A Tale of Dragons

Chapter 01 - The Shard

"Hurry up, Nigel!" Max shouted to his friend from across the trail, eager to see the secret his friends had kept so long from him. Nigel dragged behind carrying what seemed to be an overpacked satchel. He was supposed to be leading, but Max's excitement had gotten the better of him and Nigel found himself shouting directions up the trail.

"We are meeting Alyssa and George at The Shard, right? At sun high we agreed on?" Nigel shouted the questions back to his friend.

"For the billionth time Nigel, yes!" Max didn't understand why Nigel kept asking about the location and time. He had told him more than enough times and Nigel was certainly capable of remembering. Nigel had even been to The Shard himself on multiple occasions. He knew more about the supposed secret than Max had ever figured out.

"Sorry." Nigel mumbled under his breath so Max couldn't hear. "Sometimes it's nice to have someone remind you about dates and times, especially when you worry about everything 24/7."

"What's that?" Max piped up from far ahead the trail, too eager to get to The Shard to wait for his friend. "You say something, Nigel?"

Nigel replied with a curt 'no' and hurried along the trail as not to fall behind any further. He tried to focus his mind on something other than his OCD.

___

After meeting up with Alyssa and George at the Shard, a massive rock jutting out of the ground in the middle of a darkened forest, the four continued along the side of the stone to an opening concealed only by the branches of an elder tree.

"Ready?"Alyssa asked Max with a sly smile as if she too was excited to reveal their well-kept secret.

Max bounced with excitement trying to squeeze his way though the opening meant for one and found himself the last one to enter.

Glowing moonstones lit the interior of the cave, their shine reflecting onto the ceiling creating a Northern Lights look. Max ran his fingers along one of the radiant stones, his eyes wide with curiosity and amazement.

"Don't touch the stones!" George warned swatting Max's hand away from the precious jewels.

"Why not?" Max questioned rubbing the sore knuckles of his hand.

"Because they don't like it." Alyssa cut in. "These stones belong to them, so does The Shard and the forest."

"Who's they?"Max asked a little too loudly to Alyssa and George.

Nigel chuckled from behind George. "You ask too many questions" he scolded. Nigel started to walk down a trail of many towards a brighter glow, handing his satchel off to George like it belonged to him. Alyssa and George followed close behind, Alyssa pushing her way to lead the group.

"Just tell me!" Max whined to his friends. Who was this mysterious 'they'? Was it other people that shared The Shard?

With Alyssa at the head of the trail, George and Nigel walked side by side as the trail widened out. Their shoulders brushed against each other despite the trail being wide enough for them to walk without contact.

"You'll see soon enough, Max." Nigel teased his friend before continuing down the corridor, still walking quite close to George.

The Shard, really a cave it seemed, began to stoop downwards. Max soon felt cooler air brushing against his skin. He let out an excited shiver and noticed that George had uncovered an oil lantern from the satchel. It provided a dull glow that lit the stone passage. He could see that the path they were walking on was well-worn as if someone or something often tread on it daily. He made a mental note to ask Nigel how many times he had been here.

__

After walking for what seemed ages, the friends came to a spacious room filled with red-tinted lanterns on the high ceiling and green vines growing up the walls and stretching over the brown sod floor. Towards the back of the cavern was a large tendril of leaves and vines that had been flattened as if something large had made it a nest.

"This," Nigel began gesturing around. "This is where they gather. This is where the magic happens and this is where our secrets are kept."

Max held a confused look on his face and started to ask what the secret was, but before he could even formulate a proper question Nigel began to call out in an ancient tongue unfamiliar to everyone it seemed but him.

"What is he doing? What language is that?" Max whispered to Alyssa aware of George's eyes staring him down.

"He's calling them."She explained quickly, disregarding his second question and instead putting her finger to her lips.

"Calling who?" Max continued only to be cut off by an abrupt flap of wings as three large creatures flew into the room from a large gaping hole on the far side of the cavern that had been concealed by a few leafy vines.

"DRAGONS?!"