March 21st, 2013

Dear Master Jack:

Let me tell you what happened after I saw the human through the temple window.

I lay on the ground shaking with fright. Though I was three years old and already knew three languages and had learned much about my world, I had never met a human before. I had been told that humans not only seem to enjoy harming one another, but they are likely to harm a dragon if they encounter one. I heard strange sounds coming from inside the temple and my curiosity overcame my inclination to flee. Slowly, I got back to my feet and peered into the window once more. The human, on the other side of the wall, was doing the same thing and once again we found ourselves face to face. This time though we did not react so abruptly. Instead, we stood there staring at one another. I marveled at how vulnerable the human looked. Why, it had no scales to protect its body, not horns, and no teeth of any consequence. How could such a weak looking creature be dangerous?

“Greetings dragon,” the human said in a quavering voice. “I am Li.” I could not help smiling when I heard this. It was strange that such a frightened creature should be given such a name. Li means power or strength, and this poor human did not look as if it had either. There again, the human was speaking to me, which I had to admit showed that it had courage.

“I am Lian, daughter of the Huangshan Clan,” I said.

“You are a female?” Li asked.

“That I am. And you?”

“I am a male of course. Do I look female?” Li said, getting red-faced and looking annoyed.

“Forgive me Master Li, but I have never met a human before and do not know how males and females of your kind differ.”

“Humph” Li said, the annoyed expression on his face fading. “I suppose under such circumstances such a mistake is acceptable,” he said. “You are the first dragon I have ever seen.” He gazed at me with great interest. “You are not very big. I thought dragons were supposed to be large creatures.”

I felt myself get stiff with indignation. “I will have you know that I am only three years old,” I said, trying not to lose my temper, “and that when I am full grown I will probably get four times as big as I am today,” I added, smoke starting to drift from my nostrils.

“Ah. Then you will be a very grand looking creature when you are older,” the boy said nervously. I realized then that my anger had frightened him. It was wrong of me to lose my temper in such a way. After all, the human did not know about dragons and our ways.

“Perhaps you could join me behind these rocks and tell me something of yourself,” I said, trying to be gracious. My parents always told me that it is the job of those who are bigger and stronger to show extra consideration for those who are smaller and weaker. Though I was only three, I was still a fair bit taller and longer than the human.

Li, surprised by my invitation, left the window and soon the two of us were seated behind a large rock that hid us from view. Our cause was helped by the fact that fog had drifted around the temple. People walking up the many steps to the temple would have no idea that we were so close.

The first thing Li did was to offer me some food. Cautiously I took one of the round cake-like things and when I nibbled on it I found that it was a kind of fried bread, and a tasty treat. In whispers we talked and I learned about the boy’s life, his family, and his hopes and dreams. I found some of what he said hard to understand. It seemed that humans greatly valued possessions not because they were beautiful or useful, but because owning such things made them look important in the eyes of other humans. We dragons do not feel the need to seem more than we are.

When I told Li that there is no ranking system or leadership in dragon clans he was astonished. “Who makes all the decisions and maintains order?” he asked. “Who makes sure that laws and rules are obeyed?”

“We make decisions together, and we do not have any interest in breaking our clan rules,” I explained, somewhat mystified by his attitude. “We are equals,” I added, “though we do ask the Elders to advise us on occasion.”

“Do you mean that you, a female, is the equal of your brothers?” he said in astonishment.

“But of course. I am as strong and as intelligent as they are. I can think and reason as they do.”

“But females are weak and cannot learn as males do,” he said.

“Perhaps with humans this is the case, but not with us.” I spoke very forcefully bringing that conversation to a close.

Li and I spoke for some time longer and then he said that it was time for him to head back to the town. “I came to pray for my father, who is very ill,” he said sadly, “to ask that he be healed.”

“What is wrong with him?” I asked, and when Li described his father’s symptoms I knew at once that the man had caught a disease that was common in human settlements. We dragons had heard of it and my great-grandmother had a mixture of herbs that she used to treat the illness, which dragons sometimes caught when they went to trade with humans.

“We dragons know how to treat this illness,” I said, and I offered to bring some of the herb mixture to him.

“Truly? Do you really know the cure?” Li asked, his eyes wide, hope shining in his eyes. “Will you really share it with me?”

“Truly we do know the cure, and of course I will share it with you. Wait here and I will bring the herb mixture to you,” I said.

