So this will be my travel diary for Mr. Mayor's Storyville contest. I hope you enjoy it!

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It was finally time. Menewsha was having its fall festival in a week and this was going to be my best chance. After begging my parents for weeks they finally relented, giving me permission to travel to Menewsha via the southern coastal road.

But what they didn’t know (and what I had gone to great pains to conceal) was that the fall festival was only partially the reason for this trip. I was going to use this trip to finally fulfill my dream: see a dragon. Of course, you could occasionally see them flying, distant specks in a blue sky, but they rarely left the sanctuary of their volcanic caves except to steal the occasional cow (although to hear the farmers tell it, they came sweeping down leaving a fiery conflagration in their wake). But I had a good feeling about this trip and I just knew that I would be successful. I was on a mission and I wasn’t going to accept failure.

So I left early this morning to start my journey, hugging my parents before they left to go fishing for the day in their boat “The Merry Sojurn.” As I began down the road, a spring in my step, I thought I could spy the distant shape of a dragon wheeling around near the middle of the island. Definitely a good omen.

After a couple of hours I passed by a potato farm with two children who appeared to be chasing something large and white around the farm until they managed to trap it in a stable, where it started braying loudly. A man ran in from the field shouting “What was that noise-oh it’s just Percy.”

I drew to a stop, saying “OMG, is that a llama?”

The farmer looked over at me and nodded with a grin. “Not something you’d expect to see around here, huh?” Suddenly, one of the kids shouted “Watch out!” as the llama broke out and ran off.

I laughed. “Hey I was wondering: could you tell me how to get to Candle Cove? I’m looking for a Leo Kirk.” I’d heard that he was a self-proclaimed expert on dragons and figured that was a good place to start.

The farmer laughed and resumed his work. “That ol’ drunkard? Sure, you’ll find him in The Lonely Widow with his hand permanently attached to a mug of ale. Always going on about dragons and such, although it’s all a bunch of hocus-pocus if you ask me. Candle Cove’s about half a day’s walk if you keep following the road.” He stopped and grinned. “I’d be careful though, he’ll bamboozle you out of your money while telling you some great yarn, so stay sharp.”

I thanked him and continued on my way, stopping briefly to climb a tree and grab a few wild apples for my lunch. In the process I almost upset a bird’s nest, much to the chagrin of the mother who decided the best course of action would be to fly at my face and beat her wings at me until I left.

But just as I was about to bite into the first apple, I noticed a large worm wriggling out of it. Grimacing, I threw it into the bushes, thinking Oh well, I’ve got another one.

I continued walking for the rest of the day but as night fell I still hadn’t reached Candle Cove. Sighing, I decided I would just get started early the next morning instead of risking running into trouble on the road at night. Noticing a small outcropping of rock, I decided that would be a suitable place for me to stay the night. I got myself comfortable and ate a little of the food I had packed in my knapsack, thinking of the man who I would meet tomorrow at The Lonely Widow. “The Lonely Widow,” I laughed to myself. “I wonder what happened to her husband?” Smiling, I drifted off to sleep.

I awoke the next day just as the sun was rising and the sky a lovely rose color. I stood up and stretched, noticing that my neck and left arm were incredibly itchy. Glancing down, I noticed a few black ants crawling about. Groaning, I said “Of course I picked the cave that was populated by the one creature I’m allergic to.”

I pulled up my sleeve and inspected my arm. It didn’t look too bad, just a mild allergic reaction, but it was still uncomfortable. I went to take a drink of water from my canteen and was startled to discover it was empty even though I had filled it yesterday. Inspecting it, I found a leak. “Where did that hole come from?” I wondered, dismayed that I would now have to take the time to find a new one once I reached Candle Cove. Sighing, I lit a small fire to cook my breakfast and, once fed, resumed my travels.

After about an hour I reached Candle Cove. The marketplace was fairly empty, with only a few sporadic people wandering about. I began to look around, the porous mud sucking at my boots. Before I had looked long, a small blur came running through and almost crashed into me.

“Woah, that was close!” I said, inspecting the small figure who appeared to be a flustered, mud-covered child with feathers stuck in her hair. “Where’s the fire?”

