After the war
Everyone escaped underground
Children were cold, dirtied and cuddled by their mothers for comfort
And pets had their mouths taped to keep them quiet
During feeding time they would be untapped
And if your pet was too loud it had to be silenced or set free
People were misled into believing dragons would kill them
They hadn't a clue dragons only wanted to move them inside the picturesque towers
David was lucky to be alive
But he wanted to kill himself because his mother, father, daughter and wife died
They died by the false hands of a Crotonian
Their dragon tried to protect them...love them...
But David saved a girl from being slaughtered
So that had to count for something.
They escaped to these underground caverns in search of new life
Feeding off dead animals and mutated beings, life there wasn't as bad as it could be
The radiation from above ground caused cancer in most of the children
The radiation came from factories and nuclear plants that had been destroyed in the war
The Earth would have been inhospitable if the Dragons hadn't cleaned up the radiation
If you listen closely, you can hear the low hum of the radiation dispensors
Tuesday morning was when everything changed
David and other townsfolk woke up to the sound of engines
He rushed out of his shabby living quarters, the girl running with him, and went out past town limits to investigate the sound
He saw a bright light coming from the end of the tunnel
And in it's wake he saw a dragon-manned vehicle coming his way
The little girl held tight to him,
Fearful and afraid
She looked up and saw the ground above them lift up
Staring back at her was the face of a Dragon god
The creature unleashed his deafening roar at the town and his bipedal dragon soldiers jumped in to capture the little colony of people.
They were surrounded
People were screaming
The commander, a black Wyvern, stepped into the crowd
With a young biped soldier walking beside him
"The lies they have told you about us are moot!" said the youngest dragon, translating his commander's words, "you must come to your new home, with us!"
"New home?" asked one of the townspeople.
Leslie tightened her grip,
David gulped, his heart pounding
The Wyvern blew a breath of light fire, warming the chilling air.
"Yes, your loved ones are with us inside the towers," said the soldier, "come to your new home."
The soldiers lowered their weapons
And the Wyvern led them
Closely...
He led them into a storm drain
And that storm drain was famous for being the entryway into Unforgivingness
That was the new name for the world the Dragons' claimed
They walked, silently
Abhorring
They were blind to the real truth
Listening to false rumors kept them afraid
When they reached the end of the tunnel they saw firsthand the devastation of the world
But there was no devestation
It was wonderland
Forests, bright green and vast
Lakes, fresh and clean,
And inside of it were the ruins of an old civilization
And above it all was a tower, tall and wide
So alien, sleek, pristine
With green coursing through the visible tubes on the structures
Rumors were floating around, saying awful things about dragons and about the earth's condition
Those rumors were false lies (or...they were truth covered up by the beautiful green...)
David's iPhone radio started to kick in without warning
"The dragon ships appeared over Earth last year. Only a small percentage of the world was destroyed. Rumors said earth was a wasteland, but it looks like they were wrong. All of our communication devices had been cut off until now. It seems the creatures have restored our power."
That broadcast was a bit refreshing to him
"Where do we go now?" asked the girl.
"To town. We'll go to town," said the Wyvern, speaking his first English words.
"The president and vice president are being held captive. The Antonin royal family said they have no comment on the events. Many speculate the reason for the worldwide outage was because the dragons want the rest of the world to be surprised when things were restored."
David, Leslie, the Wyvern, his convoy and the townspeople walked through desolate streets
Newspapers were scattered about, cars were smoking or were on fire, houses were abandoned and ghostly as ever, but things were teeming with wild life.
As they walked by each electronics store, televisions and radios would suddenly shut on and broadcast the local news.
"World leaders are meeting with the Draconizica Council in Washington to talk about the "Abando Torture" act. As we heard from our sources, the council is made up of several different alien leaders and different species of dragons."
Leslie's eyes suddenly went wide and she shouted, "LOOK!"
THE END FOR DRAGON'S WAR.
YOU ARE READING
Empire of Dragons: Dragons & Cicadas (Watty Awards 2012)
Short Story- This is a continuous work of drabbles, short stories, songs & poetry about a world full of alien dragons & other fantasy creatures with a Sci Fi twist. "The space dragons are coming home. No vampires rule this land. No wolves take claim to the Dra...
