Dragonally

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Within the crevices of the Valley, you can find yourself eye to eye with the redeyes. There's a secret that lingers in the alleyways that the redeyes live and gather at dusk to remain out of sight of villagers. Two years ago you wouldn’t find any of the dragons within this Valley. The creatures live outside of the Valley within caverns as assets and they would assist travelers in establishing a way of unit control. Dragons were on the verge of extinction with troubling illnesses due to the ownership of the capitalist. Many rules have changed since The Blast the population has decreased in size by four multiples. The Valley has grown smaller, buildings are not refurbished due to the government not providing funding. The Capital has not returned to visit the Valley to question the disappearance of the dragons as if they ceased to exist in the first place.

“Celest”…

”yes papa,”

”you told the boys about Dragonally again”

“no papa was discussing the archives of the ones who past in the blast,” I lied without hesitation.

There was silence presented in the air as the words “The Blast” rolled off my tongue and into Papas' ears. He rises from his old dusty chair that has over puffed from the leaks from above. Papa stumbled across the living room to slam the book closed in my hands. The blast was never to be spoken of and each time the boys came over I would intentionally grab a cooking book to blind my Papa from the curiousness I’m prone to. My Papa was always very lenient about having boys over to better my communication skills and keep me company. Speaking on the contour I am the last girl left within this Valley. The population is less than my toes and fingers combined.

“Bye Celest”

“ yeah, Later cels” as the boys went running out the doors of my cottage.

This was a average day for me and my Papa. The boys would join me every other day and my Papa always sitting straight in his chair listening to the Cast on the line system. When I was younger papa would cook me three meals a day and at each meal telling me terrible stories of his friends and all families being torn apart by the Blast. At the dinner table, he made it clear that it wasn’t favored to talk about the Blast unless I wanted to be known as the last crazy girl of this Valley.

Many folks now live in the Western world where they know nothing of the tribes and dragons that still hide to this day. The eastern world where the capital is held with most of the new age villagers believe the Blast has taken most of the creatures away. The western villagers often mention the Pegasus population on a rise to conquer the transportation unit control while working with the Capital. Listening over the Cast line me and Papa never hear anything about the Blast or how the redeyes existed at all or how there aren’t enough women to expand the population. Papa couldn’t bear to leave the house since the discovery of Dragonalley. Like many of the other Papas of the village, my papa never left the home for anything. I believe he doesn’t see the truth beneath his eyes, that it is even possible for the to be dragons lurking in the alleyways.

Alleyways are the parts of the Valley that haven’t been repaired by the Capitals since the Blast. The people of the Valley spent years slowly repairing them through their supply. Around the Valley, there is no understanding of why the capital has yet to come around to refurbish out grounds for growth. Villagers of the Valley now fear their presence and know the creatures by the Redeyes that wonder around after sundown.

The boys are often on adventures out around nightly and would dare each other to visit the Alleyways to spot if they could witness actual redeyes. Thomas often sneaks a story in from time to time about when he bumped into a redeye and then his left arm was covered in slime. I believe him only because of how wide his eyes get and the blush risen from his cheeks. Of the three of us, Thomas is quick on his feet and also loves to avoid conflict. That night he ran home and washed up completely covering any evidence of the dragon he claims he had run into. Thomas’s papa was worse than mine he was constantly teasing Thomas when he would walk through the alleyways. Before he met me, Thomas was known as the lunatic boy born by a lunatic father around the locals. The both of them together farm daily for the Vally across from ours to maintain the delivery of supply. Since then we have both been perturbed of even speaking about the Blast or the dragons to maintain the peace around the locals.

The sun never shines here in the Valley anymore until this day. I was reading one of the twelve books hidden away in our cottage. Suddenly Thomas came bugging in the doors with sweat running down his face. My Papa plunged with eyes closed snoring as loud as possible on his leather chair. Thomas quickly pulls my arm and grabs me while noticing my Papa sleeping. He then locks eyes with me and we signal each other to tiptoe around and out towards the front door of the cottage.

