Beyond the Valley

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Yet there was no denying what the beast before me was. My body was frozen. It seemed as though everything was moving in slow motion. Terror filled every pore, every organ. A high pitched whistling drilled into my ears. And the smell. Just like uncle had described it- acrid, burning blood. As the creature moved it’s horrible, slithering body towards me, I knew I was going to die. The beast brought it’s face to mine, those glistening eyes level with mine. Before I closed my eyes, it opened its terrible jaws, displaying one thousand pointy white teeth. I was about to die.

Earlier that day

I felt a hard impact on my scull. Even in my brain-rattled daze, I knew who it was. We weren’t supposed to actually land blows on each other during training, but Maria never missed a chance to sneak in a covert hit.

“Ow! What’s your problem Maria?”

“Oops, sorry! I wouldn’t want to scramble your brains and make you crazy like your uncle”

“You shut up” I said, trying to contain my fury, just like Brynn taught me.

“You know he’s been sprouting more lies about the dragons being back” she jeered, rocking back and forth on hear heels just out of my striking distance “it’s gotten him fired from his honorary role in the Merindel military, not that it meant anything anyway”

“I said shut the fuck up” my voice was low, and I could feel my entire body tensing up, the hot sun beating down on me seemed to pump my body full of hot rage.

“Oh language! You’re not really quite all there, are you? I guess the whole lot of you take after your crazy daddy”

knew my father had a complicated legacy but most people respected him enough not to call him crazy in front of his children.

I threw myself at her, taking her to the ground instantly. I placed my forearm over her neck, pinning her down.

“What did you s-” I felt myself being roughly pulled back from the back of my shirt.

“What’s going on here then?” It was Brynn, who had come to pick me up from the academy.

“Hang on, it’s not my fault, Maria asked me to practice sparring then she hit me!”

“Ok that’s enough. Looks like the two of you were training and things got a little bit out of control” he said, looking at the angry red mark on the side of my face. “Elliana, apologise to Maria”

I was silent.

“Elliana.”

“I apologise, Maria”.

Maria just grunted in response.

“Ok, thank you Maria. Alright Elliana, let’s get going”

As soon as we were outside the academy gates, Brynn turned to me.

“Elliana. You can’t be getting into trouble like that”

“It wasn’t my fault! Maria set me up, she asked if we could practice sparring together after school, then as soon as she gets the chance, she hits my right in the face”

“You know she’s doing that on purpose, right? Trying to make you look bad so it will discredit our whole family? Her father probably put her onto it. You’re just lucky that it was me that caught you, and that you have that giant mark on your face, while she’s come out pretty unscathed, so she can’t really say you attacker her.”

I sighed.

“I know. I need to control myself better, like you always say. She told me Uncle’s been fired today. For saying the dragons are back”

Brynn didn’t seem shocked at the news.

“He wanted to quit anyway, if it’s true that he’s left, I’m sure he left willingly”

“But is it true? are they back?”

Brynn paused.

“The governor’s office has said the rumours are rubbish. I’m sure uncle wouldn’t disagree- there must be more to the story.”

I kicked a stone on the road. The sun had already begun to set, and I felt my body cooling down.

“Can we go to the Old Tavern tonight?”

“Elliana, I’m a Cadet now, I can’t be seen sneaking around there anymore” he shot me a cheeky grin. “But yes. Let’s do it” he smirked.

Brynn and I had been coming to the Old Tavern since we were little. It started off with mother sending us going there to drag our Uncle Davey home to dinner, but we’d quickly been drawn into the jovial and salacious feel of the place. Even righteous Brynn couldn’t stay away.

“Ah my favourite niece and nephew!” Uncle Davey boomed when he saw us “You too are looking more like my baby brother every day”.

I’d always liked how Uncle Davey talked about my father. Everyone else, even mother, seemed to talk about him with hushed, sombre reverence.

We went over to greet him.

“What about some drinks for my girl and boy?”

“Uncle, we’re still not of age” replied Brynn

“Oh you’re too good, aren’t you? Better than I ever was. What about you then Elliana, just a sip?”

