Prey of the Valley

“There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.”

An old, grey man sitting across from me spoke yet again, another complaint. He had been rambling on the entire tip.

“Oh, shut it Gruff,” a younger, dark-haired man snapped. “Complain all you want of your better years. but this is how we make our money.”

The old man grumbled into a silence. For once, the only noise was the jolting of the carriage along the rocky forest road. I shifted uncomfortably on the uneven wooden planks among three men, all in varying age groups, all scraggly and dirty as if they had been raised in the streets from the day they were born.

“I ain’t young no more. Not like this one,” Gruff said after another grumble. He nodded his head towards me. Wary of getting stuck in another conversation, I looked down and didn’t respond. “And what’s this kid’s deal, anyways? Bet he’s never even seen one before.”

Another man, around my age but maybe a bit older and bigger in build, spoke up. “Oi, Gruff, who are you to ask questions? He’s just a scoundrel like us, stuck doing the dirty work to get the big pay from the filthy rich.” He starts his own laugh, when he is cut off.

The ground began to shake. The carriage vibrated wildly. Nervous and unsure, I looked around.

“Yup, that’s him, all right,” The dark-haired man proclaimed.

I peered out of the slats in the wood but couldn’t see anything but trees.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“You won’t see him just yet.” He responded.

“That shaking you feel, is the power of his sleeping breath,” Gruff proclaimed in a boasting tone in hopes of a reaction.

I sank back trying not to give him one. I hide my expression, scared of what I have gotten myself into.

“First time, eh?” The dark haired man asked in a slight mocking tone.

Even though this was my first time taking on a job this large and dangerous, I did not want to seem afraid. I straightened my posture and deepened my voice. “All right,” I said confidently. “How do we do this?”

The men laughed at me.

“How do we do this, he asks?” The dark-haired one guffawed.

“First, we park our carriage off to the side, real quiet. Then, we sneak up on ‘em while they sleep, poison ‘em—" Gruff stopped his sentence short as a large shadow crossed over the sky, as if mid-day had suddenly turned to the dead of night.

“Hey! Sammo!” The blond one yelled to the driver. “What’s goin’ on?”

The sky was was pitch black. The horses reared up, but the driver reigned them back in.

“I don’t know. Maybe we hit a storm or something.”

“A storm?” The blond responded

“What, are ya scared?” Gruff taunted me. “Big bad dragon is gonna getcha?”

Realizing I have been letting my face react without thinking, I composed myself. “Not scared. I just don’t know what to expect.”

“You’ve never seen a freak storm before?” Dark hair laughed.

I ignored him.

“Don’t worry, kid, we got this.” He continued, “Just follow our lead.”

All of us settled back into our seats, but I felt nervous. Gruff and dark hair still looked confident in themselves, but Blonde looked a bit unsettled. I could tell by his body language that perhaps; something was not right. I began to think of anyway to still get out of this. The carriage rattled on.

By this point in time the rumbling had become white noise, like rain on a grey summer’s night. However as with all white noise, you become so accustomed to it that when it stops, it is jarring and unnerving. Such was the case when the rumbling from the dragon very suddenly went silent. We all exchanged glances. No one spoke for a few seconds.

Gruff broke the silence. “The dragon probably fell into such a deep sleep that he’s not snoring at this point.”

“Yeah. Perhaps,” Blonde replied.

Silence surrounded us once more.

“But still, maybe we’re getting close. Perhaps we should pull over?” Gruff offered. “Hey, Sammo, pull over and let me out. I’m going to scout around a little bit.”

Sammo slowed the horses down to a full stop. “You should take a lantern. It’s getting too dark to go without one.”

Gruff grabbed the lantern and sauntered off.

“Just wait!” Blonde yelled.

Gruff turned back towards us.

“Don’t you want someone to come with you?”

Gruff shook his head. “What, you don’t trust me, do you? Old man that I am, you think I’ll get lost? Bah.” Spit left his mouth as he waved his hand at Blonde and started off on his own. The dead silence was eerie and unfamiliar. Even Gruff’s footsteps on the ground seemed to make no noise at all. The silence was so loud it began to become deafening. The sound of the blood rushing through my ears began to fill my brain. I became acutely aware of the fact that my heart was beating. No one said a word.

Boom-boom.

My heart beat.

Boom-boom.

Gruff took a step.

Boom-boom.

The horses stirred uneasily.

Boom-boom.

My eyes fixated on one tiny bead of sweat as it dropped slowly off the brow of Blonde.

Boom-boom…

And then suddenly, the silence was torn apart by the loudest and most powerful WHOOSH I had ever heard in my life.

“By, the gods…” Gruff yelled.

Out of nowhere, a beast that seemed as large as a village appeared through the trees! Red and green and blue all at the same time, scales shining like the sun, teeth as large as an arm, eyes as big and bright and wide as a full moon! One look into its horrible eyes and I knew its only intent was pure evil and utter destruction.

The horses immediately bolted. Gruff screamed and attempted to flee but was no match for a beast like the dragon. The last thing I saw before we rounded the corner was the dragon breathing a lake of fire the likes of which I could have never even imagined. Gruff’s body melted away like sand through a sieve. All the trees behind him became engulfed in flames. Blonde started to scream.

“What do we do? What do we do!” I shouted.

