Mayra and the Dragon Hunters

Chapter One

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.

The Great Barrier was a magical force flied that made sure not a single dragon laid a claw on our land. Its magic protected us with years of prosperity. But, as with most magic, the Great Barrier had a major flaw.

The single act of the sun rising in the east and setting in the west depleted any magical object or creature of its energy. This meant that for two hours a day, the Great Barrier disappeared, leaving the Valley vulnerable to a dragon attack. Fortunately, this meant the dragons were also vulnerable since they relied on magic to prevent anything from to piercing their skin.

A special army was created to deal with any dragon that dared to cross into our land. We called ourselves the Dragon Hunters. We protected the Valley and make sure everyone in it is safe.

Some patrolled the border to see if they could detect any deuteration to the Great Barrier. Others used crystal balls to see if a dragon was coming too close. One group oversaw the maintenance of our tools and weapons, while another group repaired our armor.

People like my team and I, either wrangled the dragons to the other side or killed them if necessary. Without magic, we could only rely on natural strengths, abilities, and cleverness to get the job done.

The job was far from easy, but if we wanted an easy job, we wouldn’t have joined the Dragon Hunters. Every one of us knew what we were getting ourselves into, and we wouldn’t have preferred it any other way.

There was Hector, a short, burly man who was as strong as twelve men. We could always rely on him in a tight squeeze. His short temper and violent outburst meant he could become a loose cannon sometimes. His anger would sometimes jeopardize the missions, and we would have to compensate for his mistakes. He was a danger even off the battlefield. His bar fights would send taverns falling to the ground, leaving the Dragon Hunter’s treasury to pay for the damages.

Next was Ulysses, the brains of our group. He would spend hours in monasteries researching all types of dragons and what their weakness was. His legs were longer than his dark blue hair that went down to his waist. Out of all the members in our group, he was the only one I could not stand. His pride and vanity made him a pain to work with since he was afraid of getting his nails dirty or his hair messy. He never shut his mouth on how famous and wealthy he was going to be, yet when push came to shove he cried about the smallest thing. The man should have been an actor or a seamstress, not a Dragon Hunter. But I couldn’t ignore his contribution to the team, and if it wasn’t for his intelligence, I would have kicked him off a long time ago.

Alyra was quite the character. She wasn’t as grating as Ulysses, but her short attention span and lack of experience caused her to make the most foolish mistakes that would put the mission into jeopardy. Having her on the team was always a gamble since I never knew what would grab her attention. She was also extremely chatty and would say the most random and idiotic things that would distract me as I would try to understand what was said. Despite her flaws, she was just as strong as Hector and had a gift for soothing the wildest of beasts. With the right touch, she could turn into a ravenous dragon who could become docile within a few seconds.

Finally, there was me. Each of my teammates gave me the nickname Mother Hen, a name which I despised. I was nobody’s mother. I was a leader. I made sure that everyone plaid their part and stayed in line. If someone died, or worse a dragon escaped, I would take the blame, not them. It was hard keeping my feelings suppressed, but I was willing to do anything to keep the team intact. Sometimes I couldn’t help it and lash out at one of them. But I couldn’t ask for their forgiveness, apologies were a sign of weakness, and I couldn’t afford to be weak around any of them.

Together we were a well-oiled machine. Ready to take on any dragon that dared come our way.

One afternoon, we were alerted by our superiors of a dragon coming towards our side of the border. We gathered at our usual spot at The Scaley Inn.

“Alright,” I said, slamming my fists on the table, a sure-fire way to get my team’s attention. “I assume you all know why we’re here?”

“Would this be the reason?” Ulysses asked, holding out his crystal ball.

The ball showed a giant, orange, and yellow dragon flying over the mount side. I recognized the area immediately as the Mountain of St. Arravas, a five-day journey from the border, but at the dragon’s speed, it would cross over within a few hours.

I hated how smug Ulysses was as he shoved the ball into her face, but I appreciated his help in getting everyone up to speed.

“Yes,” I said. “We can tell by the color of its scale it’s a…”

“Oh, wait. I got this one!” Alyra shouted, causing everyone in the tavern to look at us with contempt. “It’s…uh… a Moss Beast, no wait, their gray. Hold on, a Hell Beast, right?”

If Ulysses hadn’t scrunched up his nose, I definitely would have. Meanwhile, Hector rolled his eyes and sighed

"But a Hell Beast is red!" Alyra said, confused.

“But not golden and red!” Ulysses said. “ We’re looking at a Treasure, Houser. They're known for collecting gold, and protecting their hoards, even at the expense of their own life. In the olden days they were used for..."

