Guess who's back with a new story! I've been wanting to write a dragon story for ages...lets get on with it then, shall we?

Chapter 1: New Lands

It was a dark and cold winter's night. From beyond the horizon one could hear the dragons roar as they rested for the night or to fight off some unexpected visitor. Perhaps it was the seemly daily raid the dragons performed on the village.

With a flash of light, a girl appeared alone in the forest. At a first glance she would have appeared to be sleeping but the illusion didn't last long. She gasped and sat up- clutching her necklace as it bounced against her heart. She looked around in an attempt to gather her bearings as her eyes adjusted to the lack of light.

She stood up and whimpered. This was an unfamiliar area to her and she wanted to go home. She had assumed that's where she would have gone but clearly she wasn't home and there didn't appear to be any other humans for miles. "Hello?"

It was a weak attempt to sound brave and she knew it. She should have never should have trusted them completely. She had no survival training whatsoever. She didn't know the stars- how to start a fire- or how to find or make shelter.

The light falling of the snow certainly wasn't helping her eslove. She rubbed away the tears forming in her eyes If she was going to survive the night- she thought to herself- she was going to have to start now. The poor girl was already shivering.

So, she set off- there was no clear destination in mind. All she wanted was to find somewhere warm and dry- she wasn't one to be pessimistic but...she was dead meat.

"All of that struggling...for nothing." She thought bitterly. "I'm going to die here and I'm going to die alone."

Before long she found herself near an unfrozen lake of sorts. It wouldn't have been of any importance to her if she didn't catch her reflection in the still waters.

Long brown hair, brown eyes- currently blue lips and looks that said 'I'm in need of help!' She frowned at her thirteen year old face. She looked so weak and vulnerable- she hated it. She was better than that.

There wasn't going to be any prince charming to help her and she was running out of time before she froze to death.

She was going to have to be her own hero.

With re-newed determination, she set off and soon found a small area with no snow on the ground. The trees were as tall as buildings- blocking any snow from reaching the bottom with long, think branches. She smiled to herself and got to work.

She made a small crater in the ground with her frozen hands- clearing it to the best of her ability from any twigs or random rocks. Her next step was to find some cry grassy sustenance- anything that could easily catch a flame and lite on fire. She pulled and grabbed what she could- extremely thankful to the trees for keeping the ground dry and added them into the crater.

If she had to be completely honest with herself- she had no idea what she was doing. At an earlier time of her life she had only read a story of a man who needed to find warmth and make his own fire. She prayed that she wouldn't have to endure his fate by the end of the night.

When there was enough grass and small twigs...at least she hoped there was enough- she got two rocks and tried her hardest to make a spark with the two.

No such luck.

Tears start to pool in her eyes when she couldn't start the needed fire but she wouldn't give up. She needed to live! She wasn't going to let this be her last night! She wasn't going to die with no one to remember her- darn it!

Suddenly, a flame struck her "fire pit" and in shock he gasped and looked to the small flame. She looked at the rocks in her hands. Her mouth was shut tight- she was gritting her teeth without knowing it because she was so cold. A small noise caught her attention- it was croon of sorts- something you would hear from a dove. The girl snapped her head in the direction of the sound and froze...and no not literally but with the dropping temperature she wasn't too sure of that.

In front of her was small lizard like creature, about the size of a house cat with large eyes and wings on its back. The girl's eyes widened. 'What on earth is that?' She yelled in her head.

The creature walked towards her, sniffed her cloths and continued to survey her. She was too terrified to move and watched as the tiny creature ran behind her- only to bring a stick back and stick it into the fire. It lite the stick a flame to keep it going and curled up near the girl and the fire, promptly falling asleep. 'Did you light the fire?' She thought and instantly, recognition of the species flashed in her mind. "Dragons…"

Her eyes widened again as she continued the stare at the creature. She had only heard of them in book and fairy-tales, never did she expect to meet one- let alone have one probably save her life.

She looked back to the fire and saw that it soon going to eat all that she had left for it and in a panic- she set off to find some more wood for the flame. The girl broke off some branches from the trees and took some grass and anything she deemed burnable from the forest floor.

