Y Ddraig Nos (The Night Dragon)

There weren’t always dragons in the valley, at least that’s what they say. But if that is true, where did they come from? And why now?

My ears are ringing, my eyes are sore and my vision blurred. My fingernails clawing through the mud as I struggle to my feet. The faint screams that fight their way through. I know I have to keep moving, but where am I? The whole valley is tinted red, from what I can see, a blood soaked sky casting a hellish glow. My throat is burning, and then I realise, the whole valley is on fire. I move as fast as I can through the dense sheets of smoke, I can feel the ground beneath me slightly angled, I’m moving uphill. My arm outstretched waving the smoke away. I can’t help but think of all the questions swirling through my head, I know I am in danger but how did this happen? who can I hear screaming? who or what is chasing us and how did the entire valley catch fire? There hasn’t been a dragon attack for years. And if this was a dragon, how did I get here?

The first dragon sighting was decades ago. The children in my village always played near the caves that run under our hometown. They stretch for miles in every direction, markers have been placed so far in, but nobody dares go any further. The day the dragons came, bursting from the depths of the caverns, they say the sky was thick with the darkest clouds anyone had ever seen, covering the whole horizon. The sharpest bolts of burning white light open up the sky. Rocks bursting from the ground snd the most blinding orange lights lighting up the shadows leaving the silhouette of the winged creatures now roaming our lands. The caves have been strictly off limits since that day. The dragons mostly keep to themselves, they fly over head or stay within their caves, at least so far.

I lose my footing, stumble on my own feet, the air leaving my body as I hit the floor and continue to roll. I franticly reach for the ground trying to steady myself, before I know it the sky bursts into colour. No longer under the cover of the smoke, My eyes still struggle to see detail. My whole body throbbing with pain but I know I must keep moving. I’m up quite high, below me I can just about make it out, seven or maybe eight white smudges darting through the fields. As my sight begins to to sharpen I see they’re being chased, hunted almost. The kings guards are after them, I look down and realise I’m in the same white clothes. They’re chasing me.

Our world wasn’t always like this, there are stories of a different time, when people had a different kind of magick. We call them the engineers, because they built things, incredible things. They built metal birds that flew them anywhere, and black mirrors that stored endless information on. A world covered in wires, which ultimately was their downfall. A solar flare is pretty common, and usually has no impact, however their whole lives relied on the technology they had built, and a solar flare so powerful it almost shattered the earths magnetic field completely hit the earth one day. It wiped out all of their inventions, even their metal birds fell from the sky that day. Their society fell into ruin, it took thousands of years for humanity to rebuild its self, the collective started small, with simple solutions, they called themselves the Green Witches at first, they already had such a strong connection to nature, even in a world full of distractions, they focused on what the earth had to offer. After the great flare they were the first to rebuild. they believed in magick long before technology, and they believed before that still, dragons ruled.

A stabbing pain in my head right above my eye, the dizziness making the floor feel as though it could slip right from under me. I have no idea where to go, I can’t think straight or make sense of any of this. A loud ringing fills my ears as my vision starts to go once more, but this time i see a clear image in my head, a tall tower like structure, and people in white chained to the walls. Is this us? is that where we were before this? how did any of this happen? Before I even have the chance to fully digest the faint memory flashing in my head, a sheering pain shoots through my left shoulder, my arm starts to feels warm. Another arrow shoots past my face, just missing my cheek. I don’t have time to strategise, I just have to move. Staggering back into the smoke I cover my mouth with my shirt, I start to zig zag fearful another arrow could hit me at any moment. My heart pounding so intensely I feel it in the back of my throat. Running as fast as I can I finally break through the smoke once more, a new horizon illuminated by the cool blue glow of the moon just breaking through two mountain peaks. Hundreds of rollings hills creating various shadows, plenty of cover if i could just make it to the first hill in time.

Oskar Saber, the self proclaimed Dragon King. When the dragons first flew through the skies, he became obsessed. Hellbent on taking control of the collective so he could become the rightful ruler of our kingdom. Of course nobody had questioned the covens making up the collective, after all they’re the ones who rebuilt society after years of aimless struggle. They cared for their people and never gave anybody reason to question what they were doing, but nobody had ever seen the raw power of a dragon before either. Adamant he could gain control of the dragons, wanting so desperately to believe in dragon magick, he did what he could to build an army. Where I’m from it became illegal to practice magick, and he became powerful enough to keep the collective from getting involved, forcing his way into power he’s now a recognised member of the collective, a dark and twisted coven reliant on the kind of magick done in the shadows. I know these valleys have the most dragon sightings, and fall under his territory, but why are his guards here and why are they hunting me?

The harsh cold air now cutting through my cheeks as I throw myself towards the rolling hills, i hear faint shouts in the distance, ever so slightly getting closer. “I’ve got eyes on the girl” I can just about make out what he’s saying, I risk looking over my shoulder, a young girl, maybe the same age as my younger brother, he’s fifteen. She’s quite far behind me, heading for the same hills, but she came out of the smoke too far left, she has way more ground to cover. Her piercing scream fills the air as the guards start shooting once again. A rage builds up inside me I can’t ignore, because its literally bubbling inside, I feel strange and tiny shooting pain fills my body, almost like pins and needles. I turn to face the guards and before I can even process what’s happening, I scream as loud as I can, my surroundings blur to white, vibrations leave my hand, the ringing sounds is back only to get louder, as the floor looks like its about to rip apart, everything goes white, the ringing sound is the last thing I remember.