Valley of the Witch’s Dragon.

There weren’t always dragons in the valley, they were awakened by the witches’ powers; then of course, there weren’t always witches in the valley either, our powers were awakened by the midnight stone more than one hundred years ago. When our powers were awakened, dragons were not the only creatures to rise. Many other powerful creatures were also awakened as the veil to the Seven Realms thinned… creatures of the light, creatures of the dark, creatures that terrified us all. We all lived in harmony for fifty golden years, then darkness took over.

~ ~ ~ ~

I pack some items inside my bag, some clothes, a hairbrush, and two books. I need to be quick, we have close to ten minutes or less to leave. My bag is packed and ready to go most of the time, just in case we have to rush out like now. I don’t have many possessions, not anymore, only the few belongings I was able to gather when we had to abandon our home.

“Anthea, we have to go now.” My father's voice thunders through the empty walls. ‘’This way.” I nod and follow him to a back door. I look around, the room is dark and the air feels cold, even though there are no windows to let any breeze in. There are at least twenty empty makeshift beds, all left unmade as the first group had to hurry out a few minutes ago. This is the third time in a month we are moving; we have been on the run for more than a year. We used to live at the base of the valley near the mountains where the flower beds and tallest trees grow. The Draconian River ran through our backyard and my sister and I would spend summers swimming and fishing in its warm waters. Now we live in dark warehouses in constant fear of being found.

I catch a glimpse of my father’s face, he’s terrified. I am terrified as well, so much so I can’t think clearly. I can’t muster the words to ask what we will do or where we will go now. I feel my little sister standing next to me and I grab her hand by reflex, as I’ve done many times before, on the other hand she clenches an ugly, dirty doll.

“Don’t worry Lan, everything will be fine.” I say.

“I know Theas.” She says as if she is aware of something I’m not.

Nothing has been fine for a long time. This is the last safe house in the valley and we have nowhere to hide. I’m not stupid; I wake up every night at midnight to listen to the adults debate about our future and I am aware that it is a very grim one. My father and the others want to pretend this valley and this realm will once again be peaceful and glorious; they are wrong. Sometimes I wonder if they don’t see what I see or if they came to terms with our fate and make up comforting stories in their minds.

My mother was a realist, just like I am. My father on the other hand, he’s constantly immersed in his thoughts, daydreaming, creating magical artifacts that never come to be. He likes to call himself a witch scientist, but nothing he has invented nor any spell he has created has ever worked. When my mother was alive she would sit down with him, one hand twirling a lock of her hair and the other hand on her hip, as she would when she needed to have a serious conversation. His face would become somber expecting the worst, but she would give him some constructive criticisms or unfiltered advice that he would take to heart. I’m sure that if she was here today she would have talked him back to reality in a nicer manner than I can. Instead, I harshly blurt out my thoughts and I know it pains him but I’m tired of running and hiding. I have seen them devastate our realm with their reign of fear and fire, not the dragons, not the creatures that came after the dragons, not us the witches, but mortals and their greed for magic. It’s been more than fifty years since the warlocks from the Seventh Realm joined the mortals, they found a way for only them to close and open the veils to the other realms. Many magical beings perished, many others were trapped away from their home realm and many families were separated with no hope to see each other ever again and nowhere to escape, including mine. When the veil between the Earthly Realm, our realm and the Mytiske Realm was closed my grandfather and mother were stuck here and my grandmother was stuck there, they never hugged each other again.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Get ready.” Says my dad as he opens the door with one hand and raises the other hand above his head getting ready to fight against anything that might be behind that door, I raise my arm as welI. I clench Lan’s hand harder and follow my father’s lead. We run out the door as fast as we can, I pull Lan with me. I’m afraid my legs will give out and I will fall but they can’t fail me now; I’ll never forgive myself if they do. It’s pitch black outside, even though it’s nine in the morning. The smoke from the Pytte has clouded the sun. The Pytte is where mortals send all the witches, warlocks and other magical beings they capture. Dragons who have joined The Gloom’s Army fly over the Pytte constantly, guarding it. It was an active volcano hundreds of years ago, now it’s dormant and it’s a jail for all things magical; it is were they torture the captured until they join the mortal forces, some join and some perish in the process, some others join willingly. If I get captured I will fight, fight until I perish just like my mother and grandfather did but I will never join forces with those who hurt my kind.

I hear a screech in the distance, it’s one of the dragons making its way to us. I can sense it. I crouch and pull my sister down with me, from the other side of the buildings I see a group of warlocks approaching fast. They haven't seen us yet but I’m sure they can sense us.

“Invisivly!” I hear my father say with one turn of the hand. The others do the same.

I raise my arm and turn it “invisivly” muttering the spell as well. I can feel the force field slowly building around us, it will make us invisible for now but it won’t hold for long. From behind a building I see a tail and two wings, and then I see another pair of wings following the first one confirming what I feared. It’s more than one dragon and they are coming for us. They are closer than I thought.

“Theas!” screams my father “Get ready!”

“Ready for what?”

“To ride your dragon.”

“My dragon?” I look at him confused. “What do you mean my dragon?”

He nods, “Take your sister with you.”

I feel a harsh wind blowing my hair and I look up. There is a dragon fluttering its wings above us. I look at it stunned, I have never seen one up close. It looks magnificent and scary in its shades of greens and blues. Its golden eyes pierce through mine and I feel a sense of peace take over me. I look at my father, and he smiles at me.

“Can I name him whatever I want?”

“Of course you can.” He says.

“Great! And you have a lot of explaining to do.”

The beast flies over me and lands a few feet away. I look at my sister, she’s smiling for some reason too. I guess she also has some explaining to do. We make our way to the dragon, it is more breathtaking up close. I slowly get close to him and press my hand against his body. His skin is hot, as if fire ran through its veins. He is calmed and that calms me. Dragons are directly connected to witches and warlocks' lives. When we are born a dragon is also born and our life becomes intertwined. If one of us feels peace, pain, fear so does the other; if one of us dies, so does the other. I look back, there are more dragons here to pick up my father and the rest of the group. The warlocks are a block away, but we will be out of their way before they arrive.

“We need to get on his back now, Theas.” Says Lan.

“Right.” I say. I help her climb on the dragon’s back; I climb up behind her. “Hold tight Lan!”

The dragon starts fluttering its wings and we hold onto a few scales on its back. We fly the opposite direction of the Pytte, up above the dilapidated buildings and past the run down houses in the valley floor. My heart is racing, I feel my blood run through my veins and it dawns over me, I was born to fly on the back of this magnificent beast.

“I thought our dragons were in grandma's realm” I say to Lan.

“They were.” She says. “But dad and the others found a way to open the gate. Dad found a spell and a way to tweak it.”

“How do you know this?”

“Do you think you are the only one who sneaks up on secret conversations?”

The wind feels good on my skin. I feels free for the first time in a long time. I see my father and the others flying around us in a circle and I feel relieved. Ahead of us I see a blue hole, from afar it looks like the sea bled through the sky, like a curtain of water.

“That’s the gate!” I hear my father yell.

“Look!” points Hector, a warlock from our group.

I look back, and see there are other dragons and warlocks following us, at full speed spitting fire and spells, but it is too late. We are already crossing the gate by then and behind us the curtain closes… for now, we are safe.