Bound

The looming beast was a bulging mass of muscle and granite skin. It let out a rattling, guttural snarl and pawed stubbornly at the soft earth beneath its massive feet. Dust clouds puffed into the air as the monster snapped its enormous jaw once, twice. It stared down at Hera with black glassy eyes.  

She stared right back up at it, shoulders tense, fists clenched.

"Cut it out, Pup," she demanded. "You know we don't have time for this."

The creature growled again- a sound so deep and resonant that it caused the ground to quiver. Hera stepped forward, placed her palm on coarse, gray flesh and ran her hand down the white scar running down Pup's leg.

At this, Pup's posture relaxed slightly and it lowered its head a bit, though not low enough to allow Hera to mount it.

"A little lower, Puppy. Come on... That's it, good boy."

She took hold of the thick brown saddle wound around Pup's neck and hauled herself atop his massive head, pleased to see that the task took up much less effort than when she had first taken Pup in several months before.

It was a neglected, wild animal that knew nothing about humans. She was a lonely, wandering girl who knew nothing about dragons. But somehow, to the bewilderment of all the other villagers in the forest in which she lived, she tamed Pup in all the ways that the others could not. She would not rest until she had achieved the goal of making Pup her protector, her guardian- Her friend.

Now that they were finally inseparable, her task was a new one.

Hera lurched from side to side, holding onto the saddle firmly as Pup lumbered through jade hills and scattered patches of vivid flowers. Deeper into their journey, he stopped at a gurgling, crystal stream to get a drink of water. Hera pulled her fire red hair into a bun and opened her satchel.  

The bronze disc in her hands glinted in the sunlight. On it was a series of lines and symbols crossing over one another, curling and rounding out into rungs on the disc. She tilted it and rotated it as if it would help her decipher the foreign lettering. She didn't know what it said, but she did know what it was- and most importantly, who it belonged to.