“What’s the best way to defeat it?” I asked, not wanting to sit through an hour-long history lesson. The less Ulysses could talk the better.

“Well, we can take advantage of its fascination with gold,” Ulysses began. “ And its most sensitive part is…”

“The head?” Alyra screamed. "Its neck? Oh,, I know! It's feet right?"

"Its tail," Ulysses sighed. "Its sweet spot is its tail!"

“I was going to say tail next," Alyra said slumping back into her chair.

“Course you were,” Hector mumbled.

“Anyway,” I said. “So, we can lure the dragon away with gold. What next?

Everyone seemed stumped by my question.

Hector closed his eyes, twisted his mustache, and gave out a heavy grunt.

“Hector, you have something to say?” I asked, unable to take his twitching any longer.

“Well I was just thinking that…” but he didn’t have a moment to finish.

Alyra popped up out of her seat.

“I know, I know, I know!” she shouted. “We get Ulysses to pretend to be a lord on a business trip. We’ll fill the carriage with fake gold, which will divert the dragon away from the Valley! Boom! Problem solved!”

The rest of us sat there in stunned silence while Alyra looked mighty proud of herself.

Ulysses was the first to speak up.

“While I do like the theatrics, I don’t think that the dragon will care if I’m a lord or not,” he said.

“I was going to suggest just having a cart and letting a horse carry it away,” Hector suggested.

“Who will be on the horse?” Alyra asked.

“Does it matter who is on the horse?” I asked. “All we need is some gold, a cart, and a horse. What next?”

Ulysses combed his hair back.

“Well,” he began. “Once it lands, or overturns the cart, it will take a few seconds for it to consume the gold, before flying back to its hoard.”

“Wait, it eats the gold?” Alyra asked. “I thought it collected gold.”

“It doesn’t literally eat gold,” Ulysses explained with a sigh. “It scoops gold into its mouth, keeps it inside its stomach, and then once it reaches its horde it will throw it back up.”

“Ewww…gross!” Alyra squirmed back in her seat.

“Fun fact, the scent of its stomach is also how the creature can tell whether a piece of its treasure is missing.” Ulysses seemed to take great pride in making Alyra uncomfortable.

“That’s beside the point,” I said, resting my hands on the table. “Once it captures the gold, it will head straight back to its horde correct?”

“Unless the dragon is attracted to an even more valuable hoard deep within the Valley,” Ulysses crossed his arms and gave me a nasty look.

“Okay, listen up,” I said. “Ulysses, you will gather the gold from the Dragon Hunter’s treasury, we’ll put the treasure on a cart and place it a few steps away from the border. Alyra, you will take care of the horse. Hector, you and I will keep the dragon grounded, while Alyra will put it to sleep by scratching its tail. Understood?”

“Why do I have to go to the Treasury?" Ulysses protested. “Trying to get those guys to do anything is a pain!”

“Exactly,” I said, smiling. “You have more patients than any of us.”

Ulysses blew his lips.

“Any other complaints?” I asked, looking from one side of the table to the other. “Alright, let’s move out!”

***

Despite being an hour away from the nearest town, I could still hear the chimes of a clock tower loud and clear. The trap was set, and all we needed to do was to wait.

The trap was set, and all we needed to do was wait.

I sat behind a bush, holding a crystal ball in my hands, watching Treasure Houser flying ever closer to our location. I had a deep fear that we didn’t have enough gold to tempt the beast, or the beast would be too fast to fight off.

The sun was inches away from the horizon, it was only a matter of time before the crystal ball would go dark, and all of our magic would be gone.

This is what I hated about Dragon Hunting. The endless waiting and anticipation were enough to drive me mad. A part of me just wanted to run towards the monsters and knock them out of the sky, but I had to wait, I had no choice but to wait.

It also didn’t help that everyone was huddled up against me. I was never a fan of cramped spaces. There’s nothing scarier than fighting a dragon in a narrow chasm or a small cave. An open space would provide freedom of movement to avoid the monster’s merciless fire breath.

“Give me some space guys!” I demanded. Hector and Alyra backed away while I could still feel Ulysses’s hair brushed against my shoulder. He probably knew I found it annoying, but I was determined he wouldn’t get the satisfaction.

The light in the crystal ball began to flicker, and soon it would go completely dark. Sometimes if I hit the ball hard enough, I could keep shining bright for a few seconds more, and in this line of work, a second could mean the difference between life or death.

“Ooo, look at that shine over there!” I heard Alyra say.