“I can’t control them!” Sammo replied, struggling to hold the reins.

“The dragon is catching up to us! What do we do?” Blonde yelled.

“Help me with the reins!” Sammo screamed. Blonde and Dark Hair scrambled into the front seat and pulled on the reins with all their might. Too nervous to do anything, I stayed behind in the carriage. The horses finally succumbed to their strength and allowed the men to pull them into another direction through the woods. The dragon took flight. As he left the ground, his wings created such a powerful updraft that we nearly tipped over.

“Woah!” Sammo shouted. The horses struggled to right themselves.

The dragon then out the most ungodly and horrifying sound I had ever heard: a low, guttural growl quickly followed by a screeching shriek, so painful to the ears that I had to close my eyes and grit my teeth so hard I thought my jaw would break. I was convinced that this creature had come straight from the depths of hell.

The dragon ascended into the sky and turned itself around to follow us.

“He’s catching up! I screamed.”

Just as it was about to reach us, however, it kept going. We looked around at one another, confused.

“What’s it doing?” Sammo asked, terrified. But his question was quickly answered. The dragon’s eyes lit up a dark and hellish red, and its chest puffed up to twice its size. Before we knew it, fire was spewing from its terrible mouth. We watched the fire light up the forest as it slowly dawned on us what the dragon’s strategy was.

“He’s trapping us in!” I shouted.

“We have to make a run for it, it’s our only option!” Blonde replied.

“How are we supposed to run through a fire like that? There’s no way we can outrun him, especially at the speed he’s going!” I yelled back.

“Well do you have a better option?” Blonde screamed.

“Look out!” Dark Hair shouted. Fire blocked our path. The horses reared.

“We gotta jump, now!” Yelled Blonde desperately.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Sammo said. “Quiet down, guys. Do you hear that?”

We fell silent. It suddenly dawned on all of us that all noise except for the flames had disappeared.

Dark Hair chimed in. “Maybe he left us alone. This is our chance, let’s escape now!”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood straight up. I knew that we weren’t alone. Terrified, I slowly turned around and realized that we were face to face with the beast.

Unable to speak, I silently swung my arm back, hitting Dark Hair to get his attention.

He swung around, “Oi!”-

The dragon screeched once again and with his claw, he swiftly grabbed the front of the carriage where the men were. Not knowing what else to do, I jumped out the back of the carriage and ran as fast as I could, sparks and thorns and sticks tearing me up along the way. I didn’t want to look back, but my curiosity burned up too badly. I turned around to the screaming of the three men as the dragon shook the horses and carriage around if it was a feather. He roasted the horses right before the mens’ eyes, and then took a large bite out of Sammo. The other two screamed for their lives. The dragon’s claw pierced through the both of them. I kept running.

The flames were rising high and trees were starting to fall. I scouted the perimeter for an exit. There was one small opening near a pond that was not engulfed all the way due to the body of water. I set my sight on that and ran with super-human speed, the only thought in my mind to find survival. The dragon’s screeches grew more and more faint. Had he forgotten about me? I turned around briefly and saw him sniffing around. He started to claw through the bushes as if he was looking for something—no, he definitely had not forgotten about me.

I just need to get to that pond, I told myself over and over again. My sight was set. I had my aim. I was nearing the water when—

BAM! I tripped head-first into a thorn bush and cracked my knee onto a large rock. Immediately I felt excruciating pain radiate into my leg and noticed blood dripping down my face. I couldn’t get up. I started to dry-heave and quickly threw up from the pain. The dragon grew closer.

“Come on! Come on!” I yelled. I’m not going to die this way, I thought.

In the most agonizing pain I had ever felt, I pulled myself to my feet. My legs immediately buckled. I screamed. With every ounce of strength I had in me, I forced myself to get back up. I took a step. Blinding pain. My knee was broken. What now?

I don’t know how I got through. I prayed for strength to every wizard, fairy, and god I had ever known. Maybe the blind drive for survival is what propelled me, but I somehow was able to drag myself across the forest on my opposite leg. “Oh, gods,” I cried aloud as tears streamed down my face. The dragon grow closer.

Splash.

Success! In what felt like an eternity later, I had finally reached the pond! I waded through to the other side of the flames and scanned the perimeter for an area I could hide in. I plowed on. I saw an opening in the forest, a small cave. As I got closer to it, I noticed the dragon had caught onto my scent and was nearing closer. I picked up the pace as much as one with a broken knee could.

Finally, I reached the opening of the cave. I lowered myself down into it and waited with bated breath. The dragon stomped nearby. He sniffed all around my trail. I saw his body hover over the opening of the cave. I didn’t dare make a sound.

It felt like he stayed there forever, but, perhaps it was only a few seconds. He even tried to fit down into the cave, but he was much too large and I suppose he decided it wasn’t worth it. I heard his gigantic wings flap off into the night and I let out a huge sigh of relief. I closed my eyes to breathe for a second.

I feared the danger was not over. I fought to keep my eyes open and my mind conscious, but the pain and exhaustion was overwhelming. Despite my heavy panting, the adrenaline was wearing off. My eyes struggled to stay open. Not only sight, but also but my mind was fading black. Before I gave in and finally closed my eyes I heard a faint, dreamlike voice from somewhere in the cave:

“I see you’ve met the dragon, eh?”