What a Dragon Must Do

A sharp pain racked the knight’s chest. He coughed up a mixture of bile and blood that burned his throat. He didn’t want to move, but then he caught sight of the dragon not ten yards away, rocking back and forth on its haunches. Green blood oozed from a gash in the dragon’s left paw. Slowly the knight lifted himself off the ground.

Without the help of his squire, who waited just beyond the woods, he could not adjust his helmet which had been knocked askew. So he tore it off and tossed it aside. His long locks fell onto his shoulders. Blood and sweat trickled down his brow and into his eyes. He blinked and searched for something on the ground. He found it, shining in the sun. Clenching his teeth, he reached down and picked up his sword.

“Curse the dwarf that taught men to make steel,” the dragon hissed

The knight pointed the sword at the dragon, “In the name of the king, do you submit?”

The dragon watched the blood dripping from the gash in his paw. It had been a lucky blow. He had been careless and underestimated the knight. He sniffed the air. And unlike the others whom the king sent before with promises of gold, unlike those whose bones lay scattered on the forest floor, this one had not wet himself.

“I submit,” the dragon said, “I do not wish to lose this foot of mine. It has been with me too long.”

“A wise decision,” the knight said nodding and touching the blade of his sword to his forehead, “Now I must banish you from the kingdom.”

“Yes, fine, fine. Get on with it.”

“In the name of the king, you are banished from these lands forever….. never to return on punishment of death.”

“I will be gone before sunset.”

“Very well,” the knight said lowering his sword “now, where is the princess?”

“The princess?”

“Yes, the princess whom you have held hostage these past months.I have sworn an oath to my king that I would return with his daughter or not return at all. Where is she?”

The dragon grinned for the first time since he felt the sting of steel. “You swore an oath to bring her back?”

The knight puffed impatiently. “I will not play games with you. Now where is she?”

The dragon nodded to the dark cave under the cliff nearby. The knight walked over to the cave and peered in. “Princess?” he shouted.

There was no answer

The knight raised his sword again, pointing it at the dragon. “I swear, if you have harmed one hair on her, I will….”

“Here I am,” the Princess said. And she stepped out of the darkness of the cave into the light of day.

The knight expected to find a damsel in distress, bruised and dirty, tears in her eyes. Instead a beautiful, young maiden stepped out of the cave. She wore a simple white dress, tied at the waist. Her long, dark hair fell free and unbound over her bared shoulders. On her head she wore a crown of flowers. The knight’s eyes drifted toward her bosom, but her smile caught his eyes and drew them back to her pretty face.

“I am safe and unharmed,” she said, her soft voice warming him like the evening’s first pint of mead.

The knight did not know what to say. All his training had not prepared him for a moment like this. But he noticed the princess’ bare feet, and his good manners prevailed.

“Princess,” he said kneeling down to remove his own boots, “what has become of your shoes?”

The knight never saw it coming. The blow, a large stone, came swiftly down on his head with a crack. He crumpled to the ground.

“My dear,” the dragon said to the Princess, “your timing was perfect. Are you sure you will not consider a career as a player on a stage?”

The Princess tossed the stone aside. She noticed the trickle of blood running down the side of the knight’s face.

“Oh, my!” she shrieked, “Did I kill him?”

The dragon hobbled over. He bent over the knight and listened.

“No,” he said raising his head, “he is still breathing.”

“Oh, thank god, but we must do something about all this blood.”

Quickly she tore a strip of cloth from her dress. Then gently taking the dragon’s wounded paw in her hands, she began towrap it.

“I had hoped it wouldn’t come to this,” the Princess said, “but I could tell you were hurt. And then all that talk about swearing to my father that he would bring me back. I had to do something.”

Blood had already soaked through the cloth by the time she finished.

“I’ll wrap it once more,” she offered.

“No, no, the bleeding will stop soon enough. Thank you. This should do. But there is something you can do for me.”

“What is it?” the princess asked.

The dragon smiled. What a lovely child! She was almost too willing to please him. How much more melancholy it made the moment.

“Could you go into the cave and gather up my things?” the dragon asked.

The Princess looked at the dragon with sad eyes. “I heard what you said to my father’s knight. You didn’t mean it, did you?”

My dear girl, I came to these lands for a little rest. All I wanted was a quiet cave to curl up in, maybe sleep off a couple of centuries. But these angry men with their code of chivalry and their stories of St. Gregory slaying the dragon will not let me rest. I have had nothing but trouble. And now this,” the dragon said holding up his bandaged paw.

“But where will you go?”

