The Tribute

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. In fact, it wasn’t more than 20 years ago that people denied their very existence.

How quickly things change!

Jared took it easy on the horse. There was no reason to go quickly. Betsy, the Guernsey he had raised from a calf and that he was taking up the ridge, couldn’t walk as fast as a horse. He led her along with a rope. She followed along, oblivious to her impending fate.

Pine Valley was surrounded by the Copper Mountains. And the dragon that took up residence in those mountains, who took upon itself the name of the mountain range, demanded a tribute from the townsfolk in the Valley. The various families took turns supplying the tribute, usually a farm animal, to Copper, and this week the lot fell on the Livermores.

And the youngest Livermore boy, at 15, was Jared. Hence he was chosen to make the tribute. His bigger brothers had argued that they had better things to do. Jared figured that they were too scared of the beast to dare approach it.

The climb up the foothills wasn’t difficult, but the heat of the late summer sun tired him out. He opened a canteen and took a sip, then wiped a sleeve across his face and forehead.

Betsy continued to follow along obediently.

It wasn’t fair that Jared had to give up his cow to the dragon. They had other animals, but Dad had made it clear that Betsy was going. A dragon’s appetite was considerable, and they didn’t want to risk Copper’s displeasure. Sure, he was a huge pain that ate too much, but Copper was also the valley’s protector. And as cantankerous as he was, Copper was still quite capable of defending the Valley from the other towns with their own dragons.

Yes, when the dragons came, they came in numbers. No one knew why they suddenly appeared. But there was little they could do to stop them.

At first they fought the dragons that came. They formed battalions of hardy men to kill them, but the dragons were too powerful. Once the strongest men were gone, the remaining men decided to appease the dragons. They pleaded for mercy and protection from the reptilian giants, and instead got the worse end of a truce. The dragons demanded tribute, food and gold, in exchange for protection from other dragons.

But Jared figured the other dragons had their own agreements not to fight, that they might all get wealthy and fat.

Once Jared reached the designated place of sacrifice, a bald hilltop in the foothills, he dismounted and took Betsy over to the hitching post. He tied the rope securely to the wooden beam, alongside the remnants of other ropes and leads. Betsy looked at him calmly as Jared fought back a lump in his throat. He gave the girl a hug, then turned to leave. He hopped back into the saddle, then began the trek home.

He was no more than a mile away, when its shadow swooped past him. He looked upwards to see the red beast, a giant winged creature with 100 feet in wingspan and a body about 80 feet long including its tail.

Jared stopped momentarily to look back. He saw Copper fly over in a large circle before dropping precipitously on top of the cow. It picked her up in its front claws, then launched itself back into the sky. The cries of the terrorized cow were almost inaudible over the roar of the reptile. Copper’s approval of the tribute could be heard all across the 15 mile wide valley rather easily.