Dragon Love

Prompt:Since Valentine's Day is almost here, and I can't help but wonder what would happen if this DID happen, write a short story or poem about the day a dragon fell in love with a unicorn. Word Count: 924


"Look Draco! There she is!" Sir William hissed.

I pushed my snout as quietly as possible through the foliage, not wanting to frighten the creature we had spent the better part of the day searching out. Then I spied her. She was beautiful! The late afternoon sunlight glinted off her golden horn and made her porcelain white body shimmer. The unicorn surpassed my initial impression of what a unicorn would look like. I had never seen one before; these mystical creatures had become that rare.

Humph! It was not as if dragons like me were any less rare. However, the more I looked at this lovely creature, the more I felt a strange tightness in my chest.

"Drat! The unicorn is with an ogress and she's an ugly one," the errant knight whispered disgustedly. Sir William wiped a sweaty hand on his legging before gripping the hilt of the sword tucked in his belt.

I looked to the left and saw the ogress dozing on a tattered blanket beneath the shade of a great oak. She lazily scratched her head where a tiny acorn had bounced off. I was not too concerned by the ogress and returned my gaze back to the unicorn. She was much more pleasant to look upon, standing quietly at the edge of the blanket.

Again, I felt the strangeness come over me. Then it occurred to me. I was falling in love with this wondrous animal! Was that a possibility? More so, could the unicorn fall in love with me? I am not an entirely ugly creature. My scales are a lovely sapphire blue, with golden flecks.  I have what I have always considered my best attribute, large golden eyes. Though I do have the bad habit of belching black smoke, I thought she might be able to overlook this one flaw when she comes to realize how much I love her. Anything is possible.

Sir William backed away from the scene, taking me about the neck and drawing me with him. I suppressed a desire to chomp his hand off. William could be very demanding when he had his mind set on a goal.

"So, how should we go about getting the unicorn away from that brute? What do you think Draco? Do you have a plan in mind?" Sir William had taken a seat upon the ground, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

I said nothing. Although I was in a forced allegiance with Sir William, we generally ended up doing what he wanted, regardless of what I thought. Things always went with him that way. I feared that, one day, his foolhardiness would land us in deep trouble. Something neither of us would escape from unscathed.

"Okay," he said, "here's the plan." With that, William cupped a hand to my ear and buzzed his notion to me. I really was not certain how his idea of secrecy made any sense, but he was the knight in charge and I was just his unwilling lackey.

Shortly after, Sir William and I stood at the ready. With a whoop from him, we charged out of the bushes, headed directly towards the unicorn. I thought the whoop was a bit ludicrous, we would have been better off if we had slipped in quietly while the ogress slept.

I caught the lovely damsel unicorn up in my grasping talons, trying to be ever so gentle, just as the ogress sat up. The foul beast rubbed the sleep from her eyes with dirty knuckles, and then howled when she saw what was amiss.

"Billy! You give me back Daphne!"

"Back, cursed ogress!" Billy countered, waving his plastic sword at his sister, Margaret.

"MOM! Billy has my unicorn! Make him give her back! And he's calling me funny names again!"

The patio door slid open and Mrs. Comstock stepped out, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel, to see what all the commotion was with the twins.

"William Andrew Comstock! You give your sister back her toy this instance!" she said in her most authoritative voice, and placed her hands on hips for emphasis.

Billy cowed under his mother's glare, removed the porcelain unicorn from the plastic claws of the toy dragon and tossed it to his sister. Margaret missed. The unicorn hit the ground hard enough that the head snapped off the neck.

Margaret wailed, "Daphne! Billy! You broke her! MOM!"

"Billy, that was uncalled for. Now you get to your room and stay there until your father gets home." Mrs. Comstock sternly commanded. "You will have some explaining to do then."

The once knight was instantly reduced back to the boy he is. Regretful tears streamed down his cheeks. He went into the house, dropped Draco and his sword on the couch as he made his way to his room.

"Margaret, bring Daphne in and we will see if can glue her back together. I am sure she will be as good as new," the mother said.

Margaret gathered up the two pieces, cradled them in her hands, sobbing the whole time. When she got to the living room, she gently placed the pieces on the coffee table and went with her mother to find the glue.

From the couch, Draco forlornly stared at his shattered love and felt his own heart break.