Iris I scurried up the trunk of the tall oak tree, careful not to lose my footing. With ease, I heaved my tiny body up onto the thickest branch and rested my back against the trunk of the tree. The bark scratched my bare arms, but it was too hot out to roll up my sleeves. The afternoon sun shone onto my face and a lovely shiver ran through me. A smile crept onto my face. These small moments of joy were what I thrived on. I contented sigh escaped my lips. The woods were my home. Everything about this place just felt calming. The sounds of birds singing and small animals running through the grass. The oak trees that towered overhead and the willows that draped their branches to flow around their trunks like the beautiful ladies who wore long, silk gowns. I could hear the rushing water of the Galthad creek from where I was perched in the tree. Chirp! The noise came from the branch above me. I laughed. “Of course you have to show me up, Airala.” I smiled. “But you have the advantage of being able to fly.” Airala, was a dragon I had met in the woods around six years ago. When I first spotted her, I was sure she was going to attack me, but soon discovered the timid little dragon was sick. I couldn’t just leave her, sick and dying so I wrapped her in my cloak and nursed her back to health. Airala swooped down from her branch to mine, curling on my lap. She almost threw me off balance but I caught myself. “You’re not the little dragon you once were are you?” I asked, scratching her sweet spot between the two gray horns sticking out of her head. Airala’s scarlet scales were smooth to the touch and shone like opalescent pearls. Her eyes were the same color as mine, like blue sapphires that glittered when she was excited and stormed when she was sad. Airala chirped contentedly, the warmth from her body making me sweat. Dragons were always so hot to the touch because of the fire running through their veins, fueling them. Reaching into my small leather satchel, I pulled out a hunk of dear meat from the game we’d hunted earlier that week. I threw it in the air and Airala caught it in her mouth, licking her lips as she devoured it in one bite. “Come on Airi,” I slung my satchel over my shoulder and shimmied down the tree. “Let’s go for a swim in the creek.” Airala made a happy chirp sound as she flew down to the ground beside me and took to the air, weaving her way through the trees, making her way swiftly toward the creek. “Wait for me!” I called, running after Airi. “I don’t have wings, you know!” Airala Sit. Watch. Iris swam and smiled as she did so. Would Iris smile when I show her? Show her the power? Show her the magic? Iris came closer to the edge of the water. “Come swim with me,” She chided, her chestnut hair in her face. I chirped my okay, then joined her in the glittering depths. Her eyes were fascinating to me. Just like mine. That was the key. I knew that. What stops us from becoming the villains we swore to defeat? I shook my head. Power isn’t going to change Iris. Right? I plunged my head under the waters, letting the steadiness of the rushing creek calm me. Iris and I are best friends by choice. Nothing will change that. Nothing. Iris After about an hour of swimming, the sun began to set behind a clump of thick pine trees. “Time to set up camp,” I climbed out of the water, wringed out my wet hair and turned to Airala. “Will you help me start a fire?” She nodded and flew a short distance over to a willow tree we’d set our camp under. The branches sweeping around them made it feel like they were in a tent made of leaves, but there was still some clearance to see the stars shining at night. Airala and Iris took some time gathering some twigs and logs to start a decent sized fire. By the time the flame had grown tall enough, the last of the sun disappeared behind the horizon, leaving swirls of pink and orange in its wake. I spread out my thin, gray blanket on the ground and laid on it, propping my hands under my head. I stared up at the sky. The stars started to show themselves, twinkling as though they knew a secret. Maybe they did. My long, brown hair had started to dry by now and I ran my fingers through it. Airala curled by my side, and let out an almost silent sigh. The warmth from her body warmed my chilled bones. Days couldn’t get much better than this. Slowly, sleep started to overtake me, my eyes growing weary of staying open. I wanted to watch the stars more, discover their secrets but my efforts were in vain. Soon, my body gave way to my exhaustion and I slept.
That was the last thing she’d said to me before I was alone. All she left me was a cloak on my back that hung too loose on my small five year old frame, a pair of boots also too big for my feet and a knife with my name carved into it. Iris was spelled out in swirling letters. I’d shouted her name for hours upon hours that dreadful night before the thought finally took place in my mind. She wasn’t coming back. Ever. Why? I suppose I would never know. I startled awake, cold sweat dripping down my back. I curled into a tight ball and buried my face into my knees. Tears slid down my cheeks. That same memory kept replaying in my head every night for the past week, and all I wished for was peaceful sleep without recounting old memories. I reached for my satchel and pulled out the knife, tracing the engraving on it with my pointer finger. Airala awoke beside me, her ocean eyes questioning. “A bad dream,” I answered, standing up, then sitting back down after the world went dizzy. “The same one.” Airi tilted her head to the side, as if to say go on, you can tell me. Letting out a breath that ached in my chest, I explained. “It’s about my mother. She left me in the woods when I was five. She left me with only the clothes on my back and a knife to my name.” I scoffed. “Her last words to me were ‘I have to go, Iris. I’m so sorry. I hope someday you’ll understand’, but I have no idea what she meant by that. But…she never came back.” That was the first time I’d told Airi about that dream. About that night. Airala’s eyes shone with something I’d never seen before. She let out a soft, sad chitter before quickly standing and leaping into the air. She flew out of the willow tree enclosement and I stood to follow after stomping out the rest of the glowing embers from the fire. The sky was turning lighter by the second. The sun would rise soon. When I swept aside the branches and stepped out, I saw Airi’s silhouette against the navy blue sky. She tilted her head, gesturing for me to follow her. What? I thought. Airala has never done this before. But I trusted her, so I followed her through the dark woods, toward a direction we’d never gone before: Toward the mountains of Glam. As I raced through the trees, my mind went to the day I’d met Airi. It was three years after my mother had left when I’d seen her. A small ball of red curled in the underbrush. My first instinct had been to run, but something made me keep moving toward her. Maybe it was how cute and small she was, or maybe it was because deep down I knew something wasn’t right. Or maybe it was fate. But whatever it was, when I saw how helpless she was, I scooped her into my arms and felt her heat. But there was none. She was cold. And when a dragon is cold, it means they are seconds away from death. Carefully, I took her back to my campsite and started a fire. I remember the fear I felt, but also the hope. As she started to get better, I gave her a name. Airala. I wasn’t sure why that name had come to me, but it did feel right. Dragging myself back to the present, I ran through the dense forest, trying to keep Airi’s swift pace. My muscles ached from the strain. I wish I had wings, I thought. It would make everything so much easier. Without warning, Airala screeched to a halt. “What’s wrong girl?” I called up to her. She circled me for a moment before landing at my feet and trotting toward the base of the mountain. Had we really gone that far? I followed her as she approached rocky terrain. With one look back at me to make sure I was still following, she walked forward. At first, it appeared as though she was going to walk right into the rocks. But she didn’t. As she walked into the wall, her body phased through. My heart dropped into my stomach and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. “Airi?” I called. Relief washed over me when a familiar head poked out of the seemingly solid surface. It seemed as though she was grinning at me and then chirped, jerking her head again. Follow me, She seemed to say. I nodded. “I trust you.” A cold wind blew and I wished I’d thought to grab my cloak. I approached the wall and with a deep breath, I stuck my hand through. Airala This is it. Oh no. Was this a bad idea? What would she do? I nervous chitter escaped my throat as Iris stepped through the illusion wall, her whole body emerging into the small cavern. “What is that?” She gaped, as she pointed to the large blue gem in the middle of the cavern. I closed my eyes. This is my duty as the dragon who found Iris but…was it the right choice? What if my ancestors had been wrong? What if she wasn’t the girl they needed? Part Two: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1365352592
