The visitor was here.

I glared at him and his too-wide of a grin that was plastered on his face, the kind that said I’m better than all of you, the swept back hair and fancy outfit that practically screamed I don’t know how to put this on by myself.

As he was putting on his heavily intricately designed metal armor, I decided to make my presence known. I made sure my black boots pounded against the stone cold floors of the barracks, that with every swift step my personally fitted armor rattled against itself and that my delicate-looking but very sharp sword clanged against the armor as well.

He turned his blond head around, looking confused at the woman in armor that was walking in like she was in charge. Surprise, I thought, she was.

“I’ll get straight to the point,” I said, pushing a stray brown hair out of my face, “I hope you’re competent enough to get this done.”

“Are you-”

“I am Eris, the princess’s personal guard. Don’t introduce yourself, I don’t care. As long as you get your job done. That’s all that matters.”

His mouth opened in shock as I continued talking even when he started. As his face grew red and a snarl appeared on his face, I watched him with a grin.

“I assume you’ve gotten your map? I have been told to let you know that the west gate is open for you to ride out on. Your horse has already been moved there, so there’s no need to go back. Good luck.”

I turned back, the heir to the neighboring kingdom still not saying anything. I’ve gotten used to that. I did not want to know his name, as I did not know if he would return or not. After all, when you’re facing a dragon, you never know that will happen

Her scared face is still burned itself in my mind, the ashes never going away.

Princess Estelle had laughed at something that I had said. It sounded like chimes blowing in a soft breeze. We sat perched on the windowsill of her personal tower, legs dangling off the edge, overlooking the kingdom she was going to rule over someday and the vast green of the woods beyond, seemingly stretching out for miles with the nearest kingdom barely visible in the distance. The moonlight washed upon us, giving us our only source of light, a source of heavenly glow.

Her face slipped into a frown, and she sighed, looking over to me with a worried look on her face, “Eris, what if mother makes me marry an old man that doesn’t care about me?”

“I don’t think she’ll do that. But if she tries, then I’ll protect you.” I responded, looking back at her. “Nobody’s marrying you unless you approve of them, and I will make sure of that.”

“You’re just saying that because it’s your job,” She murmured, turning her head towards the forest. Her long, silky dark hair covered her eyes as she did so, as if she was also trying to hide from me just like she wanted to do with everyone else who tried to help her.

“You really think that?” I asked her, leaning closer to her, turning her head gently to meet my gaze. “I started to train my skills because I wanted to protect you, to be more than just your maid, not because I had to. I hope you know that I want to see you happy.”

“The prince has returned!” I heard a panicked voice shout from the castle gates. I watched from the balcony as the thundering white horse ran in through the west gate with the prince from earlier on its back. I could already see the burn marks, the scorched hair, the dented armor. I scoffed as another walked up beside me from behind.

“Not impressed either, I see.” A hearty chuckle met my ears, and I would have smiled back if we weren’t in a position like this.

“You know I’m not surprised that this is the outcome.” I retorted, not even looking back at the young man who was now next to me, watching the burnt excuse of a warrior retreat back into the safety of stone walls.

“Yes, I know, Eris. I have asked mom too many times about sending you and I up that mountain, and you know what she said?!”

I finally turned at the change in tone. If Estelle were a man, this is what she’d look like. But that’s not saying much as this was her own twin brother. A proud, loud, and obnoxious young prince, but one of my best friends nonetheless.

“And what might that be, Ayako?” I smirked, seeing his burning up face and his hands held up, clenched, “I told you what would be her answer, and did you listen? Of course not.”

He sighed loudly in exasperation, relaxing his hands. “Yeah, yeah. She said no. ‘we cannot lose our best warrior and my other heir!’” he mocked, “And it should be ‘best warriors,’ plural. I trained you, after all.”

“Well I’ve beaten you.”

“You have not!”

“Yes I have.”

Ayako scoffed and turned away from me. “That’s what you’d like to think,” he huffed.

I studied his face. “Want to rant about how terrible the next princes are going to be when they get sent out, while we spar with each other?”

“.....Yes.”

“Stand behind the line, Eris! Why do you think I had that there?” Estelle’s voice rang out in her tower, behind the table with glass bottles that reflected the sunlight from the window, containing substances and natural ingredients unknown to me. More items I have never seen before cluttered the deep, wooden shelves. I looked down, seeing what she meant. She had painted a bold, impossible to not see yellow line on the bricks, encircling her lab equipment.

