A one-shot un-edited story I quickly typed up the other night. I dont expect great reviews at all... thankyou.

Never again would they dare call me insane. It was only a matter of time before I showed them, and when I did they would pay for defeating my pride. It was only the other day when I had revealed my masterpiece, a plan which would defeat the opposing warriors once and for all. And believe me, we needed a plan, one that would drive them out of our lands for good, and that would finally bring us peace.

Our land was a prosperous place, the gentle rolling hills leading way to the oceans cape, where fisheries were placed to recover the good catch. We had a few villages scattered among the grassy mounds, each with its own well known trade and businesses. I had lived here for many years, in one small village that had been called Carnation, after its many flowers of the same name. My father was a noble knight to the King, and under his command, the man led soldiers to war ever since I was a youngster. Now, I was a young, reckless apprentice, age of 17, who had just been named insane by the same army.

They had laughed and said, "Have a dragon fight for us? The beast of ashes can never be tamed, everyone knows that." I believed otherwise. I had seen the great monster gliding above the hills, seeming at utmost peace and gentle, nothing like its fiery nature was said to be. But it seemed that only I had witnessed its harmony, others watched it burn down countless villages with its ghastly breath. To be unable to tame the beast was probably true, but perhaps I could make a deal, those were my true thoughts. In order for it to fight for us, we had to offer it something of the same value. It would be hard, but I was sure there was something…

My trek down to the battlegrounds wasn't exactly pleasant, and as I stepped down onto the dry, barren ground the wind swept up dust into my roan hair. My mother said I'd never have a body fit for travelling, and her words seemed to fit me correctly, for my joints were aching from the long walk over the hills.

Looking about the land, I saw nothing but bones of long gone warriors, and even a small animal that had been trampled by charging soldiers. It was horrible, the war, a fight between nothing. Old feuds over trade and land that never seemed to disappear from the world, and I wanted to stop them. Now, the grey dirt lay out before me, I thought for a moment that maybe they were right. Maybe I was truly insane…

But the gruff voice that I had heard behind me in that moment changed my mind immediately. I turned, the great dragon standing before me, at last three times the size of the tallest man in the village. Its long horns were cracked; one even had the tip broken off. I assumed it was from past battles with other beasts, for the monster also had scars along its sides.

"I saw you watching me… you weren't afraid." The dragon's piercing yellow eyes stared down at me, sending shivers down my spine.

I frowned, trying not to look intimidated, "I need to ask you a favor." The beast snorted at that, lowering its head so we were eye to eye.

"And why would I do anything for such a pathetic creature? Especially a human…" The smell of ashes drifted into my nose as the dragon spoke, its teeth still sharp after its long life-time.

I backed up slightly knowing that this wouldn't be easy. The dragon could eat me right then and there, no questions asked. "I want to propose a deal. If you fight for us, in the war…"

"If I did such a thing my pride would fall… crash down to the earth like my father who was killed by your pathetic army." That surprised me; I had never known that the once well feared black dragon was this one's family. And I had never knows that such a vile beast cared whether its kin died or not.

"I know… why should a wyrm like me care? All dragons are violent, nasty creatures with no hearts to love with, am I right?" The dragon growled, swinging its huge tail and knocking a bundle of bones into the distance. "But that never stopped you; you came because you felt something, something else besides the ashes."

It spoke true. As I had watched the beast flying countless times before, I knew there was more to a dragon than the flames and the claws. I nodded, watching a smile appear on he beasts face, something no one had witnessed before.

"I will help you, and together, we both can show that there's more to us than they think." The dragon had lifted its wings, their translucent membrane shining with the sunlight. I grinned, and climbed atop the monster's back, hanging on tightly to its sharp spines.

As we flew off together, towards the villages, I knew now that I was never insane. The others were the insane ones, for judgment is the fear of reality. And they feared to get to know the true nature of our local dragon, who just wanted someone to understand him, to realize that he after all had a heart.