“It’s gold Alyra, it’s supposed to shine,” I told her. How could she say something so idiotic? I could have only imagined what she would say next. That the grass was green? The sun was yellow? The possibilities were endless!

“I know that!” Alyra said. “I’m talking about the shine behind those trees over there!”

Shine?

I looked over the bushes and followed where Alyra was pointing at.

“Hold on,” I said, turning back to the crystal ball. I rubbed my hands over its surface until I was right over our location. I directed its gaze beyond our pile and past the trees.

“Ah, great, just great,” I mumbled.

There were those who want to preserve the life of these great beasts, and there were others who would kill these monsters out of sport.

They called themselves Dragon Killers, and I kicked myself for not taking their existence into account. They must have followed us since the very beginning! I cursed at them for being so clever.

“Okay, new plan,” I turned around to face my team. “Hector, you keep control of the horse. Ulysses and I will sneak around and keep the Dragon Killers occupied.”

“Why me?” Ulysses asked.

“Do you know how to rub a dragon’s sweet spot?” I asked him. “Or you can get rope burn trying to keep the horse in place.”

“Never mind, I’ll do it,” he replied grudgingly. “But you’re paying for my cleaning bill when this is over.”

I could just strangle Ulysses right then and there. Any other Dragon Hunter would happily give their lives for the cause. The same hunters would do whatever their leader ordered them to. But I had no time to attack a fellow team member, I needed to do whatever it took to complete the mission.

“Ulysses, follow me,” I ordered, before looking to Hebert and Alyra. “You two, carry out the plan like normal. Got it?”

They both gave a thumbs up.

With that, I motioned for Ulysses to follow me. I heard him give out a sigh, and I could tell he was rolling his eyes, but he still obeyed.

I could have disguised ourselves with an invisibility spell, but I didn’t know how many Dragon Killers there were, how spread out they were, how much time we had left before sunset, and the blood and guts would give us both away.

Thankfully the area was flat, and we only had to maneuver around large trees and thick, viny bushes.

I counted the heads of the Dragon Killer gang. They all were preoccupied looking at the carriage filled with gold to notice us.

There were three in total, and each one had the same black dragon tattoo on their arms. I could have sworn I had seen those tattoos before, but I couldn’t put my finger on them. I didn’t think about it too hard. I needed to figure out how to take these guys out. There was no way Ulysess and I would be able to take them all at once. I could probably maybe two or three of them, and Ulysess could probably take out one, maybe two if he put in the effort.

We needed to be smart about it. We could use stealth to take them out, but that would take too long. Magic was the only thing that could do the job. I just had to hope that I wasn’t too late. One second too late, and the magic would either tickle them or disappear in midair.

“Ulysess, we need to preform the Aurora Attack,” I whispered to him.

“Are you crazy?” he said, almost blowing our cover.

“It’s the only way to take out all of them in the least amount of time,” I told him. “Now quit talking, and start moving those hands!”

The Aurora Attack was a basic but an effective spell. People used it for stunning multiple opponents at once. It always came in handy in a tight a pinch. If done correctly, five lights of energy would come out of our fingers and hit each of the members at the same time.

I pressed my hands together before spreading my fingers out. I turned them sideways, pointed them at four of the dragon killers, opened my hands out but making sure my thumbs were still touching and pushed with all my strength.

I knew I had done it correctly because I could feel the edge of my fingers tingle with magical energy. All the blood had rushed to my fingertips. It was slightly painful, like ten pinpricks, but I had felt much worse.

Ten balls of light shot out of my fingers, and then ten more came out of Ulysses.

All we could then was hold our breaths and watch. There was no way to tell how many more minutes of magic we had left, but we had to hope that it was enough.

The balls of lights were inches away from our targets.

“Come on,” I muttered, grinding my teeth. “Almost there…”

One of the balls of light had reached the closest Dragon Killer and was about to touch the metal of his back. That was all the light needed to make him go limp, just one touch, one simple touch.

Suddenly the ball of light evaporated into a puff of smoke. We were too late!

I watched as every ball disappeared one by one.

“Well, that was disappointing.”

Suddenly, I realized why the tattoo on their arms looked so familiar.

Standing behind us, holding her crossbow at the ready, was Tayne, leader of the Shadow Dragons.

She wore large books covered in spikes. Her armor was bulky enough to fend off any blade but small to compliment her figure. Half of her red hair was shaved off. Red strands dangled above her eyes.

Ulysses flung his hands in the air, but I wasn't going to surrender so easily.

“I had expected more from you,” Tayne said with a smile. “So disappointed. So very disappointed.”