The child looked up with tears in her eyes. “Excuse me, could you tell me where to find a pig, please?" She started sniffling. "It was just here a moment ago, I know it was! I’m supposed to sell him today and I need the money.”

Fortunately, I caught sight of an equally muddy pig wandering through the stalls with a broken rope trailing behind it. “Is that him by the well?” I asked, pointing.

The child turned around and beamed. “It is! Thank you so much!” she cried as she ran off again.

After shopping a bit longer I found a replacement canteen and made my way over to The Lonely Widow. It happened to be across the street from another tavern called The Wilted Giraffe, complete with a wooden sign depicting the titular animal, its elongated neck twisted in what looked to be a most uncomfortable position and an advertisement for the best custard in town. Giggling at the ridiculously arbitrary name, I turned to go into The Lonely Widow.

If this Leo Kirk was as much of a drunkard as that farmer claimed, then I figured that the sole occupant of the pub had to be him; only a drunk would be in a bar this early in the day. I strode over and sat down.

“Are you Leo Kirk?” I asked.

He eyed me. “Who wants to know?”

I glared at him. He was my one beacon of hope about this whole dragon thing and I wasn’t going to waste my time playing games. “I want to hear this so-called ‘expert’ on dragons.”

At this, the man began hooting with laughter. “Some tiny little whelp like you wants to know about dragons?” The man took a swig of his beer and sat back in his chair. “Alright girlie, I’ll humor ya. No skin off my back if you go off on some fool adventure and get yourself barbecued.” He smirked. “But hmm, I appear to have gone blind…because I don’t see any money. Old Leo don’t give up his secrets for free.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled two copper pieces out of my pocket.

“You’re going to have to cough up more than that sweetie. I’m thinking a gold piece or two.”

Scowling, I pulled out a silver coin. “You’ll get this.”

He smirked. “Alrighty, that’ll get you two pieces of information.” He burped and settled in his seat. “The dragons mainly stay up near the opening of the volcano, but when they do come down it’s always among the caves in the southeast mountains. And they love music. Now get out of here before I grow a conscience and stop this damn fool idea of yours.” He belched and took another swig of beer.

Glowering at his smug expression I stalked out of the tavern and made my way back to the road. But despite my anger at Leo’s personality, my heart was light as air. I had learned two valuable things: Where to find a dragon and maybe how to calm it. My dream was on its way.

I started early the next morning, before the sun had even risen. Forgoing a breakfast fire this morning, I elected instead to nibble on an apple from the other day as I walked. I wrapped myself tightly in my cloak to ward off the early morning chill. I knew it would be warm, verging on hot, by midmorning, (it was still early autumn after all) but the coolness reminded me that the days were growing shorter and that winter is coming.

As I walked down the path I saw a small patch of mushrooms growing along the side of the road. I stopped for a moment, trying to remember if they were the poisonous kind or not. They would make a nice addition to my breakfast. But, regretfully, I left them, not willing to take the risk.

After an hour or two I came to another small village. On an impulse I decided to stop by the market. Leo Kirk said that dragons loved music – that is, if he wasn’t having a laugh at my expense – and that might be a way to try and calm one. I wandered for a few minutes, looking at the various sundries for sale. Finally I came to a stall manned by a young girl with two long braids tied with bright pink yarn. She had numerous trinkets available including, most importantly, a small wooden flute. Small but precious, if my theory held any weight.

I reached into my bag to pull out payment, but suddenly felt as if I were being watched. Turning around, I saw a group of suspicious looking men hovering at the edge of the marketplace. Upon making eye contact with me, their leader (whose face was as round and puffy as a balloon) slowly smiled in a way that made me instantly feel ill at ease. Glaring, I turned back to the girl and asked “Who are those men?”

“Oh, them’s the town drunks,” she said, taking my money and handing me the flute. “Nothing to worry about.”

“Oh, well thank you very much then,” I replied, taking the flute and turning to leave, although I wasn’t entirely convinced. As I walked out I saw the men had left but that did nothing to assuage my unease.

As I continued to make my way down the road my paranoia only grew. I kept jumping at the slightest noise, convinced that those men were following me. Sure, I had a dirk and could defend myself, but I was still all alone and, because the road was nearing the base of the southeast mountains, the farms were few and far between.