“Oh.” I stepped back. “That’s new.”

“Well, last time I almost blew Ayako’s ‘oh so important’ hair off, and he was yelling at me for hours after. So this time I’m taking precautions.” She shouted from behind the shelves. “A bit of news for you, tomorrow at first light I am taking you as well as a few other guards to go collect some herbs to restock.”

I raised my eyebrow, glancing around the room again. There seemed to be no more room for new substances, nor did there seem to be a need for restocking.

“Why not just me?” I asked, ignoring the full shelves for now, “Your mom knows I can handle this on my own.”

She came out from the clutter, her face twisted into a slight frown as she appeared. “I know, but you know how she is.”

I just nodded. Disagreeing with the Queen never ended well, even if her opponents were her own children.

She continued. “But it’ll still be a fun adventure, don’t you think?” She smiled at me, and I forced a smile back, but a nagging feeling wormed itself into my gut that I couldn’t push away.

The cycle continued to repeat itself. The second ‘warrior’ we sent out came back far more humiliated than the first, which was satisfying for me as he had attempted to convince me that I should be in the kitchens when I had given him the same set of instructions as the first one. I had to restrain myself from cutting off one of his fingers with my sword. Ayako and I continued to spar to work off our frustrations.

The third? I have no idea how he even got himself into this mess, as he was too small for his armor and seemed to be more brains than brawn, as he had a notebook of strategies for rescuing Estelle. He didn’t seem to be all that bad but I wasn’t surprised when he came back slightly crispy unlike the other two, but still a failure. But, the one victory he had was that he had managed to draw a quick sketch of the dragon.

And it was gorgeous. The drawing itself was rushed but it was clear that the third’s talents fit in more in the creative area instead of swordplay. The smooth lines and elegant arches drawn by the charcoal on the half-burnt paper and the piercing eyes he illustrated gave off an aura of mystery and beauty rather than the ugly, terrifying ways dragons were always drawn in the books.

I didn’t believe the image before my eyes. Not only because of the way it was depicted in the drawing, but the dragon that was drawn did not look like the one I had encountered. My gut wrenched, telling me something was off. I pushed it aside. One of us had to be hallucinating.

The fourth was interesting. One look at him said that he didn’t want to be here but he was doing it anyway because he wanted to make his family proud and rescue the princess.

“Why are you doing this, then?” I had asked.

“Estelle seems like a nice girl. I want her to be safe with her family.” He had responded, and the determined look on his face made it clear to me that he meant it.

Ayako and I watched as he came back without his horse, limping on one leg, but no burns. Seems like this one was smart enough to avoid the fire.

After seeing the fourth come back alone, it was clear that there would be no chance of any other knight getting closer to the dragon.

Maybe except for me.

Estelle was carefully pulling a glowing, red flower from the dirt, placing it in a vase in her basket when we heard the screech.

I had barely whipped my head around to get a closer look when one of the guards yelled out “TAKE COVER!!!”

But as fast as he had said it, the soaring, golden blur closed in, taking on a more… dangerous form. A form smaller than usual size, but we all knew we were not in for a good time.

“We’re leaving. Now!” I yelled out, grabbing Estelle and pulling her behind the first tree I could find.

Her basket flew out of her hands, falling several feet away from the treeline. I whistled for Estelle’s horse as I held her tight to me, squirming in my grip.

“Wait! My basket!” She protested as her dark as night horse arrived faithfully at her side with a whinny. The high pitched screeching grew hastily louder as the rest of the guards accompanying us formed a small line between us and the terrifying noise.

“There’s no time!” I roared out, pushing her towards her horse, but I wasn’t fast enough for Estelle.

Spinning out of my grip with a practiced precision I didn’t know she had, she sprinted towards her basket on the other side of the treeline. The screeching grew louder as the golden-winged creature stopped… and dove. Grasping onto her basket, Estelle yelled out at the sight of the monster catapulting towards her like an arrow at a bullseye.

I had stopped thinking at this point, and so did the rest of the guards. We had all charged, our swords drawn, and the only thing I could think of is getting my best friend out of there.

