Beyond the Cave

“There weren't always dragons in the Valley.” Was the line that the old storyteller started with, as he sat under the big oak tree to begin his story for the morning at the Sunday markets. As we sat there awaiting the story, a cool breeze flowed through our hair, then turned around in the other direction as fast as it came, then out shone the bright sun that peered through the white fluffy clouds, over the old man face, he stopped and looked up, then began his story once more.

“ A long time ago in our valley, there was a forest that surrounded the outskirts of the land. The lush green trees towered over it to create a sense of serenity and peaceful ora over our valley.

Along came a man no older than about 17, with his straight chocolate brown hair that lipped over his forehead and ran down behind his ears, it draped just above his broad shoulders. He swung it back as his strong ridged arms grasped the reins of his white horse. On his way home from the routine safety checks of the land, around the trees, he came across a rustle in the bushes, right near a stone wall that barricaded our Valley from the outside world. Intriguingly, he slowly slid off his white horse, one foot in front of the other, he tipped toed over to the bushes, as quiet as he could be. Reaching out, he enclosed some leaves in his hand and moved them aside to see what was behind the bushes. All of a sudden, a rush of air whisps past his face, and to his surprise he almost falls to his feet. Gathering his balance once more, he stables his feet and peers in again. Behind the bushes he saw a cave which appeared to be fairly long. As far as his eyes could see, he only saw darkness, so the young man proceeded to light a fire to guide his way through this unforeseen cave. Shaken, yet brave, he enters the mysterious cave to find the walls were cold and shimmering gold from the reflection of the fire. Within a short while of wondering around, he came across a stream that was as clear as glass that had silver fish swimming in the water. Hypnotised, he stopped and was stunned by its purity. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a sharp glimmer that shone from the other side of the stream. Curiously, he takes two steps back, then forward again, he strides with a slight bit of speed to gather momentum to make the jump across to the other side. Over he goes and lands with ease. Landing strongly, he walks towards the glow. The closer he got, things seemed clearer to what it was and, to his surprise, there was a green rock, shaped like a giant egg that was confusing in texture for a normal egg, this one seemed to appear to have fish-like scales. The young man reaches out to touch it, crack, creek, it begins to open. Bending down, the young man intensely awaited to see what would become of this giant egg. The earth shakes and the fish, like scaled egg shell, falls away. Piece by piece, they drop upon the ground to reveal a chameleon-coloured baby dragon. Its horns were tiny and its wings were tucked in under its shiny body. The little dragon lifted its head and peered up towards the young man. Two little eyes shone red with fear of the unknown that was waiting before him. The tiny dragon let out a small growl, beyond its scared lips, shaking with uncertainty. Bending down, the young man reached out his hands to show peace towards this new creature. Still in shock of seeing nothing like this before, the tiny scared dragon climbed upon the young man’s hand and snuggled in a ball, placing its head on his thumb. In amazement, the young man slowly stood up and gathered his thoughts. Holding onto this tiny creature, he thought to himself, “Oh! Wow, what a discovery I have found, but where are its parents?” Undecided on what to do, the young man just stood there for a while trying to get a grasp on what had just happened.

Just then he heard a faint voice from outside the cave echoing through, “Someone is looking for me!” said the young man to the tiny dragon.