On the island of Fieora, humans had been co-existing along dragons for years. Most dragons viewed them as pests and had left to find a human-free home. However, the more tolerant dragons had stayed and endured them, for Fieora was a beautiful place, full of wild moors and dark forests. Even the human settlements were small and village like.
Marc was one of the few dragons who remained on the island. He lived in a cozy cave, a full day of flight away from the nearest human settlement. He liked it that way, alone and free.
Marc was dozing in a heap of bright blue scales when he felt something sharp jab him in his wing. His tail twitched upwards and limply fell down again. A second later, another sharp jab fell across his other wing. It was enough to wake him up from his sleep. He ruffled his wings, opened an eye, and closed it again lazily.
A human voice, somewhat low-pitched, spoke. “Humph. The dragon must be asleep. I was looking forwards to having a worthy opponent.”
Marc, who did not enjoy being called “the dragon”, rolled over and stood up. He shook out his wings and looked around for the human. It stood to one side of him, holding a makeshift shield and spear. From the look of it, it was a farmer.
“Stand and fight! You won’t steal my cows after a battle with me. I’m Amicus the brave and I won’t tolerate your sneaking ways.” The human raised his spear in what Marc guessed was supposed to be a threatening gesture. Chain mail rippled across its chest as it moved. As Amicus was only a fourth the height of Marc, the spear and armor was not very impressive.
Marc frowned. He rarely, if ever, ate cows, simply because they could be very tough and chewy. Marc prefered sweet berries to unflavorful meat. This human must be mistaken and very determined. The journey from the nearest human home to here would take a human several days to traverse. “I’m afraid that you are talking to the wrong creature. I don’t enjoy eating meat and certainly have not been stealing your cows.” His voice was polite but firm.
Amicus waved his spear even more wildly than before. “I saw the footprints with my own two eyes! I won’t be deceived by this trickery.”
Marc sighed. He would have to deal with this human the normal way. “I’m terribly sorry for all this, but it must be done.” He firmly grasped Amicus in his talons and tossed the would-be knight out of his home.
He yelled, his voice getting fainter as he moved further away. Marc hoped the human would be alright and land in something soft.
Marc sighed again. He didn’t enjoy dealings with humans that ended this way. If only they weren’t so stubborn, he might be able to actually reason with them. However, most of them came to Marc accusing him of eating this or that. It was almost as if they had a natural bias against dragons.

Several hours later, as the sun dipped west, Marc decided it was time to forage for some food. He flew outside and looked downwards. To the west, a carpet of green grass spread out under him. Around it, the forest dominated the land. Marc heard a strange sound coming from the forest. The wind rushing around him made it hard to hear, so he dove downwards towards the sound.
It sounded like a human’s voice. As Marc got closer to the ground, he realized that it was Amicus, hanging desperately to a tree. Below, a pack of wolves yipped and howled excitedly. It was clear that Amicus had attempted to escape up the tree. For a moment, Marc stared unsympathetically. Then he swooped downwards to grab the human in his foreclaws. After all, he wasn’t heartless.
Amicus squirmed and wiggled so much that Marc said, “I just rescued you and I’m not going to do it again, so please don’t make me drop you.” Amicus stopped squirming after that.
Marc flew back towards his home. Amicus seemed slightly dazed, and Marc didn’t feel right leaving him to fend for himself. His warm and cozy cave should provide shelter, at least for a while.
The journey back didn’t take a long time, and soon Marc gently dropped Amicus on the floor. Marc piled up some wood and blew a small flame of fire onto it. Amicus huddled closer to the fire and nodded appreciatively.
“Thank you, sir dragon,” Amicus said, “You aren’t so bad after all!”
Marc said, “I would appreciate it if you called me Marc. How did you get stuck up there?”
Amicus said, “Well, on my way back I was attacked by wolves. The cowardly sneaks tried to run me down! I thought it best to bide my time and wait.” He shivered and drew even closer to the fire.
Marc nodded. Wolves could be an intimidating predator for those without wings. “Do you think the wolves are eating your cows, then?”
Amicus seemed to consider. “I don’t think so. I’d notice if a pack of wolves came running into my farm. I’d hear them!”
Marc frowned. “And you saw dragon footprints nearby? Hm…” All of the clues pointed to an air predator, but Marc was quite sure there were no other dragons in the area. No wonder Amicus had tried to attack him.
