Speaker 1: Hello, friends from across the nation and around the world.
I'm Martin, and you are listening to Dad's Bedtime Stories,
of the podcast that takes listener ideas and turns them
into bedtime stories. Tonight, we're finally headed back into the
Dragon Knights universe, a place we haven't been in a
while because, I guess mostly because there's just a bunch
of stories I wanted to do, and I was waiting
on somebody to give me a really good Nature Dragon
General suggestion, and I finally got it, so let's check
it out.
Speaker 2: Him Martin, It's Roan from rised Bridge, Ontario, Canada, and
I have nice inner stories for the Dragon Knights series.
For the Nature Dragon General's backstory, I think it's good.
If like, there was a girl named Vine. She got
lost in the forest when she was really little, and
she found a cave and a ventured inside where she
found a small dragon. The dragon name was Bloom. The
Bloom could make anything grow anytime or anywhere. Bloom protected, fed,
and cared for Vine until her family found her. The
connection was strong, that was no doubt. Years later, the
Dragon King attacked Vine's village, capturing Bloom. Vine pretended she
was not a Dragon Master Dragon Knight to be part
of the dragonon King's army with Bloom by her side.
But thanks, I love your podcast.
Speaker 1: By great suggestion from Rowan, who is also one of
my Patreon's sponsors, and it fits really well with another
Nature Dragon general suggestion I got from Millie who did
the Water Dragon general suggestion, so I think I can
fit this all together. Other than I did have to
talk to Rowan about changing the name of the main
character because Vine is already the name of the Nature
Dragon of the series, and she agreed that Violet would
be fine, so that's what we're gonna go with today.
I'd also like to give a big shout out to
Ibrahim who wrote in to see if I was gonna
continue this series at all, so that gave me a
bit of a kick in the pants to start. Anyways,
I spent a good amount of time putting all of
those ideas together into what I think makes sense for
the series, and I hope you guys like it, because
now it's that time again, after a possible word from
a possible sponsor, close your eyes, get as comfy as
you can in that bed, and well imagine yourself doing
what the dragon Jim General in the story does. Before
Violet was ever called the Nature Dragon General, and before
she stood beside the Dragon King with a silent nature
dragon under her command, and before anyone believed she'd betrayed
everything she once loved, she was just a little girl
lost in the woods. The forest where Violet grew up
was no ordinary forest. It was old, older than most villages,
older than most roads, older than anyone's great grandmother's great grandmother,
which is generally considered quite old by anyone listening. Violet
loved it. Her parents, however, loved it a little less.
When Violet wandered off too far into the woods stayed
near the bath. Her mother would say, don't follow strange noises,
her father would add, and Violet always, you know, meant
to listen. She really did. But one afternoon, when she
was still very young, she heard a sound between the trees.
It wasn't a voice exactly, It wasn't really music, but
it was something kind of between the two, almost like
the roots were humming beneath the ground. She stopped picking
berries and looked deeper into the woods. The sound was
calling to her.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: In her defense, most children would probably have ignored a
mysterious forest sound, but Violet was not most children, and
this sound had something special. It really felt like it
was talking to her, so she followed it. At first,
she only went a little bit off the path, but
then she went a little more and a little more,
and before long she'd completely left the path and well
lost all track of where she was going. But she
continued to follow the sound until her legs ached. The
rain soon began to fall, and Violet ran for shelter,
pushing through wet ferns and thick vines until she failed
a rocky hill almost completely hidden by roots, and there,
tucked behind hanging moss was a cave. She hesitated for
a moment before stepping inside, but luckily the cave was dry,
at least near the entrance. As she continued to move
deeper into the cave, she noticed that the walls weren't
rough like a normal cave. They were smooth, carved with
patterns of leaves, branches, and roots. This isn't just a cave,
she whispered, Somebody made this place. A soft green glow
answered from deep inside, and for some strange, inexplicable reason,
Violet continued towards it. The tunnel opened into a round chamber,
and sitting in the center of it was an egg,
a really big egg. It was green and gold, with
little vine like lines growing on its shell. Violet stared
at it. She knew what it was before anyone told her.
Everyone knew stories of dragon egg, even if most people
never expected to see one. Dragons were real in her world.
