Dragon Riders

Chapter One

There weren’t always dragons in the valley – in fact, the elders refused to believe it at all. They peered down from their high table at the front of the village hall, frown lines intensifying between their bushy grey eyebrows.

“How preposterous!”

“A dragon? They don’t exist!”

“A fairy tale to frighten the bairns.”

“It’s that troublemaker Lucas, drunk on scrumpy no doubt. Seeing things.”

They muttered to themselves, unanimous in their disapproval. Poor Lucas shuffled his feet, the tips of his ears turning crimson.

“Let him speak! If there’s dragons abroad, I for one want to know about it. Speak up, boy! We’re listening.”

That was Tam, the forge-keeper. He stood up, his barrel-like chest straining against his shirt buttons. A murmuring of agreement went up around the crowded benches. Everyone stared at Lucas expectantly.

“Well, t’was like this. I was out in the pasture, night drawing in and all, chasing the goats back t’wards their shed. Then suddenly there was this terrible ripping sound across the sky! I was so scurred I tripped over the slop bucket, fell down in the grass, just staring upwards at the heavens… and that’s when I saw it!”

A small gasp came from one of the Linden children, peeking out from behind his mother’s skirts.

“What did it look like?” Tam asked.

“Oh, it was a sleek beastie, alright. Moved so fast t’were hard to get a proper look. It’s skin was like burnished copper, and it roared across the sky, blazing fire as it went. So hot it made the air shimmer all around it!”

Lucas wrung his cap in his hands, his eyes wide as he recounted his story.

“And the noise, by Bess, the noise! T’was louder than thunder, low and deep and booming. I felt it here,” he thumped his chest “vibrating right through to my bones. And then, quick as a flash, before I could even think to get up and run… it was just… gone. Vanished into thin air! I swear it, swear on Lady Bess. A dragon, as I live and breathe!”

A ripple of anxious chatter erupted around the room. Elderman Crouch held up a hand for silence.

“How big was it, boy?” He asked.

“Why, big as a barn! Bigger, maybe.”

“As big as all that! And loud, too?” He pressed.

“Louder than thunder, just like I told you,” Lucas answered.

“Ah.” The Elderman leant back in his chair, a slow smile spreading across his pinched face. “So this dragon of yours was bigger than a barn, louder than thunder, spitting fire and brimstone… and we are supposed to believe that nobody else in the village saw a thing?” He gestured a bony hand towards the audience. “Nobody, not a single one of you here present, can corroborate this fanciful tale?”

An uncomfortable silence filled the hall.

“Well then, by Bess, I think we can safely say that this is nothing more than a dream, master Lucas. Perhaps you hit your head when you tripped over that slop bucket… the fall must have addled your mind.”

The villagers tittered, and Lucas sat down, eyes cast to the ground. I put my hand on his arm comfortingly.

“I believe you,” I whispered in his ear.

But I was the only one.

***

It was late when I snuck out of our croft. Pa was snoring in his rocking chair beside the fire, drunk on Brandywine, like most nights. I tiptoed barefoot to the door, worried my hobnailed boots might wake him. Outside the grass was cool and damp beneath my feet, soothing after a long hard day making taffy to sell at the fair. I squinted into the darkness, waiting for my eyes to adjust.

A yellow light blinked three times from near the creek in our lower field. Tucking my petticoats into my belt, I ran towards it. Lucas and his older brother Simeon were waiting impatiently.

“What took you so long, Meren? We’d about given up on you.” Sim was leaning against a tree trunk, a wayward lock of black hair falling in front of his eyes.

“Sorry, lads. Pa was feeling maudlin again. Wanted me to sing to him until he passed out.” I grabbed the lantern from Lucas, jumping from the muddy bank onto the stepping stones that crossed the creek to the woodland beyond. “Last one to the pasture’s a rotten glott egg!”

Simeon won, as usual.

“It’s not fair, your legs are almost twice as long as mine!” I grumbled, winded from the uphill dash.

“I’ll give you a head start next time, squirt” he teased, ruffling my hair and ducking before I could take a swing at him.

I hate it when he does that. Makes me feel like a little kid, though I’m only a year younger than he is. I poked my tongue out and turned my back on him.

“Where exactly were you when you saw it, Lucas?” I asked, staring up at the stars hopefully. It was a clear night, the fingernail moon casting less light than the sugarberries in the hedgerow, their fruits luminescing an eerie green. The air felt strangely heavy, as though the whole valley waited with baited breath for something magical to happen.

“Up near the muddy hollow – Alder and Friss found some peat moss on a fallen log - I had the devil of a time getting them to leave it and come in for the night.”

