Learning To Fly

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley!” An old man exclaimed, shouting at the top of his lungs just to be able to hear the sound of his own voice.

“Oh yeah? Where else could they have been?” A young boy replied belligerently.

“They don’t go anywhere and just lay around the valley all day waiting for us to pick up after them!” Another boy added.

“The sky..” The old man tiredly hissed back, so softly that the boys did not hear him.

I walked past them, overhearing this exchange. I had just arrived in the town of Dragonslumber, home to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragons. I was to stay here for two months as part of my studies to become a draco-conservationist and I was assigned an apprenticeship with the world’s leading expert on dragons, Donovan Firebane.

After reading his book as a child, I knew that all I ever wanted to do in life was work to preserve this beautiful but frail species. No two dragons ever looked alike and they could grow as big as a house. Despite that, they were timid, gentle creatures who paid no mind to those around them. While they could live over 100 years, they required constant care and attention to make it that far.

“I always tell my students that if you die before your dragons, you did a good job.” A voice called out from behind.

It was Donovan Firebane himself, my idol and the greatest draco-conservationist in history. Having been in the field for over 40 years, Donovan had yet to lose a single dragon nor could he afford to. One had not been born in almost a decade. He must have just returned from the valley and recognised me by my bag which bore the symbol of the Academy of Conservation.

“M-Mr. Firebane s-sir. I was just heading to your office.” I muttered, pathetically failing to hide how starstruck I was.

“Please call me Donovan. The academy has said some very good things about you and I look forward to us working together!” He said as he reached for a handshake.

I was so in awe, I almost forgot to reach out my own hand. He must have found it amusing and not weird because his smile never faded. I was still trying to pinch myself at the thought of working with the greatest conservationist of the age.

“It’s almost five now so there's no point going back to the office. How about I show you where you’ll be staying so you can unpack?” He said.

I managed a quiet “uh-huh” as I trailed behind him, heading back the way I came. As we walked through town, I realised we were headed right towards that house where the old man and the two boys were arguing about dragons.

One of the boys from earlier came running out of the house right towards me and Donovan.

“Welcome back Grandpa!” He exclaimed happily.

The second boy, who I soon found out to be his brother, came trailing behind shortly after. Donovan bent down to his grandsons’ level and hugged them tightly before standing up to give me a better look at them.

“Let me introduce you to my grandsons, Samuel and David. They’re getting into conservation as well but hopefully they’ll pick up your work ethic.”

Samuel, the older boy, took me into the house. It was a quaint, homely place, a little bigger than the average home in town. The bottom floor had the living room, a small kitchen and a bedroom. Donovan and his grandsons had their rooms on the second floor, while I had a refurbished attic to call home for the next 8 weeks.

As the family prepared dinner, I looked around the house and noticed it was decorated with various figurines of a kind of dragon I had not seen before. It was a mighty, winged creature with sword-like fangs and fire coming out of its mouth. Aside from the tails and scales you’d normally see in a dragon, these fearsome beasts bore little resemblance to the docile creatures that lived in the valley.

“I remember a time where these things used to protect us instead of the other way around.” A gravelly voice said behind me in an almost shrill whisper.

I turned around and saw that it was the old man from earlier in the day. He was bald, toothless and was so wrinkled that it looked like he had dragon scales on his face. He seemed worn and had a permanently tired expression on his face. Age had taken such a toll on him that his skin had almost begun to turn green. As withered as he was, there was a conviction in the way he spoke.

“Ah I see you’ve met the last member of our little family here. Let me introduce you to my grandfather, Solomon Firebane.” Donovan said, pushing the old man’s wheelchair slightly closer to me so we could get a better look at each other.

Donovan was no spring chicken himself so for him to have a living grandparent was quite mind-blowing. The Firebanes were well-known for their extensive knowledge on dragons but it seems that the old man may have lost some of that priceless as the years caught up to him.

A few minutes later, we gathered at the table and prepared to eat. I sat next to Old Man Solomon while the two boys sat across from us. Donovan sat at the head of the small table and served us all dinner before eating himself.

“You’re a lucky one, young man.” Donovan said, taking a sip of his wine.

“I know sir! The opportunity to work for you is a dream come true.” I replied, once again failing to hide how awestruck I was.

“That’s flattering and all but that is not what I meant.” Donovan said back as the boys giggled and the old man rolled his eyes.

“W-what do you mean then?” I quietly asked, trying to maintain some veneer of professionalism.

“Just before I met you today I had gone down to the valley to tend to the dragons. I noticed they were quite agitated and I decided to investigate. That’s when I discovered it. For the first time in almost a decade, a new dragon will be born.” Donovan proudly announced.

My eyes lit up as brightly as the stars that night as I could not believe my luck. Few people get to learn from a legend like Donovan Firebane but an even smaller number of people have bore witness to a dragon’s birth.