After all. Dragon knights were real too, but they belonged
to the strongholds, legends, and important people, not people like Violet. Nonetheless,
Violet stepped closer, and the egg pulsed with light. Something
inside her chest pulled back too. She reached out and
touched the shell. At that instant, the egg cracked. Green
light filled the chamber. The shell split apart, and from
inside a little, tiny dragonling with bright green scales climbed out.
It blinked in Violet, and Violet blinked back. You know,
very small, the dragon said. Violet gasped. You can you
can talk? Of course, I can talk, the dragon replied,
I am a dragon talking as one of the easier
things to do. Violet stared for another second. I'm lost,
she said. The dragon ling tilted her head.
Speaker 3: I know.
Speaker 1: You know, yes, I could feel you coming. You followed
the roots. I followed a sound, she said. That was
the roots, the dragon said, or the earth, or or me.
It's hard to tell. Everything's connected. Violet didn't understand that yet,
but the words settled in her chest like something very important.
The dragon ling stepped closer. My name is Bloom, she said,
and you are my dragon night. Violet looked behind herself,
just in case there was like another person standing there
or something, but there.
Speaker 3: Was no one.
Speaker 4: Me.
Speaker 1: Yes, Bloom said you. Then a light burst between them.
It was a warm light. It felt like sunlight shining
through leaves. It felt good as it hit her, and
suddenly she felt something else. She felt the dragon's heart
beat beside her own. She felt the roots of the cave,
the moss on the stone. For one impossible moment, she
felt everything living around her as if well as if
it were all par of the same, well the same her.
Then the light faded. Violet looked down at her arms
and legs and saw that she was covered in armor. Armor.
She recognized armor she'd seen pictures of before and story
books Nature dragon knight armor, and at her side was
a natured dragon Knight's sword. I'm really a dragon knight now,
she asked, Yep, you sure are, and I'm hungry. Violet
looked around the cave, Well what do you eat? Bloom
sniffed the air and crawled around. Then she opened her
mouth and took a bite out of a thick green vine. Plants,
Bloom said, life, sunlight, stored in leaves, water stored in fruit, roots, vines, flowers, seeds,
It's all really good to me. Over the next few days,
Violet and Bloom stayed near the cave. Bloom eight and
Violet learned a bit about her powers. She learned how
to call and dismiss her dragon knight armor, how to
use her sword and shield, and she learned a little
bit about her connection to the earth itself from Bloom.
Of course. At the same time, Violet's parents searched desperately
for her. The whole village searched, but the forest was
deep and the rain had washed away her tracks. Bloom
took care of her. She grew berries from empty soil.
She curled vines into a soft bed. She made giant
leaves bend together into a roof, and when Violet was
sad at night time, Bloom curled around her like a
warm blanket. You'll see them again soon, Bloom promised. How
do you know, Violet asked, the forest brought you to me.
I will not keep you from them forever. Soon I
will be big enough to fly. They will be easy
to find after that. And Bloom was right. She grew
quickly as dragons did. Every day she ate leaves, roots,
and flowers, and every day she became stronger and larger.
Soon she was large enough for Violet to ride through
the forest, though not quite large enough to fly yet.
Together they started to wander further from the cave, and
Bloom tught Violet about her nature magic. How to listen
to the plants, how to listen to the animals, how
to listen to the forest itself, and how to control it,
how to ask it to do what you wanted it
to do. By the time Bloom was large enough to fly,
Violet was one with the forest. She was no longer
afraid of it. She felt like she belonged to it
and in it. One morning, Bloom lowered herself beside the cave.
I think it's time, she said, so Violet climbed onto
her back, holding on tight as Bloom ran through the
trees and leapt into the air, spreading her wings and
pulling the two of them higher and higher until they
were well above the green canopy. Violets saw the forest
from above for the first time. It stretched forever in
every direction, rolling like an ancient ocean of leaves. Blooms
circled once and then well. She followed a poll that
only she seemed to understand. Less than a half hour later,
they landed in a clearing near Violet's village. Violet's mother
saw her first. She dropped the basket she was carrying,
and she screamed Violet's name as she ran to ward.
There were tears, of course, and there were hugs, and
there were questions, and there was also a lot of
staring at Bloom. Words spread quickly. A child had returned
from the deep forest riding a nature dragon. A message,
of course, was sent to the Nature dragon knights. They
would want to know about this. Three days later they came.