The ground was waterlogged up there, squelching unpleasantly between my toes. Lucas’s boot got stuck, coming off his foot with a noise like a hog farting. Sim and I giggled like little kids as he hopped around, cursing and trying not to fall over.

“We’d have a better view from the hill crest,” Simeon pointed out.

“We’re not s’posed to go up there at night,” Lucas reminded him. “We’ll be too visible, easy prey for the glotts.”

I shivered, imagining the silent swoop of the giant birds as they grabbed me in their wickedly sharp talons.

“Well if you’re going to be a baby about it, I’ll go by myself…” Sim taunted.

“I ain’t scurred of a mean old glott!” Lucas retorted. “They’d eat you first, anyhow. There’s more meat on your bones.”

They bickered like that all the way to the top of the hill.

Below us, the valley stretched out for miles. The only lamplight came from the bakery, where Mrs. Lindon was already stirring, ready to bake her famous sticky currant buns. It was exhilarating, watching the world sleep below us. We lay together on the grass, waiting for something, anything, to happen.

We didn’t have to wait long.

“Over there, look!” Simeon pointed excitedly. “It’s like a hole, expanding… see how it’s darker than the rest of the sky?”

He was right. A large tear formed over the woodland, perfectly round and blacker than Widow Longbottom’s mourning dress. A low rumbling echoed around the valley. My pulse quickened and I reached for Sim’s hand, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable.

Creeeeeeeeaaaaak!

The hole’s edges swallowed up the nearby stars, stretching impossibly, a yawing mouth in the fabric of the universe. And through it flew the first dragon.

It hovered for a moment, as though confused to find itself in our sleepy valley. Lucas hadn’t lied – it was bigger than any barn I’d ever seen, elongated and somehow elegant, like an eel from the millpond. I just had time to admire the brassy hue of its smooth skin, when abruptly it leapt forward, trailing blue flames behind it. It moved without sound, traveling the length of the valley in a mere instant. The air around the dragon seemed to ripple and explode outwards as it passed, and we were hit with the scorching wind a moment later, it’s thunderous bellow ringing in our ears. As fast as it had appeared it was gone, vanishing into another hole that swallowed it completely.

“By Bess, what was that?!” Simeon exclaimed. “Ouch! Merin, you're crushing my hand.”

“Oops, sorry!” I unclenched my fingers. “A dragon, wow. It really exists! I wonder where it came from.”

“Wherever it is, there’s more of ‘em, that’s for sure” Lucas replied, his eyes widening.

“How do you know?” Sim demanded.

“Just look!”

Sure enough, another shape poured itself through the hole, this one cruelly black and spiky, like a spearfish. It flashed by us, following after the first dragon, spitting orange flames that left an unpleasant oily cloud in its wake.

“Do you think it’s hunting?” Lucas asked me. “It sure looked like it was chasing t’other one.”

“I think so. Look, the holes are shrinking again…”

We watched as the velvety edges knitted together, reduced to the size of a cottage, then a shed.

“Is it over?”

“Yes… no, wait! What’s that?”

A small silver dragon burst through the hole, sparks flying as its wings brushed against the narrowing edges. It wobbled a moment, wounded, and emitted a piercing shriek. Then its flames sputtered and died, sending it spiraling out of control. It plummeted towards the woodland below. The tree tops burned as the dragon smashed against them, slicing a vivid gash through the forest. The ground shook beneath us as the mighty beast crashed to a halt, a plume of white smoke rising into the night.

“Come on, quickly! We have to help it!” I cried, leaping to my feet and sprinting down the hill.

“Meren wait! It’s too dangerous!” Sim called after me, before giving chase.

I slipped on the damp grass, stumbling my way down towards the woodland, where a wide path of broken and charred trees marked the dragon’s passage. The air was hot and smelled strongly of Sulphur, leaves crackling as they burned around me. The boys caught up, and we picked our way through the carnage, stepping over torn and twisted pieces of the dragon’s metallic armor.

The beast lay crumpled beside the creek, steam rising from its shattered tail.

“Is it dead?” Lucas asked nervously.

We crept closer, tiptoeing up to take a look.

Suddenly the dragon let out a loud rattling sigh, its glassy mouth opening wide. Lucas jumped behind me, and Sim picked up a burning stick, raising it up, ready to fight.

A tall figure emerged from between its smoking jaws. He was dressed head to toe in smoldering golden armor. He raised the cracked glass visor on his helmet, staring around in bewilderment.

“What in tarnation is this place?” The dragon rider asked, limping towards us.

He wasn’t the only one with questions.