Balthezar's Story


The best time to hunt is after it rains, in the morning. The stink of prey can easily be picked out from the smell of misty rain and dew filled grass. The blue dragon liked that smell, of the rain. It was similar to the smell of the sprays of water that come from the waterfall that conceals his cave. The tracks were easy to see in the still damp dirt. The rain washes away every mark from the previous days. Every print, every smell, was fresh. The tracks are scattered: made by frightened animals after emerging from the hiding place they had to quickly find the night before to escape the storm. Any kill would be easily made, for the prey was in an unfamiliar realm: Balthezar’s realm. Balthezar slid through the forest as fog streamed slowly from his nostrils. He was an ice dragon who's scales were a pale blue. The dragon loomed over most creatures, with a body twice the size of a horse's. Spikes that led from the back of his neck to the tip of his tail slowly emerged from the dragon as Balthezar neared his prey. He had found the tracks of an elk. By the size and depth of the prints, Balth could tell it would be a fine catch. He could easily sneak up behind it. The wind was in his favor. Pinning it down with his dragon talons, he could puncture the elk’s lungs and heart and hold it until it died. The dragon could easily carry the load beneath him as he flew back to his lair. But this time, something was different. The elk’s tracks suddenly stopped, and a new smell filled Balthezar’s snout: another dragon...

It was Zurelos, a green dragon of the forest and the trees, and a much better hunter than Balthezar. He had picked up the green one’s scent many times before, but had only seen him for the first time a few months ago. Balt assumed he was here to compete against him for the fair dragoness. She was a dark red, of fire, and lived a ways away in the hollow of a great sycamore. Sometimes, Balthezar could see a thin line of smoke from the perch of his lair, coming from there. Balth was confident he could win her. He was a dragon of ice, and was the fastest in the sky. Balthezar was one in the clouds. On a clear summer day, the air matched his scales. Balth thought of all this as he flew home empty handed without his elk. He followed the river upstream to his lair. As Balth neared his waterfall, he dove downward beneath the breaking water and though the wall of falling current. As soon as he hit, Balth flared his wings and landed softly within the mouth of his cave. This was Balthezar’s lair: big enough to fit a family of ten grown elephants. In one corner was a nook for making fire, with spare logs. There was a gaping hole above the fire pit that led through a tunnel to vent smoke out through the waterfall. Nothing outside his lair could be seen, even when a fire was lit. Another corner accommodated Balthezar’s sleeping cove. It was a large semi bowl shape carved out of the floor and the surrounding walls. Balthezar would curl up and sleep there while staring out of his cave. Much time was spent putting furs in the cove to keep him warm at night. Rock and dirt can be quite frigid at times… Balth pulled himself to the fire pit and tried to light the logs. But tonight, the acid in Balthezar’s lungs was too scares, and he could not start a flame. Balth was exhausted. Frustrated with making his day worse, he foolishly continued trying in anger and sadness. Balthezar’s ability to breathe fire was very limited. Now all Balth could do was wheeze smoke. He slumped himself in his den and went to bed dark, cold, and hungry. Before he drifted to sleep, Balth could make out the thin line of smoke, rising against the moon...

When the dragon woke up, the smoke was gone. Still hungry, he walked over to where remains of other meals lay. Having not been able to make a fire the night before, Balth would have to eat them how they sat. Balth hated cold leftovers… He pushed the remains of his meal out of the cave and into the waterfall. The carcass would disintegrate in the river, leaving no trace of left over meals. The dragon liked the fact that his cave was concealed and hidden. Though he never roamed the land that surrounded his lair, he heavily marked his territory just the same. His meal had not at all fulfilled him. Balth was still hungry. He knew of a large herd of goats he could easily pick off of. Although goats were never his favorite choice, he was too hungry to care what he ate today. Balthezar followed the smell of the goats to a river where he saw two, resting off to the side. Balth swooped in and snatched the two goats with his claws. They were dead before they could make a sound. As Balthezar flew away with his prize, he saw Zurelos watching him, camouflaged in a nearby tree. The green dragon gave a snort and looked away. He would let the goats go for now because of the elk he had stolen from Balth the day before, but next time there would be a fight between them. As soon as he landed, Balth ripped into the first goat with his fangs and teeth. He hardly used his claws to aid him in eating the goat whole. The once living meat was still warm in Balthezar’s mouth. The second goat he ate more slowly, but with the same determination to fill his empty belly. Having filled his stomach, Balth took a deep breath and belched a grand flame into his nostrils. Pleased with himself for breathing fire, he sent a breath of blue flame to his fire pit and lit the logs. Balth purred to himself deeply, and watched the fire glisten and grow. Only then did he realize what a fool his hunger had made him. Suddenly, Balth seemed very fatigued and lazy. Dragons always grow tired when they are fed. There on his back, he drifted off into a trance like nap. When the light blue dragon arose, he felt better, though his belly was still round. He lay there in his den for half the day as he gained strength and acid for making fire. After a well-deserved daydream, Balth went to his perch just besides the waterfall. Balt looked down and saw something very displeasing. It was the green one, drinking from the river at the base of his waterfall! Now Balthezar was furious. Zurelos had crossed into territory that had been rightfully marked by another dragon, and he did it purposefully. Balth stayed in his perch until Zurelos left. Balth followed him in the air while the green dragon ran thought the forest. As he smelled Balt behind him, Zurelos whipped around and spotted him flying above. The ice dragon flared his wings as he landed, and opened them prepared to fight. In a green blur, Zurelos charged at Balthezar. The blue dragon dodged quickly so he missed, but was too slow. Before Balth could turn around, he received a ball of fire in his back between his wings. Thinking he could fight fire with fire, Balthezar dug into his lungs. Mustering all the flame he could, he shot a bolt of blue fire from his mouth for half a second, only for it to be blocked by the wing of Zurelos. Although he did not show it to his rival, Balthezar’s hear sank in sorrow as his efforts to create flame were wasted. It had cost him great strength to blow fire so grand. But Zurelos seemed impressed with Balth’s display. Not every dragon could produce a blue flame. Zurelos knew of Balth’s difficulty to create fire, and it caught him off guard. Thinking he could surprise him again, the dragon of ice tried to show off his blue flame again, but the acid in his lungs was once again gone. Zurelos laughed at the smoke that streamed from his mouth, and intimidated Balth more by hitting him again with a fireball from his snout. Balthezar received the blast with his wing, and frosted it over to lessen the blow. While Balth was shielded with his wing, he thought of an idea.
‘I shall defeat him with ice’, he thought to himself. Balthezar closed his eyes and conjured up his power. A chill ran down his spine and stayed there. He breathed deep and sent another chill rippling down his body, and another. The piercing cold spread down through his veins to the tips of his claws and tail. As Zurelos watched, frost started to appear on Balthezar’s body. When Balth opened his eyes, Zurelos was staring wide-eyed with fear. He had never fought an ice dragon, and had never seen such power. Balthezar smirked as he opened his mouth and let the frosty air flow from his snout. As he released the intense cold, the air froze into water, and then to ice. The green dragon attempted to block the attack with his wing again, but this time it was bombarded and punctured by a cluster of tiny icicles. The cold shot though Zurelos’ wing, froze his veins, and traveled though his body. Zurelos yelped in pain and growled at Balth. But the foolish green dragon thought the fight was just beginning, and that this ice attack was only a stunt. But when Zurelos found he could not start a flame to thaw his wing, he knew he was done for. The grass around Balthezar’s feet started to turn white with frost as he reached for the ice within him again. Wanting nothing more to do with the blue dragon, Zurelos lowered his head in surrender. Balthezar watched as his defeated opponent dragged his wing away with him. He smiled in knowing that his wing would be numb for three more days. As Balthezar let go of his power, he felt weak, but waited for Zurelos’ smell to fade away before he keeled over onto his side. Conjuring the ice inside him somehow rejuvenated him, but Balth was still exhausted from his fire attempts. There was no more acid looming in his stomach. As Balth lay there, a hint of a smell caught his attention. He looked up and saw her sitting 200 yards away. There, perched in a tree like a dark red canary, was the fair dragoness. 

