Do Not Open Under Any Circumstances

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. There weren’t always halflings who went on adventures, either. All that had changed quite recently. Kamdyn had no idea where the old book had come from, but she knew it was the source of her problems. Up until two days ago, everything had been perfectly fine.

She and her sister, Gwendyn, had found a mysterious old tome on the beach. The book was ancient, looking as though it had been through a great many terrible ordeals. There were scorch marks, stains, and slices encompassing what they could see of the cover. Only so much was visible because it was strapped tightly with iron bonds, a clever-looking lock on the front cover of it. Where they could see it, the leather was cracked and torn from all the abuse. The pages seemed to be parchment and had remained intact, so far as they could tell, but it was impossible to get a better look without first opening the lock.

Opening the lock had been Gwendyn’s idea. The book’s title appeared to be Do Not Open Under Any Circumstances with a subtitle of, “The End of the World is Inside”. Kamdyn said they should listen to the warnings, but her sister was having none of it. She pulled out her trusty lock picking kit and set eagerly off to work.

Gwendyn loved to pick locks. She learned she could fidget with a padlock while listening to lectures, and finally began passing her classes. Once that happened, she was always picking something. It didn’t matter what locks she picked, so long as they clicked. She picked their mother’s jewelry box; she picked the front door; she picked the neighbor’s houses; she picked the locks for sale in the store. One time, she picked the locked back door of the pub without thinking about it. She had gotten in trouble for that one.

Gwendyn was always picking at something. Because of this, she had become an apprentice locksmith and would try new locks for her boss in her spare time. If Gwendyn did not have a lock and pick set tucked in a pocket for a quiet moment, something was wrong. She picked when she was bored, sick, talking with friends, or just any time she felt comfortable enough to do so.

Picking while she was anxious was hard. She never could manage to pick a lock while conversation was difficult. Gwendyn would try to focus on both the talking and the picking, only to get flustered. She could do one or the other, and she would almost always pick the lock over a fight. You knew she was getting serious when she stopped picking.

So, of course, she had it right there with her. It was a new lock for her, and it looked so interesting. What could really be so terrible that someone would write it in a book? Books were meant to be read, not a place to hide things at all. So, it must a joke. That was Gwendyn’s reasoning. She wanted to open the lock, and so she set about it immediately; any excuse would do.

“You know we can’t read that, don’t you?”

“I don’t want to read it. I just want to open this lock” Gwendyn sniffed as though she was offended, “I’m not an idiot, Kamdyn.”

“I’m not saying you’re an idiot, I’m saying that this is a bad idea”

“Well then, I’m not letting you see what the lock looks like when I take it apart. You can wash your hands of this whole experience, if that makes you happy” Gwendyn said. Kamdyn rolled her eyes and stood off to one side while her sister set about picking at the ancient lock.

She could hear her sister admiring the lock as she worked. Try as she might to ignore it, Kamdyn couldn’t tune out her sister’s voice. It was getting annoying, to be honest.

She’d never seen anything like that before. It was so old and cool; she just didn’t know what was going on with this lock. It was so weird and old. She mentioned that it was old a lot. Kamdyn didn’t care. It was probably just Breyden playing one of his pranks again. Kamdyn thought that maybe he had a crush on her sister. He was always trying to prank Gwendyn, and he said it was because she was so easily distracted. Well, when this turned out to be another one of his stupid, unfunny, terrible jokes, she would go tell his mother what he had been up to.

Gwendyn gasped in surprise. Oh, great. That meant she had the lock open. Kamdyn turned around and gasped as well.

There was an incredible light coming out of the book. It was an astounding deep purple light that seemed to burn black at the edges. It sent a shiver down Kamdyn’s spine as she looked at it. Kamdyn darted over to her sister, ready to protect her.

The light shot off into the sky, moving in a great arc up toward Dragon Pass. It crashed into the mountains with a flash of purple light, and the clap of distant thunder called back down to them. Kamdyn reached down, grabbed the book, and flipped it open.

