I always imagined myself the hero of the tale. The knight that slew the dragon and saved the day. It was such a vivid thought that I was amazed when I actually found a dragon recently. I was going for a short walk outside a coffee shop in the village, and I just sort of stumbled across him in a small clearing.

Brilliant. Massive. Arching high and crashing low. There were faces chiseled into his multi-colored scales - the ones that didn't make it, now nothing more than memories and warnings. I was supposed to be afraid, I knew that. But I wasn't. I'm not entirely sure why. Maybe it was his obvious age that set me more at ease. His color was a bit dull from time and weather. There were scales missing here and there from some brave knight's errant sword. A tooth was chipped to the point of being broken, no doubt the product of too many meals encased in steel armor.

No, on second thought it wasn't any of that that kept my heart from skipping 20 or so beats. It was the fact that he was partially buried. Such an odd thing. I can't imagine that having happened while he had been a young dragon, strong and full of fire. But I guess with age came stiffness and inevitably slowness which allowed some prankish villagers to sneak up on him in his sleep and start the premature burial services. Apparently he must have woken up and scared them off before they could finish. Maybe he had slowly started to wiggle free over time, as much as dragons can wiggle that is. Or maybe he'd never even tried, I don't know. But there he was, still partially buried.

Now as much as I would have loved to seize the moment and play the hero, I couldn't very well kill a helpless dragon. Where's the honor and valor in that.
So I sat and waited. Waited on him to free himself. It wasn't a bad place to wait either. It was quiet, except for the occasional sounds of movement just beneath the ground. There was a light breeze every few minutes that seemed to come from nowhere, and not a human in sight. It was almost, peaceful.
After a while I started talking to him, the dragon. To pass the time. Maybe encourage him a bit (or piss him off, whichever might make him dig faster). He made progress. Very little, but it was progress.

I left later that night when it became obvious that he wouldn't be free any time soon, but determined to go back and check on him periodically, to see when my prized fight might take place.


It's been months now, since that first day. I still visit as often as I can. He hasn't made any progress. To tell you the truth, I don't think he's even trying. I don't think he wants to be free any more. I don't think I want him to be free either. I wouldn't know what to do if he were. The life of a potential dragonslayer use to be a pretty clear one, but after all this time, it's gotten harder and harder to tell the dragons from the humans. Now, I think I much prefer my quiet walks in the clearing, leaving the noise of the village behind.

And on nights like this, I lie down and stretch out on his back, staring into the flickering lights scattered in the dark above, and imagine myself the hero of this tale. The fearless knight that lived amongst the dragons.