Midnight flight

It was the midnight flight, and all the passengers were tired and grumpy from delay after delay. Jess had been in New York on business and now had a 7-hour flight to London; luckily, she snagged a window seat. She looked out the window at the dark expanse of sky. There was a full moon, and it was a clear night. It looked to be a straight forward flight, but Jess couldn't shake the unease in her stomach, and the feeling was building.

4 hours into the flight, the feeling of unease grew. Jess became restless. She glanced around at the other passengers, but they all seemed calm, and there was nothing alarming. She closed her eyes and connected to her intuition, and there was restlessness in the stillness and noise in the silence. In that moment, her eyes opened wide. She knew something big was coming.

Suddenly, the intercom crackled to life. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We've encountered some turbulence, so please fasten your seat belts and remain seated."

Jess sat back and gripped her armrests tightly as the plane hit rough air. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, hoping that it would pass quickly.

Jess then heard a sound that sent shivers down her spine. It was a deep roar, like nothing she had ever heard before.

She opened her eyes and saw something moving outside the window. It was like a shadow in the night sky. She thought she saw a dragon. She squinted to get a better look. It was a dragon!, a goddamn dragon, and it seemed to be following the plane.

She quickly turned and looked around the cabin, but no one was reacting. Jess questioned whether she could be hallucinating as she did take a sleeping tablet and a couple of muscle relaxants before boarding the plane in the hope of sleeping through the journey.

The sounds of roars grew louder, and Jess felt a cold sweat break out on her forehead and heat run up her spine. She looked out the window again, and this time she saw something that made her blood run cold.

There were a pair of glowing red eyes reflecting from the plane's lights, a barbed tail, and wings flapping above the wing of the plane. She could see razor-sharp claws and scales shimmering in the moonlight. The dragon was almost as big as the plane.

Jess tried to scream, but no sound came out. She sat back and grabbed the hand rests. She braced herself for what was to come.

The plane shook and rattled violently, and passengers began to scream. She heard someone scream dragon, and she felt the unease in her gut explode into fear. The reality that it was all real was kicking in.

The captain's voice appeared over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. The turbulence is a lot stronger than anticipated, so please fasten your seat belts and remain seated."

The dragon attacked the plane with such force that Jess felt the plane shake. She held on tight, her heart pounding in her chest. The passengers around her were screaming and crying.

Jess felt a surge of helplessness wash over her, but she didn't let it consume her. She hoped silently, and a voice inside her told her to stay calm and breathe, that everything would be okay. It brought Jess a moment of peace in all the chaos.

Jess looked out the window and saw the dragon coming at speed for a second swipe at the plane.

The pilot managed to steer the plane away from the dragon's path, which meant the captain knew what was happening. The plane began to gain altitude. But it did not deter the dragon. It chased and circled around before coming at the plane again, this time from behind.

Jess could hear the roars as the dragon got closer and closer. She closed her eyes and held her breath, bracing for impact. But the pilot managed to swerve the plane out of the way, and the plane’s wing clipped the dragon's chin, rattling the plane and damaging the wing. This caused the dragon to give up the hunt, and it flew away, disappearing into the darkness of the night.

The plane stopped shaking, and at last the oxygen masks fell. Jess and the other passengers breathed a collective sigh of relief, grateful to have survived the encounter. The captain announced that they would be landing at the nearest airport as soon as possible.

The plane made its way to the nearest airport and landed safely on the ground. There was a swarm of emergency service vehicles waiting. The passengers made their way off the plane, many in tears or in a state of shock.

Once Jess was at a safe distance from the plane, She turned and watched as people surrounded the claw marks on the side of the plane, scratching their heads in disbelief. Although Jess had witnessed the dragon with her own eyes, she was in disbelief as well, but deep down, it had excited her. She wanted to know more.

This one event would change the course of Jess's life, this is the origin story of how Jess went from being a lawyer to a Dragon Hunter. What is to come is the birth of new legends as humanity steps into, the age of dragons.