The great Golden Dragon Kulret, had been silently surveying his realm in a rather bored and restless manner. there had been a long quiet in the land, and peace while preferable to war and upheaval, was also less than exciting.
He needed some sort of distraction soon or he would likely create a war as an end to his feelings of purposelessness. He was sure he would go mad until he heard a voice from below that was sweet and comforting. He circled back and landed near her. She was reading aloud from a scroll of some kind, to no one in particular and he was intrigued.
"Who is there?" her gentle voice rose and her head moved about.
"Lord Kulret," he replied in his deep though gruff voice, "I heard you and came to inquire what it is that you read."
"Oh," her cheeks blushed brightly as she rolled up the scroll. "I was merely telling a tale."
"To whom?"
"The trees and the birds," came the very soft reply.
"Will you read for me?"
"Why would you wish to hear my tales, Lord Kulret?"
"I am bored and restless, and your voice calms me. I COULD command you to do so." he noted as he circled around her and towered over her, "Are you not afraid?"
"Should I be?" She asked as she stared sort of at him, but not really. "I can tell you are large, but your voice sounds kind and your manner is polite."
He was not at all certain at first what her words implied but then he noticed that her eyes were always following the sounds his footfall made and not his actual location. "You cannot see can you?"
"I cannot my Lord."
"And yet you were reading the scroll."
Again the blush as she handed him the rolled up pages. There were words written there but it was a list of herbs and other things. "I pretend to read, but I cannot see what is written there. I tell stories, things that my mind imagines."
"Then, tell me a story...forgive me...I have not asked your name."
"It is Ebony." He asked again and she relented though she was nervous and hesitant. He was very quiet as she spoke, and soon she almost forgot he was there and as the tale overtook her, her nervousness left her and she expounded the story with fervor and passion. At the end of the tale she bit her lip and frowned, "have you left?"
"How could I leave Ebony?" he asked, "I was entranced by the tale and the sound of your voice. Would you come to my castle to tell me more tales?"
"I know not where this castle is, how would I get there?"
"I can take you there...if you will trust me to carry you upon my back."
"Upon your back? My Lord i am not so dainty as that."
"For one my size you are no burden, I am a dragon Ebony."
"OH, THAT Lord Kulret...I had not placed the name."
"It is quite alright Ebony. I have been more diverted and happy today than I can remember in a very long time. will you allow me to take you there?"
"I will...but...will you bring me back when you tire of hearing my tales?"
"I cannot imagine that will ever happen. Would you be content to tell them if I never do?"
She was thoughtful for a time, "I think I might. My tales give me sight...and purpose...to have someone listen would make both more vibrant."
He moved near her and she touched the smooth scales. She climbed up and he flew away with her to his castle. The two lived together all the years of Ebony's life, and when she finally closed her eyes for the last time the King mourned so greatly that he died soon after of a broken heart.
