The Swamp Dragon

Chapter 8: Gold and Greed

*Drinia’s vine instantly killed some of the hunters. She immeditaly took the blanket as her vines protect her and use it to run away to hide in the shadows. Her vines returned to her the moment she got out of the building*

Grandma Hal: “Damn it! The creature is running away!! what are you doing? Move!! Move!! Move!! She doesn’t have any place to go”

Drinia: (Where…. What is the way again?)

*The hunters are now chasing her as she ran in cape towards her forest the people can’t exactly identify her as a strange creature*

Random Citizen 1: “Huh? Why are they chasing that person?”

Random Citizen 2: “Must be a head hunter’s target that’s pretty normal here nowadays”

Drinia: (Just run... run… run…)

*Drinia wakes up inside the swamp drowning, But when she gains her consciousness she's definitely alive*

*Breathes heavily*

*Drinia had a widen eyes looking up above in the middle of day, in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of a forest*

Drinia: "What.. happened...? Where am I...? Mom? Dad?"

*When she looks in the swamp her eyes is became blue and her hair that should be black turns into the same color. Her clothes were not as dull as before. Her skin shines a green color reflecting the light of the sun*

She ask herself, "It this me...? I looked so beautiful... I'm like a fairy in a beautiful dream..."

*After falling in the sky like that, Drinia's memories fazed a little bit but as time passess by she recalls all of it slowly*

*Familiar voices spokes inside of her own mind making her recalling all the memories she lost*

"Okay! I will be a lava dragon no matter what!"

“You can do this! And remember our promise that you will return!!”

Drinia: "Huh? What's this?"

"We will wait for you!"

“Promised to us that you will never leave too”

“You will be the most beautiful dragon anyone will see. In that way the people around us will trust us again”

Drinia: "I remember everything now... *sobs* *sobs* I wanna go home... Mom... Dad...."

*She cries nonstop as it echoes through the forest. The monsters lurking around founds her as a delicious prey to relieve their hunger*

Drinia: "Waaahh.... Waaaah... Mommy!!! Daddy!!!! Where am I...? *sobs*"

*One spider is about to attack her but it was killed be the vines surrounding her. That scene made her stops crying*

Drinia: "Hello...? Is anybody there?"

*No one answered*

Drinia: "Who killed this spider...?"

*No one answered*

Drinia: "I'm alone... I'm scared... I wanna sleep..."

*No one is there for her but monsters carefully observing every movement she does*

*Drinia had the urge to sleep again. Being inside the swamp makes her so comfortable that the vines surrounded her as she sleeps again for the day. The monsters approaches her. Thinking that this might be a good chance to devour her*

*But the vines keep killing them protecting the precious vessel inside. They dragon spirit inside Drinia were protecting her while developing her body. Eliminating any threat it can sense*

*The night comes she didn't wake up yet. Another whole day, no sign of life. The monsters gave up hunting her believing that she's already dead*

*After a week, Drinia is now active*

*Yawns*

Drinia: "It felt like a slept for too long... my body is still not... the same. Is this really who I am now? A swamp dragon... All right, I guess I have no choice now"

*She carefully checks her body if there's anything else that is strange*

Drinia: "I'm fine and good so I think Its safe to go home now I'll just change to my human-dragon from and fly away!"

*When she opens up her wings that appears on her back she felt the excruciating pain*

Drinia: "Ouch! my... left wing it hurts! No way... It should heal, right? It should be fully healed now why can't it return to normal!!"

*Despite the pain Drinia still tries to fly. Unbalance and irregular positions she was in. Flying with a single wing is pointless*

Drinia: "Please! Please! Spirit inside me heal my wing so that I could go home... Please"

*She let her wings exposed and waited for it to recover*

Drinia: "Nothing happens no matter what I does or what I eat this permanent wound just doesn't recover... What should I do now... Should I walk and pass two kingdom looking... like this? What if they hurt me...? I don't know anymore!!"

