Farmhand's Darkness

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Nolbert remembered this as the smell of charred wood wafted into his nose again. He looked down at his hands which were covered in soot, dirt, and blotches of crusted blood, considering whose blood was on his hands, and what had happened. Was it from his own raw hands, or maybe from his right arm that was cut this morning? Could it have been his friend’s blood from yesterday? Maybe that old woman he tried to save that afternoon? Maybe it was from… no… he dare not think of it… His head was pounding from what had happened. It was only a few days ago he thought he was safe, and he thought he was bored helping his family with the farm. He actually thought that he would take it over Bailey's, his girlfriend, father’s farm, assuming that they got married. Nolbert clenched his hands together as he sat against the cold stone brick wall, memories flooding back. His thoughts finally stopped but only because he had to lean over to his right to throw up again. He allowed himself a brief look around to see the burnt, crushed houses of the only town he ever knew. Most aflame currently, but he couldn't look up for long before his head started spinning and throbbing again. His head had hit the wall very hard and he was just coming from that. Nolbert didn’t know how much time had passed.

His town, Clament, was far away from the well-traveled roads of the Kingdom. He couldn’t even see the town on Old Fern’s map from, “the days of glory!” Nolbert leaned right again, threw up, head pounding, and a memory of the old man running one moment, next being engulfed in flames pierced his mind. As he leaned back up he saw the street in front of him lit up from new flames, and heat beat down from above him. The wall he sat against quivered the same as him for a moment.

He faded back into more memories, remembering hearing the first beat of the dragon’s wings, its defending whoosh as it dove through the air. That was the death melody that soon after took his father up in the dragon’s maw. No screams came from his father, only the beat of wings was all that accompanied his father’s sudden funeral. Soon after the dragon breathed hell upon the house where his mother was. Flames followed by screams are what he remembered most from the last two days. It was earlier that day when he finally found Bailey’s panicked blue eyes and soot-covered yellow dress. They had planned to escape that night. The night that still surrounded him now. Memories he dared not think about just moments before came flooding back, triggered by the memory of her blue eyes.

They were running through the street when it looked clear and there was no sound in the wind. They went as fast as they could hoping to make it into the forest, out of the Hell that was now their town. That hope left as a quick whooshing sound followed by the dragon’s tail smashed against both of them sending them flying against the stone brick wall he sat against now. He looked left at the matted yellow dress covering Bailey’s lifeless body, her dull blue eyes looking far away.

That’s what he's not supposed to think about, as he leaned right throwing up again for a different reason than his pounding head. However, this time as he leaned his head hit a marble-looking stone that wasn’t there before. Committed he leaned his head against it and finished throwing up. That’s when he felt that this new stone was warm.

“What the..” He thought as he felt the heat to his left now, looking and seeing a similar white stone narrow to a point just above Bailey’s body. His mind fearfully thinking felt heat again from above about that same moment. Daring to glance up he then saw his nightmare breathe flames out of its large maw. The green dragon’s head swung from one side to another. Nolbert was sitting between the claws of the dragon.

“This was it… this was how it ended,” He thought to himself as he started passing out. Falling against one of the claws, though he thought he saw someone running toward the nightmare on the street…. But why? They seem to have a light not made of fire, but that is all he could see before Nolbert’s world turned into darkness… in more ways than one.