Emergence - Prologue

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. The words of my father rang clear in my head. Tales of old. Legends. Myths. The winged beasts of old, last seen by the survivors of the fall of the Empire of Scales. All were gone now. Those that rose against the tyrannical dragon lord fled north. The land was safe from them.

Until today anyway.

It started as a breeze, only a slight change in direction. The ropes and pullies croaked as if coming alive for the first time. Cody was the only one on the ship’s deck, except for the captain, Wilford, who did his best to stay at the ship’s helm at all times.

“Feel that Cody?” the captain said. “Subtle, but it’s there.” Wilford was an older man, gray hair and beard, scraggy and unkempt. His clothes were blue and tattered with dirt and ripped. He didn’t take great care of himself, but he was the best captain this side of Hakmire. The men respected his talent for sea navigation. The first mate usually did most of the talking.

“Yes, sir, I felt it,” Cody replied. Though, he wasn’t too sure what it meant. The captain shook his head.

“We best be careful,” Captain Wilford placed a pipe in his mouth and lit the end of it, quickly shaking out the match and looking towards the ship’s bow. “This ain’t no ordinary breeze.”

It took Cody a few minutes to realize what he meant. But once the fog rolled in, he knew something was amiss. The fog was so dense that Cody couldn’t see more than a few feet in front of him. He’d never seen fog like this before. The breeze picked up slightly. He quickly came on edge, unsure of what to do next, how to react. Cody didn’t have the experience for this.

“Wake the crew,” Captain Wilford said. “Lest it be the last thing ye do.” Cody nodded frantically and rushed downstairs, rousing those sleeping, and telling those awake to get to their positions. Within minutes, the crew of the Diana was at their stations. Murmuring passed between all of them, and Captain Wilford kept to himself.

“What’s got the captain all fussed up?” one of the deck hands asked Cody. “He never rouses us. What’s the deal?”

“I don’t know,” Cody replied. “This here fog came in and, well, Captains been on edge. Can’t say I blame him.” The deckhand just grunted in frustration.

“No going back now,” Captain Wilford said. “The mountains surround us. We’re in the Valley now.

It was a typical trade route, Cody knew. The Valley route was the only way supplies and ships got in and out of the Sea of Sam to Falkreath, the land of the elves. The Diana was one of few ships allowed into the land without causing war with the hermit species due to Captain Wilford’s reputation with the Oberjarl of Hakmire.

The breeze picked up, and the groaning of all the equipment on board was enough to rattle the crew. Instinctually, the crew grabbed the hilt of their cutlass’. The ship was a cargo vessel and a special one. It kept no cannons and was armed with no bows or spears. The crew members were allowed the use of their swords, but to avoid any wrongdoing with Falkreath, the ship was bare, holding only the cargo and supplies for the crew. The positive side was that the loss of weight made the Diana one of the fastest ships on the sea.

The last piece of trust given by the elves was an ambassador. One of the elven ambassadors would accompany the ship on its journey whenever supplies were requisitioned. This ambassador knew Captain Wilford well and kept his dealings private. He rarely came to the ship’s deck unless to speak with the captain. This, however, seemed a particular case.

“Something seems to be amiss, Captain,” came the elf’s voice. He was slender, armed with a typical slick elven sword, but walked with a staff, a sapphire crystal at the top. He wore roes with green and white, the colors of the elves of his land. “The crystal stirs. I have not seen it speak like this for a while.”

“Aye, your crystal be right, Lene’Fol,” Captain Wilford said. “But I know not what it be.” Wilford looked out to the crew that scrambled around. “Oi! Henry! Get yer ass in the crow’s nest and tell me what ye see!”

“Aye, Captain!” came the shout of a man. He shuddered at the thought of having to make the climb in this weather. He quickly began climbing the ropes leading to the top, his spyglass strapped to his waist. Cody watched him climb higher and higher before he disappeared into the fog.

“Oi, look,” said the crewman from earlier. Cody moved to the edge of the ship, standing next to him. Both looked over the edge, seeing the rapidly moving water. A body came to the surface. Black as night, charred all over. It smelt of burning flesh. Smoke sizzled all around it. The body thudded against the ship’s hull. Cody jumped back in fear. The other man shouted, “Body!”

Men all around the ship turned to look at the crewman. A few stepped over in their direction. That was when the roar pierced the air. It was distant but loud enough to startle the men.

