Unofficial Submission

Unofficial Contest Entry Submission. By P. J. Clausen

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Or at least.. that’s what we thought.

Ambrosia walked back towards her home. Well, perhaps ‘walked’ isn’t the right word, for the means of travel felt more like a slow meander to her. She was in no hurry to be indoors; the day was too beautiful for that. The Sun was just beginning its descent towards the horizon casting its warm glow on the landscape. The field of dandelions she walked through almost seemed to glow in the daylight and the green grass on either side of the mountain walls felt like a softly swaying emerald ocean. The valley where her town was situated was truly a stunning sight.

Rich with resources and pocketed with veins of rare stone, Emmerat Valley (named after her husband the towns founder, and soon to be mayor) truly felt like paradise. Yes, the scenery was truly stunning. Though, the true object of her adoration and attention was nestled in the small patchwork blanket she held. Her son had been born just a few weeks prior, but he was already the pride of his new parents, not to mention the other residents of the town.

It was soon after settling the town that Ambrosia and her husband learned of her pregnancy. It wasn’t much longer after that, that it became the topic of every conversation amongst herself and the townsfolk. Every time she would visit the market or the shops, everyone would crowd her and comment on how big her stomach had gotten; or they would bombard her with questions about names or preparations. The topic had become so well discussed that it seemed to Ambrosia it would overshadow her husband’s election to the position of the towns mayor. Though he insisted it wouldn’t (even though she had the sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t have minded the anonymity).

Once the baby had been born, it was constant visits and gifts from the townsfolk. Between the knocks at the door and the baby’s crying in the night, it seemed to the young couple that there may never be a moments rest again! All this made todays scenery and slow walk home all the more enjoyable. Since she rarely had time to herself, she was intent on enjoying every second of her walk. Especially the companionship of her adorable little boy.

As her son lay sleeping in her arms, Ambrosia saw the distant figure of her husband approaching, running quickly to her from the town square. It had been some time since she had been able to spend some quiet time with him; perhaps she would be able to convince him to walk with her for a moment. This hope was quickly dashed when she noticed the expression on his face was a mixture of fear and sadness. Making the matter worse, almost as soon as she had noticed his countenance he began to shout frantically. “Ambrosia!” he cried out desperately “quickly, you need to get yourself and our boy far away from here!”. Confused and most of all concerned, Ambrosia was about to reply. That was until the Rumbling began.

It started almost imperceptibly as a soft vibration under her foot, then growing in magnitude till it became hard to stand. The shaking ground was accompanied by the dull roaring of earth being moved forcefully, and foundations shaking. The sky around her began to darken as clouds that had not been present moments before began moving in above them. Then she heard it. Both shrill and deep a deafening roar echoed throughout the valley. Reverberating off the mountainsides, until it became an unbearable chaotic cacophony. Almost as if it moved to carry the force of the sound, a harsh wind blew against her and nearly pushed her down; The dandelions around her nearly falling flat to the earth from the power of it.

By this time Emmerat her husband had reached her. “Brosia, we need to leave” he repeated, This time looking all the more fearful and his voice carrying the unabated tone of his panic. “My love..” Ambrosia was finally able to say “what’s happening? What was that sound?”. His expression saddened further as he saw the fear in her eyes. Looking down at their newborn son, then back to her, he said “it was a mistake to settle our town here. We should have explored the area more. We should have considered amongst ourselves why no one else had settled in such a beautiful area!” he chided himself. Once again Ambrosia repeated “My love. What’s Happening?”. Almost in answer to her question, the screams started from town. “Dragon!” they yelled wildly as a shadow further darkened the sky. The darkness was immediately dispelled however as a massive plume of an almost liquid flame rained down from the sky, setting the houses and buildings ablaze.

Emmerat moved to cover her with his body, shielding her and their son from the residual heat. Though the flames hadn’t fallen close near them, the immense heat produced by them and their source washed around her husband’s large frame and she could feel it lapping at the sides of her arms. Emmerat groaned in pain from the blast, but held firm until the pressure died out. When the flames finished falling, he slowly pulled away from his wife. Though she had only felt a portion of the heat, he had born the brunt of the onslaught. His tattered shirt hung loosely from his shoulders, while a webbing of blackened skin seemed to peek out from his now bare back. He fell to one knee, and she moved to hold him up. “Oh my god, Em!” she said panicked. Gathering his strength he began to stand to his feet.

Out of the smoldering wreckage of the town began some of the most horrible sounds Ambrosia had ever heard. The screams of burning men, mixed with the crying of women and children plagued her ears. As they began, breaking her attention away from her husbands battered body, she now surveyed the landscape. The field they were in was an inferno. The once beautiful dandelions and green grass acted like dry tinder in the immense heat and began spreading the fire further and further. She could See scorch-marks on the mountainside, plainly showing the path the falling flame had taken as it rained down on the town. Looking up to the sky she now saw the source of the chaos around her. Flying elegantly, as though it were flowing through a body of water, was an immense winged dragon. Its red scales reflected the harsh glow of the burning town with an almost metallic hue. The creatures long neck ended in a large arrowhead shaped head, split horizontally down the middle by rows and rows of gleaming white teeth.

Ambrosia had to tear her eyes away from the hauntingly beautiful creature, and with terrified eyes she met her husband’s gaze. “We need to leave” he repeated somberly. That was all she needed to break her from her trance. With his admonition, the two began to sprint away from the town. As they ran the dragon glided to the side and began to turn itself around, coming back for another attack. As the two ran away, it seemed her husband finally noticed the screams emanating from the town. He stopped running. It only took a short while for Ambrosia to realize he wasn’t behind her, and she turned to face him. “Em, what are you doing?” she questioned frantically. He turned back towards the town, then met her gaze. “I settled this town Brosia” he finally said after some pause. “I settled this town, so I can’t just leave its citizens to die without trying to aid them”. It was then that amidst her panic she began to again notice the morbid symphony of screams coming from the town. “Now that I know…” he started “Now that I know you and our son can make it. I need to go back”. “No… no Em you Can’t!” she cried, unwilling to allow her husband to leave her. “There are others...” she tried frantically “perhaps you could…”.

Before she could finish, her husband ran forward and embraced her. As soon as she felt his strong arms wrap around her, she began to weep. The weight of what had happened so suddenly finally came bearing down on her in full force, as did the weight of what her husband was suggesting. He held on to her, though for not nearly long enough as she needed him to. He broke their embrace and held her at arm’s length, trying to take in all her features. He then looked down at their son. He was crying. Emmerat had been so overwhelmed with fear that he hadn’t notice it begin. But now… he gazed down on his crying infant and rubbed a hand over his little head. It seemed as if time stood still, as the man looked down at his newborn son. It broke his heart every time his son cried, since the moment he had been born. He clenched his jaw, seeing what he had to protect he finally steeled his resolve. He looked back up to his wife. “Go. I’ll buy you as much time as I can. Head to the Red Maple kingdom. If you arrive before the other townsfolk make sure they have apothecaries and doctors ready to aid the injured.” He gave one last glance down at his son and did his best to smile bravely for him. “I love you my son. You be strong and protect your mother for me while I’m away.” He said, in hopes that he would somehow understand. With that, he quickly embraced his wife once more then ran determinedly back towards the town. His town. Ambrosia fell to her knees and wept as he ran away. Knowing beyond all hope, that this would be the last time she saw her husband. When she finally regained herself and made it to the city in the neighboring kingdom, she prepared as her husband told her to. Though no other survivors from the town ever made it to the city.

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Or at least, that’s what my father and the other townsfolk thought 16 years ago. Oh, how wrong they were.