“You must be quick. I must be back home before it grows dark,” Li said. “Otherwise I will not be able to find my way home.”

“I will be back as soon as I can,” I said, and I flew away at speed, flying just above the trees into the fog.

March 14th 2013

Dear Master Jack,

“My clan lives in the Huangshan mountain range,” Lady Lian said, settling down on a pile of coverlets that had been placed on the floor for her. “It is a place of great beauty, with steep rocky peaks and beautiful pine trees. Over the centuries, we have carved hidden caves into the rock, caves that are many hundreds of feet up from the valley floor. In some places in the mountains, humans have carved steps into the stone, many hundreds of them, but they cannot reach our caves because the sides of our mountains are so steep and the rock is too hard.”

“It is a very beautiful place,” Grandfather said, “and I was reluctant to leave when Branwen and I visited you.”

“It is indeed very beautiful, and maybe one day you will come and visit us, little Gryf.” Lady Lian’s golden eyes rested on me for a moment or two. “When I was three years old and had enough flying experience, my parents decided to take me to visit my aunt’s family. Aunt Ah-lam lived with her partner’s clan in the mountains around Mount Tai, to the north of where we lived. We set off one summer morning and were there a few days later. Aunt Ah-lan’s clan lived in a huge complex of caves, and the entrance was carefully hidden. I remember flying towards the mountain and it was only when we right at the cave mouth that I was able to see it.

“Mount Tian is a sacred place for humans, and they have built many temples on the sides of the mountain. The city of Tai’an lies at the base of mountain, and I saw it briefly. I had never seen a human settlement before and was very excited to see so many humans walking around, and to see their homes, temples, and shops. There were stairs with many thousands of steps that curled their way up the side of the mountain to temples that were built into the rocky slopes.

“We were given a grand welcome by my aunt’s clan, and I quickly made friends with Aunt Ah-lam’s younglings, my cousins.” Lady Lian sighed. “Two of them died of the sickness that killed my hatchlings soon after our visit. Back then, before your Lady Branwen’s visit, we did not understand the source of the illness and we therefore did not know how to cure it.

Lady Lian sighed again and then continued with her story. “Soon after we arrived, after we had rested, Aunt Ah-lam held a wonderful party in our honor, which was held in the Clan Hall.”

“Was it like the party we had last night?” I asked.

Lady Lian smiled at me and crossed her paws. “The atmosphere was similar, but the music, food and dancing was different. The Mount Tai dragons had a unique way of dancing. They took flying leaps in the air and some even did a loop. They were very acrobatic!”

“What do you mean?” I asked. How could a dragon do a loop?

Lady Lian got to her feet. “Follow me and I will show you,” she said, leading me out of the cave into the sunshine. As we all watched, she launched herself off the landing area in front of the cave and into the air. Since she had no wings I expected her to fall like a stone, but instead she flowed through the air with grace and ease.

“I still get amazed every time I see Chinese dragons fly,” Grandfather said as we watched Lady Lian’s body curl like smoke above the trees.

“How do they do it, Grandfather?” I asked. “How do they stay up? They have no wings.”

“I have no idea, Gryf. It is a mystery,” my grandfather replied, shaking his head and smiling.

As we all watched, Lady Lian curved her back and then she was upside down! Then she curved more and she was almost touching her own tail, creating a large golden O in the sky. Now I knew what she meant by a loop! As we clapped and cheered, she came out of the loop, twirled a few times, and then landed in front of the cave.

“Oh, that was wonderful,” I said, barely able to contain my excitement. “I wish Welsh dragons could do that.”

“Technically speaking we can fly upside down, but I am afraid the effect will not be very graceful,” Father said, laughing.

We all trooped back into the main hall in our family cave and took our seats once more. “So the Mount Tian dragons put loops into their dances?” Grandfather asked.

“Yes they did. Their Clan Hall was the biggest Clan Hall I have ever seen. The ceiling was high enough to allow for such displays. Mind you, the dragons themselves were a lot smaller than I am now. They are small green dragons that can fly at great speeds. China is such a big place that there are several dragon species living there. The Tian dragons are the smallest ones.

“In the days after the party, I went exploring with my cousins. We flew up to touch the tops of the mountain and then we spilled down the sides at great speed, flying just above the trees. We played in mountain streams and sat in waterfalls of freezing water. Though I enjoyed these activities, I wanted to go and see the humans, but my cousins told me that it was forbidden. As I am sure you can imagine, being told that I was not allowed to see humans made me all the more curious to do so, and one afternoon I managed to sneak off on my own.