The pages were blank. Not a single word on the inside, from cover to cover. Was this a joke? It had to be. It was the only explanation that made sense. It was just some good illusion magic, and a lock that Breyden had made look old. It had to be.

That was what Kamdyn had told herself that day, and they didn’t mention it to their parents that night. It was just a stupid prank, and they didn’t need to tell anyone about it. It wasn’t even a good prank anyway.

Then the dragons had shown up the very next morning. Something dark and terrible had driven them out of Dragon Pass. They said it was like a storm, but not like a storm. It destroyed everything it touched, sucking in the world around it. It was growing bigger. That was all they had said when they showed up, and now they were refugees in the valley the halfling village resided in.

The valley was a pleasant one. It was very green; being so close to the ocean. The clouds could roll over the lower hills on the one side but had to dump their rain against the mountains to the other side. That left a lot of water behind. And that water flowed into Brackish Lake, a lake that met the ocean at high tide.

The lake had been given that name by the humans who had discovered the lake once they had set up their city on the shore. The lake had not been named by the halflings who had been living in the valley for generations and who only ever called the lake, “The Lake”. It had always been there, and it had always been that way. To them, lake water was no good for drinking. Fishing, sailing, swimming in, certainly. But lake water should only be drunk if you had no choice, the closer to a river the better.

The humans had also named the valley, “The Green Valley” and the halfling village, “Littleton”. These weren’t exactly things the people of the green valley had thought needed named; and that village name seemed derivative and offensive. They would have brought it up with the humans, but found that they had named their own city, “Big Town” and decided to drop the issue.

As it was, the council of the halfling village met to schedule a meeting where they could discuss matters with their people. It seemed that something must be done, as the valley was not rich enough to sustain this new population from Dragon Pass. The meeting could only be held outside, as the dragons felt they deserved a seat at the table. Literally, the dragon representatives demanded that there be a feast provided for all in attendance; otherwise, they might declare war on the halflings.

Usually, dragons aren’t quite that brutish. They can have nasty tempers, for sure, but they are a sophisticated people who enjoy hoarding extreme wealth, not relating to anyone but themselves, and coveting their treasures jealously even though they never spend any of it beyond trading between themselves in ridiculous gambling exchanges; but they aren’t the type to start eating people they disagree with… not usually, anyway.

Kamdyn’s family, as all the others in town, brought several dishes to the massive potluck and ideas exchange. Once they had set them on the table, Gwendyn pulled out a padlock and her pick set. The feast began, as did the talking. It took a bit for Kamdyn to get used to dragons just walking up to their table to sniff the food, usually to walk away with a look of disgust on their scaly faces. A few of them took polite helpings before walking off to go sample other dishes from other tables.

There were a great many ideas thrown about, but none of them seemed any good at all in the long run. Some people suggested that they move out of the valley and start a new village where the humans could offer them help. Others thought they should teach the dragons how to farm and raise livestock. The dragons offered to teach the halflings how to hunt instead. Then someone yelled that the dragons should go fly off and find somewhere else to live. That didn’t go over with the scaly half of the gathered peoples. Several of them yelled things in draconic, and a good few of them breathed fire into the open air. They hadn’t aimed at anyone, though several had accidentally roasted unfortunate birds that had been flying overhead. Kamdyn tried not to laugh at the fact that the dragons who had caught and eaten the birds were not the same ones who had roasted them. Gwendyn was picking at her lock, still ignoring everything around her.

“Well, it’s clear! We must destroy whatever it is destroying your home” Kamdyn’s father shouted, using his magical voice amplifier. The special little rocks were given only to upstanding members of society. Kamdyn wanted to shrink into her seat. Everybody turned to look at their family. Not just the dragons, whom their father had addressed, but even the people of the village were gazing at them expectantly. Gwendyn picked at her lock more intently, putting all her focus into it.