“Tom this is just absurd papa’s in there you know what he will do if I leave here”

“ see the sun shining Cels we have to go! come on now Ingrid is missing..”

Thomas says while panting.

Ingrid our friend that Thomas was introduced to by a local worker while he was on a stroll picking up essentials. He’s the youngest of us three and his name is from his mother. Papa changed his name to represent his mother which is common around here for the ones born after the Blast. When we go out to grab material many mention him to me with the approach of me Ingrid as the last girls among them but it wasn’t true. Ingrid was is stubborn towards his father always pushing his buttons for information on the Blast and the dragons that he claims to meet with everyday. His papa would always come to meet with my papa when Ingrid was out of control and would return to my cottage so he would not get yelled at as loud as if he was at his cottage.

With Thomas’s breathing now under control we gaze up at the sun it never was known to shine this bright or be this big. Many were still sleeping at this time of the morning.

“We must leave now Celest!… Ingrid has been gone since we left to go pick up and I believe the dragons I mean the red eyes”…

With my eyes wide as the pacific ocean I look his way.

“uh-huh, what do you... uh, what!”

Stunned with the sun bright as day, I was distracted staring up at the sky noticing how it shines right down on his face and memorized by him indulging in the urgency of saving our friend. Not knowing the truth but on the way to find discover the truth, I follow Thomas giving all my trust to him as we may not be able to return. We begin to run.

“Well, it seems to me you both were near the alleyways again. Guide us now to where you were last with him…why do you think he was taken by the red eyes?”, as my voice trembles as running through what feels like a heatwave.

With many questions rotating in my mind …He stops and looks my way and then he stops again and looks down at his feet. I couldn’t believe what I saw his feet were covered in this pink, reddish and clear slime that sparkled in the sun, it was beautiful to me but I could tell he was in shock still. The gel was like nothing I ever seen before so thick and smelt like dry sand used to molt together materials that repair the places destroyed by the Blast.

“Cels we can’t stop before the others wake for rising.. I’ll show you where were we left off, we were going into the shop. I remember running out quickly because the sun was shining through in the window and then I turned around and purple goop everywhere.”

Running with the sun shining was not easy I felt so queasy and the thoughts of Ingrid there alone with the redeyes did not give me confidence that we would survive this journey. Thomas and I had to stop every five minutes to get to the shop just to catch our breath. As we were running I was noticing how the sun shined down on our shoes glistening with slime. Running faster with fewer stops made it possible to not be seen during rising. I noticed the shop where the boys picked up the herbs used for cooking. Picking up was part of their everyday duties to complete before rising. We stopped and looked all directions ending up right next to Dragonally.

“here is where I last looked at him I told him to wait and then I came back and bam nothing just this trail of redeye slime.

“Cels it’s the same, the same from that day I bumped into the dragon I mean redeye.”

The gel-like substance no longer glowed down this particular alleyway due to the sun not reaching this way seem weird since this alleyway was known to be Dragonally. Eagerly yet scared I lock arms with Thomas to lead us down the Dragonally.

“We should just follow the slime I’m sure he’s there Thomas quick theres people coming”

“you do know this is Dragonally right Cels… me and Ingrid we haven’t been down here since well that other night” Thomas tries to hide that he’s been sneaking out without me and going out past dark again. Assuming things have gotten worse at home with the both of them I haven’t had words to smooth them.

“Thomas now really not the time.. lets go now before the others see us here” rushing the word out my mouth.

Locking eyes again with Thomas we run on the gel-like substance and the further we went the darker the alleyway became. It also became much narrower down Dragonally. We both caught ourselves bending down slowly taking smaller steps as the darker it gets.

”Do you hear that Celest shh”

All I could hear at the time was my heavy breathing. It was pitch dark we couldn’t see anything and it felt like we were standing in water. So slippery and warm the air began to make us question if death was upon us.

”I hear something trickling” I whispered.

We both follow the sound and we end up pushing against the wall. Touching the wall we activated the doorknob to appear glowing with the same substance on our shoes But this time bright red. Wiping the doorknob off before turning the doorknob we instantly fall into a warped silence. A flash came before us which felt as if my heart left my chest and came back in.