They came from the jungle region, where these strongest nature
dragons and their riders trained among the enormous trees and
ancient sacred groves. Their armor gleamed green, their dragons moved
like living forests, and they examined bloom, they examined Violet,
and they bowed a true bond. Their leader said, the
dragon has chosen. Violet's parents didn't want to lose her again,
but the Nature Dragons explained that Violet needed training not
because she was being taken from her family, but because
the bond she carried was powerful and sacred. She was
bound for better and more important things, And so Violet
went to the Jungle Region. She grew up there among
the Nature dragon Knights and the Nature Dragons. The Jungle
region was even wilder than the forest of her childhood.
Trees rose up higher than she'd ever seen, rivers curved
through glowing flowers, and in the center of it was
the Nature Dragon's Stronghold, an entire village that was sort
of wound together out of tree branches, roots, and vines.
Food grew everywhere, and it was incredibly peaceful, at least
most of the time. Violet trained, learned how to make
plants grow from the ground. She learned how to command
vines in battle, how to form her shield using her
dragon Knight armor, how to grow fruit instantly, and even
how to heal things. Trees, people animals. It was an
advanced technique, but one that many seasoned dragon knights learned.
If they could command plant cells, they could also command
animal cells to heal. Once they saw the connection between
all living things anyways, her trainers soon learned that Violet
saw that connection. She saw it almost better than anyone else.
Violet became powerful. In fact, she became magnificent. She became
one of the strongest natured dragon knights the world had
ever seen. Together with Bloom, they could grow forests and minutes.
They could command plants to move like waves. They could
speak to animals across the jungle and call for their help.
But on top of that, Violet had another gift, one
that made even the oldest dragon knights whisper, one that
came only once in every generation. She could speak to
the Earth itself, not the earth the way earth dragons
felt it as like stone and stuff. Violet could feel
the life inside it. She heard the threads that connected it,
the connections between every growing thing, every creature, every breath.
When she stood barefoot and sacred soil and closed her eyes,
she could feel the whole jungle breathing, and then the
whole world. Sometimes it guided her. Sometimes it warned her,
and sometimes it showed her things she did not want
to see. When the first word came of the dragon Thief,
many knights dismissed him as a dangerous wizard and nothing more.
And then darker news came, news that some elemental dragons
had fallen to this dragon thief. Violet went alone to
the most sacred place in the Jungle region, a circle
of ancient trees so old that even dragons lowered their
voices among them. She knelt in the center and pressed
both hands into the ground. Show me, she whispered, and
the earth answered. Violets saw fire, She saw dragons with
empty eyes. She saw water turned to ice and ice
shattered by flame. She saw nature burning. She saw riders
running away as their own dragons turned against them. And
then she saw something else too. She saw hope. She
saw eggs, hidden eggs, a future generation of eggs, children
finding dragons in caves and mountains and swamps and storms,
just as she had, true dragon knights rising when the
world had almost forgotten them. Violet opened her eyes with
tears on her face. She had been shown the path
to balance, and she hated it because the path didn't
show victory. Now it showed survival, preparation, waiting betrayal. But
it was the only path, so Violet began to follow it. First,
she called a secret meeting of the dragon Knights Sect Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Nature,
and the remaining elemental dragon Knights. They all sent leaders.
She stood before them in the Jungle Temple and told
them only part of the truth. The world is changing,
she said. The dragon Thief is doing something we do
not understand. If we fall, the future must not fall
with us. Each sect must hide one egg, one egg
of each kind, protected by distance, in secrecy, waiting for
a rider not yet born or not yet ready. Some argued,
some believed it was cowardice. Some believed that the dragon
Knites could never possibly fall. Violet didn't tell them what
the Earth had shown her. She didn't tell them that
their battle was destined to fail. She only said that
hope is not cowardice. The seas must be planted just
in case, And in the end they listened. They hid
their eggs one by one. The future was planted in secret.
Then the war came for the dragon Knights. By then,
the Fire dragons had fallen, the Water Stronghold had gone
and even some of the earth dragons that were found
in the mines with the fire dragons had been turned
by the Dragon Thief's army. Violet knew the attack was
coming before the scouts did. She felt it in the roots.
The Nature dragon Knights prepared to fight well. Violet prepared
to disappear. She removed her armor with a simple thought,
and she dressed in the clothes of a servant. She
even rubbed a little bit of dirt on her face
to sell the whole thing. Blooms stared at her. No,
Bloom said yes, Violet insisted, you know they will take me.
We both know they'll take you. We know they have to.
