Swan Song

We're All Mad Here Part 3

A huntsman was on his way to the market of his hometown, happy to forfeit his newest prey, his son following after him. It was no ordinary prey, either, because this was something no one had managed to catch in a thousand years.

The huntsman wasn't a particularly talented one, which begs the: How did he obtain something so hard to come by?

The answer was rather simple: He had found an egg.

"You've gotta be shitting me," the first man he offered the egg to said. "I ain't payin' that much for it, even if it is a damn dragon."

Deflated, the huntsman went on, offering it to everyone who came up to look at the large egg.

"How do I know it's real?" a noblewoman asked, eyeing it suspiciously. "You seem like quite the scoundrel. How do I know you're not lying?"

"Because," the huntsman replied, "a lady of your standing would just have me killed if I were to play a trick like that."

Chuckling, the woman nodded. "Indeed she would. Well, then, I'll take it; It can be chained in my front yard, decorating it."

"What?" the son, who was staring at the egg from a different angle, gasped. "But that's wrong!"

"Don't speak to me, you filthy little brat," the woman scoffed. "Learn your rightful place is beneath people like me, and we'll get on much better."

"Papa, please!" the boy pleaded. "Don't let her make it a slave."

"Quiet now, Blader," the huntsman replied. "We need the money; You know that."

"I don't care about money, papa!"

"We need something to eat, my boy."

"We'll manage! We always do!"

With a sad look in his eyes, the huntsman turned toward the noblewoman. "Sorry, but this egg is not for sale."

"What?" she gasped. "We had a deal! You cannot break deals with me! I will ruin you!"

"Sorry," the man replied, "but some things are worth being ruined for."

The man and his son took the egg home. It took a few weeks, but it finally hatched, and a black baby dragon came out of it.

"Look, papa!" Balder cheered, trailing his finger across the animal's head. "They say the black ones are all girls!"

"That's right," the huntsman agreed. "What'll you name her, then?"

The boy looked deep in thought, and then finally replied, "Abby!"

His father chuckled. "Why that, of all names - and for a dragon, no less!"

"Because," Balder answered, "it means 'father's joy'."

The huntsman was clearly touched, and couldn't resist giving his son a hug.

Their happy days weren't to last, however, as the noblewoman he had turned down was determined to make good on her promise. The farmers refuses to sell the huntsman their produce, and the fishermen closed their shops when they saw him approach. Still, the man didn't let this hinder him, and was determined to keep his son happy.

"Look, papa!" Balder exclaimed, pointing to the sky. "She's flying! Abby's flying!"

The huntsman chuckled, putting a hand on his boy's head. Weeks had passed since the dragon had hatched, and she was already larger than most of them. "She just might learn how to talk soon, my boy."

"Yeah!"

The larger the dragon grew, however, the more the citizens of the town feared her. Now they refused to have any contact with the huntsman what-so-ever, and he was forced to venture into the forest every time he, his son and their dragon wanted to eat.