“And just how do you expect to accomplish that?” a nearby dragon asked him. It was a scarlet red dragon with an orange belly and neck; or was that gold? It was hard to see him clearly, as he was still in the massive dragon crowd. The others began to talk amongst themselves.

“Well... um, what is it? Where did it come from?” her father replied. The muttering and mumbling on the dragon side ceased instantly. Kamdyn could hear Gwendyn’s pick as though it were amplified in the silence.

“It came out of the sky” the dragon said ominously, “It crashed upon us, having come from this very valley below us. And it is the end of the world!” the dragon’s eyes widened dramatically as he said this, a small burst of flame escaping through his teeth. The entire halfling village roared in a panic at that.

“QUIET!” Kamdyn’s father shouted, his voice magically ringing through the air at painful levels. The villagers hushed after a second or two and he continued. “What makes you say it is the end of the world?” he asked the dragon, doing his best to keep the trembles out of his voice. The dragons parted to more clearly reveal the one who was speaking.

“It is pure destruction” the scarlet dragon said as he walked up to the table. Every syllable was exaggerated by the sound of his steps.

He was so much bigger than Kamdyn had ever thought dragons could be. Then again, she didn’t know all that much about dragons. She noticed that his teeth were the same golden color as his belly; as were his claws, spines, and horns. He eyed them all sternly before he spoke again. “The destruction swallows everything. Its reach grows wider and stronger with everything that falls into it. And once it has a firm grip on you, there is no escape. It will only get stronger and pull you deeper into it. It caused a landslide as we were leaving, crushing most of our people. The few of us you see here, are the only surviving members of our tribe. If you have any knowledge of how this can be stopped, how we can recover our home, then please speak up” the dragon said. The lock picking had stopped.

“No. I’m sorry” the halfling man said timidly. The dragon scoffed and began to turn away.

“Um, Excuse me” Gwendyn said suddenly, standing up to be seen. She sounded terrified and was clutching something in her hands. It looked like a book wrapped in a cloth. Kamdyn’s heart dropped into her feet, and she stood up to protect her sister. She was too late. Gwendyn pulled the fabric off to reveal the ancient tome.

The crowd gasped as one, their father gazing at the book clutched in his daughter’s hands. The dragon came over and looked at the book, his eyes widening in shock and horror. He looked at the girl holding it, and then back at the title.

“You? You opened this?” he asked incredulously. Gwendyn was frozen to the spot. There was no other option, Kamdyn knew she must do something.

“It was my idea, sir” she said bravely, causing the dragon’s amber eyes to focus on her. “I thought it was a joke, sir” she stammered boldly, doing her best not to shake under the dragon’s stare, “My sister said it was dangerous, but I wanted to see what the person who had made it had written on the pages. I wanted to prove that it was just a nasty prank that had ruined a perfectly nice journal”

“Did you not read the warnings on the cover?”

“That’s what made me sure it had to be a joke, sir. Why would anyone write that on a book? They had to know someone would try to read it”

“You cannot be serious…” the dragon said in disbelief.

“But, sir, seeing as how I was wrong, I think we may be able to contain this… issue” Kamdyn offered hopefully.

“You think that you can simply put the destruction back into the book, now that you have unleashed it upon the world?” he growled softly. The girl looked around helplessly, hoping to find any support in the crowd. None of them would even meet her eyes.

“It’s the best idea I’ve heard” Kamdyn said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

“Then it’s settled. You will head out at first light, and you will fix this problem you have wrought” he said, nodding smartly.

“Wait, I have to do it!?”

“If what you say is true, then you are responsible for this calamity. You will see it undone” he said and turned away. Somehow, her father seemed to find his voice again.

“You can’t just make my daughter go off on an adventure! She’s barely out of childhood” he called out to the dragon. In a whirling blur of scarlet and gold, the dragon turned on them. He marched up to the table and glowered at Kamdyn’s father. He came closer and closer until their noses were nearly touching.

“Oh… I was unaware” the dragon said, his eyes smoldering dangerously, “Are children exempt from calamity? Is she too young to perish?” he growled. The questions were clearly rhetorical but, to his credit, their father tried to defend her further.