“Tomorrow, you shall follow me to the valley.” Donovan said with a confident smile.

I gobbled down my dinner and rushed off to bed. I had an early morning ahead of me and a long day in the Valley of the Sleeping Dragons. The next morning, I realized I had overslept. All the excitement had kept me awake far longer than it should have. Thankfully, the two boys did a good enough job of banging together pots and pans to rouse me out of my sleep.

As I hurriedly made my way down, I saw Donovan and Solomon at the breakfast table, casually eating their food and laughing to themselves about something.

“Seems that the boy is finally awake.” Solomon quipped

“Early to bed, late to rise I see.” Donovan said back with a smile.

“Mr. Firebane I am so sorry I-I.” I was interrupted by Donovan halfway to what I thought would be a long apologetic speech on my part.

"I told you, call me Donovan. Don’t worry about it, the dragon’s aren’t going to go anywhere.” He said reassuringly, patting me on the shoulder.

“I remember when they could.” Solomon tiredly declared.

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley you know.” He added, repeating what he said from yesterday.

“Whatever you say grandpa.” Donovan replied to pacify the old man.

“Now onto business. Samuel’s already gone to the valley with a few of our workers to keep an eye on the egg. Normally, when we discover dragon eggs, they would probably have been laid for no more than two weeks and are at their most delicate. This egg however is an anomaly.” Donovan said

“How so?” I asked.

“Judging by the looks of this egg, it seems to have been laid at least three months ago. Here’s a question for you. What do you know about the development of a dragon egg?” Donovan asked, curious to know my answer.

“W-well, by the second month, a protective shell forms around the egg. The shell is so hard and heavy that predators are not able to break or steal the egg. Also, due to the idle nature of the dragons, the protective shell allows the egg to survive unguarded for the remaining two months it needs to hatch.” I replied.

“Very good.” Donovan said, nodding in approval and satisfied with my answer.

“What we’re going to investigate today is why this egg was so well hidden from us for such a long period of time.” He added.

Now that we had a goal, we headed out to the Valley of the Sleeping Dragons. A fifteen minute walk from town, the valley was open to the public from 8-2 everyday. People were free to interact with the dragons and the dragons were always happy to be brought food. However, since the discovery of the egg, Donovan had the valley closed off temporarily.

As we headed to the entrance of the valley, we noticed a commotion. A number of people seemed to be crowded around something while some members of the Dragon Conservatory rushed frantically to close the doors that led into the valley. Donovan and I moved in to take a closer look and much to our horror we saw the crowd gathered around Samuel who was lying on the ground with a large cut across his arm.

“My god Samuel what happened!” Donovan cried out.

Another conservationist came running to Donovan.

“Kid’s a little banged up but he’ll be ok. He said as Donovan breathed a sigh of relief.

“I have no idea what happened, grandpa. We saw the egg and wanted to get a closer look at it but Java freaked out and didn’t let us. She was super upset for some reason and whipped me with her tail.” Samuel said as he began to sit up.

I soon came to know that Java was a red, female dragon and one of the few to have been born outside the valley. While dragons were generally docile creatures, Donovan noted that Java was exceptionally gentle albeit a bit more active than the others in the valley.

Suddenly, a loud, booming noise came from deep within the valley. At first, I thought it was an explosion because it grew louder with each passing second. In fact, it was so loud that you could feel the vibrations from it coming closer and closer. So much so, that people had to step back and cover their ears while the conservationists had to struggle to hold the doors to the valley shut.

The ear piercing sound was soon followed by an even more deafening silence. Everyone was shocked by what had just happened. Why did the gentle and almost helpless dragons turn so aggressive?

“Something must have happened to them. We’ll have to go and identify the cause of this.” Donovan said, trying to mask his sense of urgency with his typical confident demeanour.

Suddenly, we were all alerted by a soft creaking sound. This time however, it was coming from behind us. Turning around, I could make out two human figures approaching us in the distance.

“It’s the great elder!” A villager exclaimed.

“He hasn’t come to the valley since Java was brought here.” A conservationist added.

“Grandpa? What are you doing out here?” Donovan asked with concern as he rushed over to Solomon who had arrived at the entrance of the valley on the wheelchair that David was pushing.

The old man scanned each and every person around him with his weary gaze and seemed somewhat disappointed by everyone that was there. He let out a sigh as the villagers began crowding around him, hoping that he had an explanation for the dragons’ unusual behaviour.

“Everyone, perhaps it would be best to go home. Allow me to conduct an investigation and report my findings to you all later this evening!” Donovan declared as the crowd began to disperse.

“Ok, they’re all gone now. What’s happening, old man?” Donovan whispered to Solomon hoping that nobody would overhear him.

Solomon’s face contorted somewhat to manage a wryly grin.

“Dragon eggs are normally discovered within two weeks of being hatched, am I right, boy?” Solomon asked.

“Yes.” Donovan replied back almost sheepishly.

