Age of Dragons

~ Chapter 1 ~

There weren't always dragons in the valley. But if you linger around barstools late into the night, you'll hear fragments of stories slip out from the old men. Join the circle of any of the cooking fires and ask one of the elders to spin tales of what life was like before the shift, and little by little, the truth of the old world is revealed. Cece was fascinated by it, and couldn't imagine a time when immediate tasks of survival didn't rule the day. They spoke of massive tin structures bigger than the dragons themselves, that flew to faraway places. That the people wore brightly coloured clothing and fancy shoes on their feet, and colours that women (and some men) put on their faces to get attention. They spoke of little black boxes that each person carried with them to communicate with others. It felt like something from another world entirely. How could it all have disappeared without a trace? Wouldn't there be some proof of it? Cece was determined to find the answers to these questions, even if it meant leaving the valley to do so.

Smoke billowed out of the pit at the base of the valley and rose up through the mountains towards the sky. It turned the sun a milky grey, creating a muted green landscape as far as the eye could see. Cece hadn't seen the brilliant sunlight that they spoke of, but wondered if she'd travelled far enough perhaps those clouds would dissipate and it would be revealed to her. Cece had been waiting for the perfect opportunity to escape from her chores to explore. She'd been venturing further and further from the village in the valley each afternoon to see what (if any) clues could help to piece together what had happened during the shift. She was mostly fearful that if an entire world of people and animals had been erased, it was possible that it could happen again. The stories that were told around those late night bars and cooking fires always ended with the birth of Mother Dragon which added another layer of fear for Cece. Most nights she lay awake wondering what other monsters were awaiting their birth, out there somewhere.

The haze of the smoke lifted to a dull grey mist as midday approached and the pace quickened to end the chores before the dragons returned. The sweet chorus of birdsong waned as the heat of the day reached a soupy forty degrees. Most days the dragons returned with full bellies and simply skimmed over the village like a menacing cloud passing over before settling back into their caves for their afternoon rest. But one never knew if they were to return hungry, picking off the villagers one by one as an easy snack to sustain them until their evening hunt. Cece tried to remain invisible as she passed the line of water carriers up the narrow dirt road. None of them looked in her direction, each with her gaze steady on the person in front of them so as not to spill a drop. Their faces were dirty and their eyes sunken with exhaustion. They returned from the river disheveled with dried mud caked on their calves and smeared on their foreheads each day. It was an arduous job, as sacred work often is. Water carriers had been chosen by the villagers as the carers of this revered resource. It was not only their job to bring in the daily amount, but also to ensure the water source remained clean. Their day began an hour before daylight, as they quietly blessed the water with their ritual dance. They assessed dangers both upstream and down. They waited for an animal to drink before they took their daily amount, as a test to ensure it was safe. The elders had warned of dangers lurking in the waters from before the shift. These were poisons that no man should ever ingest. It was all very mysterious and terrifying. The elders had originally found the river when searching for uncontaminated water along the mountainside immediately after the shift. The survivors had fled in all directions in search of water, food and cover. Cece loved to hear this story around the cooking fires. They say it was a miracle when they spotted a lone deer drink from the water, as they had believed all animals had either perished or were poisoned and sick. They camped for twenty two days along the bank watching the young doe, following it and documenting it's every move to ensure it had survived ingesting the water. On the twenty third day the sun broke through the haze for just a moment, which they took as a sign and the ritual was born. It was because of that day, and the decision to perform a morning blessing of the water, their people had survived and thrived for nearly one hundred years. It used to be Cece's goal to become a water carrier, but now she just wanted to explore the land, and discover some of the old world; maybe even find other people out there and a way of life that wasn't ruled by the threat of a hungry monster each day.

She passed the last of the water carriers at the top of the road and looked in both directions before disappearing into the thick brush of the mountainside, out of sight. The dragons would be returning soon, and if they were hungry, she'd be safer amongst the thick forest than on the open dirt road. She could hear in the distance the horn calling out for the workers to end their chores, the dragons must be seen in the distance returning home, she surmised. Cece couldn't help but wonder what they were eating out there, beyond the valley, and how far they flew to find this food source. She continued along, lost in her thoughts for miles until suddenly she heard the river before spotting it. Something inside her felt the pull of the rushing energy, as if she were one with the water. Just being in it's presence, somehow changed her. She straightened her stance and held her breath and watched the deep blue and white foamy waves rush forward with such power. The birdsong returned around the water with the coolness of the air. The river seemed to carry the air with it, rustling the leaves on either side of it. Cece decided that if she continued upstream she could stay close to what she knew as safe-drinking water, but still explore a little. In the distance the horn blasted again; one final urging to take cover and hide in their homes. The dragons must be close now. Cece's mother would be looking for her, and worried. She'd never made it this far but the river was calling her to keep going. She was careful to stay by the treeline and out of sight as she followed along the bank, climbing upward toward the top of the mountain. She imagined what the view might look like from the top. There were other dangers to be careful of too. Bears for one, though nobody had ever seen one, they'd all heard stories. There were also other tribes of people on the west side of the mountain, though again, nobody had seen them, the elders warned that they were there. Cece was getting hungry. She hadn't planned on this adventure taking her away for this long. As she balanced along the rocks and roots on the side of the riverbank, her eyes scanned the forest floor for wild mushrooms or raspberry bushes, anything to stop her stomach from rumbling. She knelt down to the river for a drink, but before taking a sip she closed her eyes and felt the rush all around her. The energy from the water seemed to lift off and swirl all around her. Her hair on the nape of her neck rose and a shiver went through her body. She silently blessed the water with gratitude and bowed her head before leaning down to take a sip, cupping it into her palms.

The wind seemed to pick up and a dark shadow crossed over her. She froze. Swooping down on the other side of the river was a dragon. So far it hadn't spotted her, but with any movement she would become prey. She thought about slipping into the river silently and it could carry her back to the village, but dragons could easily pluck a tiny human from the river. She considered running into the thick forest behind her as the dragon's wingspan may be too wide to fit. But then again, she wasn't confident they couldn't push past the trees and crush them too. She knelt there, frozen, contemplating what seemed to be a million wrong moves. The dragons green eyes locked onto hers, and without another thought, she dove into the river.