The War of the Mountains

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. If my grandmother is to be believed, our ancestors brought them here. According to my grandmother, when our village was still young, the royal family of Vedora decided to house their dragons in the valley below our mountain. The king and his children would ride the giant scaled beasts into battle, and victory. There was a time when our kingdom was undefeated in war, but that time has long passed.

The long-dead king of that time was said to have dragon blood in his veins, and that was why the dragons allowed him and his descendants to ride them. The valley is nestled between our mountains and the neighboring kingdom's own mountain range. It is said this is why the dragons stayed in the valley, to protect the kingdom and be ever ready to go to war. Everything changed when the king died. The dragons still live in the valley below the mountain, but they no longer leave.

When the king died, his children began fighting each other for control of the kingdom. Brother fought brother, and this meant that dragons were forced to fight and kill their own. The dragons became angry with the royal family and their needless bloodshed, so the elder of the dragons flew over the battlefield like a great black shadow, opened his mouth, and burned the entire royal family. The kingdom of Vedora disintegrated into smaller villages with chieftains, and the royal family was no more.

I think of my grandmother's stories often, especially on days like today when all anyone can do is whisper about the coming war. The kingdom of Redriris has been slowly trickling out of their mountain range and sneaking into ours. We may not have a king anymore, but we still have land, gold, and women, and after most of the women of Redriris perished in the Great Plague, we are in high demand.

I have been sequestered with the other women of our village behind the great wooden wall that surrounds our village. The men are currently camped out on the other side, waiting and watching for Redririan soldiers. My grandmother is sitting with the other elders and talking about what else can be done.

"We must be prepared to leave. Take the children and flee to the neighboring villages and beg for sanctuary. It is the only chance we have of survival. I won't have myself or my daughters become Redririan wives. I will die first!" A raven-haired woman with leather skin whom I recognized as my neighbor Oliona screeched.

"You should be ashamed! We are Vedorans! We do not cower when evil knocks on our door, we greet them with a smile on our face and a sword in our hands!" My grandmother shouted, fists clenched and her knuckles white.

"Okhi, what would you have us do? Our men are miners and shepherds, not soldiers! We know nothing of war or battle," Oliona retorted.

"I have been begging for years to send someone down into the valley. The dragons were our allies once. If the Redririan soldiers get through our village, they will target the valley next. The dragons will aid us if our goal is beneficial to all, " Grandmother stated.

"They are dragons! What fear do they have of man? If anything, they are the reason our land has been slowly rotting! The mines have been growing more sparse every year, it's only a matter of time before we have no choice but to surrender to the Redriris king! I say we welcome the soldiers and stop delaying the inevitable. Maybe we will be lucky enough that they will let our men live, too." This idea came from the back of the crowd, from a petite, chubby woman named Eunoe.

"How-" Grandmother started but was interrupted by numerous shouts in the distance. We all became quiet so we could listen to what was happening on the other side of the wall. Men shouting, grunting, screaming, accompanied by the clink and clank of sword hitting sword. I looked around and could see the panic spreading across the faces of the women gathered by the gate.

My grandmother grabbed my arm and began to pull me away from the gate.

"Grandmother Okhi, where are we going? You were just preaching bravery and standing our ground! Where are we- "

"Quiet, Araelia! Listen, girl. Run to our home at the edge of the village by the back gate. We can't lower the gate lest we let in the Redririans, so you must climb onto our roof. Our house should be close enough to the gate you can jump and climb over. Do it. Then run to the treeline and stay hidden. Once it is nightfall, follow the overgrown path down into the valley. Make sure you have a few gold coins to give in tribute to the dragons. Remind them of old allegiances. We may not have dragon blood, but there was a time when dragons and humans were bonded in friendship. Remind them of this and get them to join the fight!" Grandmother cut me off.

"Come with me! I won't leave you alone!" I cried.

"No, Araelia. My days of running through the trees are long gone. I will only slow you down. You must hurry. Once our village is defeated, the soldiers will begin marching into the valley. If you can get there first and warn the dragons this will help you to win their favor."

Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I looked into Grandmother's violet eyes and nodded. She pulled me into one last embrace and I turned and ran.

It only took a few minutes to reach the small house we called home. I ran inside and went straight to my bedroom. I quickly changed into a pair of black trousers, gray shirt, and threw my black cloak over me. I wore this often to hide my gender from onlookers whenever I had to venture beyond our wall. I grabbed my silver dagger and tucked it into the deep pocket of my trousers, and went to my window. I shimmied out and pulled myself up onto the roof.

Steadying myself I walked toward the back of the house that was against the back wall. Taking a deep breath, I began to run towards the wall and jumped as I reached the edge of the roof. Arms outstretched, I braced myself for the impact against the wall. With a grunt, I managed to find a handhold in the wood and began to climb.

Once I reached the top of the wall, I swung my leg over to begin my descent. I reached the ground and stopped to catch my breath. The sky is beginning to melt from blue to various shades of purple, pink, and orange. Nightfall isn't far away. I ran to the line of evergreens beyond the wall and looked for the path my grandmother spoke of.

I nearly missed it but there it was: a narrow path of broken gray stones long abandoned, with weeds peeking through their cracks. The path to the valley where the dragons dwell.

