Garlic Knots

Chapter 12: Dragon Banishment

The worst part was, the council wasn’t even mad, they were “just disappointed.” The council expected my “little human experiment” to end poorly, so now it was just a matter of wrapping up loose ends, like me, and my broken soul. Luckily dragons didn’t give their own the death sentence. Looks like banishment will be the order of the day.

Banishment was indeed the punishment given to Gregory. He was removed from the council and tasked with cleaning up his mess for the next 400 years. That meant he would be living in that same village, using a different human form of course, and infiltrating their dragon talks to subtly lead them astray. The council wants him to keep an eye on the area to make sure no further dragon knowledge or secrets were leaked by the horrible pair of soul crushing betrayers that shall not be named. (Gregory was obviously still hurting.)

Gregory was determined to keep his head down for his punishment and then return to the dragon council wiser and more capable than ever. He would be the best banished dragon ever. First order of business, establish a need for himself so the villagers don’t kick him out.The council was concerned the villagers would find out the dragons killed Dick and Jezebel and seek retribution of some sort, so Gregory had to keep an eye out for that too. Basically, he was their new babysitter. For the next 400 years. Woohoo.

Maybe the village would feel the need to keep a “dragon spotter” around if he spread some careful rumors of dragon sightings. Humans were interesting in that it only took a decade or so before a practice became normal, even expected. If he could create a need for a dragon spotter three times in the next ten years, his position would be solidified. Luckily he had a few dragon allies that would help him establish just such a need, despite his very recent fall from grace.

He set up a different dragon to come “admire” the maidens in the square, washing their clothes each day. Then he, as the aspiring “dragon spotter” would raise the alarm with the villagers. After he spread the word that dragons are attracted to beautiful things, he would help guide them to building a statue, a dragon magnet, if you will. Everything went perfectly and the villagers were more convinced than ever that his role as “dragon spotter” was not only necessary, they couldn’t remember not having one around.

The only unfortunate consequence of his involvement was that the statue they built of a beautiful maiden looked almost exactly like Jezebel, that wench. But it appears, you can’t erase love from your memories, and Gregory still remembered Jezebel as the most beautiful human he had ever seen. The villagers, fortunately, didn’t make the connection and were none the wiser. Gregory then slipped into the background in more of a storytelling position in the village.

One hundred years passed. Gregory was living out his banishment as best as he could. His heart was beginning to heal and he was once again finding joy in human creation and ingenuity. He would live amongst the humans for ten years or so, then disappear for a few years, then come back looking a little bit older. After about 50 years, he came back looking young again and said that his father had told him about this idyllic village and he had always wanted to come see it for himself. Of course, the villagers were flattered and they accepted his story without too much investigation.

Second generation Gregory thought it might be time to stir up the villagers a little bit so he sent word to an old dragon buddy and they concocted a plan. The dragon would come and terrorize a few sheep while Gregory, the oh-so-valuable dragon spotter, would run and warn the villagers. And finally, the pièce de résistance, Gregory would bravely scare the dragon away, saving the sheep and villagers and earning their respect and admiration for another generation. All went according to plan, until the very end, That obstinate sheep was just too dang brave. Gregory didn’t look nearly as brave after a sheep had managed to stare down his dragon! Alas, Gregory tried to cut his losses and turned it into a most compelling story to add to his repertoire. If they didn’t need him as a dragon spotter, at least he was turning into a mighty fine dragon storyteller.

Gregory was pleased with his efforts. His banishment wasn’t nearly as trying as he thought it would be, and he had even made friends with the local baker who called him over whenever he was trying new recipes. Gregory was very pleased with the baker’s latest experiment, and you will be too! These garlic knots are, in a word, lovely.