Dragons Of Alestaria

Chapter 1

The mountain air fills my nose. I've been walking for three days already. A week ago, a large group of large cats came out of the mountains, chased away by the dragons. One of the cats, a puma, attacked and killed my father. I decided I wanted revenge. So, I went into the mountains. Two days ago, I found a dragon. Since then I followed it. The dragon has a broken wing, so it can't fly. According to my map I should be close to the dragon nest. The path in front of me goes to a mountain pass. After an hour of walking I'm on the pass. In front of me is a valley. In the valley dozens of dragons are going about their lives. I decide I will wait for the night to fall before executing my plan. I take cover under a tree and sleep the day away. I've got a long night ahead of me.

It is nightfall. Most of the dragons have retreated into their respective caves. I climb down the pass, into the valley. I look around. I pick a cave to enter. After some climbing I finally enter the cave. The cave has seven passages. I cannot see the end of the tunnels. This cave doesn't show on my map. This might be my lucky day. I pick the tunnel left of the centremost tunnel. The tunnel leads to a cavern. In the centre of the cavern a nest of dragon eggs has been build. And guarding it, a dragon. I'm lucky enough that the dragon is dormant. I pull my weapon. I had a sword made specifically for me. Even though my home is in the most modern city ever build, I don't trust technology to much. A gun would make too much noise, even with a silencer. So, I got my own sword. I sneak up on the dragon. When I'm about 3 meters away the dragon stirs. My hearth hits the soles of my boots. It feels like hours before I dare to move again. The dragon only stirred in its sleep. I almost sigh in relieve. I close on the dragon. I take an estimate where the dragon's hearth should be. I ram my sword into the dragon's body. To my dismay only the tip of the blade pierces the dragon's scales and skin. The dragon wakes up with an angry roar. The moment the dragon sees me, his claw shoots towards me and hits me full in the chest. I fly. Within the second I hit the cave wall head first. The smack knocks me out cold. I have failed.

Slowly I wake up. My head feels like someone is banging it with a hammer. Both my chest and back feel sore, and I cannot move my arms. It takes at least a couple of minutes before I manage to open my eyes. I can see I'm stuck in a cave. Two meters away a couple of dragons are discussing something. My head hurts so much I can't make any sense of it. I try to move my arms again. It is impossible. I look to my right. Then I see why it is impossible. My arms are chained to the wall. Well, chained is not exactly the right word for it. My arms are locked in manacles attached directly to the cave wall. My arms are in a V shape. Both my upper arms and wrists have manacles on them, making moving impossible. The manacles are about 2 centimetres wide, and millimetres thick. They are completely smooth and have no blemishes on the surface. The only hole in the manacles is a keyhole. I look around the cave, hoping to find a key. Sadly, the dragons are smarter then I thought. No key in sight. So, the next hour or so I just wait. That's when a third dragon enters the cave. The two dragons immediately give the third dragon attention. 'Good day, commander!'

'At ease, soldiers. Anything happened that I should know of?'

'He waked up a couple of hours ago. He investigated the manacles, but he decided he wouldn't even try. He surrendered to his fate after that. So everything's been quiet.'

'Good. The human delegation arrived. Its time for his judgement. He may be lucky if he doesn't get executed. So get going.'

One of the guards takes something from his neck. It's a small keyring. The guard takes one of the keys and unlocks the manacles. The moment both my arms are free I try to run. The commander is faster. He hits me in the face with his claw. I hit the ground hard, momentarily stunned. The two guards use the time to quickly grab hold of me. The commander speaks to me. 'You disappoint me, human. I expected more of you.'