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Aim... Fire

A Short Story

By DanaPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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The sun starts to rise above the tall dark green leaved trees. A low fog hangs around the bottoms of them and creates dew on the half slumped grass. A cold chill is in the air and I know what we are going to find around our small village. It has been the same for the past few months.

I throw on my boots and jumper and pick up my newly sharpened sword. I can pick up my bow and arrows from the armoury later. They’ve needed fixing for some time now. I pull my knife out of the wall where I threw it before I went to sleep; it landing in amongst the chipped wood frame of my previous successes. I shut the door with a small bang and make my way down the wooden stairs to the damp grass.

As I suspected, she’s already up. She gets it from her father. Phoenix is heiress to the village since her mother died and hasn’t been happy with the inherited title, because it means people now call her Lady Phoenix. I do it too, but as a joke. She always laughs. That’s what’s so amazing about her.

‘Quartz,’ she calls without even looking up. She knows I’m never too far behind her. I do a little skip and move quicker towards her. It’s then I can see what she’s studying so intently. Footprints.

‘They’ve been here again?’

‘Yes. And closer this time.’ The creatures have become bolder, coming closer to the houses. We don’t know why but the sooner we find out the better.

‘Is your father up yet?’ I ask.

‘He’s in a council meeting now. He’s going to propose we build bridges and lift the stairs.’ Like father like daughter.

‘Have you followed the tracks?’ She gives a little smile and a shake of her head.

‘I’ve been ordered not to.’ I know what that smile means though. I raise my eyebrows and her little smile becomes a beautiful grin. She runs her right hand through her long auburn hair and stands up. Her grey eyes meet mine and there’s a little gleam within them. I know what she’s going to say. ‘Let’s go.’

We walk for about ten minutes. The moss is slippery under our boots from the dew, meaning Phoenix and I take one or two tumbles. It’s made more dangerous because we’re each carrying weapons, Phoenix with her bow and arrows, me with my sword. She, of course leads the way, and I don’t argue because she knows what she’s looking for. In this part of the forest a fog is always hanging around the trees because it’s so dense. The sun tries to shine through the tops but fails. It’s warmer now, but in the shadow of the tall trees it’s winter. All of a sudden she stops and crouches down.

‘Dragon.’ One word changes everything.

‘Maybe that’s why the creatures have been coming closer; they’re running,’ I say. Phoenix nods but I know she’s thinking intently as well.

‘We need to go back and warn father,’ she says as she stands and turns to me gracefully. A low rumble emanates from deeper in the trees. We both look to the source then at each other. The rumble sounds again, but this time it’s closer to us and moving closer still.

‘Let’s go Phoenix,’ I whisper loudly. I put my hand out to take hers but we’re both so fixated on this sound we don’t move to meet each other. She draws her arrow to the corner of her mouth and waits. It’s silence. Not even the birds dare breathe or fly. She releases the arrow. We watch it fly, swiftly in between trees and bushes that have grown taller than the rest. There’s a thud, hitting a tree very close to the noise. What feels like hours pass and still nothing. I feel safe to look at her but as I do, it charges.

I wake up with Phoenix looking down at me. The right side of her forehead is cut, with deep red blood rolling down her cheek, to her chin and onto the ground. Her jumper is ripped and bloody and I notice a cloth, saturated with blood around the top of her left arm. There’s a flickering shadow that dances on her features and a faint orange light in her eyes.

‘What happened?’ I try to sit but she holds me down caringly.

‘Don’t move. You took a nasty hit to your head. The dragon charged us,’ she says. I notice tears wobbling in her eyes as I take in my surroundings. It’s destroyed. The tall trees are fallen, with more on top of them. The grass is torn up from massive claws and a dragging tail.

‘I want to sit up,’ I say. She doesn’t stop me, even though I’m hurt, instead she carefully holds my back and chest. That’s when I realise where we are. I look up to the trees and see the remains of houses and clothes that are hanging onto branches. The stairs are splintered and trees look so weak they could collapse at any time. The fire tears through what it can, eradicating any traces of where we used to live. I look to her, my eyes filling up with tears too.

‘There’s no one,’ she trembles as tears mingle with the blood on her cheek.

‘Oh no.’ I’m speechless. Our home is destroyed.

‘It’s my fault. I shot at the beast,’ she says as she drops her head into her hands.

‘No Phoenix it isn’t. We didn’t know what it was going to do. It’s an accident.’ I try to stand up but I get dizzy and fall down again. She runs her fingers through my thick black hair and I flinch.

‘That’s the wound.’ She seems sad and I know she’s blaming herself. ‘We shouldn’t move until you feel better. I’ll go and find some food and supplies for us.’ She stands up and wipes the bloody tears from her cheeks. ‘Stay there.’ She limps away, and I notice her knee is bleeding but she carries on.

She comes back later with two bags full of food and supplies, including my bow and arrows. I stand unsteadily and walk like a new born animal slowly, my arm slung around her neck to give myself extra support. We head towards a new future, out in the forest.

fantasy
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About the Creator

Dana

A graduate of Creative Writing now working as a Nursery assistant. Poet, short story and novel author.

Based in Plymouth.

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