*With all the confusion on her mind. One old woman that looks the same old woman who sells the swamp fruit to Aren. She was wondering in the forest when it sees her*

Old woman: "Good day, little creature you sounds like a real human. I must say"

*Aren interrupted the flashbacks when he heard about that old woman*

Aren: "Wait... I know that old lady. She sells that swamp fruit to me"

Drinia: "Eh really? Then next scenes will make sense for you, Aren"

Tino: "All right, all right let us hear the rest'

Aren's Father: "Agreed, I'm really curious now about what happened to you in that wilderness"

*Back into the story*

Drinia: (No! Someone is behind me! I might get hurt!)

*Drinia attempted to run but the old woman speaks out*

Old woman: "Wait, don't leave! I won't hurt you. I promise"

Drinia: "I don't trust anyone anymore! I was betrayed by my best friend..."

Old woman: "Poor little girl... If your best friend does hate you then you must have done something to hurt her"

Drinia: "It wasn't me... It was my little brother"

Old woman: "I see, that friend of yours might be thinking that your another threat"

Drinia: "Why... why aren't you being attack by monsters? Why are you still alive despite reaching this far, deep in the forest"

Old woman: "Because their all my friend too... You see if you were being kind on someone or something they will most likely do the same"

Drinia: "But the monsters still tried to kill me... How can I show them that I'm not a prey"

Old woman: "Oohh... They must be really hungry. I told them that never eat each other only the things that doesn't belong here... Especially humans... Except me of course! That's what I commanded"

Drinia: "That's more like having servants than being friends"

Old woman: "Oh come here little girl. I will take care of you unti you grows up into a beautiful maiden. I always take care of them that's the reason why I'm here"

Drinia: "Fine.. what's the point of my life anyway... I don't have anything to lose anymore... because well, at this point I already lost them"

Old woman: "But now you have me. Every monster in this forest will not hurt you now so stop hurting them too. (I saw it... The thong is don't rarely go in this place. I'm always here everyday. So I saw here fall into the swamp, sleep for weeks while murdering my precious pets. I know that its not actually her it's her vines that moves when it feels a threat. I need to make sure that she feels safe with me until I strike my final blow)

Drinia: "Hey, What's your name? You want to be my friends, right? Tell me."

Old woman: "Halda, but you can call me Grandma Hal!"

Drinia: "Halda, I see. All right! My name is Drinia! Nice to meet you Granda Hal!"

Grandma Hal: "What a lovely girl! I will raise you to become a majestic maiden"

Drinia: "Is it possible for me to go home?"

Grandma Hal: "I'm sorry to say this to you little Drinia but there are tons of bad people (and I'm one of them) in this world you will rarely meet one"

Drinia: "No way, I really want to go home. Can you think of a way to heal my wing? Can you?"

Grandma Hal: "All right, all right. I will find a way to heal your wing so you can fly again back to your home but for now let me take care of you"

*Both of them sat down while Grandma Hal comb the hair of Drinia*

Drinia: "Taking care of me is not being friends anymore. From now on, you'll be my grandma!"

Grandma Hal: "Yes, Grandma Hal will always be by your side(The scales of this dragon-human girl is incredibly shiny and solid... Does it worth something.. ..hm.. I wonder)

Drinia: "Hey, Grandma Hal!"

Grandma Hal: "Yes, my dear?"

Drinia: "How long are you going to stay here? You still need to go home right?"

Grandma Hal: "I will be gone before the sun set so i still have a lot of time to spend with you"

Drinia: "Do you have other grandchildren? If there is can I play with them?"

Grandma Hal: "Unfortunately, I'm a lonely old woman. I don't have a husband nor a family to be with"

Drinia: "Really? Were the same now. I'm lonely and I can't get back to my famliy"

Grandma Hal: "But we have each other now so were not lonely anymore"

Drinia: "Thank you... Grandma Hal"

*In a split second Grandma Hal felt a warmth in her heart. For a very long time in her life this is the first time she felt someone feelings toward*

Grandma Hal: (No, I can't be attached to this creature. I will make her pay for what she had done to my pets) You're welcome, my dear"

Drinia: *whistles*

Grandma Hal: "I wonder... how can you relieve your hunger? How can you survive for so long?"