Balth was pleased that she was there. But then he realized that she knew his weakness as well. He was a little embarrassed for showing off his poor fire ability, to her of all dragons! She was a dragon of fire. Balthezar closed his eyes as he lay there, regaining his strength. The ice around him melted, and turned the ground to mud. When he finally opened his eyes, the dragoness was gone. Balth hated when his scales were dirty. He walked the long way back to his waterfall. When the muddy dragon reached the base, he jumped into the water, beneath the pounding falls. He tossed and turned beneath the jet, and emerged from the water a shiny light blue. Balthezar knelt in the grass as water flowed across him and cascaded down his scales in wet sheets. The sun began to set just as his scales finished drying. Balth flew back up to his lair and trotted over to his fire pit. The fire he had started that morning had long gone out. A stream of black smoke was all he could produce tonight. He reared back on his hind legs and rubbed his belly, wishing fire was inside him. There were many nights where he could not start a flame. But tonight he didn’t care. Balth could not help smiling that he had embarrassed and beaten Zurelos, especially in front of the fair one. Balthezar knew he would have to fight for her, and he wished to himself that he would win. He went to bed cold again, but this time, he did not feel lonely.
“I will win her”, Balthezar whispered to himself softly. When Balthezar woke the next morning, an oddly familiar smell from the day before reached his snout. As he opened his eyes, he also discovered a fire dancing in his logs! Balth leapt to his feet and eyed around his cave suspiciously. When he saw nothing, he flew outside to a clearing near the base of his waterfall. As soon as Balth landed, he heard the flapping of wings. He ducked just in time, as the dark red dragon flew over his head and landed ten feet away. They eyed one another closely and started walking circles around themselves as they spoke.

“I saw you yesterday”, started the red one.

“You’re trespassing”, was Balth’s only response.

“I know in your heart you’re glad I’m here.” Balthezar had nothing to say at this, though it was true. “Your power is great, but your flame needs some practice.”

“Then show me YOUR power” he demanded.

“You will see my power. You will have to win me first, but that will come in its own time”

“Then why are you here?” Balth was getting agitated.

“That will be revealed soon enough as well, blue dragon.” She smirked at him, enjoying being mysterious. Balth snorted at the name she gave him.

“My name is Balthezar Arith”, he said.

“Then for that, I shall tell you why I am here: to give you my name as a reward for your victory yesterday.” They stopped circling, and Balthezar perked his ears, waiting for an answer as he gazed into her eyes. “Airee Lathorith”, she said, gazing back at him. And that was all she said. The red dragoness flew off, wagging her tail behind her, and was out of sight within seconds.

‘Airee’, thought Balthezar. He let the name fill his mind. ‘She wants me to win her’ he thought. Her call would be coming soon. Balth smiled to himself as he entered the forest to look for wood to feed Airee’s fire. He had been running low on logs. He came into his cave with the wood under his wings so it wouldn’t get wet. Balth threw two of the logs into the pit and set the rest of the stack a few feet away. The fire brought Balthezar heat and comfort. He would not let this fire die so easily, not until he won his fair Airee. Balthezar drank from the falls outside his cave, and watched the fire for the rest of the day and into the night. His hunger was still quenched by the goats he had stolen from Zurelos. And, once again, he saw a thin line of smoke, rising against a full moon...



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