Runes

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. They had flown in from the South in search of something. We watched from above a hill as they flew over a small patch of forest to the West of us. The dragons were frightening, but majestic with mountainous wings that carried their colossal bodies across the air weightlessly. A coal gray dragon with specs of green sent out a small flame through their nostrils as if in annoyance. It signaled to the others with a grunt from its throat to move on down the Valley.

The dragons came from an island in the South that had formed from the eruption of several volcanoes. Jagged rocks and darkened caves covered the island, perfect for these reptilian creatures. It was first discovered by merchants who sailed across the sea expanding their trading routes. Even with the island laying ominous and under clouds of smoke and ash, the merchants were drawn to it with curiosity. Adorned on the caves they found runes carved into the stone. It seemed only an older merchant could make out what they said. “Fire breathing lizard”, it read. Curious they searched deeper into the cave, to find more runes that said, “do not go further”. A young boy began to protest that they return back to the boats when out of the darkness came a flame followed by a low guttural growl. The merchants ran back to their boats in a hurried fashion. As they pushed their boat back out to sea, they looked back to see a great lizard with wings emerge from the cave. “Dragon”, the young boy said without taking his eyes off of it. Dragons had just been a myth until that faithful day..

Their tale of these flying dragons that breathed fire inspired many who felt they could profit, even on just the head of one the beasts. Many sailed in hopes of slaying just one, but many did not return. A man named Edric Payne set out to study them in hopes of showing that the dragons were harmless creatures; they were just simply protecting their home. For years he did not return and many thought he now lay in the stomachs of the dragons. Once the memory of Edric began to fade from the people's minds he rose over the horizon late one evening with his boat filled with drawings and writings of his experience on the island of the fire breathing dragons.

His knowledge spread across the city giving the dragons life, changing the way others saw them. Myths and legends came from how Edric survived on the island for a decade. He never revealed how he survived. But the books he had written showed truly how majestic these creatures were. There were those still that sought them out under the cover of night, only to meet a fate of a fiery death. He en-captured others with his drawings and tales on the island. Their minds no longer fearful of the dragons asked the king during this time to pass a decree that no one should sail to this island. That way the dragons would be able to live in peace as they always had. The decree turned into a law years later and still remains in effect today across many nations. It has been four hundred years and not a single sighting has been witnessed since then.

Until today.

A meteor flew across our city just a few days ago and landed somewhere in this Valley. Several landed here as if a great magnet pulled them here from the heavens. Many contained platinum, a precious metal we used in the dams that powered our cities. The metal was sought over its non-corrosive properties, and held up against the dampness in the dams. We were constructing more dams to steer away from the roaring coal engines that were currently being used to power our city.

When they located where the meteor had hit, they put together the usual group of laborers and a few guardsmen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until a few scouts that traveled the Valley came back early from their shift out of breath claiming dragons had been spotted in the area.

It sent them in a frantic because this was the first time they had been spotted off the island. At the time we had not made the connection that the dragons too were also looking for this meteor.

Dragons had almost become forgotten, they were now myths in most homes. Today that changed. I had been called to join because I had a degree in Dragonology and taught a few classes at the university. I’ve been fascinated by dragons since I was a young boy. The mystery behind their true origins has always been something I have wanted to discover.

Whatever were they doing there?

I would come along as an advisor. Since the dragons seemed to be away from town, they did not seem to be a threat at that very moment. The plan was to just keep our distance and locate the meteor.

We set out to the Valley with caution. When we came to the treeline we lost sight of the dragons. I took notes along the way, to remember this once in a lifetime moment. To witness the dragons after so many years. Nightfall fell and we settled in a nearby clearing for food and rest. The fire had just been lit when we saw from the top the trees a greater fire emerged. If this was from a dragon's mouth, then they must know we are here too. Jumping into action, we put out our fire and ran back towards the treeline to some nearby rocks. Our gaze fell upon the forest in front of us, set ablaze by this unknown fire. We heard nothing but the cackling of the wood from the trees and the roar of the flames. While distracted with the fire we had not noticed that a small dragon, the size of one of our homes, had emerged from the trees. It stood there in the darkness with the moonlight shining down and illuminating its bright red scales. The dragon blew steam from its nostrils and this caused us to look over in its direction.

It stood there a moment unaware of our presence. Someone whispered to remain quiet, for it had not known we were there. I knew that this dragon had caused the fire but not because of us being there, but because of its youth. I had studied that dragons when they became of age, their breaths could be filled with fire. It seemed this took practice to contain and direct this fire breath, so the burning of the trees before us was no surprise. None of us had not witnessed a dragon this close before. While the others around me, hearts sped up from the panic of seeing such a beast, mine beat from the excitement of seeing one so close. I had only seen them in drawings from Edric Paynes books.

A young man that was with us, was carrying a small camera that produced a bright flash when snapped. In the moment he forgot of this and pressed the button taking a picture, but also alerting the juvenile dragon of our presence. With a release of steam from its nostrils it began walking towards us.

We froze for a moment unsure of what to do , the guards had brought firearms that could pierce the hard plated dragons scales. Even though the Dragons were never an immediate threat, the guardsmen always had a plan in case. It contained a paralyzing liquid that released upon impact. The liquid would paralyze them long enough for us to escape. As it inched closer to us, a few guards prepared their firearms. They steadied their finger on the trigger ready to fire.