Time passed and the girl had a strong flame, allowing her to finally feel as if she could move. She relaxed for the first time the night and faced the small dragon once more. "Thank you."

She went to lie down by the flame- wondering if she should get some more wood before she eventually fell asleep and then have the fire die. She didn't expect the creature to light it again...she didn't even expect the dragon to be there when she woke up...if she woke up. The thought terrified her.

Deciding that she didn't like the idea of freezing in her sleep- she got up and got more wood.

When she thought that it would last atleast a few more hours- she positioned herself next to the flame, only to feel something in her pocket. The girl took it out and saw that it was sewing kit. She was going to sew something for a friend- she remembered but it was of no use to her now. Putting it back in her pocket, she closed her eyes and hoped to wake up later.

Her dreamless sleep was interrupted when she heard a crash and multiple trees breaking in the distance. The girl jolted awake and took in her surroundings once more.

The fire was close to dying, she noticed and she fed it more timber in her sleep-like state of mind. When the fire kicked up again she was more awake and aware of the new presence near her fire. It was groaning and she vaguely asked herself if it was a dinosaur.

The smaller dragon that had assisted her earlier had ran away due to the loud noise and she internally cried. 'Now I'm really going to have to keep this fire going- my help is gone.'

When the crying increased- the girl took a thick enough branch and lite it on fire. She was hoping to quench her curiosity but at the same time she was hoping that it wasn't anything gruesome. The creature sounded large and in pain. Part of her told her run away- but she couldn't- not when there was a possibility that she could help.

When she stumbled upon the creature , her original fire was still in sight. It was hard to see in the dark but the girl could tell that the creature was a deep navy blue. She recognised it to be another dragon but this one was certainly bigger than the first one she encountered. If she were to lie down next to it- it would have been three times her length!

The creature didn't seem to be able to stand and leave, no matter how much it struggled. It was only when the girl moved her make-shift torch that she noticed that a very large stick of sorts was impaled into the dragon's side. She gasped and ran towards the stick. "Oh you poor thing!"

She knelt by the creature who was quickly losing its energy. The girl bit her lip and rammed her torch into the ground. She ripped off a piece of her shirt and covered it in some nearby snow- trying to get it was wet as possible. The girl wasn't sure if the creature would die or not but she had to try something.

When the piece of cloth was soaking wet she ran back to her fire and held it over- trying to run it through the fire to kill off any bacteria without drying or destroying the cloth. She didn't know if it worked or not but she just wanted to try and help the dragon out of its pain.

With no time to spare, the girl ran back to the dragon, who had since gone silent-only letting out a few cries here and there signifying that it was still living. The girl placed the wet cloth near the stick, placing it on the dragon where it hopefully wouldn't fall off. "Ok- here comes the hard part." She grimaced.

She placed both of her hands on the surprisingly straight stick and yanked it out of the dragon. This sent the creature into a whole other set of cries and wails but this time it had noticed the girl.

She threw away the stick and made eye contact with the creature. It had strikingly pale blue cat eyes. The girl had made the connection that the stick was actually a spear. If it was spear then that would have meant that not only did they have a reason to attack the dragon but that they were some what nearby.

She gulped and considered her options. She could try and continue to help the creature but she would not only put herself in danger but the person who was attacked as well as whoever was affiliated with the human. If she were to run away then she could escape with her life and leave the dragon to die. However is she went down that path- she knew she would never be able to forgive herself.

Her heart chose the path before her brain could work out the options completely. She hesitantly took a few steps toward the stumbling dragon. The dragon clearly did not trust her as it tried to scare her away by roaring and stomping its feet. The girl gripped the drying cloth in her hand as she threw out her concerns. "Shhh...shhh...it's ok. I'm not going to hurt you."

The dragon was still hostile but now curious. It had spent many nights near humans but never had it heard this tongue before. It looked at the spear the girl had discarded to its side and then to girl's hand which held the cloth. What was this human trying to do? How could this human kill it with just a piece of cloth? It wondered, and soon got its answer.

