Valley of Fire

There weren’t always dragons in the valley, in fact my Grandma can remember a time when the valley was nothing but pure green as far as the eyes could see. Shimmering crystal clear water flowed along the magnitude of rivers in the valley and fell like glistening tears from rocks. A symphony of nature was how my Grandma describe it to me, untouched by humankind, protected by the large cliffs which surrounded it. On a clear night from the top of the mountain where our village sat, you could once see fire flies dancing across the water, while the frogs and crickets sung.

One night when my Grandma was sixteen years old she had been gazing from her bedroom window when a dark ominous shape cascaded down over their village and landed in the valley. She couldn’t make out what had landed and was about to call out when a roar erupted from within the centre of the valley. It was so loud and so strong it rattled and shook the entire village. Cries from infants had immediately begun, harsh, worried and loud voices followed. My Grandma hadn’t moved from her window, she had told me something inside of her told her not to look away. That was when she saw it, the shadow moved and from the middle of the valley flames erupted in a singular darting motion towards the night sky.

The night the dragons came to the valley sixty four years ago the life in our village changed. Being outside once the sun had begun to set was now prohibited, for that was when the dragons awoke and hunted through our village. Homes were now coated in spikes and tall fences at an attempt to fend of the dragons. A large metal spiked fence decorated the outskirts of the village. The once green valley became nothing more than a shallow hole of itself, dark and lifeless. My Grandma had shared with me the village had attempted to eliminate the dragons in the beginning but too many men and women were lost. Even leaving the village was brought with demise. In the end it was decided to live with the fear and never go near the valley again. No one knows why they suddenly appeared or why they have stayed. We don’t even know how many there are.

“Ember!”

Hearing the echo of her mother’s panicked voice Ember was pulled out of her thoughts and looked up to the horizon. Orange, red and purple had replaced the afternoon sky. She had been out here in her own thoughts longer than intended and now the sun had disappeared. Jumping up from her view of the valley she began racing back hoping she would make it before the gates locked.

“There it is the gate, it is still open I’ve made it,” Ember said out loud.

“Ember!” her mother screamed out again.

Hearing her mother call again, Ember pushed my legs harder. Feeling her muscles burning and resenting her for pushing them this hard. Since Ember could remember she had been warned about never breaking three rules. Never be out of the village gates when sunset begins, don’t go close to the valley and once night has fallen no one was ever to leave their house for any reason. Lately Ember had felt herself being drawn to the valley. Pushing the limits to how close and how long she remained near it, tonight had become the closes to sunset she had ever been. Dodging a low hanging tree branch Ember’s eyes finally fell upon the gates, the starting to close gates.

“Oh no,” Ember breathed heavily to herself. Unsure if she could push her legs any faster.

“Wait please wait, Ember is still out there!”

“I’m sorry Ms Rose it’s time, the gates are on a timer we cannot stop them.”

“Mum!” Ember yelled.

Anita snapped her gaze away from the two gatekeepers and immediately found her daughters eyes.

“Ember hurry!” Ms Rose cried, her voice urgent and terrified.

Anita started to run towards the gate but the gatekeepers immediately grabbed her.

“Ms Rose, please. The gates are too heavy if you’re caught in them…” the gatekeeper couldn’t even finish his sentence.

“That’s my daughter Alister,” Anita frowned pulling away from their grip. “I am not leaving her out there!” she thundered.

“Anita,” Alister said evenly, trying to keep the situation calm. “We cannot stop the gates.”

Ember ground down on her teeth, tensed her jaw and searched for more energy deep within her. The burning in her legs began to radiate up the rest of her body, the trees surrounding her becoming blurs in her vision. Bursting from the bushes Ember started sprinting up the dirt path to the village, the gap between the heavy steal solid gates now only just metres apart.

“Ember!” Anita screamed out as she watched Ember hurl herself at the gates.

The sound of her mother’s screams were cut off by the sounds of the gates mechanisms locking into place. Ember rose from the gravel dazed and panting. Her hand reached out and touched the cool steal of the gate. It was closed, she hadn’t made it.

“Mum!” Ember yelled banging her closed hands on the gate.

There was nothing, silence met Ember’s words. The gate had not only physically closed her off but had shut out any sound from penetrating it. Ember’s mother could not hear her and this meant Ember could not hear her mother. She could not hear her mother’s cries, she could not hear the scuffle between Anita and Alister as he held her close to him trying to get her away from the gate and under cover.

“I’m okay mum,” Ember wept against the gate. The tracks of her tears staining her cheeks as they entangled with the dirt on her face.

Turning around, Ember fell back against the gate sliding down to the dirt. Pulling her knees up to her chest she looked out to the scene which now lay before her eyes. Tonight Ember would not be sleeping in her warm bed. Tonight she will be sharing the night with the dragons in the valley. Rustling in the bushes snapped Ember out of her trance. With her eyes never leaving the bushes she reached out her right arm. Her hand searching frantically next to her for a fallen stick or rock. Finally her hand gripped around a stick and she held it possessively in her grasp. Slowly rising to her feet using the gate as support, Ember new she couldn’t stay here. Some way or another she needed to find a place to hide. Taking a deep breath she took a step towards the wilderness she had just tried to run away from. The only option she had was to use the coverings of the trees and bushes, hoping she could camouflage herself to avoid detection.

“Okay Ember you will make it out of here tonight,” she muttered to herself. Hoping her own words would encourage her enough to stop her legs from shaking with every step she took.

Ember was barely under the cover of trees when a resonating roar erupted into the night sky.

“Right time to move,” Ember squealed sprinting further in.

