The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

176

The Next Morning

I woke to the sound of humming, coupled with a light breeze brushing through the grass. I sat up to see Amy, Tahli, and Bailey sitting next to one another up against a tree, with several others from the old mans group standing guard, with the old man himself sitting next to me. The early morning sun nearly blinded me as I opened my eyes.

"Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"I did thanks. By the way, what am I to call you?" I asked as I rubbed my eyes.

He chuckled.

"My name is Wade. Though, I've been called a whole host of things. We figured we'd let you sleep for a while since you didn't rest last night." He replied.

I chuckled at his answer.

"Wade it is."

"Right, well we've got to get moving. We're still in danger." He said as he helped me up.

"What? Why?" Amy asked as she stood up.

"Like I said last night, we're in the territory of a large, highly aggressive female dragon. She's killed at least seven other dragons, including one nearly twice her size. If she happens upon us, or picks up our scent, we're not likely to escape alive." He said.

We continued through the forest for several hours, towards their so called camp, where they were supposedly well equipped to fight off dragons without actually killing them. I could feel the tension running through the entire group as we silently walked through the trees, constantly scanning the sky for any sign of the female that patrolled the area. The sun rose to its normal mid day position, and remained their, when for a brief moment, its light dimmed. I looked up instinctively, and felt my heart drop when I grasped what was coming.

"DRAGON!" I shouted.

All at once, we all took off running in different directions, with Amy, Tahli, Bailey and Wade following close behind me as the dragon spat fire down on us from above before crashing through the trees. I turned as she gave chase to one of the men and got a good look at her. She wasn't as tall as the trees, perhaps twenty feet tall, with a dull purple and brown mix of colours dotting her body. She grabbed one of the men in her jaws and tossed him up in the air before swallowing him alive before turning towards the four of us. She spat fire at us, only missing us by a few feet, setting the trees and plants around us on fire before knocking the trees over as she pursued us. Several more men were killed when yet another stream of fire came down on us, setting their bodies on fire as we ran through the trees desperately looking for a way to escape. Then, to our surprise, several more men broke off and ran in a different direction, drawing her attention, giving us time to escape. We ran through the forest for several minutes, all the while hearing the distant screeches of the dragon as she flew around somewhere distantly behind us. We finally stopped to catch our breath, just as the sounds of the dragon faded into the sound of the wind.

"Is everyone alright?" Wade asked.

"Those of us who are still alive are fine. The rest, not so much." One of the survivors uttered.

"Well, there's no sense in staying here. She'll find us to easily if we stay put." Wade said as he started walking.

We walked for a while, doing our best to remain silent, constantly in fear of hearing the flapping of wings coming from above. Up ahead, there were trees overlapping one another, obscuring our path through. Wade stepped forward and pulled the leaves aside, only to be met with a young male dragon with pale green skin sitting in the shade behind the trees. He turned his head towards us and rose to his feet before roaring violently at us, followed closely by a stream of fire.

"RUN!RUN!RUN!" Wade shouted.

One man fired an arrow at the dragon as the rest of us ran for our lives in the opposite direction. I looked back to call out to the man, only to see his body become enveloped in flames before collapsing to the ground. The dragon continued to spit poorly aimed bursts of flame towards us, staying on the ground rather than taking to the air. We rounded a corner and into a clearing, only to be met with the larger female who had stalked us all the way to that point.

"My God! Bailey stay close to me!" I shouted as the two dragons closed on each other.

Bailey and I jumped out of the path of the smaller male dragon, while Amy, Tahli, Wade and a few of the other men ran to the opposite side. One man stumbled and fell over, only to be stepped on and crushed under the weight of the male dragon. The female let out a low pitched roar, with the male doing the same as the both spat fire at one another. The ground shook under the weight of the massive animals brawling, making it difficult to get to my feet. The male grabbed the female by the neck and violently shook her around, spilling blood from the wounds caused by his enormous teeth. The female swiped her wing claw across the males eye, causing him to let go as he screeched in pain. As the female shook herself loose from the males jaws, she lunged at him, though he side stepped to avoid her jaws before snapping his jaws at her and spitting fire once again. He attempted to force her to the ground before she counter attacked by kicking him to the side and grabbing hold of his neck in her jaws. Bailey and I ran along side the fight as the female placed her left wing claw over the males head as he let out a desperate roar from the pain. The female payed it no attention though as she rolled her head forward, and snapped the smaller dragons neck before dropping him to the ground just as Bailey and I met up with the others and scattered into the trees. I looked back briefly at the battle field. The female rested her claws over the head of her slain opponent before letting out an earth rumbling roar, before Tahli grabbed me by the arm and forcefully pulled me into the trees to join the others.