“I flew just above the trees to where a little temple stood. It was built in an open space all my itself and I saw several humans walking up some stairs to the little building, their backs bowed with weariness. I crept around to the back of the building, peered in a little window, and found myself practically nose to nose with a human. We both cried out and fell backwards.”

March 7, 2012

Dear Master Jack:

Lady M tells me that you are doing extremely well. I am so very glad to hear this.

Let me continue to tell you about the celebration that was given for my siblings and I. After all my family members had greeted Lady Lian and thanked her for coming (all the way from China no less!), the rest of the dragons who were at the celebration came up and introduced themselves. There was much bowing, and many of the older dragons greeted the golden dragon with flowery language that made us younglings giggle. I thought it was rather silly until Grandfather Frenthfar explained that Chinese dragons are used to talking in such a way, and our guests were doing their best to show respect for Lady Lian.

When all the greeting and bowing finally ended, the musicians returned to their instruments and the dancing resumed. Lady Lian stood on the sidelines and watched the guests circle and dip, step and sway. She seemed to be enjoying herself and her head nodded slightly with the beat of the music. Grandfather Frenthfar danced with Mother and with Aunt Branwen and then I saw him go over to the musicians and whisper in Grandmother’s ear. 

When the piece of music ended, instead of beginning another one Grandmother talked to the other musicians for a moment or two and then she began to play an exotic sounding melody on a six-stringed instrument. I watched as she drew a bow across the strings to make a silvery sound that was quite lovely. The other musicians joined in and soon the Hall was full of the sound of tootling pipes, whispering flutes, soft little bells, gentle drumming, and Grandmother’s melody. To everyone’s amazement, Lady Lian began to sway and rock. Slowly she danced into the center of the room and her beautiful golden body rippled and curved. I now understood that Grandfather Frenthfar had asked Grandmother to play a piece of music that Lady Lian would like, a piece that was like the music she heard at home in China.

The music was so magical that I felt drawn by it. Though I felt shy and unsure of myself, I joined Lady Lian and tried to copy her movements. Since I was a small Welsh dragon with short legs, a little body and stubby wings, I found it hard to do what she did. Tesni soon joined me and we had a grand time trying to be graceful like our guest. I am afraid that the best we could manage were some rather clumsy wiggles, but Lady Lian smiled and encouraged us. Soon the room was full of dragons dancing the dance of the golden dragon.

When the Chinese melody ended Grandmother Frenthfar played in Irish dance and soon we were hopping around and clapping, having a wonderful time. Lady Lian joined in and seeing her shimmy and skip around with the rest of us made me feel warm all the way through.

Eventually I grew tired. Father made a big soft bed of blankets for me and I lay down. Tesni and the others soon joined me and I remembered falling asleep to the sound of feet stamping, claps, and ripples of harp music.

When I woke up I was back in my bed at our family cave. Someone had carried me and my siblings home in the night. I heard Father’s voice, and then Lady Lian’s voice. Delighted to find out that the Chinese dragon was visiting us, I quickly got up and went out into the main cave. My parents and Lady Lian were sitting in front of the fireplace, sipping from mugs of steaming cider.

“A good morning to you, Gryf,” Father said. “I hope you slept well.”

“Yes thank you, Father, though my legs feel a little sore.”

“You are not accustomed to dancing, Gryf,” Lady Lian said, her golden eyes smiling down at me.

“No, I have never danced before, but I thought it was wonderful fun,” I said, feeling a little shy.

“That it was, and your parents have kindly invited me to stay with you for a week or so. I have never traveled to Wales before and it will be interesting to see how my dragon kin live in this part of the world.”

“Have you been to many other places and seen many kinds of dragons?” I asked.

“Yes indeed, I have been lucky enough to travel all over Asia, to Africa, and to the forested lands in the north where very few humans live.

“Ooh, do tell me about the dragons you have met and the places you have seen,” I begged.

February 27th

Dear Master Jack,

 

I hope you are well. I have heard that you are now staying in a house with your family and other people. It must be grand to be living with your little sister and mother again.

Now on to my story. As you can imagine, everyone in the room was astonished when they saw the long slender golden dragon standing in the doorway. Grandfather Frenthfar recovered himself sufficiently to remember his manners. He carefully removed us granddragons from his back, shoulders, and head and then he went to greet the guest.

