Chapter 15...Left in the Woods

2 0 0
                                    

There was the tale of a dragon who lived about these parts. A large, ancient beast large as a mountain, who would send earthquakes across the ground with a single tap of its massive feet, burn entire cities to ashes with a single blow of its golden fire.

Decades passed. Hero after hero ventured out to slay this beast, one by one they were crushed to dust. Finally, the people had had enough. A prince of a land far away ventured into this part of the world, wielding a blade of dark blue flames. He ventured out into the deep deep forest, just like those before him. For three days, no one heard a word. They assumed the boy had died, just like all those before him.

Three days, and he mysteriously returned. Wounded minimally but standing strong, a massive tooth pulled over his shoulder, as the head was much too large to carry back. The people celebrated and feasted, the prince was welcomed as a hero. For a whole day, they threw a large celebration. The prince ate and drank with the rest, laughing and celebrating till the tick of midnight, when he mysteriously disappeared. Not many saw it, and most who did were too drunk to put much credit to their name. They say he crumbled. Like the wind, he crumbled to ashes and disappeared into the night, never to be seen again.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

You were a prince of the highlands, a winter forest forever shrouded in snow. In reality you were a king, but chose to do this from the shadows as to not be restricted to the formalities of adult life quite yet, still allowed to travel the land in search of adventure from time to time as you left your closest advisors in charge.

You wandered through the greenery of the valley lands, a wilderness consisting of small towns and cities without a ruler, an increasingly pressed subject in the name of conquest and resources, but it was nice to venture through fields of wheat and apple trees without having to think of such things. It was a relaxing place, filled with myths of fairies and elves, the newest rumor going around being one of a dragon. Not as large as the towering beast of decades ago, but a much smaller, sneaky thing that could hide amongst people in their own homes. So you went out exploring, like the hero from legend with your silver sword, in search of the source of such a rumor.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

"When is Mamá coming?"

Curly ringlets of milky white hair laced about like tiny streams of water across the field of lemony green grass. Rays of golden light reflected up off the droplets of morning dew to form little stars upon the child's fair hair, her tiny muddied feet swinging back and fourth in the air as the girl laid on her stomach, head in her hands as she looked upwards towards her sister.

"Any day now.."

The older one replied, her voice far and distant as she sat atop the branch of the apple tree, her back leaned against the main bark, a deep brown structure with an outer shell that cracked and cracked over and over.

"....I wanna take a bath."

The older one looked back, her green eyes the same color as the grass, her dress no more than an old, oversized shirt.

"You just took a bath."

"I wanna take another bath.."

The elder one sighed, looking to her hands as the younger one's opal ones moved upwards towards her. The smaller one stood. Her dress was the color of faded paper.


"Are you sure she's real?"


The older one looked over. A patch of faded green scales slowly creeped up her cheek. Her long, straight hair was the same color.


"I mean, you've been saying that forever.."


Sophia stopped swinging her feet, picking up a few wildflowers as she sat up.


"How do we know she's coming? What's so important about Mamá, anyways?"


The child in the tree was silent, turning over the small red fruit in her hands.

"She's warm..."

"You're warm."

"And she loves you. She takes care of you "

"You do all that. We don't need Mamá "

".....Mamá's an adult."

"What's an adult?"


"She can protect you."

"You can protect me."


"We can go into town when she gets back."

"I thought you said stay away from the town."

"That's what Mamá said."

"...She's not here now."

"It's dangerous out there."

"Not if you're there."

"...."



The green eyed child pulled her legs up, carefully standing up upon the branch.

"We should get back now. The eggs will be getting cold."

Sonata jumped from the branch, landing on her feet with a small thump.

The older child ran over to her sister, helping her up before the two began to make their way back across the forest, hand in hand. It was peaceful for a while. Birds chirping above, the occasional squirrel in the trees. But then the dragon began to catch a scent. A pair of Jade eyes wandered back from their path across the forest, searching around. Human. She kept walking, not wanting to scare the little one who was scared of the little mice who came out in the Spring. Instinctively, however, her grip tightened around Sophia's hand, head swiveling back to the path in front of her as she began to walk a little faster.

A Compilation of Fantasy ConceptsWhere stories live. Discover now