You're right, Bloom said, and you will have to let
them for a while. Violet responded a long while. The
battle began at dawn. Fire dragons burned the edge of
the jungle. Flames raced up ancient trunks. Water dragons froze
defenders in place, trapping wings in armor and ice, and
Earth dragons ripped trenches through root systems, shadow living walls,
and sending stones firing at Nature dragon knights. The Nature
Dragons and their knights fought with everything they had. The
Jungle itself rose to defend them. Vines grabbed riders, trees
bent to block fire, roots pulled dragons from the sky,
but the dragon Thief's control spell moved like poison. One
by one, nature dragon stiffened and turned. Then Bloom was taken.
Violet felt the bond vanish not break exactly, but well,
it was blocked, buried beneath something, something else. Bloom's eyes
went empty, and Violet nearly screamed, but instead she lowered
her head and kept carrying water buckets like a terrified servant.
When the fortress fell, the dragon Thief offered the survivors
a choice swear loyalty or be taken prisoner. Many refused.
Violet stepped forward and bowed, I will serve.
Speaker 3: She said.
Speaker 1: The dragon Thief barely looked at her at first, but
Violet joined the army as one of the many survivors.
She was quiet, obedient, but very very powerful. When her
first training match came, a soldier twice her size laughed
when she stepped into the ring. He stopped laughing when
Violet put him on the ground in about three seconds.
The next one lasted five, and the next almost ten.
Violet had trained as a dragon Knight, and even without
Bloom's power flowing through her, she knew how to move,
how to balance, how to strategize, and how to fight.
The Dragon King noticed, bring her forward, he said, after
the first tournament. Violet bowed low. You fought well, he said,
for a servant. Thank you, your majesty. Violet replied, So
you served the dragon knights, Violet led, bitterness enter her face.
Not too much, just enough. I served under them, she said,
like many did. His eyes sharpened, and you loved them,
Violet laughed softly, No, your majesty, they loved themselves enough
for everyone. Always speaking of balance, always acting as if
growing trees made them wiser than those who grew food
or carried water. They're holier than now. Speeches became rather tiring,
if I'm honest, The dragon King smiled, So you were
glad that I came a Violet bowed deeper. I'm glad
someone finally reminded them that power doesn't belong only to
those born with their precious connections to dragons. That was
the lie that saved her, or well, maybe doomed her,
depending on now you look at it. The Dragon King
believed it. I believe you'll make a very good servant.
You may choose a dragon. Violet walked among the captured dragons.
She pretended to study them carefully. She paused beside Bloom
only after looking at several others. Violet laid a hand
against her scales and felt the buried bond tremble beneath
the spell. This one, Violet said. The Dragon King nodded,
Then you shall command it. The false connection was placed
in Violet's mind. It felt horrible wrong, but through it,
Bloom lifted her head. Violets swallowed her pain and climbed
onto the dragon's back. From that day forward, Violet rose quickly.
She could no longer call on Bloom's power through a
true bond, but she knew nature dragons better than anyone
in the Dragon King's army. She knew how to use vines, rudes, spores, flowers,
and forests as weapons. She helped defeat the remaining Earth
stronghold after the Water Dragon General's plan weakened them. She
helped take the Air Dragon's stronghold, growing forests of vines
into the sky itself and forcing wind dragons into predictable paths.
She became the Natured Dragon General and everyone believed she'd
betrayed the old ways. Sometimes, alone at night, Violet would
sit beside Bloom and place one hand against the earth.
She couldn't hear it like she did before, but she
could still feel whispers. She knew that somewhere out there
there were children who were not yet ready, eggs that
were not yet hatched, and knights that had not yet gathered.
So she waited. She waded through years of serving a
king she hated. She waited while people feared her name.
She waited beside a dragon who could not speak back.
Because someday the true dragon Knights would rise again, and
when they did, they would need someone inside the Dragon
King's army. They would need someone who knew what she knew,
someone who remembered the old ways. So she waited, and
eventually she got word that her waiting was not in vain,
that a new group of children had hatched a new
group of eggs. They'd taken over the Fire Dragon Stronghold,
the Water Dragon Stronghold, and next they were coming for her.
She went to bed, knowing that it was time, knowing
that she would wait no longer.
Speaker 3: Good Night, everyone, Nevernon m.
Speaker 4: N new Yor n n no mom thing, more mo
M one, one mo
Speaker 2: M