A World Lost

“There weren't always dragons in the valley,” my grandfather stated, holding the petrified-looking dragon egg in his hands. His eyes crinkled at the edges even though they were wide with wonder as he held it up to the light, hoping to catch a glimpse of the baby dragon inside. My older brother, Jacob, had found it during his patrol last night of the borders. It was alone in the cold, he had told us, must've been abandoned by its mother. Dragons never came this far into the valley, so none of us had ever seen a dragon's egg before. “Maybe we'll get to see one!” our grandfather continued, “Wouldn't that be a sight!”

“I wanna hold it!” my younger sister Desiree squealed, her hands extending, trying to grab for the egg from my grandfather. Only five years old, she already had the gumption of someone in their twenties. She looked so much like our mother, dark black hair pulled into pigtails that smacked her in the face as she attempted to climb onto the table. Her hazel eyes sparkled with amazement while staring at the egg.

“We could sell it and catch a good price for something so rare. Lord knows we could use the money.” my mother exclaimed from the other room as she cleaned. I could see her from where I stood by the backdoor; her brow was furrowed in worry and concern. The concerned look on her face didn't help with her hair always pulled into a tight bun on top of her head. I wasn't sure if it was over the fact that my brother had actually found a dragon egg to begin or if it was because we could really use the money. She used to look so young and lively, she had aged drastically since our father passed away a few winters ago. Her hazel eyes had dulled from how they used to shine, her joy with them.

“It's my egg!” my brother shouted, “I'm keeping it. It's a prize worth displaying, we'll be the talk of the village!” He had always had a bit of an ego, which is what made him so intolerable. He was handsome like our father, defined jaw line and our mothers hair and eyes to add to his features. All the village girls fawned over him, and all the guys wanted to be his friend. Finding a dragon egg would only add to that, I could just see him now gloating about it. He'd probably change the story from how he tripped over it while on his patrol shift to how he had to fight off three dragons for it. I just rolled my eyes as they all started to argue over what to do with it.

“I remember when the first dragon was spotted,” grandpa began again. I knew this was my time to exit, I couldn't handle hearing another one of his nostalgic stories. Droning on about a time when there were no dragons and that you could connect to the other side of the world through a handheld device. His generation had it so easy with all their electrical devices and freedom to travel the world as they pleased.

I sighed as I grabbed my bag, slipping out the back door I thought to myself that maybe I'd go find my own dragon egg. I chuckled, I could only imagine the look on my brother's face if I had. Jacob's ego would be crushed, though I'm sure he'd raise a fit about how he found his first. I knew there probably wouldn't be another dragon egg out there to just stumble upon anyway, but the thought was too intriguing. The borders were patrolled throughout the day by different men in the village, the rest of us weren't even allowed to go anywhere near the borders for our own protection. Still, it was worth the risk.

We lived in a small village in the valley, there were others out there, but it was far and very few in-between to meet someone outside of the village. Couldn't complain too much though; it was a beautiful place to grow up in. Mountains lead into hills that lead to lush fields reaching the edge of the village. I grew up hearing how lucky we were to live where we did, one of the few places that didn't have to worry about constant attacks from the dragons. Good soil for farming and animal raising, the perfect place to grow up in with the world we lived in now.

Making my way through the village, giving hellos to those who greeted me as I went. “Where you off to Alice?” a voice said from behind me. Looking over my shoulder I smiled at my best friends face, “Oh you know James, just out to cause some trouble.” He laughed as he fell into pace with me. James had always been my best friend, for as long as I could remember. Everyone in the village called us the “Dueling Dragons” because of how much we fought, but we were so similar. We caused so much havoc on the village growing up, that it only made sense that we'd grow up to become best friends.

We weaved through the marketplace, snatching a few apples from a stand as James distracted the merchant. I tossed one to him as we rounded the corner and headed out into the open fields that extended from the village. The breeze blew, causing the tall grass to sway, and the scent of wildflowers flooded my nose. I closed my eyes for a moment and took in a deep breath; it was always so freeing to be out here. Suddenly a blunt force hit my arm, I turned and glared at James. He just grinned, “What? You looked like you were going soft on me there, had to knock some sense back into you.”

“Never!” I stated punching him back. I don't know what I'd do without James; he was the only one that understood me, well now he was. My father was the only other one who ever seemed to understand me. Losing him was insanely hard; if it hadn't been for James, I don't know how I would have survived it.

“So, where are we going?” he looked around, a bit puzzled as we had kept walking through the field towards the hills leading to the mountains and the perimeter.

“Jacob found a dragon's egg.” I told him, watching his face for a reaction. He choked on the bit of the apple in his mouth. Coughing hard before spitting it out, he yelled, “What?!” he looked around slightly worried, as if a dragon were about to descend upon us any moment. I merely shrugged at him and continued, “It was only a petrified one, probably abandoned by it's mother. There's no dragons here in the valley, everyone knows that.”

