The Pirate Dragon

Prologue

Close your eyes and picture this:

It’s a cold, winter’s night; wind still, sky clear of clouds and full of stars, a half-moon illuminates the crags of mountainous stone surrounding a small village. The village is old, wood houses with thatched roofs and dusty, meandering pathways, connecting each of them. At the heart of the village stands the Long House; in it, the village elders are seated around a roaring fire. Scattered about them are children of all ages. Tired after a long day of learning and play, they hold blankets or stuffed toys and pile together on the furs around the fire. As smoke filters upward, through the vent in the roof, the children fight to hold droopy eyes open as the village Elder woman begins a tale of magic … and adventure.

. . . . .

In a land far, far away, that time and memory have forgotten, there was a legend. A legend of a pirate, so fierce that none could catch him, and all feared him.

The legend. . . of the pirate dragon.

A dragon, you say? How can a dragon be a pirate?

Well, listen and hear how the story goes.

Dragons, in that place and time, were neither uncommon or unheard of. Contrary to what most people now believe, they were not usually the nasty, savage beasts that tales make them out to be. No, they kept to themselves for the most part, hunted wild game, and (as startling as the modern reader or listener might find this) they could speak! Quite intelligently too.

The particular dragon to which this legend pertains was one of those younglings who was always in trouble for one thing or another; and his name was Arnott (Yes, I know, not a very fearsome name. We’ll get to that later.).

Arnott and his family: mother, father, two brothers and one sister, lived on an island which was often so hidden by mist from the North seas that many didn’t even know it was there. Regardless of this, there were still two villages on the isle that thrived on trade and fishing. It was because of these two villages that Arnott was so often in trouble.

You know how I said that dragons kept mostly to themselves? Well, not Arnott! He wanted to see everything, know everything, and do everything! And it was this unending curiosity that causes our story to truly begin.

It began one fateful, foggy morning, after a night of pouring rain. Arnott had been sneaking off to watch the village from afar and, unknown to him, he had been spotted. Arnott's hide was not a bright, jewel tone, like that of his brothers and sister. Each of them was a different shade of vibrant scarlet red, sapphire blue, or burnished gold. Unlike them, Arnott's hide was a dark, mossy, earth green, that blended well with the mossy crags that surrounded the village. Despite this, several children and their minder had spotted him one day and now the village had set a quiet watch. No one knew that Arnott meant no harm, to them, he was simply a wild beast that would steal the children and the sheep.

Even more alarming were the rumors that had spread from fisherman to fisherman and from trader to trader. Rumors that had reached several islands over to the ears of a crew of dragon hunters. This fateful morning, was the morning when they had reached Arnott's island and unbeknownst to him (as he was off watching the village again), had found his siblings, asleep in their den, and captured them.

Now, this sounds like a dreadful beginning to a story. But it isn't easy to have an adventure, or create a legend, without a problem to solve, or something pushing you out the door, now is there?

As the first rays of the sun began to break through the heavy mist, Arnott realized it was time to return to the den. "I'd better get back, he thought, before the others wake." Slipping quietly back over the rocks, out of sight of the village, he took flight and headed home.

He first noticed that something was wrong as he landed before the den. It felt still, empty.

"Lila, Ragnar, York! Where are you?" he called into the empty cave. When he received no response, he leapt into the air and began to circle and search.

There! On the far horizon, a ship, a large vessel, was sailing away from the island as fast as its sails would take it.

"Wait!" bellowed Arnott, throwing his strength into his wings and powering after the ship. He knew they couldn't hear him, but his frantic search, before spotting the ship, had shown him the story. The drag marks in the dirt, the overturned stones, the scattered prints and marks in the sand of the beach where several boats had been pulled ashore. All indicators that his brothers and sister had been taken.

Not stopping to think, Arnott roared his anger and his fear into the air and raced after the ship. Right into an oncoming storm.

After hours of chasing the ship, Arnott felt his strength draining. Each push and pull of his wings was harder. Every muscle ached and he strained to continue. The lashing rain and punishing winds were taking their toll on him.

"What do I do? he thought. "Mother and Father are gone for weeks, I have no one I can ask for help." Still he continued, until he could no longer see the ship and exhaustion overcame him. With a last, desperate pump of his wings, he lost consciousness and plummeted into the cold sea below.

But, don't worry, all is not lost, else we would not have a story to tell!

When Arnott began to regain consciousness, he felt as though he was swaying back-and-forth, he heard the creak of wood, and the sound of men's voices. "Where am I?"

"Well, would you look at that lads! Not only did we catch ourselves a dragon, it's a speak'n dragon, to boot!" came an unfamiliar voice, gruff and chortling.

As Arnott's awareness returned, he found himself contained within a cage on the deck of a ship, surrounded by the roughest lot of humans he had ever seen. Blinking a few times to clear his eyes, he saw the flag above, flying the skull and crossbones on a black background.

"Pirates!" thought Arnott, his eyes flying wide as he realized where he was. "I'm on a pirate ship! What do I do!?"

