by LJ Davies
Dardien is real, there's thousands of dragons there. If that's the case, why should I just dismiss the idea of an age-old war and Dark Guardians? I took a deep breath, running a forepaw over my snout as I glanced at the others. They don't have to bear this burden, so what will happen if I tell them?
The worry, the fear, the pain – it would all be a curse upon them, keep them awake and force them to constantly fear everything like me. Torn between decisions, I was unwilling to face the consequences of either outcome and time was running out.
This is my reality now, and eventually reality is going to catch up with me.
Seeking a distraction I paused, returning my watchful eye to the edge of the forest. I tried hard to make out the vague shapes lying deep within the shadows. A light covering of snow aided in my efforts, the white crystals reflecting what little light reached the glistening branches and scattered rocks. While the shadows of the lowest branches danced around, I focused intensely on the gaps between their wooden bases, thankfully the only thing crossing my view were the orange-tinted, puffs of breath rising up from the end of my snout.
No! No falling asleep! My thoughts declared as my eyes began to grow heavy again.
I remained like that for hours, teetering on the edge of consciousness, the fear of monsters in the waking world and the dread of my dreams keeping me in limbo. Before long, I picked up on a smell that stood out, somewhere deep within the forest. Spurred on, I sniffed again, this time raising myself up onto the log with my front paws. The smell was unusual, it wasn’t the stench of the wolf-beast or the wyverns. In fact, the closest thing I could compare it to was a bird.
For a moment I considered the earth birds, but what I'd seen of them was enough to know they weren’t the type of animal to dwell deep within vast forest. Whatever it was seemed larger than any bird I was familiar with; that fact alone was enough to make me want to wake the others and fly away. From what I could tell, whatever it was, was also a safe distance away, so I held back my initial panic and continued to study the odour.
In doing so, I noticed another scent, moving in perfect union with the first, it was like they were one animal, and I wondered if my senses were just playing tricks on me. The second smell was completely new, but I couldn’t think of anything to compare it to.
Is that cat-like? It can't be, they're not so... Mangy? My mind objected to the idea. It can't be possible; how can something smell of two animals in that way?
Then again, I was coming to discover that almost anything was possible in this new world, so I forced myself to take it seriously. As I did, the scent vanished as quickly as it had materialised. I sniffed several more times, but it had utterly disappeared.
Well, so much for that. I inwardly huffed. So long as whatever it is stays way out there, I don't care.
I settled down, thinking that perhaps it had been a dream or a trick of my mind, even so, I would certainly recognise it if it came back.
A distant howl, deep and drawn out reverberated from deep within the trees, immediately triggering a sinister and bone-chilling alert to the third of my active senses. The moment the bellow ceased, the forest came alive with chattering, like a grim, laughing symphony. I shot up, fear injecting my body with adrenalin and bringing me to full alert. The moment I was on my paws, the chatter ceased, plunging the night back into an eerie silence.
That can't be it. I thought, glancing around. A howl like that must be one of those monsters!
The call had certainly come from far away, too far for a creature to smell us. Even so, I knew that underestimating a beast like that could be a fatal mistake, and then there was the chattering.
There's more than one, there has to be.
My eyes jumped from one point to another, leaping between the lake and the dark tree line. I almost fell over the log when I turned to look behind me, and my view was suddenly met by something other than darkness.
Risha’s distinctive blue scales shone in the firelight as she shivered, wrapping her wings around herself like a blanket.
"Nightmares?" she questioned wearily as she moved towards me.
Unbeknownst to her, a flood of relief washed over me.
"No, keeping watch," I responded evasively.
"Watching for what?" she asked with a gentle laugh.
"Whatever is out there," I responded, unsure whether to freak her out with the knowledge of what I'd just heard.
I turned away, unable to look at her while I wasn’t being completely honest. As she jumped up beside me, part of me wished she would just go back to sleep.
Stop griping, you know you appreciate her company, now more than ever.
"It's called North Rim, the forest, that is," she said as she gazed out over the icy trees. "It runs the width of the whole northern continent."
I tried to stay focused. I'd seen enough social interactions amongst my family to know she wanted the company as much as I did.
It's not like I'm in a position to refuse, especially after my ‘family’ caused her so much distress.
The comforting sound of her voice seemed to chase away my fear just as much as mine did hers, and it wasn't long until I was unable to maintain my focus on the forest.
"Nightmares, yes," I finally admitted, letting my eyes slip towards her.
Her expression was understanding and reassuring, saying nothing more she simply turned to the darkness and rested her head on the log.
I glance over to the fire, still haunted by her story as I thought about what to say. When I first met her socialising was awkward, but now I felt interacting was impossible.
She managed to chase away my fear of the forest with simple, soothing words, how can my awkward babbling ever compare to that?
I slowly collected myself. No, I'll tell her the truth, that's what I'll do!
Turning around I did my best to adopt a completely different attitude.
