Once Were Dragons

This is for the Vocal Fantasy Prologue Challenge and here we go...

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. When they came we were frightened, but they became our friends and protectors. We don't know where they came from, some said deep in the earth, others from the Far South or North or the Burning Desert. Now though they were turned to stone and breathed fire no more.

The Dragons had been our protectors, they made our land safe and while they were not aggressive, they warned off others from our land enabling us to farm and prosper without fear of attack or invasion.

Others were jealous of what we had, and coveted our prosperity and happiness, but if ever they rattled their spears or made unreasonable demands we had our fire breathing flying guardians to protect us. We were happy and safe.

Then dark days came.

We don’t know how it happened, whether it was an evil spell or a sickness, but our Dragons became sick, unable to fly or breath fires and their silvergreen scales turned grey and then, shockingly, they ossified and turned to bone and stone, their bodies on the floor of our valley, protectors no more.

The Dragons were stone, then the raiders came. They stole our crops and possessions, they even took our children, but threatened us with death if we didn’t provide for their needs. There wasn't just one tribe, there were many, all taking from us, leaving us with just enough food to survive, though we were now slaves.

Something had to be done but our Dragons were turned to stone.

At night we gathered around the fire asking each other how we could save ourselves. This went on night after night, tired and hungry, but with the belief that there might be a way out of this.

Then one night there was a hooded man who was not one of us, and he heard our stories and despair, then he spoke up.

“The Dragons are not dead, they have been enchanted”

“But they turned to stone, you can see, they are nothing but memories and statues”

“No, they are still with you, they are enchanted by bad magic, and can be reawakened”

“Old Man, you are talking nonsense, we only have the Dragon statues, piles of stone”.

“You must choose your three bravest souls to complete a quest to find the Dragon Blood Stone, and when they return with it your Dragons will be revived”

“But how will that happen”

“The Dragons have been turned to stone by bad magic, The Dragon Blood Stone is the good magic to undo the evil that has been done”

"How can we find the Dragon Blood Stone?"

"Choose the three bravest members of your tribe. Then send them to seek The Witch of Malador who lives alone on the island in the Grey Lake, she will have the knowledge to help you find the Dragon Blood Stone"

"Does she not have the stone?"

"She was once its guardian but she could never own or touch it as she is a Witch, and Witches cannot touch the Dragon Blood Stone as it would be fatal to them, but she has the knowledge of how to find and possess the Stone, but she will demand payment"

"What will she demand of us"

"It could be gold or silver, or maybe some company or conversation. Sometimes she requires very little, sometimes she demands more, and that may be a quest in itself"

So three of us were chosen to save our Dragons, our Valley and our tribe. Our tribe see us as brave but we are all frightened and weighed heavily with a huge responsibility.

Here we are at the Valley edge. We know what we have to do, we need to find the Dragon Blood Stone to revive our Dragons and bring back pride and security to our land.