An Outcast of Worlds

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

An eagle flies over a panoramic view as the sun’s rays beat down onto the parched fractured earth of the Valleys basin, its shadow falling on a brush of fine horse hair as it cautiously wipes away dust and rock, slowly revealing a fossil of one of the mass of skeletons protruding from the dry ground, bleached and eaten away. Upon excavation many of the fossils appeared like they were trying to crawl out of the earth, like that of the living dead; their distal phalanges, broken and chipped.

The archaeologist working on the fossil, stared into the hollow eye socket, feeling judged for disturbing their final resting place.

“They died together?” a voice asked

Dr Theodosia Philomena Theobald, known as Theo by her friends, looked up from her contemplation and nodded at her colleague Dr Emma Littlefield. The sun blinded her eyes briefly as she watched her co-worker descend into the pit, dust rising and pebbles skittering.

“The taphonomy certainly appears that way.” Theo replied, looking around the dig site and then back to the fossil.

“Any theories on how they died?” Dr Emma Littlefield said squatting beside Theo and leaned in close, her thick waves curtaining her face, as strands brushed against Theo’s nose and lips sending a waft of citrus from her cascading hair.

“Well,” Theo began “This male here would have died from a stab wound, see the indentation in the bone?” Dr Emma nodded. “From the angle; the weapon hit something vital and from the position of the male’s skeleton he crawled away seemingly only a few feet before some kind a bludgeoning object finished him off.”

“That would explain the collapsed skull” Dr Emma responded. From the top of the pit a voice hollered down to them, they both looked up, shielding their eyes to see one of the undergrads grinning down at them

“Dr Theobald! Dr Littlefield! The technician says that they're ready!” the undergrad said, practically vibrating with excitement. Theo sighed and stood up, stretching out her back and relieving the pressure in her joints.

“I hope the video works this time” Theo muttered as she shoved a hand into her pocket and reached out her other to help Dr Emma up from her crouched position. Dr Emma beamed, relishing at the strength and authority in Theo’s grip. As they both walked following the rapidly disappearing undergrad Theo gazed out at the valley basin, staring at the exposed outcroppings of crumbling walls that expanded for miles in every direction. The massive archaeological site was marked with excavations far and wide.

The base camp was dominated by five tents, flapping in the welcome cool breeze from the lake, and a flatbed van brimming with covered fossils loaded on it. Undergrads and volunteers of all ages swarmed various places around the site calling out to each other in excitement of affirmation. When Dr Theo and Dr Emma entered the largest of the five tents, Theo found most of her colleagues and some of the final year undergrads huddled around the large tv, which was hooked to a computer where a technician sat, typing commands.

Their fellow doctors and students parted like the red sea making room for Theo and Emma.

“It will look a little distorted, mostly due to the age of the footage but I managed to clear up a significant portion of it” the technician said. Grainy footage began to play after a few taps of a keyboard, the audio skipping a few times as they all watched riveted to the screen.

‘A middle-aged man paced a richly decorated dais, gesticulating and speaking in silence before the audio kicked in, stirring up the crowd; his hair a distinctive red. Banners flew and cameras flashed.

“My fellow-countrymen and women! Brethren! We are Dragons! The righteous people. This is your victory! Our Victory! In all our extensive history we have never seen a better day. Everyone, man, woman and child, tonight, our world has changed. Our empire has expanded greater than ever before! Our enemies’ fierce attacks, have not in any way crippled the rigid tenacity of our nation. Our might can never be challenged. We have overcome all obstacles! All threats! Protected our world's future, Our children’s future.”

The crowds voice grows in intensity. “We fought those devils who would have plunged our world into hell! Defeated them! We Dragons shall rule the world. We shall reign forever. Into eternity, our reign knows no en…”

The crowd is suddenly awash in the glow of a brutal and enormous explosion. The middle-aged man’s body was thrown from the dais. Debris of rock and bits of flesh rain down onto the ground heavy and thick as plumes of smoke rise from the explosion making the scene murky. A siren begins to wail and the sky turns black as hundreds of people frantically started hurrying away but were cut down by streaks of light. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Deep, deafening sounds of explosions in the distance could be heard and the camera shakes from massive aftershocks.

Screams and panicked voices ring as indistinct figures appear shooting into the cornered crowd. What little there was of security forces retaliated with exchanging fire but were quickly demolished by the appearing, then disappearing indistinct figures in the thickening smoke. Bodies began to pile up as those still alive climbed over the deceased and injured to escape.

A location indicator locked on to the middle-aged man as he stumbles around, moving away from the camera recording the gruesome scene. He pauses…then turns suddenly making a dash for some unknown safety, his limp doesn’t get him far. His body jerked as a dagger pierced his side, he falls to the earth and tries to crawl away as an authoritative figure strides out of the smoke. The figure placed its booted foot on the man’s back then bent down and whispered in his ear, before ramming their fist through his skull. The remaining rallyists were lined up on their knees and beheaded with methodical swiftness and bloodthirsty zeal.

The figure rose and stared at the destruction, the massacre, before fixing their gaze straight into the camera.’

The archaeological team gasped in horror as Emma stands alone; her face grey, as the dust of a retreating van could be seen in the distance.