spirit Dragons.”

”Tell me about the blue challenge,” Kerda said.

”I thought you'd ask. The blue challenge, in my opinion, was the most difficult. The dragon that competed was a rather young blue named Graden. His challenge was to fight a chimera.”

“At that point in time, all dragons were wild. The elves had not yet arrived, so there were no riders. As such, what Graden conveyed to the other dragons was in pictures and emotions. It's been converted into words since then, but it's still not completely clear. But because of its nature, it is traditionally recited in first person. So I'll be telling it as if I was Graden, though even I am not quite that old.” The dragon chuckled at this, seeming to have forgotten her earlier hostility, now fully into the tale she was telling. She closed her eyes and took a breath, as if she was trying to get into the proper mood for her story, then continued speaking, deepening her voice as she did so, making it sound much younger, and male.

”I was confused. Mainly at the god's choice of me. I did not think of myself as someone who was worthy of a challenge of the gods. I was not the strongest, or the most cunning. I was considered weak by many, because of my habit of not killing anything unless it was necessary. In the end, it was this, I came to believe, that made the gods choose me.”

”The day of the challenge did not seem to start well. The sky was grey, and there seemed to be a storm coming. I flew to the point where the challenge was scheduled to be, and saw no preparations, or any sign that something was to happen, except several dozen dragons, bored enough that they had come to watch. The only things there were thirteen circles, each a different color. I went to the blue one, as I had been instructed. There was a bright flash of blue light, and suddenly I was somewhere else, and it was sunny, and I was alone. I was later informed that there were thirteen balls of light, one around each dragon, that suddenly appeared, then disappeared, with the dragons that had been standing there suddenly gone.”

“Before I really had any time to think about what had happened, I noticed the creature. I had never seen one like it before. It had three heads, one red with a lot of hair around it, one almost like a green dragons', and one with white fur and two horns. I approached it cautiously, and, much to my surprise, it spoke. It told me that it was my challenge. It said it was called a chimera, and it had been created by the gods solely for the purpose of being in this challenge. If I could defeat it, I would win the challenge. If not, it informed me that I would almost certainly die.”
Unknown "Grady Fletcher" Wild - 16 years, 8 months, 5 days ago

[Part 2]

“Since I really didn't have much choice, I faced off against the creature. It surprised me by almost immediately letting out a jet of flame from the red head with large amounts of hair. I didn't really dodge very well, but it didn't do much. I countered with my own jet of flame, which it mostly ducked, but some of it hit the red head. Again to my surprise, the hair seemed completely fireproof. Next it trained the white head with horns on it at me. It let out a blast of ice. However, I was ready this time and dodged easily. This time I aimed my fire at the white head, and again it wasn't quite fast enough. The hair on the white head, however, caught fire easily, but it quickly scraped it along the ground to put it out. Still, it seemed a bit more wary this time. It aimed the dragon-like head at me, and released a jet of something green. This was not surprising at all, and again I dodged. But it followed me with the jet and scored on my side. It hurt. A lot. Quite a few scales were eaten away. I realized that it was some sort of acid. This time I did not use my flame immediately. I flew up and aimed my fire at its back. It opened its own wings in response to me taking off, and did not have time to dodge my fire. This time I could tell I hurt it. It gave a roar of rage and took off, flying after me, but I dodged it easily. It seemed clumsy in the air, with its larger unstreamlined body. I could fly circles around it, if I wanted to.”

“Seeing that I could easily outmaneuver the beast in the air, I decided to stay there. I scored several hits on its flanks in quick succession, but it didn't seem to notice. It slashed at me rather ineffectually with its claws, but they could not pierce my scales- at least not in one hit. They were putting quite a few scratches in them, though, which annoyed me. Plus it hurt. I also had to keep dodging the fire, ice, and acid it kept shooting at me. It seemed to have an unlimited supply, which I was sure was impossible. Then again, it was created by the gods, so it might not follow our rules. As a result of the things the heads were firing at me, I was forced to only attack from behind and from the sides, as I could not get near the heads. But any damage I did to the body seemed to be greatly less than it should have been, and not slowing it down at all. And every so often it was scoring glancing hits with its ice or acid, and those did major damage. I was well aware that at this rate I would lose.”

“I finally decided that attacking the body was getting me nowhere, and I had decided that the weak point had to be its heads, if it had a weak point. I was pretty sure it did, since an impossible challenge would not be fair. I began focusing my attacks on its heads, but it was difficult. Flying close to the heads caused it to shoot things at me, which I had to dodge and drop back. I shot a few blasts of fire at the heads, but it kept dodging them, or blocking them with the red head, which seemed to be immune to fire. Finally I approached from the side of the red head, and ignored it completely when it shot a blast of fire at me. It hurt quite a bit, but it seemed to surprise it, and as a result was not fast enough to dodge my claws. They cut the head easily and it began bleeding profusely. I backed off again, and to my delight the head continued to bleed, and when I got close to that head, it was much slower and dodging its flame was much easier. I attacked it again, and again. Finally it gave a roar and drooped and hung motionless. Unfortunately, the other two heads did not seem dissuaded by this, and I doubted I could use the same tactics to defeat them, as I could not stand a direct hit with either the ice or the acid.”

“I backed off slightly, and we circled for a while. It seemed a little wary of me now, for obvious reasons. But I still did not know how to get close enough to the other two heads to destroy them. But if I did not, it would eventually wear me down with ice and acid. And I wasn't exactly still in top condition. Eventually I tried to dart in and attack, but it immediately shot both ice and acid at me. I dodged, just barely, but I was now completely out of position with no momentum. I backed off again and we continued circling.”

