On a high mountain, amongst slowly drifting clouds, in the light of a bright but cold sun, there lived a dragon. He was very fierce and dangerous. Hundreds of sharp, spear-like fangs, scales ― stronger than any steel armour, and hot merciless flames. No one in the world could defeat him. And many tried! Thousands of knights, skilled with swords, climbed the mountain to defeat the beast, but not a single one returned.
It had not always been so. When the dragon first hatched from his egg, he was a tiny chick, by dragon standards, of course. His teeth were not so sharp, and he could not breathe fire at all.
The dragon lived in the attic of a smithy in a village at the foot of the mountain. At night he would climb onto the roof and admire the starry sky, and teach himself to fly.
The people did not believe that a dragon had appeared in the village. Children made up tales about a terrible beast that kidnapped people, and retold them to one another. Adults considered the dragon a joke altogether and dismissed such stories with a sneer. There were many rumours in the village; someone even claimed to have seen the dragon on the smithy roof. The voices of witnesses mingled with legends, and it turned out that the dragon transformed into a human and was actually the local blacksmith.
The dragon himself was in no hurry to show himself to people. He listened to the village gossip and could not understand why people thought him evil and frightening? He had done nothing wrong. So he was bad from birth and there was no way to fix it?
But his greatest sorrow was that no one believed in him. He was so tired of watching the sky alone that one day he decided to stop hiding and fly not in darkness, but in the light of the sun.
Before his first daytime flight, the dragon was very anxious about how people would receive him. Perhaps they would take up arms and start shooting arrows? Or would they be glad that a magical creature lived in their village?
The dragon had not accounted for one thing: everyone was so busy with their own concerns that they never looked up at the sky. There was no room for wonder and fairy tales in the lives of the local people.
Flying in daylight for the first time, the dragon enjoyed the fresh warm wind and the bright blue sky. Never before had the sun warmed him, never before had he seen the village and mountain so well.
Flying over the market, he caught an air current and spread his wings wide. He was no longer a tiny chick, and for a split second his wing blocked out the sun. Darkness fell over the city. People were frightened, but still did not look up.
At the market stood a boy. He was helping his parents, who sold meat at a wooden stall. The lad had beautiful bright green eyes and red curly hair. His clothes were covered in dust. When darkness fell over the village, he looked up and saw the dragon flying past.
A dragon! There's a dragon in the sky! Mum, Dad, look! ― the boy exclaimed with delight.
Your fairy tales again? ― his mother laughed in reply.
Fetch the meat box quickly, ― his father urged him on.
The darkness passed, the dragon flew away.
Please, look at the sky! ― he pleaded with his parents.
Son, get to work. We all know dragons don't exist, ― his mother replied.
The dragon was very hurt that people had paid him no attention. At sunset he landed on a large clearing at the foot of the mountain. The sun was setting, and the huge stone boulder became dark and frightening. "I will live here now," he sighed, deciding never to return to the smithy.
The dragon felt anger building up inside him. He was ready for any reaction from people, but could not have imagined that they would simply not notice him! In his hurt, he knocked down several trees, scratched them with his claws, tore at the leaves.
The despair that had clouded his mind receded. He built a shelter from the fallen trees for the night and fell asleep. That evening he did not look at the stars and slept restlessly. He dreamed of large bright green eyes looking out of the darkness.
Every day the dragon flew over the village. He wanted to be noticed, to be believed in. But it was all in vain: no one paid attention to the darkness that sometimes fell to the earth. Over time, people even gave it a name ― an eclipse. And they lived as if nothing unusual was happening.
The dragon grew angrier and angrier. His scales became darker, and his teeth sharper. One night he could not sleep and asked himself: "Why?". But there was no answer. The stars hid behind black clouds. The clouds descended from the mountain, hung over the clearing and slowly drifted towards the village.
From hurt, anger and exhaustion, the dragon roared loudly. This roar echoed through the forest and, reflected from the mountain, reached the village. People woke in fear. No one could understand what was happening. They had never heard such a sound before. And the dragon noticed that small sparks appeared around his mouth. He roared again, even louder and more terrifying, and from his jaws a wave of fire swept across the clearing.
So the dragon learned to use fire. That night the entire green clearing, full of thick grass and flowers, turned to ash.
And then the dragon came up with a way to get people's attention. He would no longer fly over the city during the day: people would not look at the sky anyway. He would come at night and show his fire. Then they would surely believe in him.
The very next night he hung like a huge black shadow over the village. The dragon roared, and people woke up. They came out of their homes, trying to understand where this sound came from again. The dragon, with all his might, sent a column of fire into the sky.
At last, people noticed him. The flames reflected in their eyes, and every single one of them looked at him in horror, as at a monster.
Someone shouted loudly: "Dragon!". This word echoed through the crowd. People scattered in panic, screaming, some grabbed weapons. The dragon looked at them and did not understand why they were so afraid ― he had not burned a single building, simply shown them fire in the night sky. He heard voices: "Monster! Murderer!", and understood they were talking about him.
And then he flew away. He flew away for ever. He could not return to the clearing. People had seen where he was heading, and would surely come after him. He decided that from now on the peak of the black cold impregnable mountain would be his home. And he also understood that he would never be able to fly in daylight again.
Years passed. Years that the dragon spent in solitude. The echoes of the forests brought him legends, invented by the villagers. They said he had burned dozens of houses, that he kidnapped people and devoured everyone in his path. People even sent brave souls to kill him, but none of them managed to climb the high mountain. And then everyone forgot about him. It was easier for people to believe that they had seen a fiery monster in a dream than to accept the fact of his existence. And the dragon became just a fairy tale again, one that was told to children at bedtime.
But one day something happened that the dragon could not have imagined. A traveller from the village climbed the mountain. He came at dawn on a summer day. His hands and feet were covered in scratches, he could barely move and, having barely climbed up, collapsed exhausted.
The dragon was not frightened. He understood that he could easily overcome any knight, he was not afraid of the sharpest swords and arrows. But his guest had no weapons.
The dragon approached the small man and warmed him with his warm breath. The traveller opened his eyes and said weakly: "I knew you existed!".
The dragon examined his guest with surprise. In his eyes he saw no malice or fear. His eyes... His green eyes seemed very familiar.
He snorted and helped the traveller to his feet. This was a grown man. His clothes were torn, and his thick curly red hair was streaked with grey.
You're not evil at all, as others say, ― the man said, looking at his reflection in the dragon's large eyes.
The dragon gave a friendly roar, but small sparks still fell from his jaws.
You know, I'm still not afraid of you. Do you remember me?
The dragon nodded slowly, which nearly blew the traveller away with the wind.
I saw you a long time ago, when I was small, but not at night, during the day. You flew over the market square.
The dragon understood where he recognised this naive gaze of bright green eyes from. He smiled, as only dragons can smile.
Yes, I've changed a lot since then. No one believed me then, but I knew you existed! When I set out for the mountain, people called me a fool. They said you were a monster, but I understood that wasn't true. You won't eat me, will you? ― the traveller's voice became quieter.
The dragon approached him and snorted affectionately, warming him with his breath.
That's a good sign, ― the traveller said quietly and stroked the beast's rough scales. ― You won't be alone anymore, I'm not going anywhere.
From that day on, the dragon found a friend, and his new friend understood him without words. The magical beast could not speak, but that did not matter at all. What mattered was that two solitudes were ready for a miracle, and the miracle happened!