“Then shoot us already!” I shouted. Tayne and I had something of a history. We had been through the same motions so many times before it was almost comical. I would capture a dragon, she did her best to kill it, and I was strong enough to fight off her and her goons.

“Let’s not get too hasty,” Ulysses gasped. “Surely we can come an agreement.”

“Yeah, how about you leave us alone, and we spare you the embarrassment of failing for the…what is it now? Twenty-eth time?” I offered.

Instead of growling, Tayne remained calm and in control.

"Ulysses, draw your sword,” I said to him. I could already hear him about to protest, so I added “And that’s an order!”

I heard him mutter something under his breath before drawing his blade.

Tayne still laughed.

My eyes were glued to her hands, anticipating the very second she would let go. Magic or no magic, I could still doge her arrows. I had trained myself to be aware of my surroundings, so even though I couldn’t see the other three male attackers, I could hear their short, faint breaths, and the crunch of leaves under their boots.

We all stood there like frozen statues, waiting for someone to strike the first blow.

“Make a move already!” I demanded. Thankfully, Tayne fulfilled my wish.

The arrows flew in the air at such speed that not even a hawk could catch them. Speed matter not when I knew where the arrows were headed. I leaned my body to the left and dodged the first arrow. I stretched out my arm and pushed Ulysses to the side so that the second arrow only missed him by a hair. The arrow hit one of Tanya’s men in the chest. I heard a loud clank and turned to see that the arrowhead had gone through the armor of one of Tayne’s men, but not a drop of blood poured out. The man was a little shaken but he was still able to pluck the arrow out of his chest and drop it on the ground.

Tayne wasn’t foolish enough to reload. Instead, she took the admiral approach by leaping in the air and attempting to kick my teeth out. She might have been fast, but my sword was faster. I raised my blade and blocked her metal boots from touching my face. We held our pose for a moment. The world around us disappeared, but I had to remain focused on my surroundings.

Ulysses was fighting or attempting to fight a bald man with a thick mustache, the other three men attempted to surround us both in order to stab us in the backs or in the sides.

My attention snapped back to Tayne, who was about to shove the butt of her crossbow into my nose. I just used my sword to swing her foot out of place, causing her to lose her balance. Instead of striking me, she nearly fell to the ground before catching herself.

“Watch your back!” I yelled. A blonde man charged at me , but I was ready. He leaped in the air, our swords clashed, and he toppled to the ground.

“Don’t…tell…me…what…to do!” he screamed as his sword clashed with the bald man’s. The man went high, and luckily Ulysses ducked in time. Luckily, only a few strands of hair were chopped off.

“Oh, it is on!” Ulysses growled. One thing I learned from the experience, was to never mess with Ulysess’s hair.

A man with brown hair charged at Ulysses from the other side, but Ulysses spun around at the speed of a tornado. The brown-haired man was pushed away, while the bald man was sliced from cheek to cheek.

The bald man felt the fresh wounds bleeding from his cheeks, but that was enough time for Ulysses to send the hilt of his sword directly into the man’s forehead. The man stumbled backward and collapsed.

The man with the brown hair crashed into me. I held his neck tight, trying to twist it like a bottle cork, he fought me with every muscle in his being. His strength was so great that I could see the veins popping out of his skin, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t move his neck any further. With a scream, he shot both his elbows into my chest. I should have seen the blow coming, but I didn’t.

I yelped with pain, and my hands lost their grip.

“Finally, a real fight,” I said, fighting the pain away with a smile.

The man turned around. He held up his sword and ran right at me. I tried to pick myself up, but there wouldn’t be enough time. I waited for his blade to chop straight through me, but a defining clang rang in my ears. I opened my eyes. Ulysses had swooped in at the last moment.

“Aw, you really do care,” I said.

“Yeah, yeah,” Ulysses mumbled.

Ulysses and the man twisted their swords this way and that.

What the man didn’t realize that Ulysses was inching towards his fingers. By the time the man noticed Ulysses's attack it was already too late. The man screamed, dropped his sword and held on to his hand as dark, red blood trickled out. I placed my foot on the hilt of his sword and slid it towards me.

I soon regained most of my strength to stand back up. Although relieved, I knew the fight was far from over.

I noticed that the blonde man was still lying on the ground, but Tayne had vanished. I scanned the area. The more I looked, the more I began to worry. She must have been hiding behind the trees, but which one? I cursed myself for losing my focus so quickly.

Click, click.

My head sprung up, and I smiled. Tanya might have escaped my sight before, but not this time. She should have hid further away, but then Ulysses and I would be out of her weapon’s range. I turned my head towards the sound, and I caught a glimpse of her crossbow pointed straight at me.