I beamed “Just a sip”

“Elliana!” scolded Brynn “I’d better have a sip too then” he added, his face relaxing into that mischievous grin.

It was clear that Uncle Davey was already quite drunk. His face, though red and bloated, showed the faded shadow of handsome features, and his rounded belly did not quite obscure the strong build of his youth.

“We’d better take him home.” said Brynn. I nodded, going to Uncle’s left side to help him up as usual, Brynn taking the right.

Once we were out of the town centre, in the fresh air, Uncle seemed to sober up a bit, and walked unaided.

“I love you kids” said Uncle Davey, breaking the silence. “The world better not go to shit like it did for your father and me”

“What do you mean Uncle?” I replied.

“Dragons” interjected Brynn, his tone serious. “Uncle, is it true then, are they back?”

For a while Uncle Davey said nothing, and I thought he was done speaking.

“The smell. Like burning blood. There’s not a night I don’t still dream about it. I can smell it lately. When the wind is coming from the valley”. Uncle seemed completely sober now.

“But Uncle” replied Brynn “the governor’s office has insisted the rumours are completely fabricated”

“Of course they’d say that” Uncle muttered softly, though we were alone. “They wouldn’t want the merchants and investors getting scared off. Our worse, they wouldn’t want us to fall out of favour with the King”

He let out a huge belch.

“I’m hungry. Are we almost home?”

“Do you want to come for dinner at ours?” Brynn asked

“No… I’d better not, don’t want to put your mother out.”

Secretly I thought it was probably because he didn’t want to face mother’s disapproval after being fired.

Later that night I tried to talk to mother about the dragons, but it was apparently on the long list of topics he would not discuss. He echoed Brynn’s sentiment about the government dismissing the rumours, and told us it was better not to get involved.

Brynn and mother were right, the government had vehemently denied the return of the dragons.

“The prospering city of Merindel is safe from harm. The dragons have been all but eradicated, with those remaining too weak and dispersed to pose any threat”.

That was the official statement from the governor.

Yet the whispers swelled about town conclusively for those who listened; they were back.

For a new town, Merindel prospered brilliantly. Nestled in rich and verdant lowland, Merindel’s crops seemed to grow with magical speed and richness. The success of Merindel inspired a myriad of new towns popping up nearby, making Merindel was a bubbling trade hub. Even so, Merindel relied on the influx of traders and buyers keen to profit off of the rare patch of fertility in an ever-harsh world. Further, Merindel received funding and resources from the King in the Capital, to which Merindel provided food and resources, and, in the past, had defended from great threats.

I woke up that night in a cold sweat. I’d had the most terrifying dream that I had been speaking to a terrible, scaly beast, with sharp talons and reptilian face. As though still in a dream, I rose from my bed, careful not to wake Brynn. I slipped quietly out of the house and into the garden. I felt my legs moving, as though independently from my mind.

Our house was near to the town’s edge, and it didn’t take me long to reach the woodlands. I walked through the woods, until it became thick forest. I hadn’t put on any shoes, and my feet became sore and cold, though the evening was balmy. I thought about stopping, but it was as if an invisible string were dragging me along from the centre of my chest. I walked past the farmlands owned by our neighbours, past the creek Brynn and I fished and swam in, and past the woods we hunted in.

At some point I realsied I no longer recognised my surroundings. I started to noticed the ground beneath ,y feet sloping downwards. It became difficult to keep my footing. I noticed the plants around me getting more varied and luscious as I went. The trees were monstrously tall, with trunks least as wide as I was tall. Red toadstools and flowers of every shape glowed in a myriad of colours in the moonlight, and the grass grew thick and tall around me. I noticed the plants seemed to be swaying softly in the warm, breezeless night. I could hear a soft humming that seemed to be coming from all around me, as though the flowers, trees, and blades of grass were singing in a quiet choir. Though the path remained clear, the slope became steeper still. At this point I had completely lost my bearings and, looking around, and tumbled and fell. I rolled right down what felt like a cliff face, by body being thrown roughly down the slope. I hit flat ground roughly. Though I felt oddly subdued despite my fall, with a sinking gut I realised there was only one place I could be. In the Valley.

