The Dragons of the Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. At least that’s what the Elder Dragon said. Our people once roamed across the lands here, but the mortals pushed us into the Valley and trapped us here. They feared us, and rightfully so. We dragons are great beasts of element and power. We can harness the forces of nature and use them to our will. Of course, we are gentle creatures unless provoked, but the humans don’t know that. They see something larger than them and they attack out of fear. Dragons don’t hurt humans, we really don’t like hurting anything at all, but humans create these stories. They say we hoard gold and breathe fire, which some do, and that we are violent creatures with no regard for other life. The humans are describing themselves more than they are us. Dragons are vegetarians, so we eat grass and leaves. Humans think we are destructive cause we pull up trees and eat the leaves. We replant the seeds though, and we never pick a tree with a bird or squirrel nest in it. It’s been harder for us dragons to find food, because the humans forced us into the Valley and sealed it off, limiting our food supply. There used to be hundreds of thousands of dragons and now it’s a thousand, if that. I was born and raised in this Valley. My name is impossible for mortals to pronounce so I am called Sheka. I am the largest dragon in the Valley, which is bad because I have a big appetite and we have a small food supply. I try to eat small amounts, I really do, but it’s so hard, because I’m so hungry all the time. Dragons have been born small for a reason, and I’m just an outcast. My family told me to live near the Valley entrance, to protect us all, and to protect the food supply. One day, as I’m laying in my cave, dozing off from boredom, I hear a crack.

“That’s odd.” I thought to myself as I raised my head to find the source of the noise. Seeing nothing, I laid back down when another crack sounded.

“What could that noise be?” I wondered, rising to my feet, peering down the edge of the cave. A small sliver of light was coming through a break in the seal.

“What?! The seal! It’s breaking!” I flew down towards it, when suddenly the crack yawned open and a small figure stepped through, sword drawn.

“A human?! In the Valley?!” I thought, “I should warn the others!” I turned to fly off before I remembered, “Oh wait, it’s my job to protect us, and it’s one little human. I can just scare them away.” I turned back and flew towards the door now opened in the wall at the Valley mouth.

“Hello?” said the human, hearing the click of my claws as I landed just outside the ring of light coming from the door.

“Hello. Why have you come to the Valley of Dragons?” I asked in the human tongue.

“Are you a dragon?” the human asked, sword still drawn.

“Are you a human?” I joked.

“Have you come to harm me?” The human asked, not moving a step.

“Dragons do not harm. We never have. It is the humans who harm the dragons. If you have come to do harm, I suggest you leave now. I am the protector of the Valley, and your tiny sword will do nothing against me.” I said, taking a step forward into the light, revealing a part of my clawed foot and the shining scales of my chest.

“I have come to cause you no harm, Dragon. I am a scholar, I wish to learn about the dragons. I thought the best source would be the dragons themselves.” the human said, taking a step back but not putting down their sword.

“Leave your sword and step forward if you truly mean no harm. Nothing in this Valley will hurt you if you do not hurt it.” I said, still mostly in the dark.

The human removed a sash from around their waist and tossed it aside, and set the sword on the ground behind them and took one step forward. Deeming it safe, I stepped fully into the light, and lowered myself to the ground.

“Climb upon my back, and I shall take you to my home. You may ask your questions and then you shall leave.”

The human, a girl I noticed, walked forward, fear rippling off her, combined with awe. She pulled herself onto my back, and placed her hands on my neck. She felt so small and fragile, so I warned her,

“Hold on, very tight. I’d rather not have you die by falling, as I’m sure you agree with.”

In response, I felt small arms wrap around my neck and tighten, although it was barely hard enough for me to notice.

“Ready?” I asked, turning to look at the small figure on my back. She gave a slight nod, although I could tell she was nervous. I turned back and stood. I opened my wings and leapt off the ground, swinging my tail to close the doorway. I flapped my wings hard and lifted of the ground, soaring up to the cave mouth I called my home. Nearly there, I heard a yelp and felt the weight on my back disappear. I turned my head and the girl was falling back down the cavern. I tilted my body down, and tucked in my wings, to fall faster. I opened my claws as I neared the woman, and reached to grab her before she became a stain on the rocks. Her fear filled eyes met mine, as my claws wrapped around the girl. I whipped my wings open and banked up hard, narrowly missing the stone wall. I flew us up to the safety of my cave, before gently dropping the girl and landing further in, so as not to crush her. I allowed her to catch her breath before asking,

“What is your name?”

“Nova.” she said, dropping to the floor. “Thank you for that.”

“Like I said, I don’t want you to die falling.” I replied, brushing off the thanks. “I am ready to answer your questions, when you are ready to ask them.”

“Do all dragons talk like you?” she asked, not opening her now closed eyes.

“All dragons can speak the human tongue, yes.”

“No, do they all talk formally and with a condescending tone like you.”

I huffed a laugh before replying,

“Yes. Most dragons do talk like that, but I don’t. I figured you’d be less likely to bring more humans up here if dragons seemed difficult to deal with. My family doesn’t like humans, and they don’t particularly want them near us, so they put me out here to remove the threat.”

“I thought you said dragons don’t harm.”

“We don’t, but no one said anything about making the mortals piss their pants with fear.”

Nova laughed at that, and finally opened her eyes. They were the color of the night sky, and her warm brown face was covered in freckles that reminded me of stars. She smiled as she caught me studying her.

“I lived on a farm my whole life, before the dragons came and attacked us. I got moved into the castle after that.”

“Wait. Are you sure they were dragons? Not a single one was left this Valley in the past millenia. I would know, I guard the only entrance.”

“They looked like dragons, and they controlled the elements as well.”

“Controlled? Or simply spewed flames left and right?”

“Well the one that chased me, could only breathe fire.”

“Then those were not dragons.” Fear coursed through me at the thought of what those were.

“What are they then?” Nova asked, curiosity flickering in those dark eyes.

“Wyverns. Typically they cannot breathe fire, but some mage must have cast a spell on them to allow them to do so. They are kin to the dragons but they are not the same. They are small, fast and vicious. They show no mercy to anything, living or not. They are known to attack humans and villages, and will not stop until there is nothing left, or until they themselves are dead. The biggest difference between the dragons and wyverns is that we have 4 legs, they have 2.” I glanced back up at Nova, who had now went pale and was staring off into oblivion.

“Where do they come from.” she whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear.

“My home world. They were dark creatures, feared by all. We thought we left them behind, but they must have found a way here.”

A roar shook the cavern and I heard wings flapping around me.

“The door.” I gasped, just before launching off the lip of the cave, racing towards the entrance of the Valley.