“I see you!” I shouted, as I ran towards the tree.

Two arrows flew towards me, but I deflected them with my blade.

“How about you surrender?” I asked. “Your men are in no condition to fight us, much less a dragon.”

“You think I’ll let a Treasure Houser slip my grasps?” Tayne asked cocking her crossbow. “Do you know how much people are willing to buy just for their claws?”

I already knew the answer, because it was rumored that its claws brought good luck and protection from magical hexes.

“I’m not going to let some petite; simple-minded Dragon Hunters get in my way!” Tayne stood out of her hiding place and was about to fire. I held up my blade and braced myself for her attack.

Suddenly, we all heard a loud, furious cry from above. Ulysses and I froze while Tayne gave a little grin.

We all looked to see a mighty beast flapping its large wings above the trees.

I held my breath.

It was the moment of truth.

The dragon would either take our bait or fly further into the Valley.

Tayne’s grin grew wider as she pointed her crossbow into the sky.

I begged her not to do it, but she simply snickered at me.

She pantomimed a popping sound with her lips before pushing her finger onto the trigger.

After two sharp thwungs, the dragon gave out a deafening cry. Blood landed on my face, and hit the ground like rain. The dragon’s wings slowed down, and its body sunk lower and lower. With a loud crash, the dragon landed on the field right next to our carriage full of gold.

I couldn’t believe it! I had taken an oath to keep the dragons alive as much as possible, and I failed. I failed to keep my oath! Once word got out my reputation would be ruined. The only way I could save the situation was to arrest Tayne for killing an endangered species.

I heard a rustling noise in the bushes on the other side. Alyra and Hector had left the horse behind and headed straight for the dragon.

“Oh, no!” she cried. "Oh, no, no, no, no!"

She petted the beast’s nose as she would do for a dog or a stray cat. She felt her way along the dragon’s chest before her hand found a bloody spot near the heart.

“Do we have any bandages? Rubbing alcohol?” she asked, looking this way and that.

Her efforts were admirable but were all in vain.

The dragon wasn’t breathing and its eyes remained closed. Only magic could resurrect this beast, but it would be too late by the time the sun disappeared from the sky.

“I don’t see what you’re upset about,” Tayne said, resting her crossbow on her shoulders. “Just say you had no choice but to kill it and move on.”

“No,” I growled at her. “A Dragon Hunter must remain honest, no matter the cost.”

Tayne chuckled.

“What a stupid rule,” she said. “Now, get out of my way!”

I raised my sword, blocking her path.

“What are you doing?” she asked. “Hey! Hey! Let go of me!”

Ulysses snuck up behind her.

“You’re under arrest for killing an endangered species for profit,” he said. I was surpised. I had never heard him speak in a serious monotone voice before

“You can’t prove that!” she shouted. “I’ll say I was saving your lives! Get your hands off me!”

Ulysses was never the strong type, but I had expected him to hold Tayne down longer than five seconds. After breaking away from his grasp, she ran, rolled under my sword, and leaped towards the dragon.

“Get out of my way!” she shouted, pushing Alyra to the ground.

“Hey!” she cried, intending it to sound like an angry roar but instead, it came out as an annoying squeak.

Tayne pulled out a dagger from her boots and was about to chip away the dragon’s scales, but Hector crushed her hand just in time.

She released the dagger and it fell on to the dragon’s shoulder, creating a giant crack.

We all froze.

Usually, when a dragon died, they remained limp like any other dead animal. Whatever was happening at that moment was completely new to us.

Before its skin started to crack, I noticed the dragon’s skin had lost all color in its scales, but at first, I thought it was the light playing tricks on me.

More cracks popped all over its skin. The crackling noise sounded like the grinding of both flesh and stones.

“Alyra, Hector, step back!” I shouted.

They backed away just in time.

Blue wings broke out of the dry red ones. A slick blue tail sent the red spikes falling to the ground. Soon remontants of the dragon’s red skin fell off like dust.

Its head shot out as it gave out a roar. Its yellow eyes were now bright green. Dark scales grew on the rim of its nose, and its mouth grew quiet the overbite.

With one thrust of its wing, the dragon sped off into the sky

With one thrust of its wing, the dragon sped off into the sky.

Whatever this thing was, it was not a Treasure Houser. Never had I heard of a dragon that could change its form.

I looked up in the sky. The sun had vanished, and the stars began to appear in the sky.

We were too late.

For the first time since its construction, a dragon slipped through the Great Barrier, and it was all my fault.