Within the Dragon's Heart (Under editing)

Ch. 2

"Marina!" feminine, "Marina!" masculine, "Mari!" young, high pitched. The desperate screams were faint but noticeable. Heavy breathing could be heard and the low thundering sound of something very large, hushing the woods around it. The large beast lifted his nose to the air, sniffed, changed direction and continued. The stronger the pungent smell of humans got the more stealthily the beast moved. A low growl reverberated from its maw. He had reached the bordering mist that blockaded the humans from the untouched, untamed and unexplored region of the Tender Woods.

Studying the mist as closely as possible his gleaming emerald eyes caught the faint silhouette, of what appeared to be a very young human. Long he stared at the approaching creature, wondering, how this fragile being could have traveled so far. The mist consumed anyone that was foolish enough to enter. So, why was this one any different, was it because of its youth? Or maybe they were naive to the dangers that dwelt in murky air. Whatever the case, he was captivated by this small one's stature.

Maybe, just maybe, he could change this one's life. He doubted it, all humans were the same, take this, take that. The 'honer' that a beast's head or heart brought to a family's name or an individual's states. He saw nothing that an empty head or non-beating heart could possibly bring. Didn't these creatures have a head and a heart of their own? From what he saw, humans punished other humans for taking a life of a human. Why was it any different from other creatures?

His eyes still locked on the young human, he saw them stop in a column of light that had miraculously found its way into the undergrowth of the mist-shrouded woods. The human had with them a strip of fabric that shone like sun-baked sand on a cost. The young human began to slump over as if weighed down by something. It fell to the ground, barely moving. He decided to take a chance with the young human.

Walking slowly he crouched so low, his chest scraped the ground as he walked. Walking on the knuckles of his wings, he swayed back and forth so that if the human-made any attempts to attack him he could fake them out and take off in one swift sweeping motion. The young human's eyes captured his in a standoff of willpower, or so he thought. Until the human closed their eyes and their body went limp.

Surprised he wearily walked toward the limp, defenseless figure. His breath caught in his throat when he took a closer look at the human, it was a young female, and she was only about four or five in age. Lowering his head he sniffed at her lifeless form, it had been hundreds of years since he had been this close to a human. Which is one of the reasons he had settled in Tenderwoods. There were very few humans that dared to enter the mist, and the few that did usually ended up dead or insane from the lack of human contact and the thought that they would never get out alive.

The giant beast stood not knowing what to do with such a small human. He considered taking her back to the human civilization but reconsidered after the thought of exposing himself to the humans creped into his mind. Pondering the situation for what must have been 30 minutes he finally decided to take her back with him to his cave.

Lowing his head once more he opened his maw and gently worked the small body into his mouth. When he was satisfied she was secured and would not be harmed he turned to leave, but his eyes caught the glow of the neon yellow scarf that was now laying of the ground. It looked new, not wanting to leave it behind he bent down and took a corner of it in his mouth before turning around to take off, the scarf dangling freely from his clenched teeth. Crouching down, he shifted his weight to his haunches and unfolded his wings, stretching them to their full length. With a sudden, graceful leap they were soaring above the treetops that overlooked the vast expanse of forest, stretched out in front of them. They soared for a short distance before a sharp, vertical, cliff could be seen jutting out of the blanket of dark and light greens, to rise high above even the tallest of trees. Near the top was a large opening that led into an even larger domed cave.

Landing on the narrow ledge beside the opening, he worked his way around, using his wings like pick-axes, clawing and scraping along the rocky wall. Finally getting into the mouth of the cave, he dropped down to all fours and lumbered towards a mound of gold and gems. Using his long muscular tail, he flattened a section of precious items against the back wall of the cavern. Opening his mouth ever so slightly the scarf drifted to the ground. He then lowered himself down so that his snout was inched away from the gleaming metals. Opening his mouth he worked his tongue so that the young girl would not fall out. Finally, he pulled his head back and looked at the now soaked, sleeping girl.