Stop that Rhea! I scolded myself. You’ve definitely learned something about yourself today – you’re a great big scaredy-cat!

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully, except for one moment when I saw what appeared to be the skeleton of a cow tangled in the high branches of some tree. How did that get up there?! I wondered, before realizing (with a thrill of excitement) that it was probably the work of a dragon. I closed my eyes for a moment, wishing hard that my dream would be fulfilled on this trip.

Towards nightfall I turned off the road and headed for the caves found at the base of the mountains. I know some of the nearby villages use them as catacombs, but I should find a sufficient sleeping space. And none too soon, because the distant rumblings of thunder promised a storm. I found a small pond near the caves that was fed by a small waterfall trickling down from the rock, and took the opportunity to rinse my face and refill my canteen. But just as I was about to start a fire, the skies opened up and released a torrential downpour of rain. Within seconds, I was soaked to the bone. Swearing, I gathered my things and headed for the nearest cave for shelter.

But just as I got under cover I heard a voice behind me.

“Well well well, what do we have here? Looks like you’re all alone and in need of some company.”

I turned and saw the men from the market. Instantly I pulled out my dirk to defend myself. “Get away from me.”

Their ringleader laughed. “Oh, I’m so sorry. It seems we picked the wrong wench fellas! This one’s got claws.” He turned to me, smile fading. “Get that thing away from me.”

I swallowed my fear and gripped by dirk tighter. “I’ll stick all of you if you don’t leave me alone.”

This seemed to amuse him. “Oh, you’re gonna poke all of us are ya? I wonder what will happen if I poke this.” He pulled out his knife, a cruel looking blade, and advanced towards me.

Before I had time to react I heard a low growl in the back of the cave, which quickly grew into a full-fledged roar. The man dropped his knife in fear as something snaked out from the shadows.

It snapped its teeth at him, narrowly missing his head, and at this the band of outlaws turned tail and ran out into the storm. It then turned and faced me. I stood pressed against the wall of the cave, paralyzed with fear. My gray-green eyes met its liquid gold ones and I barely had enough coherent thought to realize that my dream had actually come true, albeit not in the way I expected: I was standing face to face with a dragon.

When I woke the next morning the dragon was where I had left it: curled up asleep at the mouth of the cave. The night before my fearful flute playing seemed to calm it, but it apparently had no intention of letting me leave. I took the opportunity to study the dragon, giddily realizing that not many people had this opportunity. Its scales were a deep crimson, edged in gold, its black leathery wings folded up and two light streams of smoke came from the beast’s nostrils. It looked rather like a large, scaly worm, all curled up in a ball.

It really was a beautiful sight, although the darkness of the cave prevented me from seeing many details…and I was wary of getting close enough to see. But still, it was a dragon. Everything went better than expected, I thought. I’ve seen a dragon!

While I waited for the dragon to wake, I took the time to repair a few holes in my cloak. Around mid-morning, the dragon stirred and turned to look at me. Nervously I groped for my flute but he just fixed his gaze on mine and then turned and made for the cave exit. Hurriedly I followed after him, knowing that I was taking an explosive risk (for every second I stayed with him increased the chance I was burnt to death) but I was too curious to just let my adventure end here.

Outside, the dragon took the time to lap at the pond before turning and facing me again, then looking towards the mountains. I had heard dragons could understand human speech, so I thought I should at least try.

“You want me to climb up the mountain?” I asked, looking and seeing a tiny goat path. The dragon looked at me and seemed to nod, then turned and lazily flew up to a point several feet up the mountain.

I hesitated. Getting lost in the mountains with a dragon of dubious tameness wasn’t quite what I had in mind for this adventure. But the dragon seemed impatient and it could be worse to try and run away and besides, I’d wanted to see a dragon for so long that I was loathe to just walk away now. Wondering what I’d gotten myself into I started picking my way up the path, making a firm resolve to leave as soon as things got dangerous.

I found that apparently I had a bit of a talent for climbing and finding the best footholds. While I was no mountain goat I was not bad, although at one point I did bang my knee hard enough to bring tears to my eyes. And all the while the dragon watched me, flying from perch to perch, ever higher up the mountain.

