Fall, 1295

It was a crisp, brisk fall day and Draco was out in the manor, playing out by the west woods. There the sugar maple leaves had turned bright red and orange and yellow and were slowly descending like snow with each gust of wind. Wearing a scarf given to him by Lady Jane, the little dragon was running too and fro among the leaves, trying to catch them before they hit the ground. As the dragon leaped and dived after the descending foliage Lord Haight came out with a steaming mug of mead and quietly watched the game. A half hour later-having exhausted himself-Draco finally sat down, still looking at the leaves continuously drifting down. One large red leaf fell right on Draco's snout, tickling the little dragon's horn before slipping past and landing onto the ground. As Draco grabbed the foliage, he saw the lord stop and lean down beside him.

“That’s a beautiful leaf, Draco. Maybe we should keep it.”

“Yes!” The little dragon was beaming. "It's mine!"

Lord Haight carefully slipped the leaf into his sagemono on his belt. “I’ll have Lady Jane make a beautiful little pressing for you.”

The little dragon looked up at his master. “Why do the leaves turn red and orange and then fall?”

Lord Haight smiled. “Because the trees need to prepare for winter, Draco.”

“Why do they need to prepare for winter?”

“Because change is hard, my little dragon.”

“Why?”

“That is how the world works." Lord Haight sighed, though he was still smiling. "The tree will need to give up things to survive. We all do. That is the only thing that never changes."

Draco cocked his head sideways, like he always did when Lord Haight began talking random words to himself.

"Huh?"

"We give our sacrifices, and that saves us a bit. But not forever. One day the tree will be gone. One day I will be gone.” Lord Haight continued speaking nonsensically.

“Gone? Why?" The little dragon leaped up and put his forepaws on his master's legs. "What if I don’t want you to go?”

Trying to keep balance, Lord Haight gently pushed the dragon back to the ground, before he took another sip of mead. “Sooner or later, Draco, I’ll have to. You will change as well. One day, you’ll be a big dragon. One day, perhaps you won’t want me around.”

“I’ll always want you around, my lord.”

“Haha. I wish that were true, Draco. But that is change. Things change. People change. The world changes. That’s how the world is. That's the constant.”

Lord Haight took another sip. “Well, I guess there could be one other thing that will stay constant, and when the time comes, I will show it to you.”

That perked Draco's interest. He leaped up, wings fluttering.

“Show me it now!”

Lord Haight patted Draco on his head. “Patience, my little dragon, you won’t appreciate it if I show it to you now.”

“So when?”

“I’ll know. And you’ll know." Lord Haight patted Draco again on the head, before turning back to the manor, giving the dragon a gentle smack on the rump to push him along as well. "Come back in! It’s getting cold and Lady Jane has a warm mug of cider waiting for you. Let the trees do their thing and let us do ours.”

Lord and dragon walked back home, as the autumn foliage continued falling, as they had done since time immortal.

The Delgados-Coming in From the Cold

Cute work from Aseethe ! I've been hoping to commission her for a while and she was kind enough to provide an opening for me.