The humming was now a high-pitched soprano, and I was sure now it was the lush, brightly glowing flora singing out to me passionately. I felt disorientated, and noticed my head was bleeding. I couldn’t see well in the darkness and suddenly I felt very afraid.

Then I saw it. The glistening of scales in the moonlight. The beast was just inches from my face, I just hadn’t seen it in the darkness of the valley. It looked at my with it’s yellow eyes and opened it’s jaws wide. I closed my eyes, too petrified to move. For a moment noting seemed to happen, as I stood completely paralysed. Then, the beast made a noise. A strange, guttural snort unlike anything I’d heard before. It almost sounded like speech, but it wasn’t possible, was it?

I was too stunned to move but I managed to get out “please... let me live”

Like a flash, the beast lunged at me. Again, I squeezed my eyes shut, expecting the worst. But instead, I felt myself being whisked up, my body flying through the air like a rag doll. I was plunged into a thick darkness, the moonlight and glow of the flowers completely blocked out, and my body felt coated in a hot, sticky liquid. I realised I was locked in the creature’s massive jaws, my limbs dangling between huge teeth. I was still completely unable to move, and had lost all control over my body, though my mind reeled with terror. I heard powerful wings beating and felt a breeze on my exposed limbs, and was aware that I was moving. Then, the world went dark.

***

I awoke to Brynn shaking me.

“Elliana? What’s going on?”

I blinked up at him and looked around. I was just outside of the farmland adjacent to our house.

“I saw you weren’t in bed this morning, so I came looking for you. Then I find you passed out in a field? Look at you, you’re filthy and you’ve ruined your clothes!”

I shook my head, feeling dazed and disorientated. In one swift motion Brynn scooped me up into his arms.

“Let’s get you inside then”

When we got home I’d started feeling better. Brynn told me to go to bed, but I insisted on sitting at the kitchen table. Mother made me a cup of strong tea and tried to dab my forehead with a warm towel, though I wasn’t feverish. Brynn sat across from me on the table, looking deeply into my face with a concerned frown.

“What happened, Elliana? Mother asked.

“I had the most terrifying dream… I-I went into the valley and…” I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Mother was a quiet and reserved woman, and though she generally discouraged discussion of dragons, she had also never expressly told us her opinion on their return.

“I saw a dragon. It felt so real, I could feel it’s breath on my skin, and hear a strange humming which seemed to emanate from nature around it.” I looked at Brynn and Mother, they were both staring at me, as if unsure what to say.

“It… growled at me. But it almost sounded like speech. I though maybe it was saying something like-like… ‘leave us…leave us be’”. I held my breath for a second, remembering the visceral terror of the moment.

“Then, I think it was holding me in its jaws and we were… flying. I don’t know, I was paralysed and couldn’t even struggle, and…” I trailed off.

“Elliana, that’s really…” Brynn seemed unsure how to continue.

Mother said nothing, but stared at me with an unreadable frown.

“Alright. Brynn, you’d better get to class. Elliana, it looks like you’re still not well, so you’d better take the morning off.” I was about to argue, but something in her steady gaze stopped me.

As soon as Brynn closed the door behind him, mother sprang up from her chair.

“Come with me” she said firmly.

She reached up to a cupboard above the sink and retrieved a small wooden box. From it, she pulled out an old, ornate key. She took me outside to the garden shed we’d all but abandoned. In it was an old plough we had never sold despite our family not having farmed since father died.

“Move the plough to the left”

I obliged, straining against the heavy machine. Eventually I’d moved it a few inches. Mother moved the matt underneath it to reveal a small trapdoor I had never seen before. Mother fished the key from her pocket and slipped into the old creaky lock. After some struggling, she opened the door.

“I’d wanted to protect you from this” She muttered grimly. “But it doesn’t seem that I can any longer”.

She bent down and slowly lifted a small wooden chest from the compartment under the trapdoor.

“This contains your father’s last work. You must never tell anyone about this, not even Brynn. Don’t look through it just yet, I’m only showing you where to find it when you need it. Now come on, let’s get you to the academy before morning tea.”