It's Their World Now

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. They’d forced us underground into a war bunker. Three years later, I left the hatch, and one of them stood before me. Smoke billowed from its pulsing nostrils. It stared with thin, dagger-like pupils on red eyeballs. Its breaths were deep and guttural. I couldn’t move. The heat being emitted from the black-scaled beast prickled my face. It was as if my skin was melting. There wasn’t even any fire. Not yet. But then it brandished its fangs. Was this the end? Out of the bunker for only five minutes—tasked to find help for everyone still trapped underground—and I faced an instant cremation?

The black dragon rested on its hind legs, standing taller than most buildings would be. I closed my eyes. My mind strained, determined to find a happy feeling or memory to see my life out, rather than succumb to the icy sickness congealing in my gut. I thought back to walking around Sheffield: the sun caressing my face, and the smell of freshly cut grass from all the parks. Before the dragons arrived. Before we piled into a bunker built to protect us against a nuclear war or a climate crisis. It wasn’t intended to hide us from the monsters we never thought to be real. I still couldn’t quite believe it. We immortalised them in movies and books. On a screen or in our heads; we never thought it would be anything more.

Reality struck my ears with a screeching roar. Raspy and deafening. It didn’t come from the dragon in front, though. It came from my right. The Valley trembled beneath my feet. It masked my own shudders. Thud, thud, thud. The sound was fast. The ground quaked more and more. It drew the black dragon’s attention. I could have escaped perhaps, but lead filled my legs. Two more dragons burst into view. They were even bigger than the black one and scaled with various shades of blue instead. They unleashed another vicious howl. The black one spread its wings like a monstrous bat and took flight. The blue dragons stopped to watch it disappear into the clouds. My legs still wobbled, despite the ground being so still again. The dragons then turned to me. My throat tightened. I’d missed my chance to run.

“Pssst, hey,” came a whispering voice from the nearby trees. A dirty faced woman shielded behind a trunk. “Kneel and open your hands.”

“What?” I replied, trying to only part the corner of my mouth and keep my voice low. The dragons glared at me with amber eyes. The mist of their breath drew swampy sweat from my brow.

“Get on your knees and show them your palms.”

I did as she said. I also closed my eyes, despite not being instructed to do so. The end felt near still. The air smelled like spoilt meat left out on a hot day. I was their meat. One snap of their jaws and it would all be over. The grass under my knees vibrated again. Thuds returned, but they were a fading sound. I opened my eyes. The dragons were leaving. The rush through my blood felt euphoric. I bounced to my feet as if born again, then dashed to the woman. “How did you know to do that?”

“I’ve learnt a few things. Who’re you with? Why’re you out here?”

“I just got out of a bunker. We’re close to running out of food and water, so they voted me to fetch help.”

“A bunker, eh?”

“Yes. One of the half-finished ones, though. So we only had limited supplies, and the comms weren’t set up properly. Have you been out here since the dragons arrived?”

The woman looked past me. “We have.”

“We? There’s more of you? I didn't think anyone outside the bunkers would survive the Valley.” Crunches came from behind. When I turned, two men approached. Their faces and clothes were also filthy, like the woman’s.

“There’s payment for saving your life,” the woman said. Her sudden change in tone made my insides uneasy. The men stopped right beside me. They reeked of sweat that even left a salty taste on my lips.

I told her, “I only have the money on me I did when I went underground. It isn’t much.” Yet I sensed she didn’t mean money. One man snatched my arm. His grip was rough and strong. The other unzipped my jacket and dove into the pockets. He took my wallet and tossed it to the woman.

“Not money. We need, let’s call them, workers, for the great rebuild.” She rooted through my wallet while both men now held my arms. I was not a big man. Barely any muscles on me at all. I was fast, but I stood no chance of breaking free to use my speed. “What’s this?” she asked, pulling a card from the wallet.

“My… my pass for the hospital.”

“You’re a doctor?”

“Yes… well, not yet. Some day. I’m through medical school. I’m still in training but doing work experience at the hospital.”

“Well, Mr. Robert Wright,” she said, reading the pass, “this might be your second lucky break today. He has a need for doctors.” The men released me, and she stepped forward. She retrieved a long, yellowed tooth from her pocket. It was spiked, like it could have belonged to a dragon. Surely it didn’t, though. She placed it in my palm, along with the wallet and hospital pass. “Take this. It will stop others trying to recruit you and allow you an audience with him.”

My heart was pounding so fast. It even dulled my ears. I didn’t feel like I was hearing everything properly. “I don’t understand. Who? Please, I just need help for everyone in the bunker. The police, or fire service, or is the military here?”

The three of them laughed. “You have no idea, do you?” the woman said. “Come with me.”

She started up the steep side of the Valley. The men stayed where they were. I could’ve run away, but I needed to know more. Who were they? She was able to escape dragons. I had to follow her. I climbed the hill. Part of me tingled at the thought of seeing Sheffield again, despite the knots still coiled in my belly. I looked out, and my heart plummeted. My blood turned cold. I felt hollow. The view stripped everything from within me in one moment. The magnificent skyline. My home. What had happened? Some buildings flickered with the orange and yellow of fire. Others had crumbled and were scorched black. Nature’s overgrowth plagued those that still stood. It was an apocalyptic wasteland, a city left to ruin. Like something I’d seen in video games or movies. How could it be real?

“The Sheffield you know died three years ago,” the woman said bluntly. “The dragons didn’t just stay in the Valley. All of England is like this now. Hell, maybe even the entire world.”

I fell to my knees. Everything was gone. For three years, I dreamt of normality. Getting on the bus for work. Going for drinks with friends. My heart spasmed sharply. My friends… my family… I’d gone three years without them on the belief they would be waiting when I got out. But if the entire country was under the rule of dragons… if everywhere looked like this… were they even still alive?

“You want to save your people, yes?” the woman asked.

Of course, I did, but I couldn’t find my voice to answer her.

“You should go to him. Speak to the Creator.”

I tilted my neck, squinting with moist eyes. “Who?”

“Haven’t you wondered where the dragons came from? Creatures only existing in our imaginations until they all descended on us. He created them.”

“Somebody did this?” A bolt of adrenaline flashed through my veins, hoisting me to my feet. “Where is he?”