The Forgotten

30

"You will marry him, Mei! Or you will be sacrificed to the mountain dragon, on the order of the governor." Mei's mother looked horrified, knowing the old goat would do it. For spite, if nothing else.

"I don't care." Mei said, taking her mother's hands onto her own and holding them. She lifted them and kissed them gently, before continuing. "Mother, Father, he has already had five young wives who have died mysteriously. Do you want me to be number 6?" Mei replied, looking at her father, who was frowning.

"I will be beaten slowly to death by that old gas bag and his son. I would rather die a quick death, being eaten by a dragon. At least then, I would not suffer." Mei let her words hang in the air, knowing that her parents could not argue her logic.

Hanging his head, her father agreed to allow her to be sacrificed to the mountain dragon. She was the last of their seven children left at home and not married. She had always been a quiet child. But she was smart. She had also grown up to be a great beauty. As she has blossomed, she had attracted the attention of many males, both low and high born. When the Governor had came through their village Mei had been walking the road home carrying the fish she had caught that morning at the river.

That's when everything had started. The small gifts had come first. The larger gifts, livestock, fine fabrics, hard to come by and expensive spices, then the money had started arriving. That's when Mei's family became frightened. They too  had heard of the Governor's cruelty to his last wives. All dead and not a single child. 

Hearing a knock at the door, Mei's father answered, knowing the Governor and his men were on the other side. The short, fat man was smiling in a way that was very unpleasant to see and didn't even offer a bow to Mei's father in greeting.

"I have come for my flower. It is time for our ceremony." He said with a sly smirk.

"I am afraid that Mei has chosen to be sacrificed tot he mountain dragon, as is her right." Her father replied with a heavy heart.

"What! You allow this?" the Governor shouted.

"Yes, our daughter might not have much, but she has chosen how she would die." Mei's mother said.

"Foolish girl! Do you know what wealth you would have lived in? Real floors not made of packed dirt. Fresh food and clean bathing water...." The Governor continued to shout.

"Being shared with your son, beaten to death slowly...Yes, it seems like a wonderful existence." Mei said quietly. 

The governor had heard enough. He ordered his men to put Mei in chains and take her up the mountain and chained to the rocks for the dragon to find. 

The journey up the mountain had not been easy for Mei. She had been whipped with a cane across her back and her legs, and she had not been allowed to get shoes and the sharp rocks hurt her tender feet. After she had stumbled for the fourth time, one of the soldiers picked her up and tossed her over the back of a horse, still bound and shackled. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they reached the outcropping where she would be chained up to await her fate.

Once she was chained she was left there, alone. Mei dropped to the ground and prayed to the ancestors that her parents would not suffer the wrath of the governor. 

Hearing a roar in the distance, she raised her tear-streaked face to search the darkening sky. She thought she saw shadows that were deeper than others and moving in her direction towards her. Mei realized that it was the mountain dragon. Come to take his offering.

She watched as the dragon circled in the air. His long body a beautiful iridescent green. His claws looked like gold, but she could hear them tap the ground after he had landed and walked towards her.

Reaching her, he put his great head against her belly and nudged and took a deep breath and growled.

When he opened his mouth to speak, Mei would have fallen to the ground in shock had she not already been seated.

"Why?"

Mei stared in amazement that this creature could speak to her, and she blinked in confusion.

"What do you mean, why?"

"You are young. Too young. Why were you sacrificed to me?" The dragon growled.

"I refused to marry a man of power and wealth. A man who has already had five wives. All of whom are dead." 

"This man, he killed his wives?" He asked.

"This is not known, only suspected. All were buried with horrific injuries." Mei shivered as the dragon smelled her again, this time her hair behind her ear.

"Hmmm" was the dragon's only reply.

"I told my parents that my death by you would be easier to bear and swifter than being beaten to death and being shared with his son." The dragon who had been listening, while smelling her, stopped abruptly and his massive head came around and he stared into her eyes. 

"Shared?" 

"Yes, Dragon, shared. It is said that the old Governor in impotent and allows his sons to bed his wives for a male child."

The dragon said nothing but stared down the "So, you have chosen, what you hope is a swift death by being eaten by me over a life of being beaten and shared among men." 

Mei noticed that it wasn't a question, merely a statement. She waited for the dragon to swoop down and bite her body in two, when he did something incredible. He bit through her chains.

Having been released, Mei wasn't certain what to do. Turning to her, the Dragon said, "Get on. We are leaving this place."

Mei obeyed and climbed onto the dragon behind his head. When they flew off, she could hear his voice in her head. 

"You need not fear death. I will not harm you. I am in need of a mate and I believe that you will do well." Mei sputtered her indignation. She had just rejected one as***le, just to be caught by another. 

"You mistake me, Mei. You will be courted like you should be. You will be trained in many things so that you understand. Then, when you are comfortable with me, we will mate."

Mei's heart almost stopped in her chest. No beatings, no sharing, education, and from his tone, to be cherished.

"For eternity," He growled.

The years passed and Mei learned to fight, to practice the healing arts, how to make simple but effective weapons. She was taught dragon history and about the hierarchy. 

As they passed, she grew to love the beautiful green dragon, Agrius. He had proved himself to be a kind and gentle mate, a good protector and provider. He had even gone to the village and killed the nasty little man who was the governor. All for her.

He had chosen her because of her courage. As she had been chained and waiting on him, she had cried no loud cries, only waited in silence for her death.

As the years passed, many told tales of a woman riding on the back of a dragon and hearing them both laugh in joy as they flew over. It was said in later years when they were no longer seen or heard, that only the dragon prince's bride would hear them, thus indicating the new queen-to-be.

This is the beginning of the Dragon Clutch and the legend of the Laughing Dragon.

                                                                        THE END