The first thing I noticed was that her comforting smile was gone, however; and her eyes locked on the trees. I followed her gaze, my fear exploding when my eyes landed on the sight standing directly in front of us. Firelight coated the tall bulk of fur and muscle, while its sinister eyes glowed like white gems in a dark cave. Fire-lit plumes of breath steadily discharged from its nostrils, the exhaled steam collecting above a row of gruesome daggers visible through the large black ribbons of its raised lip.
"What in the creators' name is that?" Risha whispered as she leaned back from the log.
"Wake the others," I instructed quietly, eyes refusing to peel away from the beast.
It stood motionless, before raising its head to let out a long, loud howl, accompanied by a steaming column of breath. My bones rattled for every second the bellowing din dragged on. Yet I held my position while it lowered its threatening eyes back to mine. I heard the others waking up, while my heartbeat so fast it felt like it would burst from my chest.
"What is that?" I heard Ember ask.
"Quiet," Risha instructed.
The beast scanned each of them before returning its glaring eyes to me. This time I had nowhere to hide, and there was no guessing or anticipating what else could be crawling out of the forest. This time the threat was real and right in front of me.
Stretching out a huge paw, the beast stepped forward, smooth pebbles shifting under its weight. Its whole body followed, gracefully moving its ferocious jaw towards me. With no idea whether it could understand me, I growled a warning, bared my teeth and spread my wings, attempting to look intimidating. My efforts were futile, the beast showed no sign of withdrawing.
Instead, it mimicked my aggressive actions with its own, displaying the full sight of its gnashing jaws. At that, I almost felt like I was melting into the pebbles.
No, I'm the only thing between this thing and the others. They're out here because of me, it's my duty to keep them safe.
I stood my ground, every natural weapon I possessed ready to deploy. The closer the beast prowled, the more I realized I was less than half the size of the approac
hing wall of muscle and teeth.
I was about to be mauled! I've been in similar situations before, against the wyverns and Thunder, and I'm still here.
I guessed it was because they weren’t intent on killing me, I also knew the feelings they'd summoned were real. Glowing eyes and blind rage that I could barely remember.
Please, if any of it's true, I could really do with that power right now.
Taking in a deep breath, reclaiming what fear had stolen, I collected myself, stood tall on the log and thought... I hope this works.
The beast stopped its approach. Then something even stranger happened – it turned and moved away. I watched with suspicion as it moved out of sight.
Maybe it knows something, does it know what I can do when I'm pushed?
"Blaze, where'd it go?" Risha stammered, glancing around in a fluster.
I was just about to assure her it was safe when our relief was short-lived.
The sound of heavy paws moving at speed snapped my attention back to the forest, to where I saw the monster approaching with gathering momentum. Its head held low, ears twitching and mouth open wide.
Bursting forward across the pebbles, it reached the log in one huge leap. I instinctively dropped down, hearing the thud above as its paws landed, the impact of its weight forcing the decomposing wood to crack and splinter. It cleared the fire, sending the flames into a whirl of sparks and embers.
"Where are the others?" I demanded, staggering to my paws along with Risha.
"Ember!" she called out.
The beast turned its head to face us, revealing the struggling orange dragoness pinned by her wing beneath its claws. The adrenalin spike coursing through me drove me to run, but I was forced down as something else jumped over the log. With a thud and a scattering of sand, a second beast landed in front of the fire, sending the flames into another frenzy. This time, there was no hesitation. The creature launched itself at me.
I’d no time to think, instinctively leaping aside at the last second, the fearsome teeth of my attacker narrowly missing as they struck the log with a splintering crunch. I glanced over, filled with relief to see Risha had also jumped sideways to avoid the living battering ram.
My attention snapped back to the beast propelling itself forward, this time landing on me with all four legs, pinning me beneath its bulk. Its horrifying jaw was suspended directly over my head, saliva dribbling down in beady strings. Its bellowing breath held a gruesome concoction of foul stenches, and I slammed my eyes shut as fear overcame me.
This is it; I'm done.
At that moment everything seemed to come into focus. My eyes opened, I stretched out, using every ounce of my strength to push all four paws firmly into its underbelly. Caught completely by surprise, the beast flailed around uncontrollably as I shoved it into the fire. Engulfed by flames it yelped in pain, desperately trying to right itself as the fire consumed its body like a swarm of burning ants.
I jumped to my paws, focusing on the beast holding Ember. Without thinking, I rushed to attack it, only for one of my hind legs to flood with pain. The weight of a dozen knives pressing into my flesh sank in as the limb was pulled out from under me. Even my rage-filled mind wasn't enough to repel the horror as I glanced back to see my blood-seeping rear leg trapped in the jaws of the fallen monster, having taken its final revenge from the blaze.
Battling through the pain I shook my leg in a desperate attempt to break free, turning hopelessly to look at Ember struggling beneath her attacker. Another gust of wind disturbed the air and a loud crashing sound drew my attention.
By the spirits, it's another of those things! My mind screamed.
When I glanced up, I saw something had smashed into the side of the monster’s head, and with another whoosh a second projectile hammered at its skull. Blood oozed from the impact wounds, as its eyes centred in on its new attacker standing heroically on the log.
