Rahjnev and Jardina

Generally, dragons do not purposely fly around setting fire to things, but the annual ‘virgin sacrifice’ probably began the day Rahjnev had been suffering gastric reflux from consuming a clump of overly ripe watermelons. The humans, were scared out of their tiny little minds when they saw a huge reptile flying through the night sky shooting flames from its mouth, and assumed he was demanding some kind of offering.

(In dragon society, inappropriately producing flames from ones mouth is considered highly uncouth.)

From that point onwards, the surrounding villages put aside ten percent of their crops for the dragon and annually provided a virgin for him to eat. Every year he dutifully ate the girl or boy and paid for it for days afterwards with a stomach ache.

In turn Rahjnev protected the villagers from marauders and kept the area free of wolves and other predators.

It was that time of year again and Rahjnev wished humans could understand ‘dragon-speak,’ or that he could speak human.

The singing in the ‘Gathering Place’ drew his attention that evening, and he flew down into the opening in the forest with a loud flapping of wings and looking as menacing as he could. (He was considered a great actor by his fellow dragons.) The villagers scattered, screaming in terror and Rahjnev lay down on the ground, with his great head on his forepaws, looking across at the sacrifice they’d provided for him.

He sighed, trying to summon up the enthusiasm to eat yet another human. This year though, there was something different. There was no screaming or fainting from the offering. In fact, the girl they’d left for him was literally yelling abuse at him.

Narrowing his eyes, he snorted a little smoke through his nostrils at her.

“Do you really think that’s gonna scare me, you stinking great hulk of dirty floor tiles,” she shouted, struggling against the ties that bound her.

“This human is rather amusing,” he thought to himself and smiled a little.

“Drool at me all you want, you mound of worm-eaten vermin, but I’m warning you now I’m not going down without a fight.”

Rahjnev raised a scaly eyebrow and waited for her to continue.

“What are you waiting for?” she yelled, “Come and get me you rotting carcass of putrid vomit, you wagonload of rancid pig’s trotters, you malodorous mountain of monkey mucous!”

The dragon burst into laughter. Rolling onto his back he chortled and chuckled till his sides hurt and tears sprang from his dragony eyes, his clawed feet scrabbled in the air and his great tail thrashed against the trees.

The girl stopped yelling. “What in God’s great heaven!” she exclaimed.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Rahjnev turned over again to face her, a huge reptilian smile on his face.

“Were you laughing at me?” she asked, an angry expression on her round face.

Rahjnev nodded.

“How rude! Do you usually laugh at your victims before you eat them?” she asked furiously.

He shook his head.

“Do you really understand me?” she asked, a note of wonder crept into her voice.

Again the dragon nodded.

“Are you going to eat me now?” she asked, a tremor in her voice.

Shaking his head, Rahjnev stood back up on his feet and unfolded his leathery wings as if to fly away.

“Well, you can’t leave me here like this,” the girl said in irritation. “Those idiot villagers will think you’ve rejected me and will kill me anyway just to be on the safe side.”

“The least you can do is let me loose,” she demanded.

Rahjnev considered for a moment, then reached behind her and nibbled gently at the ropes until she was free.

“Thanks,” she said with relief, rubbing at her wrists. “By the way, my name is Jardina. I don’t suppose you’d happen to be flying anywhere near Volta Lake?”

Rahjnev lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m off to join the war! My family wouldn’t let me go because I’m a girl and should ‘stay home and have babies.’ Bah! I refused offers of marriage from all the available men, and believe me when I tell you that it wasn’t a difficult decision, so they decided that I would be the sacrifice this year. Nice of them wasn’t it?” Jardina said sarcastically.

He understood exactly how she felt. Every time he caught up with his family, his mother would arrange meetings with every eligible female dragon, who all seemed more interested in polishing their scales and sharpening their claws than talking about anything of interest to him.

“Would you mind if I got a lift from you?” she continued.

Shaking his head, Rahjnev glanced backwards to his neck, and Jardina took it as a sign for her to clamber on.

“You’d better not play any tricks on me while were in the air,” she said, gripping the top edge of a scale. “I’m not in the mood to be dumped in a river or volcano today.”

The dragon chuckled as they flew into the night sky.

You’ve probably heard of the escapades of Rahjnev and Jardina which are told to all of the children in our country, and how the two champions saved us from invasion by the Ulvarians. Most of the stories you have been told are true, though sometimes a little exaggerated. But what you probably haven’t heard was that Jardina was accepted into dragon society (in an honorary capacity of course), and the two remained friends and companions.

As far as I know, you can still see them flying around the Persive Alps or the lakes of Munoka, looking for more fun and adventure.

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Word count: 941

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