Dragons in the Valley

There weren't always dragons in the valley. There was nothing to draw them there; the villagers didn't farm cattle, there was very little gold to be had, and nothing at all in the way of precious gems or other treasures. What little renown they had came solely from their soap-making; a rare treat in these lands, and known only among the villages scattered around the valley. Better to have a little, and worry less, than fill the vaults with coin and bring dragon fire upon them. The rich southern lands could deal with the beasts.

Like most people in her village, all Reeva knew about dragons was that they were enormous, intelligent, and ruthless. She'd heard tales of the great lizards, even seen the far-off silhouette of one of the beasts wheeling above the mountains, countless miles away - but to see one up close? Speak to it? The mere thought of it had sent shivers down her spine. No, she'd thought, far better to leave the dragons in the old tales, and steer clear of their teeth. And so it was with no small amount of alarm that she was awoken one morning to the mournful moans of a thunder of dragons flying overhead; spine-chilling sounds spilling from their sharp-toothed mouths and raising goosebumps on the skin of anyone who heard them.

She was torn between a sense of desperate curiosity and the screaming urge to flee - to hide, to close her eyes and pray to the gods that the dragons would take no interest in her village, spare their lives, leave their buildings unscathed. The curiosity won out; at the very least, Reeva thought, I can go to my grave with a tale. She leapt out of bed and hurried out of her front door, grabbing her shawl to wrap around her nightgown-clad shoulders, and joined the growing crowd of villagers staring terrified into the sky. For all the stories she'd heard of the great dragons, this - this was unfathomable. From the tip of their snouts to the end of their tails, the dragons stretched fully half the length of the village, casting vast shadows across the buildings and their residents. No one said a word. By the fountain, the village elder was white as snow, one wrinkled hand clasped over her mouth, one clutching at her chest. Reeva had never seen the old woman so shaken, and she wanted to move and offer comfort; but her legs were refusing to obey, leaving her rooted to the spot with horror.

They stared in silence as the dragons passed over, scales glinting in the morning sun, leathery wings rippling gently in the wind. Some time after the last spiked tail had whipped its way through the sky over the village, the crowd let loose the breath they'd been collectively holding, breaking the spell the dragons' appearance had woven. Reeva finally managed to make her way to the side of the village elder, grasping for her hand and sitting her down on the edge of the fountain. The others, too, were moving, holding hands, touching faces, breathing shaky sighs of relief and wiping tears. She could hear faint and unsteady voices starting to ask questions. Haruld the soap-maker found his tongue first.

"What...Why have they-" he faltered, drawing a breath in. "Why have they come here?"

He looked around at the crowd, as if hoping one of them would be able to provide the answer. His normally ruddy face now whiter than the snow-capped mountains that ringed their home, Haruld drew another rasping breath to repeat his question, then stopped, and along with the rest of the villagers turned his head to look westwards, where the faint thump, thump of landing dragons could be heard in the far distance. All went silent again. Dragons only made their roosts in places they meant to stay for some time; that they had landed in the valley so close to Reeva's home was bad news indeed.

"We need to find out what they want", cried a voice in the crowd, its owner pushing her way towards the front, "we must know why they have come here". Reeva noted with a small sigh that it was Lina, a well-known gossip. Of course Lina wants to know even the business of dragons, she thought, although I can't say I really disagree. She chewed on her lip and looked around for anybody mad enough to volunteer for an audience with the gargantuan beasts now inhabiting the lower plains. People were nodding their agreement, but looking down, shuffling their feet; clearly waiting for someone else to take on the task.

"We should find a mercenary!" exclaimed Haruld.

"We don't have the coin for a mercenary, Haruld, and not the time to wait for one either", came the ever-reasonable voice of the village elder, who was recovering from the shock and finding her feet next to Reeva again.

"Berta-"

"Don't 'Berta' me, boy, you know it as well as I do. If we want to find out what these dragons want with our valley before they have a chance to destroy it utterly, one of us will have to take the risk", Berta said, calmly but firmly. A quiet muttering went around the crowd again.

"Who here knows how to wield a sword?" asked Lina.

"A sword? Lina, they're dragons; exactly what good do you believe a sword would do against them?" Berta replied. There was a muted chuckle from the assembled villagers. "No - we need someone who can shoot. Reeva?"

Startled, Reeva blinked once, twice. She cleared her throat, trying to speak past the lump that had found its way there.

"I... I can shoot rabbits, for dinner, sometimes" she said, "but I only have a shortbow, and rabbits... rabbits don't have scales." And they can't breathe fire, or pierce your flesh with their spiked tails, or simply step on you until you're no taller than a blade of grass. She shuddered at the thought of it.

"Excellent. Dragons are larger than rabbits; they'll be an easier target to hit if you need to", came Berta's reply. Reeva’s ears started ringing, a feeling of dread rising up from her stomach to her throat, threatening to suffocate her. The rest of the village folk, relieved at having been spared such a fate, were nodding eagerly, offering to supply her with arrows, food, a new waterskin. She looked around, mouth open, disbelieving. Surely they didn't really expect her to simply walk up to the dragons and demand to know their plans for the valley? It was madness. No one in the village had so much as tackled a bear, or one of the wild cats that roamed the hills, or even a larger-than-usual deer, but here they were, nodding and smiling, happy to have a plan no matter how ridiculous- Reeva shook her head, forced the panic down, took a deep breath. Would she really rather stay here and wait for the dragons to make their next move? Whatever she did, she would probably end up burnt to a crisp; like so many of the fools who thought they could bargain with the creatures. Better to try and find out what the dragons wanted. Besides, she realised, there was a very, very, very small part of her that was actually, secretly, quite excited about the chance to see a dragon up close. They were supposed to be intelligent creatures, weren’t they? She squared her shoulders and put her mind to the task ahead. Perhaps she could persuade them to leave her people alone. Perhaps there was the smallest chance that her village had something to offer the dragons. Perhaps she wouldn't die a horrible death on this quest.

Perhaps.