James still looked around concerned, not completely convinced by my words. I laughed slightly, it was as if he suddenly aged ten years from the fear of a dragon possibly being close by. “Careful James, you're going to give yourself gray hairs with all that stress.” This got his attention, and he snapped out of it. Gasping as if I had somehow offended him, his hand landing over his heart, “Take that back! I will forever be seventeen!” I shook my head at him laughing harder. “Well then stop acting like a worried old man, we're only out here to find another dragon egg.”

James was silent for a moment before adding, “But why would a mother dragon just abandon her egg?” I shrugged, “Hell if I know. You think we should go find her and ask?”

He looked at me seriously, his smile had fallen from his face, this was a rare occurrence. While James was always up for causing trouble with me, he was also always way more responsible than I was. “Oh, don't look at me like that James, we probably won't even find anything!” I knew he was worried, but what were the chances of actually finding a dragon egg for the second time today?

“Alice....” he began, his voice was low, and I shook my head at him, gesturing not to say it. “We're not even supposed to be going anywhere near the perimeter, we could get in a lot of trouble.”

Now it was my turn to look offended; I gasped dramatically grabbing my heart, “Are you going soft on me James? Suddenly not up for an adventure and wrecking havoc with me?!” I grin throwing my hand onto his shoulder, “Relax, we're not going to find anything; I'm just hoping to destroy Jacob's ego just a little.”

He nodded at me, still looking slightly unconvinced. “Oh, come on, we've already come this far!” I gestured back to the village, we had already made it through the field and hills, now working our way into the mountains. He looked over his shoulder contemplating for a second before nodding once again and releases a long breath. “Lets just be careful and try not get caught, okay?” I smiled and nodded to him, “Always!” He took one more look at the village before we maneuvered around the peaks that blocked the village from view, heading further up the mountain.

It didn't take us very long to get to the top of the mountain. We had spent years exploring, finding easy paths and carving them out for later use. They were our secret little paths to avoid the patrols and consequences. Reaching the top, we finally stopped taking a moment to catch our breath. I pulled a bottle of water from my bag taking a swig before passing it to James, he nodded, a silent thank you, before downing half the bottle. Sweat dripped from his brow into his eyes, he closed them as he wiped it with his shirt, revealing his toned body underneath.

I shook my head to dispense the thoughts; I never looked at James that way. He was my best friend, my other half. Yet, he wasn't undesirable. Many girls in the village had fawned over him too. Though he never seemed to date any of them for too long. When I would ask him about it he joke it was because he was hideous. He stood at about six foot, muscular toned body, with sun-kissed skin. His hair was a chestnut brown shade, but his eyes–his eyes were a brilliant shade of green. One could easily get lost in those eyes...

I shook my head again; what was wrong with me? Why was I suddenly thinking of him like this? Wasn't like he saw me as anything more than a sister anyways. It wasn't that I was unattractive–least I didn't think so. Though I didn't date much, a few boys had asked me out, but those never lasted long either, always finding someone they liked more. But James and I? We were just best friends.

I was only five foot six, but, like James, I was pretty toned and slender, I mean with how much the two of us climbed these mountains, it was understandable. I also had sun-kissed skin since we were out in the sun daily. I had ash blond hair that fell over my shoulders and deep brown eyes–I looked much like my father. Which explained why my mother tended not to look at me for too long.

“What are you staring at?” James' voice was sudden snapping me out of my thoughts. I smiled at him, “Just thinking about the look on Jacob's face if we found another egg,” I lied. He stood up slipping the bottle of water back into my bag before giving my arm a light punch. “Well then we better get moving if we want to find one before one of the patrol finds us.” I nodded in agreement and hoisted my bag back up over my shoulder.

We made our way through the mountain path, kicking rocks over and cracking jokes about dressing up a few of them to look like a dragon egg nest. While we hadn't found a dragon egg yet, we did find a few geodes that we'd be able to sell. People loved to have pretty trinkets and would pay a decent amount for them. After a few hours of searching, we sat down again to eat another apple. “I don't think there is anymore, Alice; sorry to disappoint you.” James said taking a bite from his apple.

A sigh left my lips as I nodded in agreement, “I knew it would be a long shot, but was still worth trying. Besides it's always fun coming up here. Never know what we'll find.” I smiled at James as he nodded smiling back before the look suddenly changed on his face, horror filled his expression. I shot up and turned around, expecting to come face to face with one of the patrol. Instead, what I saw was more terrifying, black smoke billowed over the mountains. The apple fell from my hand, and I started running, I could hear James following suit.

Weaving through the mountains, leaping over rocks, and tripping a few times we finally made it to the edge of the mountain the span of the village in our view. I fell to my knees, the entirety of the village was engulfed in flames, black smoke swirling in the sky. What was happening? How could this happen? A million questions were running through my head as I watched in horror. Suddenly, another large flame burst through the black smoke aimed at the village and that was when we saw it, a dragon. It shot flames at the village before suddenly diving down onto a house, my house. It was all being devoured in the flames. I could faintly hear the screams. I could feel James tugging on my arm, but I couldn't move. Frozen in my spot I watched as my whole world was being destroyed by this creature. There weren't always dragons in the valley, but there were now.