Bathed in the firelight, Boltock snarled and his eyes narrowed. Large pebbles from the beach collided in the air, compacting together into spinning boulders orbiting around him.
"Get off her!" he declared, letting loose more of the whirling rocks.
Distracted by his assault, Ember unleashed a torrent of flame upon her attacker. It jumped into the air, yelping in pain, before running down the beach like a living fireball and collapsing in a heap.
"By the creators! Blaze, your leg!" Risha cried as she heaved the dead beast's jaws open.
"I'm fine," I replied, biting back the agony with a wince. "I don't need my legs to fly, that's what matters now."
Damn, I'm starting to sound like Tarwin!
She immediately saw through my lie, quickly scanning my mauled limb. "No, but you do need them to land, feather-brain!"
With my scales dripping with crimson, it was clear she knew far more about healing than I did, and her expression did not bode well.
Meanwhile, discordant sounds filled the forest as two more monsters crashed out from the darkness, quickly passing the burning carcass of their fallen fellow.
"We need to go!" I ordered, opening my wings, before assuring, "Risha, you can look everyone over when we're somewhere safe!"
There was no argument from anyone, and I began flapping hard, the pain in my leg pulsing with every beat.
The leathery membranes caught on the light breeze and swiftly lifted me away from the massacre, the others quickly following. In the distance, the faint, red light of dawn sliced over the horizon, its bright-orange glow gushing through the trees like a great flood of fire.
If only it could chase all the darkness away. I thought, watching our new attackers sprinting towards our vacated position, only to slip on scattering pebbles while futilely snapping their jaws.
The urgency of our transition from the warm fire to bitterly cold morning air was a shock at first, though the sensation was soon overpowered by the burning pain in my leg. I tried to steer my eyes away, even so, I could clearly see the limp, blood-stained limb dangling in the freezing air.
No, right now that's not important. Risha can help when we're all safe. Just make sure we all stay safe!
I surveyed the group, trying to maintain my role as leader. They were all shaken, particularly Ember, but thankfully the only major physical injury was my leg.
If anything happened to any of them, I had no idea what I might do.
Faint as it may be relief slowly crept into my mind amidst the pain and shock. We swerved north towards the snowy mountain peaks, while I did my best not to think about my wounds. I'd learned from horrific experience back in the village what could become of injuries of its like, and it wasn't pretty. If it was consumed by infection, then I'd fail Tarwin and my friends.
No, don't think like that! Risha knows what she's doing. She'll heal it, then I can save Tarwin.
My growing relief was unexpectedly shattered by an ear-piercing screech, followed by a strong gust of wind, which sent me spinning out of control. Each frantic attempt to right myself induced a surge of pain through my injured limb. I recovered just in time to witness a large shape disappear into the forest.
"What in the spirits' name was that?" I asked, looking back at the others.
One, two, three... there's no three, Boltock! Where the green dragon had once flown was now just open air. My stomach churned, twisting with dread as my mind raced.
Risha was first to react, plummeting downward just as fast as whatever had snatched her brother. I locked on to her position, following without thinking, diving at tremendous speed with little care for my injury.
After a few moments of intense flight, my body started to betray me. I frantically tried to focus, but my strength leeched away, every rapid wing beat sent burning pain through me and each jolt released blood to the wind. Sucking in more air than my nostrils could take, I gritted my teeth so hard it felt as though my jaw might crack.
It wasn’t long before I passed over the spot where Risha had landed, and I attempted to set down. An unbroken layer of snow lay in
a perfect sheet over the ground, Ember landed first, the crisp sheet crunching under her paws as she dashed over to her sapphire friend. Landing clumsily, I noticed what Risha was focused on; a large rock that broke the tree line, its dull grey surface partially stained with blood-tainted snow.
I pulled my leg up against my underside, blocking out the pain and limped over to her.
"What is it?” Ember and I asked in panicked tones, the fiery dragoness placing a paw on Risha's shoulder.
She gave no response, remaining motionless while her rage-filled eyes probed the forest beyond the rock. My eyes followed to where they met another nightmare – not that of my dreams, but the one thing that had started this all, a wyvern.
The sight of the winged horror standing menacingly on its rocky throne ignited a raging storm of emotion deep inside me. It wasn’t the beast that terrified me, however; it was who was hanging limply from its jaw. Boltock's wing was clamped between its fangs. Risha jumped forward and I reacted before even considering the consequences, stretching out a wing to block her path.
"Wait, it could kill him before we can make a move." She halted, fixing me with a glare more terrifying than any monster.
I cautiously stepped forward. It must be after me, what other reason does it have to come back?
Moreover, if my sacrifice meant the survival of those who willingly followed me into this nightmare, then so be it.
"What do you want?" I demanded, stopping just a few steps in front of Risha.
It felt stupid to even ask such a question, assuming it could speak in the first place. The spiny frills on the back of its skull rattled as its long neck uncoiled, raising its head high. I lurched forward as its jaw opened, tossing Boltock’s limp body in front of his sister. She lost all focus on the wyvern as she dove to her brother's aid.
