I awoke in the morning to the crash of a tree. I instantly jumped to my feet and reached for my sword, but it was missing. Why had I been dumb enough to drop it yesterday? I looked over to the source of the noise where I saw a ball of black and gray scales twisting and jerking violently. After a moment I noticed the golden scales amidst the black ones and could recognize Streak's claws digging into the gray scales. An instant later the gray dragon rose its head up, mouth open wide. Streak replied by baring his fangs. The two dragons snapped at one another.
As the two dragons tried to tear into one another I started to look. At last my eyes fell on a thin, pointed stone. Not a sword or even a knife to be sure, but it would have to suffice. Perhaps I would keep my goal of killing a dragon after all. I dashed over to get the rock, then charged towards the two dragons. They were both too distracted to see me coming, and by the time they noticed it was too late. I plunged the stone into the gray dragon's side, right between the scales. Its pupils shrunk as its shriek rang in my ears. Then a second later the dragon looked straight at me and opened its mouth. I could feel its hot dry breath, and I knew what was coming. Flinging my body to the side got me out of the way of its fire breath for the moment, but that was merely the beginning for the brute. My foot pushed against the ground so hard that I nearly fell over, but I caught myself with the other foot and took off.
The gray dragon was immediately behind me, roaring and blowing fire into the air as it charged toward. me. Meanwhile I headed straight for the lake, just praying that the beast was hydrophobic. From how close the growling was behind me though, it seemed I wouldn't get the opportunity to find out. Getting to the edge of the beach I could feel the heat of the dragon's breath on my neck, and I knew I couldn't make it. I shut my eyes and ran just a bit faster, my heart feeling as though it were about ready to burst inside my chest.
My feet hit the water before I knew it was there, and suddenly there was another roar behind me. I finally stopped knee-deep in the water to see what had happened where I found Streak with his jaw clamped down on the other dragon's back. The gray dragon threw him off and turned back to me, little realizing that it had only given Streak the chance to ram himself into its head. The gray dragon fell over, and Streak landed proudly in front of his victory. He then walked over to me and lowered himself down--apparently we had some more flying to do.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Lindwell's Hero (Part IIV)
The view from the sky was absolutely breathtaking, so much so that for the first time in three years I didn't find my mind returning to my parents or the mess they had left me in. Instead I was stunned by the view of rivers and lakes, silver and gold, lining the valley of dragons. All this only seemed to complement the view of dragons below, their scales shimmering in the late-afternoon sun. The scenery was lush and green, greener than anything I had ever seen before. It was as though this dragon was trying to show me just how pure and good dragons could be, and thus far it was working.
At length we started our descent. The valley had come to a close. Our trajectory would not put us anywhere in the valley of dragons. Instead the black dragon had chosen a densely forested spot just to the side of the valley, which was itself encircled by mountains. We came down at the only open spot amidst the mountains on the shore of a pearly-blue lake. The landing was surprisingly soft, and once the dragon's claws were resting on the sand it lowered itself to let me off. I swung my leg over before sliding off the dragon. Upon finding I was off its back the dragon then stretched out its wings and flew up.
"Oh, is that what you wanted to do?" I asked, suddenly irritated again. Now I had just been tricked by the dragons, abandoned with probably a week or more's journey to get back to Lindwell, assuming I could even make it there. Before I could take my grumbling much further though I heard a splash come from the middle of the lake. Looking over I saw the black dragon soaring just a short distance away, its mouth full of fish. The dragon came back over, its mouth half shut to form an awkward smile--like a crocodile, I thought.
The dragon landed beside me, emptying the contents of its mouth on the beach in front of me. I winced at the putrid sight--I was fine with sea food, but the thought of it coming out of a dragon's mouth was disgusting. Still, my choices were limited. I picked through the pile of fish and chose out the two that looked like they had had the least amount of contact with the dragon's mouth. Next I headed into the forest, looking for some dry branches to start a fire with. The sun was beginning to set and it was sure to be chilly.
It didn't take long to gather enough wood for what I needed--the forest was virtually untouched, so anything that fell on the ground was just left there. With a bit of coaxing the dragon even lit the fire for me, and after I got together a pile of leaves and promptly started falling asleep as the adrenaline left my body, the dragon close beside me. "We need to find a name for you, I guess," I said through a yawn, "I was thinking Streak, what do you think?"
I didn't notice the dragon's reaction--I was asleep almost as soon as the words left my mouth. All in all the day had turned out well. Little did I realize as I lay there in that forest that our presence there had not gone unnoticed.
At length we started our descent. The valley had come to a close. Our trajectory would not put us anywhere in the valley of dragons. Instead the black dragon had chosen a densely forested spot just to the side of the valley, which was itself encircled by mountains. We came down at the only open spot amidst the mountains on the shore of a pearly-blue lake. The landing was surprisingly soft, and once the dragon's claws were resting on the sand it lowered itself to let me off. I swung my leg over before sliding off the dragon. Upon finding I was off its back the dragon then stretched out its wings and flew up.
"Oh, is that what you wanted to do?" I asked, suddenly irritated again. Now I had just been tricked by the dragons, abandoned with probably a week or more's journey to get back to Lindwell, assuming I could even make it there. Before I could take my grumbling much further though I heard a splash come from the middle of the lake. Looking over I saw the black dragon soaring just a short distance away, its mouth full of fish. The dragon came back over, its mouth half shut to form an awkward smile--like a crocodile, I thought.
The dragon landed beside me, emptying the contents of its mouth on the beach in front of me. I winced at the putrid sight--I was fine with sea food, but the thought of it coming out of a dragon's mouth was disgusting. Still, my choices were limited. I picked through the pile of fish and chose out the two that looked like they had had the least amount of contact with the dragon's mouth. Next I headed into the forest, looking for some dry branches to start a fire with. The sun was beginning to set and it was sure to be chilly.
It didn't take long to gather enough wood for what I needed--the forest was virtually untouched, so anything that fell on the ground was just left there. With a bit of coaxing the dragon even lit the fire for me, and after I got together a pile of leaves and promptly started falling asleep as the adrenaline left my body, the dragon close beside me. "We need to find a name for you, I guess," I said through a yawn, "I was thinking Streak, what do you think?"
I didn't notice the dragon's reaction--I was asleep almost as soon as the words left my mouth. All in all the day had turned out well. Little did I realize as I lay there in that forest that our presence there had not gone unnoticed.
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