“Greetings and welcome Lady Lian,” he said, and he bowed low.

“Greetings to you Lord Frenthfar,” the beautiful dragon replied, returning the bow. Her voice was smooth and rich (See note 1), and hearing it made me feel strange inside. “When I heard that your daughter’s eggs had hatched, I decided that I had to come to see the lucky younglings.” She looked to where we five stood and I could feel her dark gold eyes watching me. Her gaze was kind but it made me feel uncomfortable.

“Come and meet our guest, younglings,” Grandfather Frenthfar said. We five shared glances and then looked at Lady Lian. None of were keen to approach her. I know that may seem strange, but we had never seen a Chinese dragon before, and we were somewhat afraid of her.

“Do not be afraid little ones,” she said gently. “Come.” Cautiously, I began to walk towards her.  “Ah, he must be the first hatched,” she said. “I can tell.”

“He is indeed, Lady Lian. Allow me to present Gryf, son of Annwyl and Mael. Bow to Lady Lian, Gyf.”

I managed an awkward little bow. Not knowing what else to say I blurted out, “Thank you for coming to our party.” Lady Lian gave a rippling little laugh and she bent her great head down to get a closer look at me. Never having seen a dragon with such big eyes and teeth I wanted to back away from her, but I stood my ground.

“Such a brave little one you are, Master Gryf. I can feel that there is a strong Gift in you, one that will give you opportunities that most dragons can only dream of. This Gift is rare and only dragons born in the Year of the Golden Dragon are born with it.”

“What is the Gift?” I asked.

“You must wait and see, Master Gryf. Around your hundredth year it will appear. Be patient.”

I imagine that you wondering what a Gift is. All dragons are born with a special ability, which we call a Gift. Grandmother Frenthfar could create music that had the power to make those who listen to it feel calmer, safer, or happier. Grandfather Frenthfar could fly faster than any dragon in Wales. My mother’s Gift gave her the ability to create beautiful paintings and drawings, works of art that were full of emotion and a sense of place. Father could blend into his surroundings so convincingly that he seemed to disappear. He would stand in front of a wall in our cave and his red scales would shift and change until he looked as if he was part of the stone behind him.

Dragons usually find out what their Gift is some time around their hundredth birthday, and the arrival of the Gift was always marked with a big feast and celebration. Waiting for the Gift to arrive was always a little nerve wracking because one had no idea what it would be. It could even be potentially dangerous. Grandfather Frenthfar’s Gift arrived when he was flying towards a mountain on day. Without warning he suddenly began to fly many times faster than was usual and he almost crashed. It took him some time before he learned how to control his speed and therefore master his Gift.

Mother and Father came up and introduced themselves and thanked Lady Lian for traveling such a great distance to attend our celebration.

“It is an honor to be here, Lady Annwyl,” Lian said inclining her head a little. “You know that Lord Frenthfar and your sister Lady Branwen came to China when my second clutch of eggs hatched. That clutch was very important to my partner and I because it represented hope for the future. All the chicks (See Note 2) in our first clutch had sickened and died. After the loss I wrote to Lady Branwen telling her about my chicks because I had heard that she was a famous Healer. I wanted to understand what had happened to my chicks. When she heard that I had laid another clutch, she decided to come to China to do what she could to make sure that my new chicks survived. We were so grateful that she did, because soon after she arrived the chicks in the second clutch began to sicken just as the ones in the first clutch had done. Lady Branwen and Lord Frenthfar set about trying to save my chicks and they also looked for the cause of the illness. Together they was able to do both things and we will always be grateful for their help. It is only right that I should be here to celebrate the hatching of Lord Frenthfar’s granddragons, these special Golden younglings.”

 

Note 1: All dragons speak the language of their species which is called Hisama. Most also speak at least one human language. Grandfather Frenthfar spoke Hisama, Welsh, English, Latin, Greek, French, and Gaelic. He was a VERY well educated dragon.

Note 2: When dragons first hatch they are called chicks. After a few weeks they are no longer infants and they are called younglings.

February 21st

Dear Master Jack,

I hope you have had a good week. I heard that some of your friends visited you and that you were able to celebrate you birthday with them. What a treat that must have been.

Now, where was I with my story? Ah, yes, I was telling you about the celebration that was given in our honor at our Clan Hall. Members of our clan invited friends and relatives to attend the celebration, which was going to be a grand one because my siblings and I were the first baby dragons to hatch in the year 1584. This was a very important year because it was the year of the golden dragon.