Drinia: "I'm not that sure either but I think its because of the spirit inside who controls this vines is the one that keeps me alive"

Grandma Hal: "I- I see... (so its all because of the spirit thing vines, huh?)

Drinia: "How about you? How do you survive?"

Grandma Hal: "I sell fruits for a living. Usually I found it here in the forest or when I want to eat I'll just have to look for fish or something"

Drinia: "Must be hard to live alone..."

Grandma Hal: "Don't worry I'll prepare your food from now on. Were alone and yet we found each other"

Drinia: "I want to meet your pets!"

Grandma Hal: "Hm? Their kinda aggressive they might hurt you or you might kill them"

Drinia: "I... uh... It's not me that kills them..."

Grandma Hal: "I know, I know It's the one that protects you. That spirit inside you will make you survive no matter what"

Drinia: "But why it can't regerenate my wings... this spirit is pretty useless"

Grandma Hal: "Isn't the best talking to someone you just met"

Drinia: "I'm really happy now. My sadness is now gone. Thanks to you Grandma Hal"

Grandma Hal: (Well, that sadness will soon return to you... little dragon!) "Yes, I will be by your side now"

Drinia: "Can we play something?"

Grandma Hal: "Of course we can!"

*Both of them enjoys their time together spending it with joy and excitement. Until the night comes and Drinia had to take a rest*

Grandma Hal: (She finally took some rest. Now let's have a closer look on her precious shiny scales... I hope I won't trugger her spirit inside. Spending my time with her is worth it once I confirmed the value of this scales)

*Grandma Hal slowly approaches Drinia whose having a deep sleep. She carefully picks one of the scales and she successfully did it*

Grandma Hal: (I did it... Her scales really is hard and shiny. It looks like an emerald or something... Hehe... This new world is full of greedy people and I just happens to be one of them)

*The scale that she just picks suddenly regenerate*

Grandma Hal: "What?" (It 's back the scale I just picked is back to her skin! This is insanse!)

*Grandma Hal immediately returnd home and hinde inside her house making sure that the windows were closed and that no one can see her*

Grandma Hal: *pant* *pant* "Hehe... If this dragon scale worth a penny I will be rich!! Finally, this is the moment of my life to taste luxury!!"

*The new day has come and Grandma Hal brought the dragon scale into a trader. The trader investigate it if this is a real deal*

Trader: "Such a fascinating treasure... Where did you get this dragon scale?"

Grandma Hal: "Well, while I'm walking deep into the forest I found something shiny on the ground I picked it up and that's what I get"

Trader: "Hmmm... All right, this deserves a decent of amount of money.If you happens to find more feel free to trade it with me"

Grandma Hal: "Of course! Absolutely!!"

*Grandma Hal was delighted and full of joy as she walks away to that trader's shop*

Grandma Hal: "Woohoo!! This is the best day of my life! (This greedy old woman has yet to make more money!)

*Grandma Hal immediateky went to a restaurant and purchased the most expensive meal they had*

Grandma Hal: (This is so worth it!! That creature is a the best source of income I ever had!) *chomp* *chomp* (This is the first time ever in my life I taste a very tasty meal)

*In Grandma Hal's face was tears of joy that probably the best experienced she had ever felt. After that she decided to meet Drinia again*

Grandma Hal: "Hello, my dear. Did you eait for me?"

Drinia: "Grandma Hal! Look at my vines! Theres a strange fruit that grows in it"

*Grandma Hal saw the vines surrounding Drinia with the fruits attached into it*

Grandma Hal: "Ehh... Awesome. Those vines were very efficient,huh?"

Drinia: "I ate one and its really good! Here! have some!"

Grandma Hal: "Thanks but I already ate a lot before I went here"

Drinia: "Oh all right, I understand"

Grandma Hal: "By the way we should name that fruit"

Drinia: "I see! What name will we give to it?"

Grandma Hal: "How about we call it the swamp fruit. Since I found you in the swamp and your vines created it"

Drinia: "The swamp fruit! Sounds nice!"

