Winters Dawn

Chapter One

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. In fact, the Valley had been blissful, silent, free of flames and aggression for at least the past 275 years. Ever since the world fell apart at the seams, and the mystical and fantastical exploded out of the centre of the Earth. Literally. Until right this second as screams of terror tore through the valley.

At first, people thought they were going insane. Those who lived in the Valley at the time thought the water was tainted or something, driving them all to the brink of their mental demise. But, it turned out, the battle of good versus evil we all thought was only in our minds and the fiction stories we read, was real. And that was a rude awakening, let me tell you.

In any case, there are stories of dragons from back then. Apparently, they came to the forefront of the war, battling the demons and fighting for humanity. They tried to save us. And it worked, for a while. But slowly, they were hunted, torn apart, killed. They were poisoned in their human form, and shot down with harpoon style weapons. They may have had fire, but they didn't have other magic. They were fierce, and strong. Terrifying. But they were not infallible. They could be killed. And they were.

So, those who remained went into hiding. Some said they were just biding their time, waiting for the rulers of the new world to become complacent. Waiting for their time. There were rumours of dragons mating with witches for their powers, hoping to create a more powerful creature, that could withstand the weapons that were developed and used against them. And, there were rumours that dragons just wanted to enslave the human race, or what was left of it.

I don't really know what I believed. Up until this very moment. Because, as I rung my apron out in the farm yard trough, having just finished feeding the cows for my Master, I looked up into the sky, and saw a dragon. A real dragon. In the sky.

A mind-numbing roar filled the sky, as a brilliant black beast with blue flames soared above the Valley, aiming for the homes of the nobles. I froze, the apron squeezed in my hand, water dripping down into the trough. Screams tore through the air, as the human staff ran from the fire, and flames. The beast turned in the sky, banking right toward the end of the Valley where my masters home was. Master Lord Reynold owned the majority of the land, and was the lord of the region, reporting to the royal family. I was born into his family's servitude, and all of my 17 years had been spent working and learning how to provide the services required of me. Whilst I lived in the basement with my family, and was often hungry, at least I wasn't used for sexual slavery or breeding. I was lucky.

The dragon bore down on the home on the hill, it's tall spires point up into the sky, as if tempting fate. I couldn't get there. There was no way. My family was there. Suddenly, my body was no longer frozen, and a scream tore from my lips as I ran toward the house. I was so far away, at the bottom of the hill. There was no way I could make it. I ran, as fast as I could, watching as the dragon released it's flame upon the home. Screams carried through the air, as if the wind itself wanted me to hear my family and masters household in their final moments.

Agony tore through my body, as I hear the screams and watched the flames engulf the only home I had ever know. A scream I didn't know I possessed tore from my body, as the world exploded around me. And suddenly, everything went dark.