“Perhaps I will pay a visit on my old friend, the Sultan. He at least understands the value of an educated dragon.” But as soon as he had said it, the dragon wished he had not. He noticed the expression on the Princess’s face, and he knew what she was going to ask.

“Take me with you.”

The dragon looked away. He really did not want to consider it. There was, after all, the whole issue of what a dragon must do. He looked back at the Princess, ready to say “no”.

“Oh please, master dragon,” the Princess pleaded, “please.”

“I don’t know,” he said, “Your father would be very angry. They would say I stole you away. They might even try to hunt me down.”

“But we would be a thousand miles away. Besides when did you start to care what my father said?”

The dragon thought for a moment. “Well, you should care what he says. He is your father after all.”

The Princess frowned. “You know as well as I that my father only wants me back to marry me off to some filthy barbarian king to keep his borders safe. Do you want to see that happen to me?”

“Tell him you want to go to university.You have a tongue of your own now.”

The Princess shook her head. “Men go to universities,” she said in a deep voice, imitating her father, “Women stay home. Someone has to take care of the babies.”

The dragon sighed. She was right. A woman could not aspire to her dreams in these dark and dismal northern lands. It might kill the beautiful spirit of the Princess to go back now, especially after he had opened her mind to the world. What had he been thinking? At first he only wanted to teach her a little lesson on geography. That led to lessons on history, literature, logic, and philosophy. He had been concerned the pace was too much for her. But she learned quickly and showed great potential, so he went on with lessons on algebra and geometry.

He realized it would be a horrible waste to lose such a bright, inquisitive mind to ignorance. He knew he could take her if he wanted to, but there was still the issue of what a dragon must do. It would be too dangerous. The dragon looked back at her.

“Please, master dragon,” she begged, “I want to study alongside the daughters of the Sultan in the great library of 10,000 volumes. I want to study what the learned men know about the stars and the planets, the earth and its elements.”

“But the journey will be long and hard,” the dragon countered, “Since I will be flying I will have to eat much more than you have seen me eat up to now. And if I can’t find food, I will become… well, very cranky and maybe even mean.”

The Princess smiled. “I will not complain. Not a word. You will not even know I am there. It will be as if I am just another one of your things.”

The dragon did not for one minute think that the Princess would hold her tongue. But his heart filled with pride for her. What she was willing to risk to learn! He had not had such a student before. He realized he did feel pity for her and how her life might turn out if he sent her back to her father. But there was still the issue of what a dragon must do.

“There will be times when I will leave you alone as I go off to hunt for food.In the mountains it might take many days. But you must wait for me then. It will be cold, and you might not have any food of your own, but you must be patient and endure. Do you understand? I will not hear any complaints from you, or I will bring you back.”

The Princess’s face brightened. “Yes, yes,” she said, “I mean no, no complaints. I will do as you ask. I promise on the holy book. I promise…”

“Alright,” the dragon said, “I will take you with me.”

The Princess rushed forward and threw herself at the dragon. He lifted his bandaged paw out of the way just in time.

“Thank you! Thank you!” she said and suddenly began to cry.

“What is the matter, dear?” the dragon asked, patting her on the back with his good paw.

“I didn’t think you wanted to take me,” she sobbed and buried her face in the dragon. It took her a moment to regain her composure, then she looked up at him through teary eyes. “I will make you proud, master dragon. I will read all of the books in the Sultan’s library, all of the classics. And when I am done, I will sit down and write an epic poem in your honor. Through it men the world over will know of your goodness and your wisdom. They will no longer hunt you for they will see you as I do. Then kings and lords will seek out your advice and pay you for it with bags of gold!”

“My, my,” the dragon said, feeling tears welling up in his own eyes, “that would be quite a treat indeed. But we can discuss all of this later. Now you must hurry. Run along and gather my things and yours from the cave. We must be gone before sunset.”

The princess smiled and nodded. She turned and skipped back into the cave, humming a tune.

Alone now, the dragon sighed. There was still the matter of what a dragon must do. The journey would be long. He would need the strength to carry not only his own things, but the Princess and her things as well. He had grown lean since coming to these northern lands. A dragon living in a cave did not need much to survive, maybe a wild boar or a sheep now and then. But a flying dragon was a different story. No pork. No mutton. This time he needed a real meal.

His eyes narrowed into two long slits. He looked at the knight lying unconscious in front of him and licked his lips. It would be easy. But the knight had bested him in battle. And if a dragon didn’t have his honor, what did he have? No. He lifted his head and sniffed the air. A gentle breeze blew in from the west. What was that? He sniffed again. Of course, why hadn’t he thought of that? A knight must have his squire. And there was one waiting just beyond the woods. After all, a dragon must do what a dragon must do. He turned and slithered off into the woods.