The girl continued to make her way towards the dragon as it watched with cautious eyes. "I'm ok, you're ok...I'm not going to hurt you."

When she was close enough, the girl got on her knees and slowly put the cloth on the dragon's side. With no means of voluntary action -the dragon relaxed- it enjoyed the feeling of the damp cloth against its inflamed skin. The girl- seeing that the dragon was not as hostile as before started to clean as much blood as she could around the stab wound.

"I can't really see." The girl furrowed her eyebrows and bit her lip. She ran to get the torch and placed it closer to the dragon but she could tell that the dragons trust was not yet earned. For the time being though she didn't care. She doubted that she would ever see this specific creature again- she just wanted it to be ok in the end.

The blood however wouldn't stop coming and she pressed down on the spot above the hole with all she could manage with her freezing hands. An idea clicked in her head as she took away one hand from where it was and placed it in her pocket.

The girl pulled out the sewing kit she had and got the tread through the needle as quickly as possible. She realised her mistake a second too late and didn't sterilize the needle with the fire. The girl didn't want to waste any more time and started to sew the dragon together from under its scales.

The creature growled but was too tired to put up a fight. The dragon figured that this human was only stabbing it some more for her own sick delight and accepted its fate of death.

It could feel its muscles pull towards each other and didn't check what the girl was doing anymore.

The girl however was sweating with stress and anxiety despite being slowly frozen to death. When the wound was sealed she put away the sewing kit and breathed for a bit. The dragon was sleeping- having lost consciousness a while ago while she was working. The girl however was now at another crossroads. She could replenish her fire back at her tiny base and sleep there for the remainder of the fading night or she could sleep by the dragon in case the threads broke so that she could fix them. They weren't very strong threads to begin with...but it was all she had.

As much as she favored the later option- in her mind she reasoned that f the dragon were to wake up hungry- she could have a head start away from it. Although the night was still cold and she frankly knew nothing about dragon keeping and their inner temperatures. She reasoned that it was still a reptile so it wouldn't face so well in the cold by itself. She corrected herself a second later by thinking about their ability to breath fire- so the heat would technically be internal. The dragon didn't light any fire for itself she noticed after her internal debate and she repeated her process of starting a fire pit from earlier that night. When she threw in her torch- the grasses were lite and the dragon now had a fire to keep it warm.

The girl smiled to herself and gave herself a pat on the back. "Now that that's taken care of…"

She made her way back to her original base- fed the flame some more to make it last and fell asleep facing the dragon.

Hours later- the dragon was pleasantly surprised to find itself still alive. It went to stand up but the soreness in its abdomen reminded the dragon of the human. It kept its weight off of the leg and carefully turned and saw the stitching of the girl with bright red thread.

The dragon huffed and noticed the spear which had impaled it- to the side of where it was. Making its way over- it smashed the weapon to bits, taking its anger out on it and turned to the sleeping human when it was satisfied with its work. At first it noticed the fire that the girl had made for it and started to wonder what was wrong with the girl.

It made its way to the sleeping child and studied her. The dragon found nothing extraordinary about her physical appearance- except for the foreign clothing she wore- but if her physical stature was anything to go by- the dragon noticed- was that she was not a warrior.

This intrigued the creature beyond anyone's comprehension. In this land it was the unspoken rule of kill or be killed. How could this little being hold kindness that the creature experienced yet be the same species that caused the horrors that the creature had witnessed.

The girl started stirring and it was only then that the dragon realised that it was now towering over her and leaning into her face. The human blinked once or twice and looked up- instantly freezing. "Hello."

The dragon's head tilted in confusion, not understanding what the human was saying. The girl cowered in fear- it noticed- and shuffled a little to gain some distance. "Are you feeling any better?"

The creature closed the gap again (which caused the girl to shut her eyes) and sniffled at her hair. Yes- the dragon thought- this one is certainly not like the others. How can this one be like the others if she is kind, strange looking, and speaks in a foreign tongue? She even smells different compared to the other humans the dragon had met.

When the girl noticed that she was not going to be eaten, she opened her eyes and gulped. "Please tell me you're not going to eat me."