As they waited until it was close enough, a thunderous roar could be heard coming from the forest. Soon the sky began to fill with dragons flying up from the darkness in the trees. The young dragon pulled its attention away from us and began running up a small hill to fly off with the others. We watched in amazement as dozens flew East of us. That was the way towards our home, but why would they be flying that way? After discussing if we should head back we concluded there was little chance they would be attacking us, when so many years have gone by and decided to keep searching for the meteor.

We traveled through the night, not stopping once until the sun began to peak between the trees. Up ahead we could smell the burning of metal, which was puzzling. As we neared the cause of the smell, we could see smoke coming from a clearing up ahead. Wrapping our faces with our scarves we approached the smoke. As it cleared we soon realized this was where the meteor had crashed. Immediately the laborers set to work . Still hot from its fall they took small tools to scrape off some into a vile. From a distance you could see this meteor glisten with platinum but we did a few tests to make sure. Platinum is not magnetic so as long as it does not respond to the magnets we knew it contained 100 percent platinum. With mechanical wagons we took with us, we filled up with as much platinum as we could.

Much remained of the meteor but we would return once we unloaded this back in the city. Feeling victorious and the adrenaline from encounter the dragons we sang songs and joked merrily with one another not knowing what awaited us back home. As we made our way over the final hill we saw smoke and could smell the intense burning of coal. Hurriedly we ran on top to see parts of our city on fire. We ran into town to see what could have caused this. Most of the city was still intact but the area in which the coal powered engines still remained had been completely incinerated. Still in shock we began asking those that were able to speak about what had occurred. They described great winged beasts that flew in the sky and breathed fire onto the coal powered engines melting them. After listening to a few more I realized that the creatures they saw were the dragons that had flown over us from the forest. But why did they come here?

What could have caused them to attack us after centuries of peace? As the town cleaned up, and started to return back to normal rumors began. There was a rumor that the dragons had done this to show what was to come. Soon the fear of them returning became so great that they took to our Chancellor to persuade him that we should act before it was too late. Wipe them from the island before they did more than just burn a few engines. After debating between the people and the guardsmen, he was convinced that the people were right. We must take action. The people cheered, but I stood there unconvinced.

There had to be a reason the dragons left their island and were out in the Valley that day. Then coming here and incinerating our few coal powered engines. What had provoked them?

I ran home to find something that might convince the Chancellor to take back his order. A roar from the street echoed into my ears and for a moment I thought the dragons had returned. I ran to the source of the sound and realized it was just the coal engines. It rumbled and growled as if it itself was snarling at me. The engineers had finally made the last one needed. As my thoughts whirled around I thought back to when we were at the meteor. There were bite and claw marks on one side of the rock, but none of us took this as a warning of anything, and continued on loading the wagons with platinum. Then it struck me. I ran back to my study, and took out all of the books I had on dragons. I could not believe I had overlooked this small detail. Ashamed with myself I flipped through the pages until I came upon how dragons were able to produce fires from their mouths. Payne mentioned that young juveniles and adult dragons chewed a rocky material on the side of the jagged mountains that laid on the island. After coating their teeth with this rock they flew to the air to let out a great blast of fire from their snouts. It was platinum.

The bite marks on the meteors were from the dragons chewing on the rock. They were coating their teeth so they could unleash this fire within them onto the town. The reason? Was due to the booming coal engines . They must have been able to hear the echo of the roar for miles, and saw this as a threat from us or possibly another dragon.

Upon confirming my thoughts, I ran to the Chancellor to show him what had actually happened but the guardsmen had already been sent out and he was unconvinced by my theories. The only option I had was to somehow get to the dragons before they could and possibly warn the dragons. But how? How could I even step onto this island after centuries and not be seen as a threat. Then it struck me. How Edric Payne was able to survive on the island. He was skilled in rune writing, and made the connection with the rune writing on the caves that this is how dragons must communicate with man. Drawing the symbols he must have showed them he was there in peace and to learn from them. Eureka! I hoped that they still communicated this way with it being so many centuries now. This was the first form of communication I learned as a small boy. I knew it well. I often wondered if I was a direct descendant of Payne but it was said he never bore children. Without wasting another second I took off on a secret way through the Valley to the shores. Knowing it could be a death sentence at the time I had discovered this quick path to the shores to one day sail off in secret to the island. Even though the guardsmen were miles a head by now I could still beat them to the shores if I left now. I packed a small knapsack with some essentials and ran out the door and out of town. I walked swiftly down the path. There was a small boat I had left on the shoreline that could take me to the dragon's island. I began to slightly panic at the thought of not making it in time. These truly were majestic creatures and still held so many secrets. I hoped I would be able to show these runes before being scorched to ashes. Also, I feared all of the guardsmen would be killed. We were still no match for these ferocious beasts. I had about a day's walk left but I did not stop to sleep nor rest. Time may be on my side with this path, I did not want to leave anything up to chance. My feet began to ache but I persevered through the pain. I could rest on the boat.

This will not be the end of the dragons.