"Cap'n!" called the same voice Arnott had heard as he was waking. Turning about in his cramped quarters, he saw that the voice belonged to an older, human man, his clothes of non-descript browns and grays, with a long, grey beard and mustache and a rag, that was once blue, tied about his head. "Cap'n!" The man called again. "This here dragon be speak'n!"

"Well," came a smooth, baritone voice, "this is an interesting day. Grand ol' day for us, and a good opportunity for you dragon."

This man who came into Arnott's sight was taller and younger than most of the other men aboard. His clothes were clean, tall black boots, black trousers and a brilliant red shirt. His beard was neatly trimmed in a goatee and his black hair was tousled from the wind. "This man," Arnott thought fearfully, "is not going to help me."

"Please Captain, let me go. Men have taken my family and I need to get them back. I was following them when I fell into the sea."

"Sorry dragon, but as far as I'm concerned, you're one of us now. We have great use for a dragon," said the captain with a smirk, as he turned and walked away.

So began Arnott's life at sea. He wasn't ready for it. Every day, he thought of his brothers and sister; wondering where they were and if they were alright.

Captain Grindle, as he came to know the man with the tall black boots, put Arnott to work in the crow's nest. Arnott was not yet so big that he could not fit on the ship (as a full grown dragon would be), and his bright, gold eyes could see much further than those of any of the men and he could see in the darkest of night as well. This made him the perfect lookout. It also happened, that anyone who encountered a ship with a dragon perched in the crow's nest, surrendered their ship and cargo, very quickly; which suited the pirates of the Artemis quite well.

This was Arnott's life for the next two years, sailing the seas, looking fearsome and blowing flames and smoke to frighten other ships, be they merchants or pirates.

But, as time passed, Arnott made friends with the crew. They came to like and respect him for he refused to hurt those that the Artemis ambushed. "I will act fearsome, I will blow smoke and flames, I will roar, but I will NOT hurt anyone," he told Captain Grindle. "I will earn my freedom from you, or I will escape, but I will find my brothers and sister. For now, sailing the seas with you will help me to find information, otherwise, you could never hold me here," he growled.

Many times, over those two years, the Artemis came across dragon hunters and merchants who had news of the dragon hunters and the dragons they captured. Whenever they came across one of the Hunter's dens, Arnott made sure to dismantle their hideouts and free any dragons found there, but of Lila and Ragnar and York there was no sign.

By now, all the seas knew of the pirate ship with the dragon at it's prow. The rumors swirled of his fearsomeness and how dangerous the Artemis was with him aboard. "The Dragon Dread" they called him. Arnott wanted no part of this. He simply wanted to find his family and go home.

In his third year at sea, on a clear, sunny day, as the ship was at anchor in the inlet of a deserted island, Captain Grindle called his men together. "You too Arnott!" he called. Once everyone had gathered, curious as to what the captain could want, Grindle spoke: "Men, it's been a very good few years, thanks mainly to Arnott here. I have decided to retire as Captain of the ship. Want to build myself a business ashore and, maybe, a life too." When the uproar from this announcement had died down, he continued: "As a reward for acting as the ships fearsome mascot, I leave Arnott in charge and name him Captain Arnott of the Artemis." Turning to a stunned Arnott, Captain Grindle smiled. "It's time for you to finish your search for your siblings. We've come across some of the hunters over the years, but now you can search for them without hindrance. The ship is yours."

With that, Captain Grindle took himself ashore and Arnott took over the ship.

Not waiting a second longer, Arnott had the Artemis underway and went on his search with a vengeance. He and the crew scoured every corner of the ocean in that year. Every den, every town, every little known area that had even a whisper of a dragon sighting, Arnott was there, freeing every dragon he found. Until, finally, on a small island, in the far South Sea, he found them.

"Lila, Ragnar, York!" he cried out when he saw them for the first time. Cries of joy filled the area as they greeted each other. Arnott's siblings had been working in a mine. There is no creature in existence, that is as good at finding gold and gemstones, as a dragon. For this reason, the hunters had taken them and put them to work in the mine.

Now that Arnott had his brothers and sister returned to him, he returned the Artemis to the crew and, with many stops in between, flew with his siblings back to their island in the Northern seas.

There was great joy and laughter and celebrating when all four siblings returned home. Their mother and father had been searching for them also. Rumors had reached them over the years, of the Dragon Dread, but they had never dreamed that it was their son, Arnott, in search of his brothers and sister. Finally, Arnott's adventures as a pirate were over and he could live in peace with his family once again.

Over the following years Arnott continued to fly out, from time-to-time, whenever whispers arrived at the Island that the Hunters were rebuilding, and he often brought home a stray dragon or two. The island came to be know as "The Isle of Dragons" guarded by the fearsome pirate "The Dragon Dread" himself. Until one day, when the island vanished into the Northern ocean mists, never to be seen again, save for a rumor or a whisper that a dragon could be seen, flying high in the sky. So high, that you might think it was a great bird, until you heard it's terrifying roar as it disappeared into the mists from whence it first appeared.