Suddenly the girl's stomach growled and she covered herself- her face flushed a bright red color. "I need food."

Luckily for her, the dragon understood the sound and gave her some space. Now the dragon did not trust this human completely yet- but a debt is a debt and the girl did potentially save its life the night before.

The dragon opened its wings and flew away. The girl didn't know what the dragon was going to do but was glad she lived to see the rest of the day. She sat up and looked to her fire. It died a while back but the embers were still bright.

Strangely enough- she didn't feel as cold as she did the night before. If the snow outside her forest bubble was anything to go by then she should have been cold. But she wasn't and she didn't know why.

Her first course of action for the day was to try and reawaken her fire. It took a while but it eventually returned to the flame from earlier By then the girl thought that her stomach was about to tear itself apart. She groaned. "I'm not used to going without food for this long."

Despite her pain and fear, she stood and started another trek through the forest in search of something remotely resembling food. Her pain from the scare and lack of food was promptly forgotten as the numbing cold returned. She did think about killing the fire before she left but decided against it. She was too tired to bother killing off her heat source when leaving twenty feet of it would turn her into a popsicle. Besides- she thought maliciously- maybe a forest fire would warm up the place.

As quickly as the thought came- it was banished. She never wanted any harm to come to this land or its wildlife but the fire continued on.

She sighed and continued walked. If her calculations were anything to go by then she wouldn't last long. "It's hopeless- isn't it?"

But...suddenly a large gust of wind flipped her hair over her head and nearly knocked her off of her feet. It was then that she realised that she didn't know for how long she was walking for and she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. She was lost and far away from her base. "I'm so screwed."

A huff from behind made her freeze and she slowly turned to see what made the noise. It was the dragon from earlier!

It was mindful of its hind legs as it stood there- obviously putting more of its weight on its front legs. The girl noticed something new in the creature's mouth- they were fins-many of them actually.

She blinked- not knowing what to do with the information or what they were to begin with.

The dragon grabbed the girl with its claws and took off once more. The girl gasped and watched as the scenery changed from underneath her. She noticed that they were approaching her base and the fire had not gone out yet. The girl took a little pride in that. Another thing that she noticed was that the ground was approaching- and fast.

The dragon let her go roughly ten feet from the ground and pushed itself from landing on her- only to land in front of her. The girl blinked and rubbed the snow off of her face from the impromptu flight. Shakily she stood up and fed the fire some more sustenance. The dragon's eyes never left her.

Not so later- the dragon cooed to catch her attention and dropped its load from its mouth onto the ground.

The girl was stunned. The dragon just dropped five fish in front of her and by the looks of its body language- it told her that they were for girl stared long and hard at the fish- working out a way to cook them and kill the bacteria without harming herself too much or using a stick to roast them. She stared for so long that the dragon start to doubt that she knew what they were. Slowly the girl looked around and soon spotted a large rock. "Perfect!"

She smiled and went to pick it up- it was a little risky and she had to drop it and pick it up again multiple times but her plan was working. She placed the rock into the fire- sending embers everywhere but no major damage was done. Next she hesitantly picked up a fish and took it away from the dragon- hastily picking off the scales and putting in on the top of the rock.

The girl continued to do the same with a second fish and paused to look at the dragon. It was looking at her and back to the fish as if telling her to get more but she couldn't bring herself to. The girl saw how the dragon looked at the fish- it was hungry too.

Reaching out, the girl picked up a fish and held it out to the dragon- making sure to use her left hand in case the creature decided to bite her hand off. The dragon only stared; trying to piece the girl together like a puzzle; an unsolved mystery.

The dragon narrowed its eye at her and she gulped. The girl gestured to the best of her ability to show that the fish was meant for the dragon. It seemed to understand her to an extent.

Slowly it took the fish from her hand cautiously- watching to see if she was going to do anything "smart". In an instant to dragon startled the girl by swallowing the fish whole. The girl recoiled her hand and held it to her chest checking for any lost fingers. There was none thankfully.

