The Unknown Realm #4 (Waverly Stump and The 7 Realms)

I

Judson thought that standing as still as possible behind a birch tree would hide him from the sights of a Heathland dragon but he quickly realized that his theory was one heavily influenced by fear and a lack of defensive options.

He rolled away as the creature's spiky tails snapped the poor tree in two. The dragon roared ferociously, baring its magnificent teeth and flaming throat. Judson focused on its steaming gullet as he shuffled backwards on his elbow; the dragon looked ready to spew another bout of intense hot flames at him. He had already risked a lot of feathers from previous attacks and his boots and a few major parts of his clothing. He was sure the next flaming flurry would reduce him to dragon dinner. He had even made several attempts to tie the creature down but whatever he tried only caused the creature to grow bigger and angrier.

Judson rolled away just in time as the dragon spewed fire at him again. He was lucky enough to avoid getting burnt but the grasses around him caught the flames. Smoke billowed as the fires traveled fast on the low dry grass, spreading across the abandoned field and trees until his eyes could no longer see where they went.

For some reason, the same dragon had been tailing him and Waverly for more than a week and what with how much the latter slept almost every time, it was impossible to put the creature down. Their only hopes of escape usually came in the form of hiding as everything else proved ineffective. Judson thought they had lost the creature for good until it showed up straight out of nowhere. His eyes watered as he thought of Waverly.

If he were to die at the mercy of the dragon, how would she feel and what would she think?

She would not have any idea where he had gone as he left when she was fast asleep. . . again.

It was early noon and the sun stood high and hot, prompting Judson to leave their camp in search of water to fill his and Waverly's jars. He had not intended to walk that far but did anyway and found a long river just past a field he thought was abandoned. After filling the jars, he turned to leave and was shocked to find the dragon behind him. It had come in its usual small size but grew bigger as he tried to defend himself against it.

He had tried to fly away but the dragon could too and was a tad faster as both its wings worked perfectly unlike Judson's whose black wing felt as heavy as mountain rock on his back. He could not understand what caused the heaviness but noticed it as soon as they left the realm of Alpgeton. It made him incredibly slow and tired which was partly the reason why they had not gone too far despite having lost four good months on the road. On several days during the wee hours of the morning, given their current location, he had even heard the sound of a strange instrument echoing from afar. Waverly had called it a bugle and whenever it sounded, her eyes would cloud over with an emotion Judson could not interprete. He knew that the sound of the bugle was tied to many of Waverly's memories - good or bad, he could not quite tell.

He quickly took advantage of the rising smoke and began to crawl away hoping to escape the dragon but had barely gone far before a gigantic foot stamped against his left leg. Judson cried out in pain as he felt his bones crushing inside his ankle. The pain weakened him from head to foot and threatened to split his temples. He somehow knew he was done for.

The dragon came into view as he rolled onto his back, grunting and panting in pain. The creature opened its mouth wide and he saw red heat forming at the base of its throat. Flames rolled out and came straight at him. He shut his eyes tight waiting for the heat to engulf him but it never did. Instead, a frightening cold began to creep across his skin. He quickly opened his eyes and looked around; the entire field had gone stark white and sleet seemed to rain from the sky but when it touched the ground, it only disappeared.

A figure emerged from the right side of the dragon with silvery eyes amidst the cloud of smoke and mist. Waverly walked slowly as she approached the dragon whose fire breath had been reduced to cold air. Its tail was beginning to freeze and when it caught sight of her, it began to snap its jaws violently. Judson shuddered as he watched Waverly unleash Calaire in its crescent form.