Awakened

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. For a long time, there weren’t dragons anywhere. They had died off, their numbers dwindling until everyone was sure that they were extinct. For a while there were people continuing to search for them, but they never found a living one. Years later, people began to spread rumors, claiming that they saw them circling this mountain, or attacking that castle, but none of them were true. Decades passed, then centuries, and gradually dragons faded into the hazy memory of society, becoming more myth than history. Five millennia have passed since the last dragon died, and the world is very different than it once was. But soon, myth, history, and the modern age will all collide. But that’s the end of the story. Let us return to the beginning. Everything that happened has been documented, so we know precisely how the tale began. It began with a walk.”

***

“Mom, I’m going out!”

“Where are you going?”

“Out!”

“You know that’s not an acceptable answer young lady!”

“Uuugh! Mom!”

Beth Rutland walked into the kitchen where her daughter Katie was putting on her sneakers. Now that they were in the same room, they could talk, instead of shouting to each other across the house. “Be reasonable Katie. You’re still young, and I have a right to know where you are going.”

“I’m just going for a walk! Is that a crime now?”

She’s only fourteen. Beth reminded herself. All fourteen year olds are like this. She’ll grow out of it. “It isn't a crime, and I’m not interrogating you. But I need to know where you’ll be.” She said patiently.

Katie groaned again. “I’m going to walk over to Hailee’s house. I will stay there for several hours. I will be home for dinner. I have my phone with me, and I promise to call should any of the above change. Is this plan acceptable?” She asked.

The amount of snark and sarcasm in her daughter’s voice was high enough to make an issue of, but Beth was a believer in picking her battles. So instead, she simply said, “Yes dear. Thank you for, finally, answering my question. But, be sure to stay on the road. Don’t go through the woods. You know that -”

“That the woods are filled with wild animals and it's dangerous! You've told me a hundred thousand times!” Katie interrupted her mother.

“And yet, I've had to chase you out of the woods a hundred thousand times. So let's up the ante.” Beth leaned in closer. “If I find out you've gone into the woods one more time, and I always find out, no more phone, no more Hailee, no more freedom. For six months.”

Katie’s third groan was the longest yet. “Okay, fine! So can I go now?”

“Yes. You may go.”

“Thank you!” Katie rushed out the door before her mother could say anything else.

***

The suburb that Katie and her best friend lived in sat in a valley between several mountains, and was bordered by a large forest that extended nearly a hundred miles east, covering the mountains. The trip walking from one house to the other was about two miles, following the road. Or, it was under a mile, cutting through the woods. Katie paused at the point where the road curved up and around. She looked back. Her house was out of sight. Her mom would never know. She worried too much anyway.

She went through the woods.

After twenty feet, you could mistake it for dusk, instead of the middle of the day. The canopy was so dense that no direct light penetrated to the forest floor, and very little filtered into the space beneath the leaves. Katie walked briskly through, unconcerned. She had been in here more than even her mom knew, and had never seen anything more threatening than a hawk. She knew the path to Hailee’s by heart, and could make it in five minutes. There was nothing to worry about.

She had made it a hundred feet before she heard the growl.

She froze in place, her body responding unconsciously to the sound before she had even recognized what it was. Katie slowly turned her head, trying to keep as still as possible, and saw the shadow move. As the creature stepped closer, she saw the tan feline face surrounded by a thick ring of dark brown hair, then the snow white hair of a goat’s head protruding to the right of the lion’s mane. Finally, she heard the hiss and saw the swaying form rise above the two, and the cobra head came into view.

A chimera! It was an actual chimera, not a hundred yards from the road. She could still hear the cars driving past. Her heart was pounding, adrenaline flooding her system, and she knew that if she didn't move, she’d be dead. She turned to run back to the road, but the chimera, seeming to anticipate this, leapt over, landing between her and the open air. Panicking she turned and ran the only way she could, deeper into the woods.

She could hear the beast behind her, and knew she was prolonging the inevitable. She also suspected that the creature itself was toying with her, letting her run, exhaust herself, get her blood pumping, making it all the sweeter when it took her down. She turned sharply around a large tree, trying to shake the chimera, but it made the turn as easily as she had. She looked back over her shoulder to see how close it was, and that was her biggest mistake. Head turned, not looking where she was going, she tripped over something and crashed to the ground.

Katie rolled over onto her back, staring up at the enormous animal as it stalked toward her. So focused was she on her impending death, she never heard the crack of something beneath her breaking. But she felt it as the ground gave way, and she fell deeply into the earth.

***

Katie opened her eyes some time later, blinking. It was nearly pitch black, and her eyes struggled to see. She could feel the soft mound underneath her, and could tell that it was mulch, hundreds of years of dead leaves falling down here and rotting. It was the only reason she was alive, in the darkness she couldn't see how far she had fallen, but knew she had been in the air for several long moments. Her relief of surviving both the fall and the chimera made her giddy, and she laughed. Her laugh was cut short when she realized she was hearing something subtle. All around her was the sound of something undefinable. Climbing cautiously to her feet, she began to follow the wall of the cavern she was in, trying to keep quiet, and not trip.

The subterranean tunnel twisted and turned, and the sound remained. After a short walk, the tunnel wall she had been following opened up into a much larger cavern. Her eyes had adjusted as best they could, and while she still couldn't see well, she could see enough. And what she saw was wonderful. Wonderful, terrifying, awe inspiring, unthinkable, and a hundred other feelings all at once. She wondered if she had been better off with the chimera.

Laying in the center of this large cavern, deep below her neighborhood, incredibly, was the large, still form of a dragon.

And it was the source of the sound. The dragon was breathing.