Gaining more courage, the girl took a second fish and held it out for the reptile to take. With less hesitation, the dragon took this fish and ate it. It took a while but the dragon realised what happened. It went out of its way to get the human some food and it gave it nearly half of what it caught. The creature had every right to have mixed feelings.

The creature smiled to itself. How odd..this human didn't seem to have any mal-intent whatsoever. At least...to it- which was a strange but welcomed change.

When the girl attempted to give the dragon the last fish- it came to a conclusion. The dragon was going to protect this human. She would not let any harm come to this young girl even if the price was the dragon's life.

The dragon took the fish but didn't eat it. The creature put it in the fire as it had seen the girl do and looked to the human. The girl was also surprised- she expected the dragon to eat it but it wanted the fish to cook. She didn't bother questioning it further.

The dragon surveyed the area and nodded once toward the girl. It's plan was to leave the girl with food while it went to find more food for itself. The creature took off and flew away again- leaving the girl even more confused than when the day started.

The human shrugged and thanked the dragon for the fish. She knew that the fish wouldn't have all of the nutrients she needed to survive but it would do for now. The girl flipped the fish on the rock, slightly burning her fingertips in the process but she wasn't too concerned.

As she waited for the fish to finish cooking, the girl found that she would need more fire fuel as the day went on. She had nearly used all that she could in the area.

By the time the girl had returned with the twigs and fallen parts she could find. Something was off. The girl placed the wood on the ground and looked around.

With no warning whatsoever, a wolf appeared at her side- growling and show casing its sharp canines- the perfect tool for tearing flesh apart.

The girl gasped again and took a step back. Before she knew what was happening, another wolf joined, ready to pounce. She gulped and wondered if she could climb the trees to escape.

Slowly one by one more wolves showed up to the party and it took her a second to realise that they must have been attracted by either the fire of the small of the cooking fish. The girl frantically looked for any escape routes and found one behind her. If she was fast and lucky enough- she could jump and climb the branch just out of their reach.

She wasted no time in running to the tree and wolves quickly gave chase. She grabbed the branch and jumped- struggling to pull herself up.

One of the wolves snagged the fabric of her pants and attempted to bring her down. Her grip start slipping away from the branch as a strong tug from the wolves frightened her very core. In a desperate attempt to gain some help- the girl screamed and managed to kick the wolf away. She crashed into the tree and pulled herself into it, catching her breath as she sat on one of the branches.

The wolves however would not give up and tried to get up into the tree themselves. The girl climbed higher into the tree once one the wolves nearly bit her foot off. She whimpered and cried out- hoping that she would be heard by someone "Help!"

Suddenly a shot was fired and the wolves scattered. Some regrouped and faced the new treat head on. They growled and fought but within seconds they were running for the hills with the tails between their legs. The girl gulped and slowly started getting down from the tree- trying to not make a sound. She wanted to see what scared the wolves away and frankly she wanted to see if the fish was still there.

When she looked down- she saw the dragon from earlier and smiled, now knowing that she an ally. The girl made her way to the lowest branch and jumped tot eh ground- falling onto her knees due to the impact.

The dragon instantly ran to the best of its ability over to the girl and tackled her. The girl's breath was caught in her throat and she soon started to laugh as the dragon started to lick her face. The dragon had assumed the worse when it heard the scream and was glad to see that it didn't fail to keep its vow on the first day.

When the dragon saw that the girl took minimal damage- it ushered her toward the fire. The girl saw that the fish was a little overcooked but she ate them anyway as the dragon stood watch. She smiled- glad that she chose to save its life. "I think you need a name…"

The dragon glanced at her for a second before choosing to lay down at her side. She giggled at the cat-like performance. "The question is...are you a boy or a girl?"

The dragon crooned in response- it had no clue what she was saying but it enjoyed the scratches she was giving it. The girl on the other hand saw that the tread handled nicely despite the battle and she saw a clue as to the dragons gender, smiling as she did so. "So you're a girl."

The girl sighed and leaned back against the closest tree to the fire. "I'll call you…" She trailed off.

The dragon turned its head to look at her before closing its eyes and crooning. "I'll call you Eskantha."