The Blood of Dragons

THE BLOOD OF DRAGONS

By Tyler Bragan

“There weren’t always dragons in The Valley.” Malachi thought as he reached in his quiver and pulled out an arrow. He was careful to stay quiet. If he was caught, the Draguol would rip him to shreds. He spotted one ravaging an elk. He pulled back his bowstring and looked down the top of the arrow and fired. The arrow found its mark in its neck. He watched the creature let out a cry and slump to the ground, dead.

If was asked to describe a Draguol, he would say it was a small dragon. About half their size and wingspan. These creatures had glowing, thick spikes that ran from below their heads to their tale. From a distance the spikes look harmless. Most however were coated in a deadly element of some kind. The Draguol were completely blind, but their hearing was phenomenal. He had witnessed many attacks. One stuck out in his memory more than others.

A friend of his from training camp, Camden McKay, was killed when he failed to heed the instructions of their commander about keeping quiet. He had run into the clearing of the Draguol and stepped on a branch, which snapped.. He remembered the Draguol let out a piercing screech and lifted its tale. McKay stood frozen as he watched it jump up and float off the ground. It rose into the air with a flap of its wings, flipped, and began a nosedive toward him. As it inched closer to the ground it suddenly stopped and swung its tale between its legs. The spikes shot toward McKay in the blink of an eye it seemed. The largest of the spikes pierced his chest and pinned him in place. Malachi watched from the edge of the clearing as the Draguol landed next to his friend and began feasting on him with no remorse. He remembered this ones spikes looked nothing like the ones he had seen before. Its spikes were black with a purple glowing ooze at their tips. He had only seen the ice and fire Draguol in his travels. Malachi couldn’t pinpoint what element would glow purple. He noticed the spikes that had shot from the tale had begun to grow back already. The others he had watched took weeks, sometimes months, for their spikes to grow back.

As he walked toward his kill, he heard a deafening roar and the ground beneath him began to shake. “Dragon.” He thought and he began to run.

If it was the dragon he thought it was, he did not want to be caught out in the open. It was the first dragon he had encountered. Sleek, blue scales lined its body. Its eyes were a deep, crimson. This one, unlike most, was able to camouflage its wings by tucking them close to its body. During his first encounter, he had watched this dragon-he nicknamed it Sapphire- decimate a town in minutes. Instead of fire, Sapphire blew an icy breath that instantly froze anything, and anyone it came into contact with. It was thought that the dragon’s blood had medicinal properties, but no one had gotten close enough to find out. Of the groups that went on hunts from camp, only a few returned. Those who had developed magic.

Malachi was one of the lucky ones. He first noticed his abilities after a fight with his parents. They were angry with him for coming home after curfew. They were shouting that he wasn’t going to get anywhere in life. Malachi had had enough and shouted “STOP” and held his hand out. The screaming stopped and his parents weren’t moving. It was like they were frozen in place. His father’s mouth was open, but no sound was coming out. His mother had her hand on his father’s chest, as if she were trying to hold him back. He began saying “go” words to try to get them back, but nothing was working. Finally, he held his hand out and said “speak.” His father continued shouting as if nothing had ever happened, but he was still frozen in place.

“What is going on?” he asked. “Why can’t I move?”

Malachi snapped his fingers and said “Move.” This seemed to work, and his father returned to his normal state. He looked at Malachi and to his wife, who was still frozen. He looked worried.

“Mom, move.” Malachi said. She returned to normal and was surprised to see her husband standing next to her son, staring at her.

"How did you get over there?" Her expression was one of fear. “You were just next to me.”

That was over seven years ago. The night the dragons arrived was the last time he saw his parents alive. He had run off that night and when he returned a month later his home was in ruins. Malachi choked back a cry as he scanned the skies for the dragon. As if on que, Sapphire appeared right over his head. Malachi was still as impressed by the size of the dragon as he had been when they first met. If he had to guess, it was about eighty feet from nose to tail. Its wingspan looked about sixty five feet.

Sapphire landed and began to search for whoever had killed the Draguol. Malachi held his breath and took a step forward. He held out his hand and said “Freeze!” Sapphire continued its search. Of course magic wasn’t going to work against a dragon. He had learned that they were impervious to magic in a book a long time ago, but he could not recall the name.

Malachi had just started to inch forward when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around and was shocked by who he saw.