Amicus said, “You’re the first good dragon I ever met! Not that I’ve seen many dragons, of course.” He launched into his story of how he had discovered the cows missing. “And when the village headsman said that it was you stealing my cows, I thought, I wouldn’t just stand by and let a dragon eat all my cows! My family depends on those cows. And then the headsman congratulated me for standing up to you!”
Marc nodded along, trying to seem involved with Amicus’s story.
Finally, Marc asked, “Your headsman said it’s a dragon doing it, right? I wonder… could I go with you to help you find the culprit?” Marc had a lot of interest in this matter, because he had thought he was the only dragon in this area.
Amicus said, “Of course! We should leave now.”
Marc stood up and unfurled his wings. “I’ll fly you over to your home, if you have no objections. It’ll be much faster that way.” Amicus nodded and allowed Marc to grab him in his talons.
Marc flew as fast as he could, while listening to Amicus chatting on about his cows. “I first discovered my cows disappearing over a month ago. I thought that a predator had been taking a fancy to them. My family needs those cows to survive,” he added darkly.
Marc usually didn’t enjoy interrupting others, but he asked, “Can’t you just set up a guard watch? I’d think that would help a lot.”
“I did,” Amicus said indignantly, “but the sneaky bastard didn’t steal my cows for the rest of the week! When I finally stopped the watch, five of my cows went missing.”
Marc mulled over the evidence. Clearly, this suggested an intelligent thief, so it must be a dragon stealing and eating the cows. Hopefully, Marc and Amicus could catch the dragon off-guard with Amicus’s early return.
By the time they reached the farm, it was nighttime. Everything was silent as Marc and Amicus crept silently around. When they reached the cows, Marc asked, “How many cows do yo have left?”
Amicus whispered, “Ten. There was one time when…”
Marc ignored Amicus and counted out nine cows. He frowned and counted again. There were still nine. No matter how many times Marc counted and re-counted the cows, the result was always the same: one cow missing.
They were too late. If only Marc had flown a bit faster, or not wasted so much time with Amicus, the cow might not have been stolen. They might have come back to see ten perfectly healthy cows, or caught the thief red-handed. Marc knew that he wasn’t being rational, but he couldn’t help feeling that it was his fault.
Amicus walked over and saw the cows. The human let out a howl of shock and despair as he gazed at the remaining cows. Seeing Amicus’s reactions made Marc feel even worse.
A loud crack sounded in the pasture. Marc’s head whipped towards that direction, and he saw what appeared to be freshly-made dragon footprints. They still had a chance to find the dragon who had done this.
“Amicus, look,” Marc said. He picked Amicus up and flew towards that direction, following the footprints in the mud. The closer they got, the fresher the footprints seemed. Marc was sure he was getting close to the source of the footprints; he felt like he was flying in slow-motion…
Finally, he saw it. It wasn’t a dragon at all, but a small human leading a cow off into the woods. To its feet, it had attached a device that looked somewhat like a cross between a snowshoe and an oversized boot sole. The human had been camouflaged in dark blue clothing. It turned its head up and staggered backwards.
“YOU!” Amicus roared, “You lying, sneaking, thief! You were the one stealing my cows all along.” He struggled to free himself from Marc’s grip, but the dragon tightened it. It didn’t seem like a very good idea to release Amicus on the cow-stealer.
The thief spluttered, “Amicus! You -- you weren’t supposed to be here tonight.”
Amicus said darkly, “It was a good thing I did, then. You, of all people, stealing my cows… Why, you’re the village headsman. You’re supposed to be doing good things, not taking other people’s cows and blaming it on dragons.”
The headsman blustered, “Amicus, be sensible. You’re the one fraternizing with -- with the enemy! You’ve been fooled, can’t you see that this must be some grand plan of trickery?”
Marc let Amicus go. It all made sense now. There hadn’t been another dragon in the area -- the headsman had just made it seem like that. He’d stolen the cows and placed the blame on Marc. Marc’s tail swished around threateningly.
The headsman nervously eyed Marc as Amicus tied him up, apparently too shocked to do anything. Amicus said, “I’m going to tell the village what a fraud you are. You almost stole my entire herd and I won’t allow you to get off free!”
Marc had a sudden inspiration. This would be his one chance… “Amicus, could you you make sure to drop by again? I do enjoy good company once in a while.”
Amicus beamed. “I’ll remember to do that.”
As the mayor squirmed, and Amicus smiled, Marc felt that he had just made a new friend. He took off and started to fly back home. He had a nap to catch up on.