The dragon screeched as it opened up its talons and grasped Estelle by her waist, the basket dropping onto the ground as she thrashed in the beast’s grip, resulting in her pastel yellow dress tearing. Before I could yell out an order to shoot down the creature with the guard’s crossbows, it had risen into the sky and took to the north mountain as quickly as it had gotten down.

Her face was turned to me as it flew away. I could never forget that face. The face filled with fear and uncertainty that she would be okay. I still didn’t know.

I kept that face in mind when I had strapped on my armor. The moon and constellations were the only light around for miles. Most of the castle guards had fallen asleep as the leaned against the stone halls of the castle. I don’t blame them really. They spend all day walking around and not really getting any breaks. And one of the people who they’re supposed to be escorting around the castle was currently in a mountain with a dragon. The only guards that were awake were guarding the queen’s quarters on the other side of the castle.

I was in the barracks, grabbing my sword and shield as silently as I could. All I needed to do was grab my horse, Mr. Bean Bean (Odd name, I know. But it started as an inside joke and it stuck when Ayako wouldn’t let me live it down.), a light gray stallion with a penchant for getting in trouble, who was resting in the stables, and I would be too far into the forest in the morning for anyone to stop me.

My pack slung across my back, I walked out of the barracks and found myself looking into mischievous brown eyes.

“Seriously?” I said, staring blankly back.

“You’re not that discreet, Eris.” Ayako smirked, his armor also on. “Did you really think you’d be able to sneak off to rescue my stupid sister without me?”

I sighed, and smiled back. Idiots stick together, after all. “Fine. Whatever. Pretend like you’re so smart to have caught me. I’ll let you have a moment of glory for now.”

He rolled his eyes and walked back to where his own black horse waited very impatiently. “I’ve got Curiosity ready. Though she isn’t too excited.”

“Gee, I wonder why. It’s not like we’re going to see a dragon or anything.”

----------

You sure you don’t wanna turn back? The voice in my head nagged me as the sun had just barely peeked up on the horizon, lighting the sky up with a bold orange and a soft pink in the soft morning light. I was currently straining my neck, bordering on whiplash, as I looked up at the towering hunk of rock that remained, even though we had almost reached the cave, which was high enough as it is. I could barely see snow covering the top of the mountain. I might reconsider, the logical part of me responded.

Oh, come on. What could possibly go wrong? The illogical side of me teased. EVERYTHING, the smart side said. Literally everything.

“Oh, shut up!” I yelled out in a hoarse voice. The air was thin here, and it was getting hard to breathe.

“I didn’t even say anything!” Ayako protested, snapping me back to reality.

“Not you. I need to block out all logical thinking for this to actually work. And right now it’s really going haywire.” I said, jumping off Mr. Bean Bean and tying him up to a tree so he didn’t wander.

Ayako rolled his eyes as he did the same to Curiosity. “You’re just saying that. It was probably just an excuse for you to tell me to shut up.”

I bit back a snarky remark as I passed him. “I would yell at you, but now’s not the time.”

The two of us looked into the cave. It didn’t look too small. Or too dark. We knew we were going to be wrong.

So, like we usually do, we deliberately made the golden decision by just simply walking into the cave. As the light slowly faded when we walked further in, I realized another reason why the Queen would not let us do this task together: we’re idiots. We had gone in with no source of lighting or a way to track which way we had been to help ourselves get out. Whoops.

Our echoing footsteps dark cave were the only things that we could hear for a solid three minutes, until the echoing got distorted and more lengthy. We were getting closer.

“Gee, this sure is dangerous,” Ayako snidely commented, “It’s a wonder we’re still alive.”

No! My logical voice yelled out inside my head. This means that something bad is going to happen!

For once I agreed with my logical voice, because as soon as Ayako made that stupid remark (thanks a lot, bud), the floor was gone.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Is all that we heard from each other as we plummeted down what felt like a tunnel down into the earth, the sound of our armor screeching against the rock rattling in our ears. And then the tunnel turned sharply to the right. I crashed into Ayako as the tunnel and darkness was suddenly not there, and we were flying in the air and holding onto each other while trying to adjust to the new light, prepared to crash into the wall as our lives would come to an end-

And then we were screaming in midair. I slowly opened my eyes as my voice died out. A sharp something had grabbed onto me, digging into my body but not hurting me. I was squished against Ayako, who had also stopped yelling, and our eyes met before we realized that something was not right.

