Dragons of the Nesting Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Heck, there should have never existed since they’re supposed to be fictional creatures – but...

Rawr!!!!!

The dragon flies angrily ruling over the skies. I freeze, hidden somewhere under the bushes, as I watch its great teeth piercing through the poor trees. I try to conceal my breath in fear I will draw unwanted attention to myself.

Snap, crack, snap.

Fire is starting everywhere as the queen of all animals, no not the lioness, has been spitting searing fire uncontrollably. Whoever made this monster angry must have a death wish.

For starters, no, it wasn’t me. I was a simple wanderer in the Nesting Forest. Well, to be completely honest, I was more of a time-traveler. How? Well, simple. You see, I just minded my own business in NYC and suddenly time stopped for me. How? I accidentally entered a thing we call a wormhole thinking it was just a vault. How stupid of me! So, I simply fell right into it and got teleported in this mad era. In my first days being here I couldn’t believe my eyes that dragons existed since I honestly never believed in magic or magical things. No, I wasn’t that type of kid. I didn’t even watch the Lord of the Rings or – heck!, Harry Potter. But now, I just simply can’t believe I’m still alive! It’s not like I wanted to be in this mini-Jurassic park.

You see, I'm determined to survive no matter what. You know, I don’t want to be slayed by a dragon. Mom wouldn’t be too happy about that, would she? Enough of my rambling though, I have a freakin’ dragon to fight! And, gosh, this one is a female. She’s probably protecting her baby from threats. Guess what? I’m considered one though I didn’t start all this. Darn, she’s speeding to me. I’m really going to cook that egg of hers if she’ll keep hunting down my tail.

Yelp, speaking of tails, she’s been swinging her tail at me. Come on, girl, I’m not in the mood to play jump ropes with you.

The dragon tries taking a good grip of my head to squeeze me to death but not this time little dinosaur, not this time, haha. I dodge her attack bravely and take my chance to run for it letting the trees to be today’s sacrifice. I’m sorry, Mother Nature, I cherish my dear life more. Somehow, I end up tripping over a rock. Well, if you think I was stupid, then I invite you to be in my shoes. Believe me, dude, I’d switch with you any time. It’s hard to watch your step and dodge deadly attacks at the same time. So, now being faced down, I become as stiff as the rock I knocked my feet on. Knowing I will face the inevitable, I take a deep breath, probably the last one I’d have, and wait for it. For some crazy reason, that moment never came. I have my eyes glued to the dusty ground, so all I can do is hear what is happening.

Wham, swish, bang.

I hear weapons countering against the hard horns and sharp teeth of the dragon making it roar so loud that the whole land trembles in fear. Cries of someone who sounds like a woman are resonating in the air which now feels heavier than ever. The battling roars are fading away as silence breaks in. Who is she? Is it over? Who cares, I’m alive! I finally get up and the tension in my shoulders dissipates. I clean myself of dust and dirt and I look around. Boy, what a battle that was! This poor forest barely has any trees left as they were all wrecked or plucked out of the ground entirely. I still wonder what happened to the dragon and her baby but I think I should leave it there and go back to my journey. My heroine must have left without giving me a chance to thank her. I give a sad smile gazing into nothingness. I brace myself and set a foot on the ground in an attempt to move forward.

I get startled as a shadow appears right in front of me. Scary as it is, I don’t dare moving another inch and I simply wait to see what happens next. Is it a friend or an enemy? I try to adjust my vision to see if I can catch any important details of the standing figure.

‚You there! Are you out of your mind?!’ shouts the indigenous woman who saved my butt.

‚ Last time I checked I was still sane. Why?’ I say snorting at her as I'm trying to act cool.

‚ This is the Nesting Valley. Do you have any idea why it’s called that?!’ she asks as if expecting me to know the answer.

‚ Er, do you really want me to answer it, miss?’ I shrug.

‚ Why you, insolent! This area is where no one should be! It’s the dragons’ sanctuary!! Their nest. By all means, it should be avoided, especially when they’re pairing.’ she scoffs pointing an angry index at me. It feels like it is piercing right through my brain.

‚ No, I had no idea!’ I fake gasp. ‚You see, I’m not one of you, native ones.’ I hiss back at her.

‚ You fool, what are you?’ she then turns to a defensive pose. Are you enemy? Are you trying to get into our village?! You better give that up now!’ she screams as loud as she could, knowing this would alert everyone. Okay, now’s time to panic.

‚ Woah, woah, girly. Calm down! I’m none of that. Trust me!’ I try reassuring her, looking straight at her. She then glares at me for a few seconds trying to read through me for any doubtful detail.

‚ Right. You seem trusting enough. But do one suspicious move and I’m going to finish you off worse than I did to that dragon.’ she threatens me as she grabs me by my already teared shirt. She walks away, dragging me along.

‚ Where are you taking me? I hope you’re not going to give me as sacrifice to a volcano deity or something?!’ I ask her as I try to keep up with her speed.

‚ No, fool man. But I might, if you keep annoying me,’ she adds with a seriously scary face.

I gulp standing perplexed.

She starts laughing at me and I frown confused.

‚ It was a joke, you dumb fool. I can’t believe you fell for it.’ she exclaims still having a laughter fit.

I try to fake a frown to her but I only end up making her laugh harder as I look like an idiot.

‚ So, here we are! Welcome to the Cometa Paradise!’ the pretty woman says as she removes some liana branches, inviting me to see the most beautiful village. It has the clearest waters and the most amazing views. This is one of those wholesome moments where both of us stand silently in awe as we are absorbed by the beauty of the place. In times like this I feel like not regretting the fact that I’ve been dragged through that wormhole.