Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings are property of their rightful owner. I do not own anything, apart from the plot. Copyright infringements not intended.

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Dragonlord

When Orm Embar was still a young dragon, only a couple of centuries old, he was reckless and daring, having not yet become as wise a dragons become. One day he left Dragon’s Run, seeking the world of humans, for he had heard of them from the others, those older and wiser than he, yet they never came, and he never saw them.

Driven by an unquenched curiosity, he soared high and out of sight in the clouds that always covered the sky at that height. For many days and many nights he flew, and he never came in sight of any islands, or any humans. But then, on the dawn of the third day, he saw a small land far below him, smaller than even a mountain on Dragon’s Run, but he knew that on that island lived the humans he sought for.

When he landed on that island, he saw that there were no humans about, for they had fled at his coming, or barricaded themselves in the houses. But there, on the plains, there was a goatherd, who had not managed to flee in time, and was hiding in the shallow caves in the walls of the hill. He approached the boy, but when he opened his mouth to speak, the goatherd only cowered in fear, and could not understand him. After that, Orm Embar just ate him, for there was nothing else that he could do, and nothing else to say.

The meat of the goatherd was sweet, like none he had ever tasted before, and it woke in him a craving for more. So he roamed about the island, burning the houses and devouring the people when they came running out. All the time, he only wanted more of it, and his hunger felt like it could never be quenched. When he finally left the island, there was only a layer of ash and soot remaining, and there was not a living thing on it. He left Selidor in the night, and flew towards the other lands.

On the other islands, he devoured the people who lived there, and when there were no more, he would fly to a new place. Soon his deeds spread to all of Earthsea, and struck fear into the hearts of all the folk. When they heard he was coming, they would always flee, by boat, or on foot, away to other islands, and leaving him those who had not the money, or the resources to escape.

So went on, for years, and never once did he return to Dragon’s Run, preferring instead, this place where food was plentiful and easy to come by. He would never encounter any resistance, for the humans stood too much in awe and terror of him to interfere. Some would even give up offerings in hope that he would spare them and their families. He never did.

Then one day, he came to a lone island. There was no one there, but the golden beach, the sea, and the sound of the waves lapping against the rocky shore. Everyone on that island had managed to escape, and Orm Embar was prepared to leave, when he saw a man, solitary and alone, standing on a hill mound. The dragon dropped to the ground, and was prepared to swallow him, but the man didn’t run or hide, as they always did, he only lifted the staff he carried in his hand high into the air and calmly spoke two words:

“Orm Embar.”

When he heard his name, Orm Embar paused, and felt his will leave him, caught instead in the man’s cage. For he was still a young dragon, and he had never heard of the power names held over their owners, and the mages who could take a name from someone as easily as a fisherman would fish. He did not know how to hide his name from the mage who now stood on the hill, neither could he take the mage’s name from him, and he knew then, that it was this that could cost him his life.

There was nothing which he knew he could do, so he simply spoke, “Greetings, human.”

To his surprise, the man answered, “Why do you kill us, Orm Embar? You, a dragon, who should be too wise, and too above us, to meddle with our affairs? Go back to where you come from, dragon, return to the Dragon’s Run where you belong, and leave us to ourselves. I will let you go, this time, for I can see that you are young, and not yet wise.”

Orm Embar was surprised, for he had expected the man to kill him as he had killed the humans. He knew then, that what the man spoke was the truth. He had not the wisdom, and he had squandered his dignity, and he knew then, that it was time to return to his home, and leave the humans as they should be. He flexed his golden wings, glinting in the sunlight, and prepared to launch himself into the air, when at the last moment, he had a thought.

“Who are you, human?” he asked.

The man smiled thinly. “I will be but the Dragonlord.”