Land of Time Forgotten

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Life was peaceful and simple. Everyone spent their days at home doing whatever they wanted without a care in the world. It had been decades since the Magnificent Awakening. A spiritual and intellectual revelation to multiple individuals, henceforth known as The Seven, from across the planet gave them knowledge beyond our comprehension up to this point. Draymon made disease and infirmity a thing of the past. Elias created technological advancements that eliminated the need for a human workforce. Elysia fostered a sense of global unity creating the first worldwide bartering network where no item or task was more valuable than another. A beautiful utopia had been created by the Seven. And with each generation the knowledge of the Seven was passed on to new members who took up the mantle. It was during the time of the fifth generation of the Seven that the Great Eruption occurred.

June 21st, 2145. The day started much like every other day for the past 25 years. Sunrise was around 5:37 am. Temperature for the day was expected to be in the mid 80’s with a nice breeze and clear skies. Beautiful as usual, now that we could control weather patterns. I decided that today I was going to soak up the sun rays on the beach and paint a few pieces. I hadn’t decided what I was going to paint yet, but I was thinking something natural and out of the ordinary. The urge to draw an erupting volcano hit me and the image was so clear in my mind almost as if I had actually seen it happen. Immediately, I went to grab my supplies to begin the work while the inspiration was still strong. I mixed up my paints and put the brush to the canvas. As the cool breeze brushed across my forehead the image began to fill out. After an hour had gone by, the piece was completed. The scenery was incredible and so captivating. Dark skies with lightning strikes behind the red streaked volcano side. Volcanic embers falling through the skies and crashing into the sea around the island. Suddenly, visions of other volcanic eruption scenes danced through my mind from all over the world. The clarity of each was so surreal and left me with a throbbing headache. At this point it was around 10 am, so I laid down for a quick rest in the healing chamber. As I drifted off I felt the pain subsiding immediately.

I was awoken by an emergency alert message and its excruciatingly loud alarm. The system hadn’t been used in decades, not even for a test. Apparently it was still in working order and something had happened to cause it to be activated. I waited impatiently for the message to be delivered. A strong, serious, but encouraging voice began, “This is an emergency worldwide broadcast. 20 minutes ago a volcano erupted off the coast of Japan. The massive explosion has sent volcanic bombs flying more than 5km into the ocean. Volcanic ash has darkened the skies as far as the Solomon Islands to the south, Nepal to the East, and Magadan Russia to the north. The cloud is still spreading . Reports of other volcanic eruptions around the Ring of Fire are coming in, but the details are still unverified. Details will be forthcoming as they roll in.” The message ended and a news broadcast broke through normal programming on the television. I stared in amazement as video footage of the volcano was being shown. A sense of dread panic came over me. Turning from the TV screen, I focused on my painting from this morning. The image was identical to the video footage I was watching. “What is going on?”, I thought. The images of the other eruptions burst into my head once again. I screamed in agony.

“Nico what’s wrong?” shouted my sister Sophia as she ran into the room. Composing myself, I showed Sophia my painting and the current news feed broadcast. She gasped at the similarity. Sophia turns to see Nico sitting down rubbing his forehead and temples. “I had visions earlier of similar eruptions while I was painting this morning. Then when the news broke those images flooded my mind once again”. “I have been listening to the broadcast on the radio,” Sophia said. “They have confirmed that four other volcanoes have erupted within the last hour”. “Mayon volcano, Krakatoa, Mt. St. Helens…”. “And Mt. Price?” I interrupted. “That’s impossible…how could you have known that?” “The visions I saw in my head. I think they may have been premonitions”. “Maybe it’s just a” …KABOOM!!!! The world around me went dark fast.

I began sensing the world around me again. My eyes open slowly and my vision begins to return, blurry at first but clearing up quickly. The last thing I remember was Sophia’s voice being cut off by the sound of a loud explosion. “Sophia” I shouted! Looking around I saw her leg sticking out from under a fallen portion of our ceiling. I quickly dragged the material off of her. There wasn’t any sign of bleeding externally. Nothing appeared to be broken upon visual check. I applied light pressure to her shoulder and tried to wake her up. “Sophia, it’s me Nico, Wake up. Wake UP. WAKE UP!!!” I shouted. Then I heard her groan as she started to roll over. Nico leans in to help Sophia up. “Easy does it. How do you feel?” “Like the house fell on me” Sophia joked. “Sore but I don’t think it's anything serious.” I helped her up off the floor and we made our way outside. Looking further up the beach, we finally saw what had happened. Mount Tarawera had erupted just on the North Island. Luckily for us Mount Horrible, just five miles south of our home, was still dead. Even still, the explosion of Mount Tarawera sent shockwaves strong enough to destroy our house. The sky was filled with volcanic ash and lightning streaking all around. We heard the emergency alert system warning again. “We now have nine confirmed volcanic eruptions. Power outages and communication lines are down around the world. Satellite reception is being blocked by the ash clouds. We have been unable to contact any members of the Seven at this time to obtain guidance on how to proceed. If possible, stay inside your homes and bunker down until we are able to provide you...” The broadcast went unnervingly silent. That is when I felt the warming sensation in my fingertips and the tightness in my chest. I looked up to see a blaze of fire shoot across the sky. “That didn’t come from the volcano,” Sophia said. I followed Sophia’s gaze to the clouds. Flying quickly, out of the cloud of ash, was a giant gray dragon with dark red chest scales. It made a quick turn downward, heading right towards us.