The artwork used is “Gate Guardian, Sort of” by TomTC, found here: https://www.deviantart.com/tomtc/art/Gate-Guardian-Sort-of-834475510
“An apple?” said the drake, “you think you can just get by the Guardian of the Forest Gate with an apple?”
The girl blinked at the small creature as it raised its head like a snake, clearly trying to look more threatening than it was.
“Well I mean, if you don’t want the apple,” said the girl.
She trailed off and moved to put the delicious treat back in her satchel –
“No! No, wait!” said the drake.
The girl smiled to herself and held up the apple again.
“So you will take it?” she asked.
The drake wrinkled its snout, and its pointed ears twitched.
“Not because it’s a good offering! Only because… I haven’t gotten anything all day,” it said.
“I understand,” said the girl.
She held out the apple, and the drake ate it in one bite like a horse.
A wide, closed-eye grin formed on the drake’s face; it uncurled itself from the tree and slithered closer to the girl.
“That tasted like it came from the orchards in the West,” it said with curious eyes, “why are you so far from home, young one?”
“I have to find my Aunt,” said the girl as she continued down the path.
The drake followed; the girl could feel the breath from its nostrils on her satchel as it sniffed for more apples.
“Why don’t you take one of those horse-pulls?” said the drake.
“Horse-pulls? You mean a carriage?”
“Yes? Err, I mean, yes!”
“I don’t have any coin for one,” said the girl, “I didn’t have time to salvage anything from the fire.”
“Fire?” said the drake.
“It’s a long story.”
The drake stopped sniffing for apples.
“It’s a long way to the next town,” it said, “if my wings were grown in I’d take you there faster than a horse-pull. But until then, you could tell me the story on the way!”
The girl stopped and looked at the drake carefully. It seemed genuinely cheerful about the idea. She shrugged.
“I wouldn’t mind some company,” she said.
The drake made a gurgling noise the girl supposed was a happy one, considering the smile on its face.
“We can trade,” said the drake as they headed on their way, “you tell story, and I will teach you dragon-song!”
The girl chuckled a little.
“That sounds fun,” she said.
Her feet hurt a little bit less with every step as she and the drake made their way down the path.
Check out more of TomTC’s artwork here: https://www.deviantart.com/tomtc
This prompt was found on the subreddit r/writingprompts here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/gwh3vp/ip_gate_guardian_sort_of/
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