My logical part of the brain told me that. But my logical part of the brain also said, Whatever you do, do not look at what’s holding you up.

Don’t be a loser! My illogical brain roared, I dare you to look!

So, like the idiots we were, my best friend and I slowly turned our heads.

Shining eyes that looked just like this morning’s sunrise stared back at us. And they were not small. The eyes were about the same size as my shield. Intricate patterns of golden scales covered the elegant beast’s face as she looked at us in interest. Sharp, curved horns rested on top of her head like a crown. I decided to steal a glance at how high we were being held by this creature, and I immediately regretted my decision as oh boy, were we high.

You IDIOT! My logical brain yelled at me.

Ayako, the ever suave prince, made the first move.

“Uh, ahahaha, hey there. How are you? Today?” He rambled out as we clung to each other.

She stared at us again. I decided to insert myself into the one-sided conversation.

“Um, can you? Uh? Put us down? Please?” I said quietly, my voice cracking as I tried not to freak out. “Maybe we can have a civil conversation.”

The dragon visibly responded to this as she blew smoke out of her nostrils, which caused Ayako and I to start coughing as it passed over us.

Then very slowly, and surprisingly I might add, she set us down.

The dragon had been holding us in only one of her limbs, so it didn’t take long for her to plop us on the ground gently, making sure we landed on our feet.

“Well, this is new.” a smooth and intrigued voice echoed, and it took us a double take to realize that oh my goodness, the dragon just talked.

We looked up at her, the only noise either of us made was a “Huh?”

“Usually, they go on and attack me without thinking. But you two,” The golden beast crouched down, her wings folded to her sides and her head rested on top of her two front limbs, “Are quite interesting.”

A talking dragon. A giant talking dragon that understands us and is not trying to kill us currently.

“Where’s my sister?” Is all Ayako managed to say. “I’d kinda like her back so I can bug her again.”

I jabbed Ayako with my elbow, and he swatted back at me.

“Oh, you’re here for the young princess.” The dragon sat up, her movements causing a gust of wind to whip by. “I should’ve known!”

Oh no.

We both jumped back, grasping for our shields, ready to (probably) die. The majestic beast stood up to her full height, the glowing crystals adorning the side of the cavern walls allowing us to see how tall she actually was, her scales reflecting the blindingly bright green lights. Her eyes narrowed as she opened her mouth, and we saw the flicker.

Bright, not orange, but blue flicker. Dragons with blue flames created fire hot enough to melt even the strongest of metals.

I shouldn’t have came here!

“WAIT!”

The flicker vanished, and the dragon’s pupils dilated in surprise as she turned her head towards a large ledge in the cavern.

On that glowing ledge adorned with glowing crystals, stood Estelle in her bright, and torn, yellow summer dress.

“Don’t hurt them.” She murmured, her long, dark hair falling in front of one of her eyes as she stepped tentatively forward. The dragon crouched down a little, leaning closer to the princess. “These people are good people,” She continued, “they don’t mean any harm to you, or evil to me.”

“Darling,” The dragon asked, crouching closer to the platform, “Why didn’t you tell me that there’d be good people I’d have to refrain from hurting? People that didn’t want to save you only for glory or marriage?”

“Darling?” Ayako echoed. “Sis, what the heck is going on? You make me afraid for your life and we come running and it’s all fine? No warning? No signal, saying hey, I’m all good! Don’t send anyone to look for me because a dragon will try to kill them?”

Estelle’s face faded into a deep frown. “They’d try to kill Nova then.”

It didn’t take the two of us long to put two and two together and get the four that was the dragon. We stared at the golden creature that looked at my princess with a kind gaze. If Estelle had come back, the kingdom would surely send a whole bunch of people to take on the dragon.

“Uh, could you?” I asked the dragon Nova, pointing to Ayako and I and then to the ridge. She gave us a toothy grin as she held out the same claws that had held us captive not two minutes ago as a sign of friendship, not enemies. We stepped carefully onto her outstretched claws.

She lifted us up onto the ridge, to meet a smaller beast. The much smaller version of Nova bounded towards us and tackled us down onto the ground. The dragon that had taken Estelle. The gears started to turn as I realized that neither the small warrior or I had been wrong in our sights of the dragon. This dragon drawn was the mother. The that took Estelle one was actually a baby.

