Since they were no longer to be persecuted, and indeed enjoyed a certain degree of protection from the king, it was only right that they should contribute to the running of the state in the form of tithes. Recording dragon numbers, their ages and status was the obvious first step in this bureaucratic process. It was to be a mammoth undertaking. The work was shared out between the three orders and took almost fifty years to complete. This is not because the Hafod and Hendry were awash with dragons, quite the opposite. So few remained, and they had grown so adept at hiding, that finding them proved almost impossible. Dragon’s Tales by Fr Charmoise The sun hung low in the afternoon sky, pale and cold. The ground was wet with recent rain and the trees dripped heavy spots from their bare branches, filling the forest with a quiet roar. Overhead, the last few clouds were drifting away on a falling breeze. The earlier storm had blown itself out and now the world felt fresh and clean and new.