“Uh… well, I mean… she has her whole life ahead of her…” he mumbled. The dragon’s eyes widened in fury at these words. His head reeled back in contempt.

“And our children did not?” The dragon roared in outrage, followed swiftly by the rest of his kind, “Were our children any more ready to die than yours are now? Are the lives of dragons somehow worth less than the lives of halflings such as yourselves? You seem to presume that we were somehow prepared for this atrocity. Perhaps, you think that we deserved it? May I remind you; it was your children who unleashed this madness upon us all. If you will not allow them to right this egregious wrong, then perhaps you should attend to it yourself!” the dragon challenged. Her father shrank back down into his seat, cowed into submission. Something strong rose within her, and Kamdyn knew she must act.

“We’ll go” she said boldly, drawing the attention of the dragon back to herself. He wasn’t quite as terrifying this time around; perhaps because she was defending her father. “We will go up to Dragon Pass and seal away the destruction” she declared. Kamdyn turned to her terrified parents, “he’s right. This is our fault, and it’s our responsibility. We’re not children any longer. We can do this” she couldn’t tell if she was trying to reassure herself or her parents. Neither seemed to believe her fully.

“You haven’t even finished your schooling yet…” her mother said in a terrified whisper.

“I’ll graduate after I save the world, okay?” she said, hugging her parents tightly.

That was how the two sisters had ended up on the road; wearing armor loaned by the town guard and armed with swords also on loan. The armor was a bit baggy, and smelled of body odor, but it should protect them from danger. The swords were good steel and had sharp edges from being well-oiled and polished more often than anything else. Kamdyn had never swung anything more dangerous than a sturdy wooden stick at a party used to beat open statues made with woven straw and stuffed full of treats. They had also given them bows, which Kamdyn was grateful for. When the human traders came to town for the harvest, bringing a festival with them, she had been able to win a few prizes for shooting targets. At least she knew she wouldn’t be entirely useless in the face of danger.

Adventuring didn’t seem so bad, after all. Their packs were full of food, and they had full waterskins at their sides. They trekked their way through happy little woods with beautiful streams and rivers where the paths had bridges to walk across. They joked and laughed as they made their way through the woods near their home. The two of them made good distance and felt proud of themselves for being so capable. All the while, Gwendyn was picking away at a lock; happily changing from one to another as they walked.

As they continued, the trees grew thicker and taller than before, and the sun had a harder time making it to the forest floor. It was much darker and seemed far wilder, than what they had grown used to. Things seemed quieter in here, like it was a bad place for strangers to wander. Where had all the happy birdsong gone? Where were the sun-dappled clearings full of wildflowers? The sound of running water stayed constant, at least. To avoid letting their spirits drop too low, the girls stopped for a small lunch beside the stream. They made sure to take full advantage of the running water and washed their faces, cooled off by dunking their heads in, and refilled their waterskins. Kamdyn took some bread for them both out of her own bag, offering her sister a roll.

Danger was nearby. They didn’t see it lurking in the trees above them, nor did they hear it position itself, and it waited for Gwendyn to sit with her back toward it before it struck. Lightning quick, deadly, green claws snapped down and snatched at her. The lock tumbled to the ground, landing forlornly in the grass. The helpless halfling screamed as the monstrous bug darted into the trees to enjoy its meal. Kamdyn jumped to her feet and drew the bow. She stumbled after the monster and struggled to hook the string on the second loop. The sturdy wood was resistant to her attempts, but she managed to string her weapon after a small struggle. She scanned the trees for any sign of her sister.

The giant mantis was high above her, but, luckily, she had a clear shot. The darn thing was bigger than two or three of the mules that pulled the plows in the fields. Kamdyn knew she couldn’t miss a target that big. She nocked the arrow and drew it back, surprised to find it was much harder to pull than the ones at the festival had been.