“Finally I realized something. Before, when I had shot fire, it had usually dodged, but I had managed to get in a few shots that it couldn't. But it had blocked them with the red head, which had been immune. But now the red head was gone. It would be forced to take any blasts it could not dodge on the other two heads, which I was quite sure were not immune to fire. I could take them both out that way... provided I didn't run out of energy. If I ran out of fire in the middle of the fight, I was dead. Fire was supposed to be a secondary weapon. I wasn't sure if I had enough to use it as a primary weapon. But I didn't really have a choice. I shot a blast of fire at it, which it dodged. But I continued to bombard it, and it was doing more and more desperate maneuvers to get out of the way. Finally I scored a hit on the ice head. It shrieked and jerked back, badly burned. After that, I focused on the ice head entirely. It took two more direct hits and a dozen misses to cause it to drop.”
Unknown "Grady Fletcher" Wild - 16 years, 8 months, 5 days ago

[Part 3]

“Now that there was only one head left, I could use the same tactic I used on the ice head, theoretically. But I had used a lot of fire to get rid of the ice head, and I wasn't sure I had enough. But it was the best plan I had at the moment. I shot a blast of fire at the head, which it dodged, as usual. I sent another blast, but this one only went a puny fifteen feet before it died. I didn't have enough fire left for a full length burst, and getting within fifteen feet to flame was suicidal. It was solely up to my claws and teeth now. I shot straight at it, and it shot a blast of acid at me. I dropped slightly and it passed over my head. I tried to get back up to where I could attack it, but I was going too fast. I passed underneath it, and its claws scraped along my back, and I winced as one dislodged a scale. But no major harm done. Then I thought of something. Every time I circled around, it shot a blast, I dodged, and I missed it. But if I aimed slightly off, and dodged towards where it was instead of away, that might work! This time, when I circled around, I circled wide, and aimed to the left of the head. When it shot its blast at me, I dodged right, and I was right on target. I slashed at the head as I went past, and it roared in pain. I circled around for another pass. And this is where I made my mistake. I assumed it would do what it had always done. But that hadn't worked last time, so it changed its tactics. It turned its head sideways and shot at me as I was circling around, and I was so surprised I didn't dodge. When it reached me, my wing was in its down stroke. The acid burned a hole straight through my wing and hit my side. The pain was agonizing, and I spiraled out of control. I hit the ground and slid, and felt something crack, and there was a sharp pain in my left front leg. It was broken. There was nothing I could do now. I couldn't fly, and I couldn't walk. I watched as it flew down and landed in front of me, and waited for it to finish me off. But to my surprise, it didn't. The acid head spoke. "Do you surrender?" it asked, and didn't move as it waited patiently for my answer.”

“I thought about the question for a while. Logic said say yes, pride said say no. And logic and pride were arguing. Logic said if I said no he'd kill me. Then it paused. I had never thought of the chimera as a 'he', before, merely an 'it'. Perhaps anything intelligent enough to ask for surrender ceased to be an 'it'. But if I surrendered, what would happen? I would go home defeated, and everyone would scorn me even more. Surrendering in a challenge from the gods? My one chance to do something important and I blew it? Pride said death was better. And pride seemed to be winning. So logic looked for the next step. When I refused the surrender offer, what then? There was no way I could reach him, he was fifteen feet away, and I only had three good legs, and no flame. Wait... that wasn't quite true. I still had a little bit left. Not enough for a full blast, but perhaps just fifteen feet? It was worth a shot. "No!" I said, and gathered all my fire as he prepared to shoot his acid. But I had started sooner, and he realized too late that he was within my range. My fire shot out, and engulfed the acid head. It collapsed, followed shortly by the body. I got to my feet with some effort and stood on three legs- and the chimera spoke to me again, without opening its eyes. "Well done. Claim your prize." Something blue descended from above, and I realized it was just a blue dot. It hit me, and suddenly there was no pain. I glanced at my wing, and there was no hole. But I didn't really feel all that different. "That's it?" I asked. "Yes," the chimera replied. "Your power is healing. Any creature, any wound, by touch. You may go now." A blue circle appeared nearby, the same that had taken me here, but I hesitated. "What will happen to you?" I asked the chimera. "I will die. You have defeated me. Now go!" But I refused. "No! I'm not going to let you die, just because of some stupid godly challenge! I'll use my power on you." I walked over and touched one of his heads with my claw, and concentrated. I felt odd, and there was a blue glow where I touched him. I backed up slightly, uncertain, but soon the chimera was back on its feet. It was smiling, with all three heads. "Well done. You have passed the final test. You have shown the compassion to use your power not just for your friends, but for your enemies as well. For that, you shall receive your power." I was confused. "Didn't I already get it?" The chimera shook its head. "You received only a sample. It would have run out in a day or so if you had left. But this power will be permanent." There was a blue flash, and a blue circle appeared in the air, with a blue dragon in the middle. It began turning slowly. "Take it," the chimera told me. "And use it well." I nodded, and touched it, and it dissolved and flowed into me. And now I could feel the power. "Thank you," I told the chimera, and stepped into the circle. There was a bright blue flash and I was back where I started.”

The great, old blue dragon stopped speaking and looked at Kerda, silent for a moment. "This is more than just a legend, or a history tale," she said solemnly. "It is a lesson. You have been given a great gift. Use it well."

With that, she turned and walked back into the darkness of the cave. "Go now," she said without turning her head. "I have told you what you need to know."

Kerda watched her for a moment, then said softly, "Thank you." Then she turned and left as well, the elf following her out.
Unknown "Grady Fletcher" Wild - 16 years, 8 months, 5 days ago