The Elf and the Dragon: Immortal Thoughts

Hymeria woke shivering, she gazed around their campsite and frowned. The fire had died, no wonder she was chilled. She wrapped her cloak closely around herself in an attempt to keep warm. She was not like Galaden, the hunter was used to the wilds beyond the village. Hymeria was no slouch, but she certainly was not used to sleeping out in the cold on the hard ground. There was a low rumbling from behind her and she started as a scaled tail wrapped around her in the night gloom.
“I shall keep you warm.” rumbled Ensfirum comfortingly.
Hymeria was taken aback by the dragon's kindness towards her. What cared he for her comfort? After all, it was merely her life that mattered, not her wellbeing.
“Do not be so quick to judge others mageling.” chided the dragon softly. “You may find yourself less surprised if you let others show themselves rather than casting them as you see them.”
Hymeria swallowed and curled up against the warm flank of the dragon. Thank you. She thought at him.
Ensfirum rumbled wordlessly as his head settled down on the ground before her. Not counting the length of his tail or neck, he was about the size of a horse at the moment. His ability to shift in size had come as something of a surprise to Hymeria if she was honest. She knew of course that the legends spoke of the powers of dragons but to actually see one so easily use powers she could only imagine was still awe inspiring and even made her somewhat envious.
“Magic comes to me naturally girl.” the dragon rumbled. “To your kind it must be learned, though you have more affinity for it than do the bumbling humans and orcs, and certainly more capability than those dwarven clods.”
Hymeria snorted, thinking on the rune magic that the dwarves used. Her master had spoken of it to her, the rune mages' and their unique set of skills for imbuing everyday items with magic. Enchantment he had called it.
“Anyone can write wards of power into a rock.” Ensfirum said dismissively. “Calling that energy from within yourself is far more challenging and requires and affinity and skill not readily found among the dwarves,” he rumbled mirthfully. “Though their methods do have advantages, stamina being one of note.”
Hymeria leaned back and looked up at the night sky through the trees. Her wonder at the universe around her had been what had led her towards magic and her now deceased master and it was that same interest that had driven her to desperation when she'd realized that battling the dead was beyond her limited abilities.
“You are a quaint little thing mageling. To you magic is a riddle to be solved and unraveled.” Ensfirum's golden eye gazed at her piercingly. “To me it is the very air I breathe, the blood coursing through my veins. To me, the world is rich with magic that is there for the taking if one simply looks for it.” he rumbled in what might have been a chuckle. “Perhaps when this is done, I will grant you the vision to see that and perhaps, if such does not kill you, you shall benefit from that vision.”
Hymeria looked down at the dragon questioningly, wondering if it had yet decided on what it would do with itself once all of this had been decided one way or the other.
Ensfirum's body raised and lowered in an exhalation. “You dwell too much on the future girl. Your time is short, your kind no longer benefits from the eternal life and you will die in some number of years that to me is little more than a breath of air. Live your life now, and dwell upon all that might be when you are dead, for then you will have an eternity to do so.”
Hymeria glared at him, not appreciating his dark thoughts though she doubted that he was giving them voice out of maliciousness. To Ensfirum, it was merely a statement of fact that she would live a limited existence that would be snuffed out within a century. She sighed and wondered what she might achieve if her life was as long as her ancestors, the ancient High Elves who had lived for centuries without end until the Twilight had taken everything from them. She wondered what it must have been like for those survivors of the Twilight Wars, when everything had been stripped from them. The very being of the elven people taken away and reduced to ash by those they had once enslaved. She could not imagine the despair they must have felt in those circumstances. Could she have endured under such duress?
“You are stronger than you give yourself credit for elf, do not belittle yourself by glorifying your foolish forebears. They fell because they were weak and inattentive.”
Hymeria's anger flashed as he spoke of her ancestors, as if he was one to talk! It had been her ancestors that had wiped his kind from this world! Which of them was the weaker?
Ensfirum's nostrils flared angrily. “Mind yourself girl, I will not hear you speak ill of my kin. They died because your kind possessed a power beyond ours. Your kin died because they were fools who assumed that their world would never change. It is the height of foolishness to believe that anything in this world is immutable.”
Hymeria returned her gaze to the stars as a thought occurred to her. If she maintained her pact with Ensfirum, she could attain something like immortality. The resurrected dragon's continued existence could prolong her own life as well. As soon as the thought occurred to her she discarded it. She needed Ensfirum's help now to protect her home, how could she justify enslaving him beyond that need for her own gains? She looked down to find Ensfirum's golden gaze fixated on hers ominously.
“If you betray me,” the dragon whispered in a deathly breath. “I will end both our lives, do not think that command of my name will save you from my vengeance. I am no being's pet and will not be enslaved simply to prolong your own existence.”
Hymeria swallowed and nodded her understanding, feeling a fresh chill wrack her body despite the warmth of Ensfirum's body against her back. What would it be like to live forever? She shivered, wrapping her cloak around herself uncertainly as the thought chilled her. Could she truly even fathom what it would mean to live undying in this world?
“No.” Ensfirum rumbled dismissively. “You cannot. Perhaps one day you shall. With luck, you will be wise enough to decide otherwise.”
Hymeria contemplated the dragon's words as she drifted back to sleep amidst the sounds of the forest night around her. Her dreams were filled with the dead and the cleansing fire of Ensfirum's breath.