Dr Incaendos Study of Dragons in the Americas

Preface

My story begins when my older brother received a copy of Dr. Drakes dragonology book, The Tracking and Taming of Dragons: A Guide for Beginners. I do not remember who gave it to him or why, but he never showed much more than passing fancy for the alluring world within its pages. But I was intrigued. Dragons? Real?

Most people who I knew at that time in my life leaned towards more of the belief that dragons were nothing more than stories created to explain away the bones of dinosaurs and the carcasses of whales, and a way to incite more fear and obedience in the medieval peasantry. But this Dr. Ernest Drake had a clear guide to track them down and document them. So I did.

Unfortunately I did not find one in my backyard, or in the neighbors rose garden, but I did learn quite a lot about the outdoors, so it wasn't a total loss. However, I was discouraged, and on the advice of my parents, I put away my stuffed dragons and stories, and forgot about them, for twenty years in fact. Yet, even though I had lost my belief in the fantastical, I had learned a deep appreciation for the world around me, and had taken on the career of a wildlife photographer.

About three years into the job, I was in the Brazilian rainforest hiking for a good spot to watch for purple martins that had migrated there for the winter, when I spotted a couple of said avians sitting in the low hanging branches of a half fallen tree about ten yards away. Now you might think that it's sort of hard to see a couple of gray blue birds from that distance, but when your life revolves around observing creatures, your eyes tend to get a bit sharp. So I settled down to videotape and photograph.

I was there for around five minutes as the birds flitted around and chattered with each other, observing them silently, when suddenly, there was a loud cracking in the trees, like tons of branch's and twigs being broken all at once. The birds flew away in alarm, but the strange crunching of wood and bark continued on, and was followed by a rustling noise, like wind in tall grass. It was as though some great beast was nearby.

I thought that maybe it was some wild boar family at first, or maybe a bear, but I quickly realized that I hadn't seen any tracks from those species on my hike over. I was also aware of the nearby villagers stories of swarming ant demons and spotted wraiths, alluding to the quite real and possibly dangerous army ants and jaguar. But I hadn't seen any signs of them either, and was more curious than afraid.

Forgetting my job in the brush behind me, I followed the strange sounds from a safe distance for hours. The creature seemed to be about six to ten feet in length, and it displayed a slantways slithering motion like a giant snake coiling itself up and over rocks and branches.

Of course the term dragon hadn't even popped into my head; I was so deep into denial. I convinced myself that I was tracking a large anaconda of some kind, and continued following it into the hills west of the village, deeper into the jungle.

It soon became apparent to me that the ground beneath me was no longer soft with layers and layers of leaf litter cushioning my feet, but was hard with cobblestones. This creatures den appeared to be in the ruins of an ancient city. Through the trees thinning ahead of me I could see the shapes of numerous buildings, brought to rubble by the forest. And then I saw the creature.

I have since learned that the type of dragon that I saw is known as an amphithere, but to me, it was fantasy leaping off the pages of my imagination into real life. Unfortunately, I let out a gasp when I spotted it, and it looked straight at me peering through the undergrowth. I held still, and we studied each other carefully. After a few tense minutes, it turned away, breaking eye contact with me, and I got the distinct impression that it didn't consider me much of a threat. I was inclined to agree, having seen the sharp teeth peeking out from underneath its upper lip.

I camped out there that night in an old building in sight of the dragons den. Unfortunately when I woke up the next morning, I saw that the dragon had moved its nest while I slept and the house where it had made its home had been buried under a pile of rubble and debris.

It finally hit what I had witnessed in the last twenty four hours, and I hurriedly gathered my things and whatever solid evidence that I could and practically ran back down the mountain with my camera in hand, full of photos that would overturn thousands of years of speculation and disbelief.

The wildlife magazine that I worked for put my photos of the dragon in its next issue, along with my story. My encounter was downplayed as some story of how if we destroy the rainforest, we destroy any chance of discovering amazing creatures like a dragon. Never the less, I eagerly anticipated the flood of calls and emails inquiring about my story.

I only had one letter, whose place of origin lay in a dusty building on Wyvern Way, in London. It did not say much, only that the writer was interested in meeting me, and had supplied the proper amount of money for a trip to the British Isles. It was marked with a familiar S.A.S.D.

I ended up meeting the infamous Dr Ernest Drake in his Dragonalia on Wyvern Way, and I traveled to his house in St Leonard's Forest. I cannot say much, but I can say that he's a very kind man, in an eccentric sort of way. It was through him that I learned of the Secret and Ancient Society of Dragonologists, and it was through him that I became a founding member of its North American branch. My groundbreaking discoveries about amphitheres had proven to them that the society had been lacking in its mission to learn about the dragons of the America's, and they needed me to help them. I quickly agreed, and have been conducting research funded by them ever since.

I still maintain the cover of wildlife photographer in public of course, and the society has destroyed any evidence of the article that drew them to me. But while we all took an oath to protect the secret of dragons from the outside world, I have been allowed to publish this guide, the culmination of three years of hard work, in the hopes that it reaches someone like Dr Drakes book did for me. So my thanks goes out to the Society, the other dragonologists that helped me in my journey, including, but not limited to, Dr Ernest Drake, Madison Flammos, Ahmad Ramallah, Meiyuyi Zhenzhu. I also want to tank my dear friend Si-She, who has surpassed Buddha in patience and tolerance of my work. You're the best bud. Last but not least, I want to acknowledge all of the dragons in this guide. They were the epitome of grace and nobility in my presence, and I want to express my most humble of gratitude towards them. Thank you all.