As I climbed I watched him. So you’re going to have me climb all the way to the volcano? I thought. Challenge accepted, buddy. Although, I was still a little fearful of my dragon; it wasn’t unheard of for marauding dragons to carry off humans, and I hoped I wasn’t going to be the latest cautionary tale mothers told their children to keep them safe. Well it’s too late for those regrets now.

After several minutes I reached a flat space in the mountain and my first obstacle: a wide rushing river that tumbled into a waterfall off the northwest side of the mountains. It was too deep to wade and the current too strong to swim.

“I could use a little help here you know,” I said irritably.

The dragon sat on the other side, just looking at me. Sighing, I looked around and my gaze landed on several large branches and a large tree that had fallen down and partially crossed the mouth of the waterfall.

I chewed my lip. It was risky, but worth a shot. Cautiously, I climbed up onto the tree trunk and, staying low, began inching my way across. The mountain dropped off sharply to my left, but I tried not to think about that; I instead focused on the rough feel of the bark. Finally, I crossed the river and dropped to the rock on the other side, my knees still shaking. “Aww yeaa!” I said weakly, trying to lessen the fear I felt from the memory of how easily I could have fallen to my death. I thought I could sense approval coming from the dragon but it quickly turned and continued the ascent. Sighing, I followed.

After several more hours the dragon came to a stop, much to my relief. I stopped to drink a swig of water from my canteen and for the first time noticed how far up we were. I could see the hilltops around Candle Cove, as well as the floppy hats of several farmers, and even thought I could see Franklin point in the distance. But before I could take a good long look, the dragon nudged me into the hollow of a rock, which I assumed was our shelter for the night.

I suddenly realized how tired I was from my climb. I had enough energy to eat a little of my provisions, and then dropped off into a deep sleep.

“Ergh, mom, I’m feeling very sleepy,” I muttered, wishing she would stop poking me. “Just a little bit more…” I blearily opened my eyes only to be confronted with the snout of a dragon. I shrieked and almost tumbled out of the hollow ledge where I had slept the night before. It was then I noticed that the rainstorm from the other night had returned, leaving the world dreary, wet, and gray. I pulled the hood of my cloak up, which helped a little, and looked through my bag for something to eat.

I was starting to run low on food, and I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be up here. I looked around for any sort of vegetation and fortunately saw a small patch of dirt with some scraggly trees and the tops of some onions. It was better than nothing so I dug a few up and added them to my breakfast. Ow, that stings! I thought, as my eyes began to water from the pungent odor.

Again, the dragon began again to ascend up the mountain. I groaned inwardly, still feeling sore from yesterday, and wishing I had a cup of coffee to wake me up and take the taste of onion out of my mouth. We continued to climb, slowly getting closer to the top of the volcano. I hope this doesn’t blow up, I thought.

Around midafternoon we came to a small copse of trees and there I sat to have lunch. Our vantage point seemed to be at the edge of a cliff and I could see much of the southern half of the island. There was a large swath of swamp as well as a few scattered juts of rock that hid wolf dens. And I could even see the road, the few people on it looking like dwarves or ants. As I ate my lunch I wistfully thought of the warm chicken pot pie my mother would make on dreary days like today.

Meanwhile the dragon prowled around the dirt area, seemingly impatient about something. He kept returning to one spot in the glade where he would stop and get my attention. Puzzled, I walked over. Nothing looked out of the ordinary so I stooped down and starting digging. After a moment my fingers brushed against some sort of cloth. Excitedly, I continued until I had cleared the dirt away from a small bundle. I unwrapped it, finding a dagger in an ornately decorated sheath. Pulling the dagger out of its sheath, I gasped as the blade was revealed to be shiny black and razor sharp. “Dragonglass!” I whispered in awe.

Obsidian, or dragonglass as many locals called it, was formed from the lava of the volcano and very rare. It was said that it made excellent weapons and could even hold enchantments and spells to make one stronger. This one looked as if it belonged to someone very rich, although based on the antiquated design of the handle and sheath (as well as the amount of dirt on it) it had probably been buried a long time. “Whose is it?” I asked the dragon. He simply nodded at me.

“You mean…it’s mine?!” I asked excitedly. “No, that’s not right. I don’t deserve this!”

The dragon merely turned and began climbing again. I hurriedly attached the dagger to my belt and followed.