“Captain!” came a shout from the crow’s nest. “I think I see-” His voice was cut off as a large and fast object flew overhead. The boat shook slightly, and all was quiet once again.

“What the hell was that…” one of the crew said.

“You there! New blood!” the captain shouted and pointed towards Cody. “Get yer ass up and get in the crow’s nest!”

“Aye, Captain!” Cody shouted, and he scrambled to his feet, moving quickly to the nets leading up to the ship’s mast and the crow’s nest. Cody took a few deep breaths and slowly began climbing upward.

The climb was treacherous and intimidating. Cody had done the climb only twice before. Both times to meet with Henry after long nights at sea. Never at this time and never in this amount of fog. He climbed higher and higher, the ship’s deck disappearing below him. The Crow’s nest came into view, but there was no sign of Henry. Climbing into the crow’s nest, Cody saw the spyglass lying on the floor and claw marks all around, with a blood stain against the top of the mast. Shuddering, Cody grabbed the spyglass and saw only fog around him.

“Captain!” Cody shouted. “I don’t see anything! Henry’s gone, sir!”

“Keep lookin’!” the captain shouted back. “We can’t see anything down here!” Cody looked around frantically but saw nothing, only fog in all directions.

Then, there was a gust of wind. Then, another, and another. It was quick, and Cody could hear the sound of heavy wings from behind him. He turned around, only to see the large, tan underbelly of a creature. Cody ducked frantically, slamming to the floor of the crow’s nest. The giant creature passed overhead, the powerful gust from the wings pushing aside the fog. Cody stood slowly, seeing the world now. And all he saw was fire.

In the approaching distance, fires raged at the edge of the forest. Around the building fire were small figures flying around, circling like vultures, but they were larger. Larger than anything Cody had ever seen. But what took his eye was the massive beast’s golden scales and golden wings before him.

Flying sideways, showing off its brilliant and beautiful scales, the massive creature turned in an arc, circling in on the Diana. Cody could only muster one word when he saw it.

“DRAGON!” His throat hurt with how loud his scream was. Fear took over everything he had left. He dropped the spyglass as he shook and held the mast. He became light-headed and swayed. There was a loud crack from below, and the fog dissipated, blowing away quickly and violently. From below, Lene’Fol slammed the base of his staff against the ship’s deck. The crystal glowed brightly.

The dragon roared as it dived toward the ship. From below, the crew scrambled to get below deck. Cody knew he was stuck in the nest. Nowhere to go but down, and the fall would surely kill him.

Lene’Fol shouted in his native language, and water swirled from the ship’s edges to a ball above him. The dragon roared and breathed a violent torrent of fire towards the ship. Lene’Fol plunged the water into the fire with a loud hiss, stopping the breath in its trek. Steam rose to the nest, and Cody ducked down again to prevent himself from getting burned.

But the dragon did not let up. It turned quickly, showing its golden scales once more, and roared again. This time, the dragon’s scales coursed with electricity. Lightning zapped across its body as it zapped a lightning bolt toward the ship. Lene’Fol was too slow to react, and the bolt struck the deck of the Diana. A deafening boom reverberated throughout the Valley. The Diana rocked violently, and Cody did all he could to hold onto the mast.

Crashing onto the ship’s deck, the golden dragon landed, its claws digging deep into the wood. Cody could only hear muffled screams below as the dragon breathed fire onto the deck. The flames licked the mast, and the smoke rose from the charred wood.

Cody’s ears were ringing as he swayed and slowly rose to his feet. He looked over the edge, seeing the carnage below him. But the claw of the dragon was massive. It alone covered the deck of the ship. The arms rose from the deck to the body of the gigantic creature. The body dipped into the water and rose out of it, next to the mast of the Diana. The other claw grasped the back of the ship, and as Cody followed the body past the wings, he found himself face to face with the golden dragon.

He had heard stories of it now that he was this close. A dragon made of gold, so brilliant and terrifying. Able to change its breath at a whim. Bigger than the mightiest Galleon of the Hakmire fleet. Eternal nemesis of the Breakers of old. The oldest dragon to ever exist.

“It can’t be….” Cody muttered. The dragon snorted smoke from its nostrils. He dug his claws deeper into the wood and growled.

“Flee, vermin,” the dragon said with a growl. The dragon rose his claw and struck through the mast with a single swipe. Cody tumbled over the edge of the nest, falling rapidly towards the water. The last thing he saw was the fires turning the Diana into ash. His father’s words rang through his head: There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.