Once the sky was dark and the moon was beginning to rise, I started down the broken path. I could no longer hear the sounds of battle from the village, but I could hear the cries of the women and children. I wiped a tear from my cheek and continued onward.

After what felt like hours, when the moon had finally climbed high in the night sky and was directly above me, I could see a warm glow of fire beyond the trees. I was almost to the valley of the dragons. I reached in my pocket and took out the coin purse I kept in my trousers and pulled out a few gold coins. I pray this pleases the dragons enough to hear me and not burn me alive.

I could hear what sounded like men laughing and talking amongst themselves. I peeked out from behind a tree and saw two large dragons with golden scales and white horns sitting in front of a large, shimmering fire. I gasped as I felt a twig snap beneath my feet. The largest of the two dragons snapped his head in my direction, and I could feel his black eyes boring into me. Before I could even react the dragon's tail sprung towards me and wrapped around my small frame. His scales felt rough against my skin, and like a snake with its prey, the more I wiggled, the tighter the tail gripped me.

I was brought up to the dragon's snarling face.

"Look what I've caught, Manneor. A little girl! She looks so afraid!" the dragon said.

The smaller dragon laughed. " That she does! Throw her into the fire and let's see how loud she squeals! "

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

"Wait! Please, I come from the village at the top of the mountain! I've come for your aid! The Redririan soldiers have invaded my village and once they are finished destroying my home and taking my friends captive they will head this way. So please, before you throw me into the fire and laugh at my squeals and cries of pain, please consider the old alliance our people once had!" I pleaded.

The two dragons shared a puzzled look. The larger dragon looked into my eyes, but it felt like he was looking into my soul.

"Can you understand Dragontongue, girl?" He asked me. I nodded. Wasn't he speaking Vedoran like myself? "What is your name, human?"

"I am called Araelia, granddaughter of Okhi. Please, sir. Please help my people. My grandmother sent me and she was so sure that you would listen to me." Even I could hear the panic in my voice.

"Araelia, granddaughter of Okhi, I am Brayteor. I cannot give you what you wish because I am not the Elder. However, since you are the first human since the royals to understand our speech, I will take you to him," Brayteor announced, his tail lowering me to the ground. Brayteor turned to his companion. "Manneor, you stay here and make sure no one else comes off of that mountain. I'm taking the girl to Elder Orress," and with that, Brayteor turned and began walking further into the valley.

I had to run to keep up with him and soon we were deep in the valley. Even though it was night, I could see everything plainly with the hundreds of small fires that were burning. All around me were large man- or rather, dragon-made caves. The caves all looked too small to house Brayteor.

"Is your cave nearby? Forgive the intrusion on your privacy, it's just none of these homes look large enough for you to fit into, " my curiousity got the best of me.

"Silly girl. We have already gone by my cave. Didn't your grandmother teach you about us? If she knows so much about the old alliance then surely she knows the many tricks of my people," he snapped.

"She told me that gold pleases you, and that you are a noble race. I know that only those of the royal line who possessed dragon blood were ever permitted to ride you, and that you were our allies in battle. I now the death of the king is what sparked the end of our people's alliance."

"Then you are still ignorant of our ways, human." Brayteor stopped in front of a great stone castle at the center of the stone homes. My eyes widened in shock as Brayteor went from being this great beast to a man in golden robes with white hair. Brayteor chuckled at my amazement. "Well, how else did you think we would fit into our homes? How do you think dragon and human blood became combined? Really, to be so advanced, you humans know nothing of the world around you."

I followed Brayteor into the stone castle and stopped to take it all in. Great tapestries of dragons with men on their backs hung on the walls, and the floor was not stone, but gold!

"It's beautiful!" I exclaimed. Brayteor chuckled again and we continued into a room with a large gold throne in the center. A pale man with dark hair and chestnut eyes was sitting on the throne. His eyes met mine and even though he was in human form, he growled.

"Brayteor, why have you brought a human into the valley? You know revealing yourself to a human in forbidden! I will not have our people mingling with them again!" He shouted.

"My lord, please forgive me. The human girl came to the valley looking for aid. She asks that we honor the old alliance. I was about to burn her to death on site as ordered, but she can understand Dragontongue, my lord." Brayteor had his head bowed and I did the same.

"Please, your highness. I am sorry for the way my people have behaved in the past, but we need your help! Soldiers from Redriris have invaded my village and they will come here next. My grandmother Okhi told me to come and ask for aid," I pleaded.

The dragon king sighed. "Where are your from, human?" He asked me.

"I am Araelia from the village in the mountain."

"Have you always lived in the village? Answer honestly, Araelia. Dragons can smell an untrue heart." he warned.

"Yes, your highness. Today is the first day I have ever went beyond the lands of my village. "

"Well, my dear human, let's go outside where there is more room."

"Room for what?"

Brayteor is the one who answered, "Room for us to enter our true forms. Dragons don't like staying behind walls."

We went outside and suddenly instead of the king there was a great black dragon in his place. The dragon lowered his neck toward me.

"I am Orress the dragon elder. I will honor the alliance I made with humans years ago. Come, Araelia. Climb on." he said.

All I could do wa stare in awe. "Climb?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yes, girl. We will be going to speak with the other villages, and the closest is a day's flight away. We must prepare for war and you, Araelia, will be my Rider." Orress explained. I still couldn't believe this was happening as I climbed his neck and held tight as we ascended into the night sky.