My parents carried myself, Neirin, Eirin, and Tesni to the Clan Hall in baskets and then my mother went back to our cave to get Rhys. She was almost at the rock shelf in front of the hall when Rhys, who had been poking his head out of his basket, leaned way over to see something on the ground, and then he fell out! There was a gasp of horror as we watched Rhys fall through the air. He screamed and tried desperately to flap his little wings. When younglings are only a few months old their wings are rather useless little flaps of skin. I often used to trip over my wings and found them to be a great inconvenience.

Then I saw a flash of red swoop over me and a large dragon plucked Rhys out of the air with his talons. The dragon cut through the air, made a graceful turn and then slowly, with big flaps of its wings, flew back to where we stood. I saw then that the dragon was Grandfather Frenthfar! I had thought that he was an old and inactive dragon. I certainly never imagined that he could move so fast.

Grandfather Frenthfar landed on the rock shelf and dropped Rhys. Rhys was whimpering and trembling and my father immediately tried to comfort him. My mother flew over and flung herself at Grandfather, trying to embrace him. He firmly but gently pushed her away muttering that he had only done “what every dragon would have done,” and that “taking care of younglings is something that we all do.”

I could not understand how my grandfather was able to move so fast, and it was only later that I learned that his incredible speed had to do with his Gift. I will tell you more about Gifts later.

After we had all recovered sufficiently from our shock, we went into the Clan Hall. As we walked in, voices were raised to welcome us and talons were tapped on scales so that the big room rang. This is the way dragons express their appreciation for someone. I believe you humans clap your hands when you want to express this. My siblings and I were placed on a dais so that everyone could look at us and I felt very embarrassed indeed. Rhys, fully recovered from his fall, tapped his little talons on his scales and clearly enjoyed all the attention we were getting. He began to walk up and down the dais with his chest out and his head held high. Back and forth he went when, without any warning, he fell off the dais because he wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing. Down he fell into a big bowl of dandelion wine and Grandfather Frenthfar had to fish him out.

When we were sure that he was not hurt, everyone started to chuckle. One of the dragons from Ireland told my father that Rhys was “going to be a handful,” and my father agreed.

“He is going to be more trouble than the other four put together,” Grandfather Frenthfar said and he set Rhys on his shoulder. “Now stay there you little scallywag and don’t move a scale,” he said. Rhys rode around on grandfather’s shoulder for the rest of evening, except when our parents gave us our dinner.

After a grand feast, the tables and benches in the hall were pushed back and musicians gathered at the far end of the room, tuning their instruments. My mother, Annwyl, and Grandmother Frenthfar joined the musicians. Grandmother had her harp (which she was given as a gift when she visited Ireland) and my mother had her flute. Tentatively at first, the musicians began to play. The music swelled and filled the hall. My father, Mael, led his sister out to dance and soon the space was filled with dragons swaying and dipping. Green Irish dragons danced with the silver dragons that had flown to Wales for the occasion from their homes in the cold lands to the north. A rich coppery colored English dragon twirled with the golden yellow African dragon who was visiting us that winter. A single dragon from Iceland danced alone, her beautiful ice blue scales gleaming and sparkling. 

For a time we four younglings (and Rhys on Grandfather’s shoulder) sat and watched the spectacle. Then Grandfather gathered up Neirin, Eirin, Tesni and I. He placed me on his free shoulder, put Neirin and Eirin on his back, and perched Tesni on his head. Then Grandfather marched out into the middle of the hall on all four legs. The other dragons cleared a space for him, and soon the five of us and Grandfather were surrounded by a swirling circle of dancing dragons. While grandfather gracefully sauntered around the circle, Tesni hopped about joyfully on Grandfather’s head holding on to his horns. Eirin bobbed her head in time with the music, and Neirin tapped his claws on Grandfather’s back ridge scales, flicking his tail left and right. Rhys swayed and kicked his legs.

Master Jack, the moment was a magical one that I will never forget. Even now, after so many years have passed, I feel a joyful warmth fill me when I think of that time.

Then, in the middle of the dance, a blast of cold air filled the hall and the the dragons around us stopped dancing and looked towards the huge door of the hall. In the doorway stood a dragon the like of which I had never seen before. Bright gold scales covered its long and thin body and it had a shimmering mane, beard, and tail. Its horns were extremely long and it had no wings at all.

“Lian!” Grandfather whispered. “She came all the way from China!”