The dragon kept going even after the sun had set and the moon rose in the sky and I was dead on my feet. Abruptly though, he stopped at a large flat level area that was two thirds of the way up the volcano. Glad to finally stop and rest, I was about to just lay down and go to sleep right there until I realized why the dragon had stopped.

The clearing was full of dragons. Big ones, small ones, babies, in all colors of the rainbow…and they were all looking at me. My fears were right, I thought hysterically. I’m their midnight snack! I darted behind my dragon, trying to hide, but it nudged me back out into the open.

Trembling with fear I reached for my flute, hoping to assuage some of them and attempt an escape. However, as I groped around in my bag, my blood ran cold as I realized that my flute was nowhere to be found. It must have fallen out somewhere during my climb.

Then I noticed that one of the biggest dragons was approaching me and I stood transfixed, waiting for it to open its mouth and barbecue me. Its amber eyes caught mine and suddenly I was overcome by a wave of motions and sensations, specifically…calm? And what could be considered soothing words (although I couldn’t consciously hear any sort of language)? And even a little bit of curiosity?

Suddenly, I was hit with an epiphany. It was rumored that the oldest dragons were telepathic and this one must be trying to communicate with me. And, most importantly, I wasn’t going to be eaten. It seemed instead that they were more interested in learning about me.

As soon as I reached this conclusion I felt approval coming from the dragon. Then the dragon turned away and I was suddenly aware of how tired I was. I saw a few scraggly trees and went to go lay down underneath them. Before my head even hit the ground I was already asleep.

I awoke the next day with a start to find three or four baby dragons staring intently at my face. With a yelp of surprise I sat up, scattering the dragons as they ran back to their mothers, many of whom were still asleep it seemed. I dug around in my bag for breakfast, supplementing it with a few turnips I dug out of the ground.

I found a perch along the eastern side of the volcano to eat. I could see the town of Menewsha on the coast, small and sparkling in the morning sun. I could see the farmlands surrounding the town and even barely make out a farmer or two out in his field, their straw hats catching the light. And to the southwest I could see a black scar that stuck out amongst the green fields. That’s where a village used to be I realized with some horror. Damn, it’s burned to the ground. It was a sobering thought; what was I doing here among wild dragons?

I also took the time to more closely look at the knife I found yesterday. It was a beautiful thing and I could hardly believe that it was mine. I inspect the ornately carved hilt. It was made of crystal and carved into the shape of a roaring lion; clearly it had belonged to someone very rich. I wondered how it found itself buried in a forgotten grove of trees high in the mountains.

After a while I made my way back to the clan of dragons. As I sat and watched them, I thought that they looked rather like a village. Someone was minding the eggs and the babies, one seemed to be cleaning out the caves and getting rid of the dragon dung, another was the leader, and several had left to go hunt. It was a clumsy metaphor admittedly, and I had to laugh at myself. A village of dragons, huh? What a strange village, I thought. That’s the oddest thing I ever saw.

It seemed there was some sort of meeting going on as I approached. The big one, the leader, turned towards me and again I felt it “talk” to me telepathically. The dragon who brought me here was a child by dragon standards, a curious child who brought me back as some sort of pet. The dragons were interested in keeping me because it turns out that they knew as much about humans as we knew about dragons; in other words, very little.

The dragon pulled away and I was left feeling dazed. I shook my head to clear it as the truth of the situation washed over me. They weren’t going to let me leave? I hadn’t thought about that. I had just planned to see a dragon up close and be on my merry way. This was not what I had bargained for.

“Hey wait a minute!” I said angrily. I had no intention of staying on this mountain with dragons for the rest of my life. They all ignored me though, apparently deep in conversation. Again I shouted to get their attention, to no avail. Temper flaring, I reach down a grabbed a rock and then threw it at the biggest dragon, where it broke in half against her haunches.

She turned to face me, clearly displeased. Hastily I tried to backtrack. This would not be a good creature to offend. “What I mean is…please don’t do that. I don’t want to be your pet and live up here forever.” I swallowed, hoping I wasn’t going to get roasted right here and now. “I have a family too, and friends. I need to be getting back to them soon.”

The leader conveyed that they didn’t want me to leave, that a door had been opened and this opportunity was too good. Dragons may be considered savage hunters but they also prize learning.

