Dragon

Dragon

The mother dragon was dying. With the last of her strength, she clutched her egg, she flew to the one place she knew her egg would be safe. They were called the Dragon Monks. Their deity is a dragon. She knew that he would be by the west wall this time of day tending to the little flower garden there. It was behind some trees so she knew she could give him her precious egg and no one would see.
The sun had just set when she landed beside the wall exhausted. No one had seen or heard her. Quietly she walked closer to the wall and listened for Brother James. She knew that he came to the wall on the inside of the monastery everyday to tend to the flower garden.
She could feel the strength draining from her body. She knew death was only hours away. All dragons knew when their death was upon them. After a few moments she heard the sound of Brother James working the soil with his garden tool. With only her mind she spoke to him, "Brother James, I need your help." she said leaning heavily against the wall.
She heard his hurried footsteps as he went to a doorway not far from where his flower garden was. Soon he was beside her.
"Aldea, you are hurt! I will go get the others and we can help you!" Brother James said with alarm in his voice.
Aldea stopped him with her paw and said, "No, there is no time for that. You must take my egg. It must be protected. Take the egg inside and protect it. Hurry, the Dark Knight who hunts me is not far behind."
Aldea slipped the egg into Brother James's hands and quickly slipped away into the night. Brother James made to stop her but she was gone too quickly. He hurried inside the monastery and went to the main temple.
The Deity was a large statue made from white marble with rubies for eyes. It's hands were outstretched as if waiting to accept something. James put the egg in its hands and as soon as he did the mouth of the dragon opened and flames encircled the egg. James stumbled backward fearing he would be burned. The eyes seemed to be searching for any hidden dangers. James watched in amazement as the flames seemed to caress the egg but not burn it. The Abbot came in and said, "James what is going on here?" Surprise showing on his face. He watched in fascination at something he had never seen before. James hurried to where the Abbot stood, "Sir, Aldea was here, she left the egg with me. I didn't know what to do so I brought it here and this is what happened when I laid the egg in its paws." James was still watching the flames encircle the egg. The Abbot thought a moment before turning to James and saying, " We shall leave it here and go about our business. I think the egg will be safe where it is now. I want you to go about your business too. Don't tell anyone where the egg came from. If the rest don't know they can't tell." The Abbot made sure no one was left in the room and locked the door for the evening. Everyone went about their business as if nothing had happened. There were a few eyes that had strayed to the sight of the egg encircled in the flame of the dragon but otherwise no one acted if the egg was even there. The Monks continued with their daily lives as usual for the next several weeks. One afternoon during meditation, while the monks were praying, the fire stopped with a great whoosh. The monks looked up and saw that the flames had indeed stopped. The egg was green and black with just a touch of white here and there. The egg remained unmoved until the small hours of the next morning when the egg started to hatch by dawn's early light.