“both rise up now we have no time for this we need for them to understand… we need to know now if its them” deep toned voice echoed in the distance.

“Run Identification on the two” as heavy coughing echoed in our ears and everything was still and black.

I remember being able quickly to open my eyes and not being panicked at all. There were beds all around us but all empty and dusty which reminded me of my grandpas chair. Right next to me was Thomas still sleeping gently with his hair covering his face. But across from me was the biggest form of life I've ever seen. The creature was on a massive bed hooked up to many wires and equipment adjusted to his size. Was it a dragon in front of me. Blinking my eyes repetitively the colors here were so enhanced compared to the valley. Stunned by everything surrounding me Thomas turns his head towards me.

“what is going on”… as the machine beeps to confirm the living still lives.

Thomas woke up for about two point five seconds and then immediately passed out when pointing his head towards the dragon right in front of us.

“What is your name young girl who is the voice you present to me” as the dark aura of this dragon turns to look directly into my eyes.

I sit up on the bed trying to come together with any coherent thoughts while a redeye is speaking to me asking my name. I felt a change overcome me while I gather my thoughts.

“Celest is my name and we’re looking for our friend Ingrid and this is Thomas … are you what the villagers out there call a redeye,” I ask with calmness.

Purple goop splatters everywhere as the dragon turns my way and around his neck, the scales were dark tinted pealing like snakeskin. He was rugged, old, and dried out. There was something about this dragon that was not fulfilled while connected to wires monitoring him.

“I’m the last male dragon here in dragon alleyway there’s a total of seven of us and we do not go by the redeyes that is what your people like to call us when they run from us when we’ve guided them through many years. I consider it to be the worse insult of..”

The floor begins to rumble and a bright pink aura turns the corner another dragon was presented to me. I couldn’t believe my eyes she was magnificent. I could tell that the dragon was a girl just like her by her pink glowing body. Her scales were light red and shiny glistening under the daylight prying through the roof. She appeared to be smaller than the one sitting across from us and thinner around her wings.

“Hello, Celest my name is the Serene and this dragon here is Athan the last male of the great age. The others are in the corridor keeping Ingrid entertained. We have been looking forward to this day. We have waited quite some time to meet you all” she speaks with poise and much more strength in tone.

My shoulders lowed with relief knowing that Ingrid is alive and being entertained through tales given by actual dragons. Athan began to cough heavily shaking the ground and forcing Thomas to wake up completely. I could tell from the comparison that Athan was not in healthy condition. The monitors were going off and Thomas was noticing were in a place we had never been before. To me, it was like a hidden gem right beneath the surface of The Valley.

“Tom, Ingrid is okay I know this is gonna sound crazy but he’s outside being entertained by the other dragons! this here is Athan and Serene... I believe there is great trouble” Celest says with no grief.

We all suddenly turn our heads towards Athan putting the pressure on the next words given.

“Settle down now things are different here in this realm. Your emotion influences many of our movements below the grounds of the Valley. I’m sure you both have now adjusted to the vision here. The colors relate to our expression. You will have to listen closely as we are not prone to repeat ourselves out of respect. Since the blast, we have not been able to use the sun and those are the consequences we suffer from down below hidden.”

Thomas raises his head in such urgency to begin to speak.

“You’re gonna have to elaborate further..ancient dragon because this is much on my head how long have we been sleeping here? And what does the sunlight have to do with any of this?”

“That’s the thing we haven’t seen sunlight in years in ages and Ingrid has been very good to us by supplying us with the fruits and berries to supplement the blood flow of our veins we’ve been here for light-years beyond light-years and the blast has taken away from all of us, we haven’t flown, the women wings can not bear babies without sun nurturing our scales...”

“That’s enough Athen! that’s enough there both not nourished enough to fully digest, you need to focus on your health and rest.”

Serene turns are direction with hopeful as her footsteps shake the ground below us. Distracting Thomas and me from the weakness within our bones.