It was so strange to see the greatest conservationist of our time being talked down to as if he were a child. What I found even more unnerving was how seriously Donovan took the words of this doddering old man.

“It took you three months to find this one. That could only mean one thing. The dragons have decided to protect it. They’ve been hiding it and moving it around to keep it out of sight and now that you’ve found it, they’re ticked off.” Solomon gnarled.

“Why would they do that? The egg develops in such a way that makes it unnecessary for it to be protected.” I added.

“Aren’t you a nosy one. If I tell you wouldn’t believe me, the only way for you all to understand is if we go in ourselves.” Solomon replied.

Donovan was initially reluctant to let the old man venture into the valley especially with the dragons acting the way they were.

Suddenly, there was another loud roar. That roar was followed by another and then another and before we knew it, the dragons had erupted into an ominous melody that gave one an almost paralysing fear of dread.

“I’m going in there!” Donovan said as he got his backpack.

“You’re not going alone this time, boy! You there, push this chair!” Solomon hissed at the both of us as he pointed at me to come over.

Donovan relented and nodded. He signalled for his fellow conservationists to open the gate as the three of us slowly made our way in.

“Young man, we are venturing into uncharted territory here. If the dragons do so much as snarl at you, you take the old man and you get out of here, understood?” He asked with an uncharacteristic fierceness in his voice.

“Y-yes sir.” I replied, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath as I prepared to enter the valley.

The valley was a damp, dark place with various small caves and nooks for the dragons to sleep in. Without the lively crowds that packed the place daily, one could really feel how desolate the valley really was. I walked closely behind Donovan on a designated path, pushing Solomon on his wheelchair as quietly as possible.

Just 5 minutes into our journey we encountered our first dragon. It was Java, the red dragon born from beyond the valley. She stood between us and the next section of the valley and there was no way around her. Normally, a dragon would block a person’s way when they fell asleep in an inconvenient location. A bit of coaxing and a small treat would usually do the trick and they’d move aside with no fuss. This time, it was different. Java stood tall, eyes wide open and salivating at the mouth.

“Java, be a good girl and let us pass please.” Donovan said as he offered her a piece of raw meat.

Java did not budge and so Donovan decided to go nearer. Reaching his hand to pet the normally affectionate dragon, Java lunged forward and almost bit his hand off. Donovan fell but quickly got up and collected himself.

“Kid, take the old man and go now.” He whispered, quietly but firmly.

“On it, sir.” I replied back.

“No you don’t!” Solomon shouted back.

"We are getting past this dragon one way or another!” He added with an almost renewed vigour.

Sensing the old man’s stubbornness, Java inched closer towards us. I tried to pull Solomon’s wheelchair back and get him out of there but he stopped me, jamming his cane firmly into the ground and holding on with all the might he could muster.

“Java, stay!” Donovan shouted in vain as the beast knocked him over once more.

I could only fear the worst as Java had Donovan pinned down with her last foot. However, just as she was about to lean forward and do her worst. We heard yet another sound. It sounded just like Java but it was higher pitched and sounded more like a cry than a growl.

Suddenly, Java returned to her docile and affectionate state. Rubbing her head lovingly on Donovan, she stood obediently for Donovan to retrieve the piece of meat he had dropped to give to her. Taking her treat, Java left.

What we saw once she cleared out of the way will live in my memory forever.

“This cannot be! You mean, this has always been true?” A dumbfounded Donovan muttered as his jaw almost sank to the floor in shock.

“To think I’d live to see this again!” Solomon exclaimed. Leaning forward from his wheelchair to the point of almost falling over.

I frantically searched my pockets for a paper and pen and began to sketch what we saw in front of us. It was a baby red dragon similar to Java but it was like no other dragon I have ever seen or heard about.

It had a full set of sharp fangs and had what appeared to be wings. In many ways, it resembled the sculpture I saw in Donovan’s house the evening before. Locking eyes with minuscule yet intimidating creature, it growled slightly and unfolded its wings, hovering a few feet from the ground.

Donovan had to lean on the rocks nearby, so shocked by what he was seeing that he had to struggle to maintain his composure. Solomon smiled giddily as I quickly sketched the baby dragon in flight, labelling its prominent feature.

As the baby dragon flew higher from the ground, Solomon began to slowly rise from his wheelchair. The sight of the flying dragon seemed to almost restore the wrinkled, half-alive man. Turning back to face Donovan and I, Solomon let out an excited grin and cheered with the energy of a man decades younger.

“What did I tell you?” He shouted, the vigour in his voice making it almost unrecognisable.

Donovan was too dumbfounded to speak but I remembered Solomon’s words all too well. After all, they were the first words I ever heard in the village of Dragonslumber.

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley.” I said, pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.

“And soon, there won’t ever have to be again! Fly high to the skies you beautiful creatures!” Solomon cried out triumphantly.