Grandma Hal: "I can sell them if you want to"

Drinia: "I'm not sure if someone will like it"

Grandma Hal: "I'm sure everyone will buy it. Trust me"

Drinia: "Ok!! Feel free to pick one grandma I can't eat all of these"

Grandma Hal: "You really are a kind girl Drinia. You must be raised by a nice familiy"

Drinia: "My family is the best... My mother and father always take care of us. It's all and good until my little brother devoured the parent of my best friend. In that incident everyone hates us to death"

Grandma Hal: "You want to know why I'm alone too?"

Drinia: "Oh yeah you haven't told me about it yet"

Grandma Hal: "I once have a family that is super rich then the headhunters came and kills my parents and the people started to stole everything we had. So now I have to live alone. Survive in this greedy world"

Drinia: "Your story is much worse than what I had"

Grandma Hal: "I hate all of them, that's what I have been thinking my whole childhood but when I grew up I decided to just forgive them and live my life alone"

Drinia: "That's so sad... I wanna cry"

Grandma Hal: "Don't be sad, my dear(of course half of it was wrong and right. My life was been tough in the first moment I was born. My parents were killed not because we were rich it's because we were a family of thieves. They decided to not kill me since I'm just a little girl at that time all I can do is cry. No one helped me and now that sane situation never changes. I'm still all alone no matter what)

Drinia: "This fruit is sooo goood!!"

Grandma Hal: "Eat as much as you want. You need that to develop your body"

Drinia: "Hey grandma, I thought you're not going to leave last night"

Grandma Hal: "Uhh... well I have to. I need to take care of my home"

Drinia: "Can you bring me there? Please!"

Grandma Hal: "Sure! but be very careful if the people saw you they will hurt you"

Drinia: "Eh... really grandma? I guess I have to expect that"

Grandma Hal: "Can't you just turn into a normal human? Your blue hair, horns and scaled can't you hide them?"

Drinia: "I can do it... before I adapt into this environment but now I think it's impossible grandma. This is now my permanent form"

Grandma Hal: "I see. All right, come with me and I'll make it sure that no one will find you"

Drinia: "Yeheyy!! I can stay at grandma's home!"

Grandma Hal: "Yes, yes. Now shalk we go?"

Drinia: "Yeah!"

*Grandma Hal leads the way to the Kingdom and Drinia immediately memorized it*

Grandma Hal: "All right, were almost there you can see it now right?"

Drinia: "Yeah, I can see the kingdom clearly"

Grandma Hal: "Wait for me here and I'll find a hood so that I can hide you"

Drinia: "Okay! I'll wait for you!"

Grandma Hal: "Okay, my dear!"

*After almost half an hour. Grandma Hal shows up with a piece of hoodie with her*

Grandma Hal: "Here you can use this"

Drinia: "Thanks grandma"

Grandma Hal: "Make sure that it covers your entire body we can't be so sure with this people"

Drinia: "Yes grandma"

*In order to reach their destination they have to cross a market*

Drinia: (There's so many humand here... I'm scared...)

Grandma Hal: "Just walked beside me. You'll be all right"

*They managed to pass the market without making any ruckus. They entered a buimding without Drinia knowing about what really it is and then suddenle Grandma Hal spoke very strange words*

Grandma Hal: "Here's the creature I promised you can now turn on the lights"

*The lights turn on and Drinia saw a bunch of hunters around the room with her being the center of attention*

Drinia: "Huh? Grandma? What's this?"

*Everyone laughs*

Grandma Hal: "I am no grandma! You want me to be honest? I'm just a greedy old woman! Money is the most important thing to me!"

Drinia: "Why... I trusted you!"

Grandma Hal: "Well, I don't. Anyway, capture her and be careful not to kill her. We need her scales and I'm thinking if we could benefit from her hair too. Hmmm yeah... make her bald"

*Drinia was kept in silence as she can't believr how lonely she was. As the hunters about to capture her she thought*

Drinia: (No one is here to help me. I'm all alone)

*Then suddenly the vines started coming out of her piercing some of the hunters who tried to hurt her*