New Partnership
She was left all alone. Little Lorleigh, being left behind as her merchant parents in the town that I protect. I have watched her for the past few days, gazing down upon the town to make sure all was well. The families help her by giving her scraps of food to eat and lending her blankets for the night.
That was all most of them could do, though. This winter was harsh and crops had not been as bountiful. I could only provide the protection they needed from the outside world, not from themselves.
I wanted to protect this little girl more, though. I felt bad for her, stuck alone in the world, probably not knowing enough to get out of the valley. I watched though, just watched as my charges covered her during the fall.
The first snow will happen tonight. I don't think that they will be able to take her in to fully protect her from it. I watch as she sits in the market, offering to work for housing for the night, to shovel their coal or wash their clothes. No one takes the barter, no one is able to.
I wait for night to begin to fall before I crept down to the city. I didn't want to change form, it was already cold enough without adding a ice dragon. As the sun set and cast an orange glow on the town I weaved through the trees to the fountain. I stood still at the edge and then slowly lowered my snout to the waters edge.
The water evaporated into a silver light, surrounding my large dragon body. My scales looked as though they were flipping. My snout quickly morphed to a human face, a small batch of blonde hair appearing atop my now round head. The skin that appeared in their place glistened with moisture. My tail seemingly vanished as the misty silver light made its way down there. My claws and talons morphed into hands and feet, allowing me to stand straight up. I could transform anywhere, but doing it here at the leg made my skin moist rather than dry and itchy.
As my transformation completed I clumsily walked over to the tree where I kept a spare set of clothes and got dressed along with putting on my eye patch to cover the untransformed left eye. The first few moments of being human were always strange and made me realize how much I valued my tail. As I pulled the shirt over my head I looked up at the now dark blue sky, small blips of light spread out against it. The temperature was dropping fast and I could feel the air pressure falling. Snow was to come tonight.
I began to dash for the rest of my journey. Making my way back up the mountain in the snow in human form was tough. Having another with me make it even tougher. I could see the edge of the forest ahead, the edge of the town having small glimmering lanterns hanging on poles.
I crept up next to a house, not wanting to be seen in the streets. I peered around the corner and looked down the main street. Everyone seemed to be inside already, good. I looked up at the roofs and saw smoke pouring out of chimney after chimney. Good, they all were prepared for the coming storm.
All except for her. I walked down the street slowly and quietly, searching for the child who was all alone. I looked at doorways and overhangs, not seeing a body trying to hide from the frigid night air. As I continued to look, my eyes captured small foot prints on the ground in the dirt. Perhaps these would be hers?
I followed the trail of footprints down the alley way. This proved to be quite difficult with only one eye in use. As I got about half way down, a snowflake fell on my nose, making me stop and look up. Here came the bad weather and I hadn't even laid eyes on the girl. The prints stopped, making me stop and look around for her. There were little puffs of steam coming from behind the pillar just ahead.
I slowly stepped forward and looked down. There sat the girl, now so cold and ashen that she simply looked black and white against the brown stone. Her eyes were shut and lips so discolored they looked dead. Her chest still rose and fell, though, giving me hope that she was still alive. I picked her up, her body so weak and cold that she couldn't open her eyes to me.
I wanted to cry for her, but I knew there were more important matters to attend to. Such as getting her warm. I held her closer and backtracked my steps through the village, up the mountain and to my home.
I started a fire, placing her down next to it and covering her the the fur of my meals. I always knew keeping the skins would prove useful. I walked away from her, stripping my clothing and concentrating on changing back to my normal form. Thankfully, this didn't require the lake, but instead a lot on concentration. I could feel my tail reforming and the skin morphing into scales along with hearing the small sounds of the now stirring child.
My transformation back to living dragon completed as she sat up, her much larger shadow moving along the wall to eventually meld into mine. I took a small step forward, my head going into the light. I watched as she blinked and looked around, eyes finally falling on me.
"Wha-wher-who-why?" she stammered out, still shivering from the cold.
"Shhhhh...." I said, "Just rest for now."
She seemed to take that just fine, laying back down and turning away from me. I suppose that was the best I could ask for. After all, it wasn't everyday that people came across their guardian dragon.