“I could visit periodically,” I said, the wheels turning in my head as I thought of a plan. “I could visit and tell you about humans and…and in return you could come back with me and then humans will learn that you aren't terrifying!” I smiled, confident that my plan would work.

The dragon just laughed and conveyed the sense of fear and distrust that humans always had towards something different…especially when that something could easily burn your village to the ground.

But then she admitted that maybe my idea had some merit. It wouldn’t be fair to keep me away from my clan, and it could be easily arranged that a dragon would fly me to the volcano periodically.

I could hardly believe my luck; I was going to get to ride on a dragon! The dragon that brought me here sidled up to me and nudged my side, and with a sudden flash of happiness I realized that they were going to take me down the mountain now.

Hesitantly I climbed onto his back, making sure I was secure and wouldn’t fall off. As soon as I had a good grip his wings opened and he suddenly lifted off, streaking up into the sky and leaving the dwindling ground behind us. The cold wind slapped at my face, bringing tears to my eyes, but it was totally worth it. He hovered in the air for a moment and I could see the whole island of Menewsha laid out in front of me. The sight of it made me feel as if my joy would punch through my chest – I was flying!

We flew around the island for the rest of the day and came to rest at the base of the mountains on the southeast side, where the adventure had begun. I slept again in the cave, grateful to have a reprieve from the cold temperatures of the mountains.

The next day I finished the last of my food, as well as feeding some dry fruit to a turtle I found in the pond outside the cave. Then I climbed back onto the dragon and we were off. He flew above the tree tops, lazily making his way towards Menewsha. The sun shone bright and warm and I didn’t think I’d ever seen the sky a more beautiful shade of blue. The day seemed full of promise.

Once we were about a couple hours walk from the town, the dragon landed and I understood that I had to get off. The area around the town was all farmland, and a dragon would be cause for great alarm. I dismounted and hugged him around the neck. “I’ll be back in a week alright? Right here. You can fly me back to your family, and then fly me home, okay?”

The dragon met my gaze and nodded, before leaping back up in the air with a rush of wings, heading back towards the volcano.

I made my way back towards the road as if in a dream. Did the past few days really happen? I could hardly believe my luck; not only did I meet a dragon but I was apparently going to be meeting them on a regular basis! In my joy I started singing a song, too ecstatic to stay silent. "Oh what a beautiful mooooorning..."

Finally I saw the edifices of Menewsha rising above the trees and soon found myself walking down the main street. I was just in time for the fall festival; decorations were everywhere, children laughed and ran through the streets, the smell of sweetbreads permeated the air, and I could hear some cheerful piano music coming from one of the inns. I made my way down to the beach, where the majority of the festivities were taking place. To my delight I saw sausages grilling over a hot bed of coals, tended by a townsperson wearing heavy gloves to protect himself from the heat. Finally, I’m starving! I thought as I eyed the sausages hungrily. The townsperson seemed the one to talk to.

I walked up to the man. “Excuse me sir, how much are the sausages? I’m famished!” I chirped with a grin.

The man eyed me, apparently thrown off by my enthusiastic demeanor. “Uh, ten coppers.”

I grinned. “Don’t you think that’s a little high? I’m thinking maybe four.”

He scowled at me. “Seven coppers, and no less.”

I smiled and pulled out my money to pay for my food as the man reached down a skewered a fat sausage with a stick. “Be careful with that. The dripping grease will burn ya.”

I thanked him and immediately began devouring my food. It tasted delicious after a week of dried fruit and beef jerky and scavenged fruits and vegetables. As I ate, the man noticed my dagger. “Say, that’s a fine piece of work you’ve got there. Where’d you get it?”

I grinned impishly. “From a dragon.”

The man looked at me as if I had suddenly sprouted a second head. “Yeah sure…” he said, furrowing his brow. “What do you take me for, some two-bit country idiot who’d believe anything?” He frowned and turned his attention back to his sausages. “You sure you’re not sick or something? Got a fever or sommat like that?”

I merely smiled and began walking down the beach to where a large game of volleyball was taking place. Up in the sky I could see the distant figure of a dragon wheeling about. “No sir, no fever at all.”

Instead, I had dragons.

This is a lovely story! <3 You did a great job!!!

Thank you very much! <33