That day she felt the call in her throat when the sun had just about reached the zenith in the sky. She spewed flames up into the sky and she knew that soon she would have to meet with the other dragons. Being so soon after the last assembly she was nervous about what it could mean. Was there more news about humans stealing the flames of dragons?
At least she didn’t have to worry about the other dragons smelling Paul on her so she was able to fly immediately without burning any scent off of her.
It had been a long flight to the assembly grounds. Several dragons had already arrived. Most of them kept to themselves, but some of them talked quietly in groups. A couple crouched near the edge of the crowd as though they were about to fight. Orris hadn’t come this time either, and she knew the worst must have happened. Greene found a spot away from the other dragons and curled up on the stones. The meeting would begin soon.
And it did. The Dragon King Obsidian climbed on top of a large rock and roared. Suddenly all the other dragons turned to watch him.
“For the survival of all dragons, we must share information. There have been a few dragons who have formed groups and gone after these human thieves. Azure! I call you to speak your truth!”
A large blue dragon moved to the front of the group and sat just below Obsidian. His flames were strong as he spoke. She wasn’t surprised that he would have survived an encounter with a wizard. “I was helping two others fight off one of these human thieves. I have learned from this encounter that they are even more dangerous than any of us could expect. They were faster than any other human. They were resistant to flames having a corrupted flame inside them. The worst part is all this human had to do was touch one of us and they begin to drain our flame away. It’s quick and horrifying, both my companions screamed in pain as they perished. I was only able to survive by using the death of the second to strike. I have freed three flames in this way. We need to find a better way to fight.”
Obsidian nodded to Azure and he returned to his spot. The dragon king shouted once more. “I agree, as do likely most of you, that we need to find a better way to fight. While looking for a better way I have heard of a dragon who has somehow managed to destroy a human thief all on her own!”
The dragons murmured in surprise. They were wondering who this powerful dragon would be.
“Greene! I call you to speak your truth!”
Greene froze. She wondered how Obsidian had heard. Sometimes she thought he just knew things he shouldn’t. The other dragons went silent. One of them, a young red dragon who hatched around the same time she did called out. “How is that possible? She can’t be that strong.”
The Dragon King cleared his throat and roared as she failed to move forward.
“Greene! Speak your truth or forfeit your territory and live in exile!”
She took a deep breath and flew to the front of the crowd. She sat low to the ground. She didn’t like to be the center of attention, not after her childhood. She spoke in a loud voice, but a couple of times another dragon shouted at her to be louder which made her shout and hurt her throat.
“The humans call them wizards.” She said, saying ‘wizard’ in the human language. Some dragons gave her a weird look at the unfamiliar word. “They are users of a sort of flame, but not all of them steal flames to use. Some of them use the flame that is already within them. I have learned that all humans have a flame, though their flames are usually much weaker than ours which is why some of them are plagued by jealousy. I know how to speak with humans. I asked one of them, a friendly human who uses his flame, to use his power to protect me. When the wizard touched me, it hurt, but the magic kept my flame inside and I was able to take the wizard down quickly.”
The dragons began to loudly talk to one another. “Consorting with humans?” “How weak can a dragon be?” “Oh, how far she’s fallen.” “It’s pretty smart now that you think about it.” “This must have been going on for a long time.” “She must have many human friends.”
Obsidian looked down at her and nodded. She quickly ran back to her spot and made herself small upon the stones.
He lifted his talons and roared to get everyone to quiet down. “There is nothing wrong with getting a human to help. There is nothing wrong with being able to speak to humans. Is it not clear to all of you that this dragon has her strength? We could all learn much from her.”
She looked down. She wished that she hadn’t had to share her secret. She only said the entire story because she knew that if Obsidian already knew everything he would know she had lied. Lying to the dragons would have been worse than taking their criticism.
One dragon shouted. “How can you defend her? Dragons should not consort with humans.”
“Why not?” Obsidian called out to the crowd. “Who decided that we can’t talk with humans? Who said that we cannot ask for help? If we want to survive we need to work together. It’s not just other dragons we should work with, but humans also. Greene! Could you try teaching me the human tongue?”
Greene’s eyes widened as she nodded quickly.
Suddenly other dragons came up to her, all asking the same thing. They wanted to be able to speak with dragons. One dragon even asked her if they could meet the human who had helped her. She told that dragon that she couldn’t. She didn’t want to bring too much attention to Paul. The dragons who were against this type of behaviour stayed away which made her happy. She hoped that they wouldn’t bring her any trouble.
For the first time in her life, she felt like a dragon and it was from something other than being alone all the time and living a quiet life of hunting. It didn’t matter that she wasn’t a proper dragon for doing all this, because she was herself and now everyone could see her strength. With her the dragons could learn to live in a world that continued to grow fuller with humans.
She couldn’t wait to tell Paul about this assembly.
Draconic Ramblings 
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