The Last Dragon

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. They had come in a day of calamity and turned this verdant land into a valley of bones. For hundreds of years the beasts ruled, terrorizing the nearby kingdoms. For hundreds of years no one could stand up to them, but times had changed. The heroes of The Hunters’ Guild had committed themselves to serving Feldir by hunting the monsters who invade the land of Felheim. They had been effective. The dragons were almost extinct, and only one remained.

“Bors! I’ve found her lair!” Arisha, the elven ranger, had a smile on her face as she reported the good news to the leader of her hunting party. Bors was a burly human with a graying beard and bald head. The scars crossing his face gave him a menacing look as he returned the smile.

“Well done Arisha! How far is the beast?”

“Not far. Only a half day’s journey to the north. She has a cave along the western edge of the Valley of Bones.” Bors’ smile grew wider.

“A fitting name for what is about to happen there. Oslow, are you ready to move?” Oslow, a high elf sorcerer and the third member of the hunting party, finished a prayer and stood up.

“I am ready. Let’s remember the plan. It will be much easier to kill the dragon if we keep her inside her cave. We cannot allow her to get out into the open.”

“You’re right.” Bors said, “That’s your job. Make sure she doesn’t escape. Arisha and I will do the killing.” He lifted his war hammer. “Let’s go hunting.”

By the time the hunters reached the dragon’s lair, the sun had begun to set. Arisha pointed to an opening in the cliff face.

“That’s it. The lair of Ecthilon, the last dragon.” She pulled an arrow from her quiver and nocked it. “Soon Felheim will be free of this vermin. Oslow, can you teleport us up there?”

“Of course I can.” Oslow said, “Are we ready?” He looked to Bors, who nodded. “Feldir be with us.” Oslow closed his eyes and focused on his two friends. He imagined the three of them standing at the entrance to the cave above them, and when he opened his eyes again, that is exactly where they were. Inside the cave slept a massive beast. Her bronze scales glimmered in the dwindling sunlight, and her bat like wings were curled around her body. Her hot breath washed over the party along with the stench of decay. She must have recently brought back a meal. Normally, the sight of Ecthilon, with her long talons and ram-like horns would instill fear in anyone unlucky enough to be close enough to see it, however, this was not the party’s first dragon.

With a fierce battle cry, Bors rushed the beast. He reached Ecthilon just as she began to stir, and he slammed his hammer into the side of her head as her eyes were opening. She rose with an angry roar and spread her wings. She ignored the three intruders and headed straight for the entrance of the cave where she could take to the air. Instead of finding freedom, she slammed hard into an invisible wall. Oslow strained as the dragon beat against the force field he was holding at the entrance of the cave. Ecthilon soon gave up and turned to face her attackers. She lunged at Oslow who still had his arm raised towards the entrance of the cave, but she was intercepted by Bors’ hammer which again slammed into the side of her head, sending her reeling into the wall of the cave. She reached out with her talons too quickly for Bors to dodge and opened up three large gashes in his chest. She turned toward the now wounded Bors, but before she could attack, an arrow pierced her eye. The dragon roared with pain as Arisha continued to pelt her with arrows. Ecthelon lashed out blindly with her tail which caught Arisha in the chest and sent her flying. Oslow dropped the force field he was maintaining to reach out with his magic and catch Arisha before she crashed into the far wall of the cave. He lowered her unconscious body to the floor as Bors let out a cry.

“No! Oslow, don’t let her escape!” The warning came too late. Overwhelmed and feeling the force field drop, Ecthelon leapt out of the cave and took to the sky. However, instead of flying away she turned back towards the cave. Hovering in the air, Ecthelon reared her head back as a crackling blue light began to glow in her chest and rise into her throat. Oslow grabbed Bors and dove towards Arisha’s body as the dragon’s lightning breath filled the cave. He managed to protect the party from the lightning with another force field, but the effort drained him. He would not be able to block another barrage. Sensing an eminent victory, Ecthelon prepared to deliver the finishing blow. However, as the lightning began to glow in her chest, Bors unhooked the javelin from his back and hurled it directly into the origin of the light. Blue lightning crackled and escaped from the wound. Ecthelon’s wings began to falter, and she clawed at the javelin. Oslow reached his hand out towards the dragon, and with the remainder of his power he expanded the wound, blowing a hole in her chest. With one final cry Ecthelon beat her wings and rose further into the air before going still. Oslow watched as the last dragon fell out of the sky. The cave shuddered as the dragon’s corpse slammed into the ground a hundred feet below.

“It is done.” Oslow said, “The dragons are no more.” With a sigh he fell to the floor next to Arisha and sat with his back against the cave wall. It would be some time before he fully regained his strength. Before long, Arisha began to stir and opened her eyes. She looked at Bors who was standing above her and then at Oslow.

“So I guess we won?”

“Yes.” Bors replied, “We won. Well done, both of you. We can rest here for the night, regain our strength, and tomorrow we can head back to the lodge.” He let his weapons fall to floor and he started to remove the tattered remains of his tunic. With a grimace he began to clean his wounds. He was about to take a seat when a glow in the corner of the cave caught his eye. He picked up his hammer and slowly moved towards the object. The others saw what had caught his attention and joined him in his approach. It soon became obvious that the Bronze orb nestled into the corner was a dragon egg. Bors chuckled. “It looks like Ecthelon wasn’t the last dragon after all.” He raised his hammer towards his companions. “Who would like to do the honors?”