The arrow whistled through the air as it zipped by tree branches. It clattered harmlessly off the giant mantis’ hard shell. The monstrous bug looked at her curiously, and then tried to take a bite of Gwendyn. Her sister screamed, and Kamdyn did her best to nock another arrow to the string. She pulled back, stared at its face, and released the arrow at the same time she let go of her breath. It flew straight and true, catching the bug in the eye.

It dropped Gwendyn and scuttled off through the trees to recover from its sudden blindness. Kamdyn rushed to her sister’s side and rolled her over onto her back. She brushed hair out of her sister’s eyes and checked her pulse. She was still breathing; her heart was still beating. She reached down and held her sister close. Kamdyn fought back tears, looking around in the trees for any more unseen threats.

“Are you alright?” she asked her sister.

“I’m okay, I think” Gwendyn nodded. Kamdyn checked her sister over for damage.

“I thought it got you”

“So did I, for a moment”

“So, what happened?” Kamdyn asked. Gwendyn shrugged and pulled her bag off her back. There was a hole in the front pocket. The pocket with the ancient book in it. They pulled the tome out of the pocket to examine it.

The mantis had bitten the book, leaving fresh scratches on the old leather. The damage had not gone any deeper than the outside of the cover, however. It was still soggy with seawater, even, and that hadn’t helped the mantis in damaging it at all.

“I suppose it was irresponsible of me to send you two off on this adventure without any help” a regal voice said suddenly from the bank of the stream. The girls jumped and screamed, turning to the see majestic red and golden dragon sitting there, looking sheepish.

“You could have warned us you were there!” Kamdyn yelled at him.

“I’m sorry. Next time, I’ll clear my throat first” he said with a puff of smoke. Kamdyn narrowed her eyes at him. Her sister bent down to pick something up out of the grass.

“Thank you” Kamdyn sighed, rolling her eyes at the dragon.

“I really should have known you couldn’t last the entire morning without something trying to eat you” he said with an exaggerated stretch and yawn, displaying his mouthful of golden teeth. The familiar clicking of a metal probe pressing against the tumblers of a lock said that her sister was no longer a part of the conversation. Of course, she would leave all the difficult stuff to Kamdyn; she always did.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. We were doing just fine, thank you”

“Yes, but I was willing to step in if needed”

“I guess it would help to have a dragon around” Kamdyn agreed reluctantly, thinking about how his size might stop them from becoming something else’s lunch before they had to fight it off.

“Yeah, it would be helpful to have a dragon around; I forgot to bring flint and tinder” Gwendyn agreed enthusiastically, grinning as her lock clicked open.

“My name is Ignicio” the scarlet and golden dragon said bowing theatrically. “I fear we got off on the wrong claw when we first met” he said apologetically. Kamdyn rolled her eyes and shook the claw he offered to her in friendship.

“I am Kamdyn, and this is my sister, Gwendyn” she said, trying to keep her balance as he shook her vigorously. She chuckled as her sister nearly toppled to the ground, but managed to, somehow, keep a hold of her lock and pick. The dragon then sat down and looked at the makeshift camp eagerly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both. Now, when is lunch? I am starving”

“We were just about to eat, actually” Kamdyn replied.

“Oh good. We’re off to an excellent start, then” he said, excitedly licking his lips “where’s my serving?” he asked expectantly.

“Where’s your bag of food?” Gwendyn prodded him. He looked shocked at the very idea.

“Am I supposed to bring my own? As though I could just carry deer with me wherever I went” he scoffed. Kamdyn huffed at him.

“Well, we can only carry enough for ourselves. There’s no way we can carry enough food for a dragon! You’ll need to find your own food”

“Well then, I insist we pack up at once! I must eat, and it would be rude of you to eat without me”

“But we were already going to eat before you even showed up!”

“I can cook and eat one of you, if you like. Which one isn’t carrying the book?” he said with a smile. Kamdyn rolled her eyes but grudgingly got to her feet.

“Fine. Let’s go, Gwen” she mumbled, pulling her sister to her feet as well.