“Turns out this little one only wanted someone to play with.” Estelle patted the baby on the back, to which he responded by bounding off us and sitting next to Estelle, who giggled and pat his head. They were about the same height, so she didn’t have to lean up very far to give the little firebreather affection.

I watched the baby once again as he nuzzled against Estelle. I had almost ordered him killed. I don’t want to think about what would have happened if I had yelled out “FIRE AT WILL” and any of the arrows had pierced him.

For my own sanity, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind as we got up from the stone floor. I glanced around the luminous cave. There were several more ridges just like this one which held piles of jewels, the mother’s hoard I assumed, and others with piles of fruit. This would all be destroyed if the Queen sent people to destroy this friendly dragon.

“I….” I started, looking at Estelle. The person I was supposed to protect and failed when the baby dragon took her away. But, these dragons were not vicious, they were creatures that just didn’t want to be hunted by selfish humans. They could have killed her, but they did not because they recognized that she was good. They did my job when I couldn’t.

I realized everyone in the cave had been staring at me while I was thinking. I looked at Nova and her baby, then the royal twins. I took a deep breath.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” I turned to Nova. The baby chirped happily, seemingly understanding my statement. “I am going to go back and tell everyone that you’re fine.” I turned to Estelle. “I’m going to tell them that you are going to stay here as long as you wish, and you will return here whenever you wish.”

“And we’re gonna make sure they don’t touch this place!” Ayako cut in.

Nova looked at me and smiled, her alarmingly sharp fangs showing. It’s funny how quickly you can go from trying to kill you to on the road to besties.

Estelle looked at me, pushing the hair out of her face. She had started to well up.

“No,” I said, pointing at her, “Don’t do that. You’re going to make me cry, too.”

She opened her arms up, smiling (and crying). “I can’t believe you’d do that for me.”

A tear streaming from my face, I replied, “You’re my best friend. Of course I would.”

We hugged. I buried my face into her long hair as she held me tightly. Who knows how long she’d be visiting her new friends? It didn’t really matter to me anymore. I knew she was safe.

“Hey, what about me?” Ayako asked, completely ruining the moment.

“No.” Estelle and I retorted at the same time. This was a girl’s moment.

---------

Queen Estelle stood on her balcony in her informal wear. It was a good look for her: relaxed clothes with a relaxed look on her face. She stood with confidence and her hair in a high ponytail which showed off her deep, brown eyes.

I stood behind her, guarding the door to the balcony. I watched her as she pulled out a twisted horn from her bag. She blew it, a low pitched tone resounding and filling up the air. This was a special horn, however. A particular creature could hear it clear as day.

An echoing roar responded to the sound from high up in the mountain. I smirked. It was satisfying every time.

“Where are you two going this time? Did the water dragons finally fix that fishing problem?”

The Queen turned to me. “We’re still working on that. I’m going there with Blaze to help them figure it out.”

The roar echoed again. The queen turned around just in time to see the giant golden dragon fly out of the mountain and set a course for the castle.

“Oh my goodness, he’s getting big. I’m sure Nova is excited.” I commented, walking up to set myself beside her.

“I know!” She exclaimed. “I’m so proud of him. I’m going to be so sad when he leaves the nest.”

“Imagine how Nova feels.” I retorted.

“I can’t imagine, it sounds stressful.” Estelle laughed.

Blaze, the grown-up son of Nova, landed on the balcony, giving the platform a slight shake. “Ready to go?” He boomed.

“Not yet.” Estelle called up to the giant, then turned to me.

“See you later.” I said, looking at her with a smile. We hugged. I remember when hugging her was a nonexistent thought in my brain when I’d first started as a protector. We’ve come a long way from that.

As we broke away, she gave a wave. “See you later.”

I watched as Estelle climbed onto Blaze’s back. With a loud flap of his wings, he was airborne. And with another, they were off the balcony and headed west, where the council would begin. I grinned, watching the two disappear into the horizon, but not before I witnessed the silhouette in the distance do a showy loop. I chuckled. Those two, always showing off.

A lot has changed within the last seven years. The word ‘dragon’ no longer has a negative stigma attached to it since they’re seen flying over our skies all the time now.

We have new allies, friendships, and a strength that we never thought we’d have all because a baby Blaze just wanted to play with someone and so happened to choose the one person that could make it happen and change the world: my Estelle, my best friend. The Dragon Queen.