Brinsop and Mikhail
Brinsop awoke with a start in the middle of the dark winter night. Having thought he heard a noise he stared into the blackness of the forest. He glanced over at the human who lay sleeping on the other side of the campfire which they had built the night before. The humans name was Mikhail, and he was Brinsop's best friend. Brinsop and Mikhail had been close friends since they were young. Brinsop could remember a time when Mikhail was just a child, and both of them running and playing in the snow. Brinsop would try to hide from Mikhail, and Mikhail would try to find him. They both knew they could never let anyone know of their friendship, because both human and dragon society had forbidden human and dragon friendships.
As the years went by both Brinsop and Mikhail had grown into powerful warriors in their respected societies. They still remained close friends, and even snuck out to meet each other and talk about their everyday doings. However, one night Mikhail was followed out of his town by one of the Dukes guards. The guard followed Mikhail to his secret meeting place with Brinsop, and upon seeing the two conversing the guard ran all the way back to the village and alerted the duke. The duke was furious and ordered the guards to arrest Mikhail when he returned to the village. Sure enough as the morning sun started to rise over the snow covered mountain tops the next morning Mikhail returned to the village and was surprised when a contingent of troops awaited his arrival. He was promptly arrested and thrown into the duke's dungeon and charged with treason.
Several nights had passed since Brinsop and Mikhail had last spoken, and Brinsop began to worry about his friend. Night after night he showed up at their secret location and Mikhail never did. "What could he be doing," thought Brinsop to himself. Finally after four nights Brinsop decided that he would go and investigate the village to see if he could find anything on Mikhail. Brinsop stuck mostly in the woods, avoiding the roads leading into the village so as not to draw attention to himself, and swiftly made his way to Mikhail's village. As he drew nearer to the gates he could hear shouting coming from inside. He could barely make out some of the shouts that the people were chanting. One of the words was "traitor". Try as he might though he could not see over the walls and into the village. "Looks like I'll have fly over the village for a better look," Brinsop thought and immediately took off into the sky. As he flew over the village he could make out a large group of people in the center of town. He could also make out the wooden gallows that they were all standing in front of. Dragons did not use gallows, but Brinsop knew what they were from his talks with Mikhail. Mikhail described them as a place where criminals and were executed. Brinsop looked down and sure enough there was a man standing in the center of the platform with his hands bound behind him and a rope tied around his neck. Brinsop felt a moment of pity for the human, but as he got a closer look that pity turned to horror.
The man about to be put to death was Mikhail. Brinsop knew instantly that somehow the people of Mikhail's village had found out about their friendship, and that is why he was in this situation. Without thinking Brinsop pulled in his wings and began a very rapid descent on the village. He could see the executioner reaching for the handle to send Mikhail to his fate. Brinsop had to act fast, and let out a roar that shook the very earth. Every human in the village square looked up and saw the mighty dragon descending upon them and began to scream and run in terror. The executioner pulled his hand away from the lever and began to run in fear as the dragon descended upon the village. Just as it seemed Brinsop may crash into the earth he opened his wings with a loud crack. Brinsop landed hard causing a small crater in the middle of the road. Quickly he made his way to Mikhail and released him. Then after placing Mikhail on his back quickly took off into the air as the guards began to fire arrows towards them.
Brinsop flew for many hours, and as night fell he knew he had to find a place to land. He spotted a small clearing amongst the trees and set Mikhail and himself down gently. Mikhail had been quiet for most of the journey. Brinsop understood how hard it must've been on him to have the people that he cared about and protected turn on him just because he was friends with a dragon. Brinsop also knew he should say something, but could not find the right words to say. "I am sorry," Brinsop finally said. "For what," replied Mikhail. "For causing you trouble. This happened because you are my friend. If I wasn't your friend, then you would still be able to live in your village without fear." Upon hearing this Mikhail stood up and walked over to his friend and placed his hand upon his leg. "If you wasn't my friend," replied Mikhail. "Then I would've been dead years ago. None of this is your fault Brinsop. In a way it's my fault for not checking to make sure I wasn't followed. Besides it's not me I'm worried about; it's you." Brinsop looked over at Mikhail with curiosity. "Why are you worried about me," he asked? "Because you are no longer able to return to your clan. I know that you were a well respected warrior within your clan, and you gave all that up to save me. Why," asked Mikhail? Brinsop thought about this for a moment, then he replied, "because you are my only true friend. My friends within the clan are my friends because of my standing. They don't actually know anything about me personally, and I don't think they even really care. They are only my friends because they think they will get something out of being my friend. So I decided that I was going to leave my clan, and I was going to discuss my plan with you the first night you didn't show up. So this doesn't really trouble me any. I got to leave my clan like I wanted, and I am starting a new adventure with my best friend. What more can I ask for." Mikhail smiled as Brinsop finished speaking. "Well for what it's worth thank you for saving me. I'm glad that we've been friends all these years." "Me too," replied Brinsop. With that the two friends set off to building their campfire and prepare for the night. Both knew that their old lives were behind them now, and that new adventures awaited them. Neither knew what to expect from the days ahead of them, but they did know that no matter what challenges awaited they would face them together.