“It will take until sundown until you both fully adjust to the way we have adapted to. Humans can strengthen their core way faster than us dragons. After you fully adapt will join the others in the Mills to meet my sisters and will all explain more than”

With Athen across from us, Thomas stared absorbing the matter of being around the Great Athen. My eyes blur my vision in and out and Thomas's raging headache rotates are thoughts wildly. We choose to rest and then decide what’s best for us three. The lights were dim as Serene tapped the light switches with the slap of her glowing pink tail.

“rest well my friends” she walks forward as are beds rumble.

Serene Turns the corner into the hall and I lay back and I get comfortable. Thomas Turns in my direction and lays on his side facing me he stares at me and I stared back at him and we end up falling asleep. The night went by quickly thoughts racing through our brains, it exhausted the both of us after were well-rested. Athens's coughing shook the whole room and I rose up.

“ Pardon me ,” he says shoving the thick wires out of his way.

“are you doing alright Athen”, I say with all concern.

”I was hoping you would ask me that… I’m not nearly as good as I was before the blast.” as he directs his coughing towards the opposite side of the equipment.

“The blast? … can you tell me more about that! Well, I know above we were affected a lot, all the women have gone, buildings destroyed in the Captial doesnt speck of any of the madness within transportation overrun, just so bonkers here on the eastern side… between the three of us we have been misguided since because there aren’t many stories and books on dragons. we can’t even talk about Dragonally and well now that I know the dragons are real Why haven’t y’all been helping above? why don’t the Pegasus help as equal exchange? Why did the blast..”

I had vented to Athen with no breath yet. I was so angry to see the dragons hurt or in distress from what the Blast had put them through.

”The blast put us all in danger my dear and left this odor that we cannot breathe, then we Immediately dug and we dug and created this place with all the resources we had left the blast left only the seven. We are not normal compared to the other creatures about were very strong and there was a great amount of us compare to the Pegasus that I’m sure has triple since the blast has happened. The blast left only the seven of us As you can see they left us with an only woman and me so you and I have something in common“ he pauses and coughs.

“The resources we have here are way different than up there in the village, down here many of the things don’t need the same resources we use the oil from the dirt supplies are joints in blood flow but that’s not enough that you can see we have all grown too weak.” He coughs again.

“dragons can extract oil from the dirt?!”, Thomas pops up with utter excitement.

“Well, that’s not all Since the Blast we’ve had to change our diet to the sea causing war with the other creatures above since the blast Such as the Pegasus it doesn’t seem to be a problem as they multipled right?.” He stops he takes a deep breath to calm his coughing.

With the floor rumbling, I could hear someone come around it was Serene and she brought Ingrid with Her.

“Hey, guys oh my gosh I’m so happy to see you both”. Ingrid charges towards us and we rise in our bed Ingrid charges towards us and we rise in our bed at ease to see him.

“Ingrid!” Me and Thomas rise quickly get out of our bed and hug him and squeeze him tight. With all of us three now united once again it felt like we were in a cottage back home reading the tales we shouldn’t have. Serene and Athen smile with relief.

“I think it’s time Serene, take them to the Mills I’ll be OK,” Athen says with all strength.

”Join me you three will meet the others now,” she says calmly and walks towards the hall with the floor crumbling beneath us. We all follow Serene leaving Athen behind.

“Will he be okay ?” Celest asks with concern.

“ The equipment is monitoring so if anything changes we’ll know right away, follow me quickly others have been waiting, “ Serene says as we walk down a hall lit with candles that were dripping wax onto the ground.

“Oh, man Tom and Cels they have shared stories with me there amazing and is nothing like the books above. It's like our home up there is cursed and our papas aren’t crazy…” Ingrid's voice cracks with excitement.

Smiling back at Ingrid we continue to walk with Serene and we turn the corner and there they were as if we all meant to be here together. I felt happy and normal witnessing the beautiful dragons ahead of me with my best friends. The Mills were where the water fell from the sea above and the dragons were able to catch fish. The vines from the trees above grew through the dirt walls and with every step Serene would take dirt would fall among us. We stood in front of them all with confidence that we knew that listening to them would help us help them. Gazing up at the rest of them the three of us stood there with patience and were ready for whatever comes our way.