Ember couldn’t tell where she was, she had never navigated through these trees in the dark. With the moons beam lighting her way instead of the suns, darker shadows and shapes danced with the trees and bushes which changed the perception of the forest. From above more roars joined the night air, fuelling Ember’s adrenalin. The dragons were beginning to ascent to the stars. Falling against a tree Ember clung to it with all her might as darkness flew over her. Her fingers digging into the bark on the trunk, her knees opening with fresh gashes and new blood coating the old. She still was not undercover enough, only one dragon had flown over her who knew how many more where coming. It took everything she had left in her to convince herself to let go of the tree and try to find the cave she remembered her Grandma telling her about. Ember was only a few steps away from the tree when something hard and heavy knocked her to the ground. The impact knocking every bit of air she had left in her lungs out of her. Struggling to breathe, panic overrode her body and she began weakly thrashing against whatever was holding her to the ground. A hand suddenly closed over her mouth.

“More are coming and they will hear you. You are going the wrong way.”

The voice against Ember’s ear was low and steady. “I am going to remove my hand away from your mouth please do not scream. Then I am going to move away from you please do not run away.”

They waited a moment and finally did what they promised. Removing their hand and then slowly moving away from Ember. Still disorientated and short of breath Ember did her best to sit up. There they crouched, the person who had tackled her to the ground. A young man, built broad and muscular. His large hand came to his own lips where he indicated for Ember not to talk. His emerald eyes shone bright even in the darkness. Sensing Ember’s unease by his sudden appearance the young man handed her a large rock.

“I don’t need you to trust me right now,” he murmured. “But I do need you to follow me,” he looked down at the rock in her hand. “Use it if you feel the need to.”

All the energy Ember could muster inside of her was for a head nod.

“Okay, my name is Dante,” he said turning away from her remaining low to the ground.

Ember found her body following Dante before her mind had time to think about what he had said. She began moving as he did low to the ground and in the shadows. As she moved, the roars no longer just came from the valley or from a distance. They were now above her, haunting her and driving her to keep moving. Ember could make no assumptions as to where they were in the wilderness, any sense of direction she may have had was knocked out of her when Dante tackled her to the ground.

“Almost there,” Dante whispered as if sensing Ember’s anxiety.

No words were able to leave Ember’s mouth, her throat tightened at the idea of saying anything. With the option of following Dante the lesser of two evils she remained close and the rock in her hand even closer. The dirt she crawled through coated her body like a second skin. Her sweat attracting the dirt right to her. She was constantly reminded of the gashes on her knees as she dragged them across the ground.

“There,” Dante breathed under his breath.

Ember stopped in her tracks, before her was an unexpected circular clear plain in the forest

“Just over this plain and through those trees is the cave we need,” Dante whispered looking over his shoulder at Ember. “All we need to do is cross it and then we will be safe.”

Ember’s eyes nearly fell out of her head, was he seriously expecting her to run across an uncovered plain. As if to strengthen her silent protest, three dragons flew over them low and menacingly.

“I will get you to that cave without any further damaged to your body,” Dante said with strong determination.

Ember stared at him, his eyes piercing straight into her soul. “I don’t know if I can,” she whispered uncertainly. She was finally able to speak but her words were strained from dehydration and anxiousness.

Dante moved closer to Ember. “I know you are tired and hurting but we need to get to that cave. Can you do that for me?”

Ember nodded her head. “I can do that,” she murmured looking out to the plain.

“Good,” Dante said giving her a small nod.

Creeping back to the edge of the trees and bushes Dante stared up to the sky, scanning for any signs of approaching dragons. A large number of dark shadows were coming towards them.

“Ember we need to move now,” he said quickly grabbing her hand and pulling her into the plain with him.

Ember suddenly found herself running once again for her safety. Her legs moving at a speed she never thought possible. She found herself stumbling in moments but Dante’s strong grip on her hand kept her up and going.

“Nearly there Ember, you can do this,” he shouted back to her.

Gazing past Dante the sight of tall and thick trees sent relief flooding through her. Flapping wings and deep roars were closing in on them, with cover so close to her grasp Ember begged her legs to move her just a little bit more. The first dragon entered the clearing just as the two of them dove into the trees. Indicating for Ember to remain quiet Dante guided her towards the cave they had been seeking this whole time. To Ember’s relief they came across the cave after only a short while. The moment she stepped foot into its protection she collapsed and wept. Her body was exhausted, in pain and screaming at her for treating it this way. She was also emotionally distraught about the night she had just put her mother through. When daylight first shows itself tomorrow she will be out of this cave and heading straight to her mother.

Hissing and crackling filled the cave, a glow lightened the darkness of it. Turning her head to the brightness Ember staggered towards its warmth. There she found a small bonfire and Dante sitting by it.

“I thought I would give you a moment,” he whispered without looking at her.

“Thank you,” she said softly. Ember sat opposite him, the swaying flames causing shadows to flicker over Dante’s face. His eyes somehow even more piercing.

Taking a deep breathe Ember just let the heat from the fires flames engulf her. Her mind finally being able to process everything and catch up to where her body was physically resting. Ember’s eyes ached and her eyelids slowly began closing when her mind realised something she had missed.

“Wait,” she murmured. “I never told you my name how did you know it?”

Dante drew his focused gaze away from the flames and stared at Ember. Moving away from the fire he positioned himself so he was blocking the entrance.

“Didn’t you?” he asked tilting his head.

Grabbing one of the sticks out of the fire Ember staggered up. “No I didn’t,” she gulped stepping back.

Dante took a step towards her his hands deep in his pockets, his eyes staring at her unblinking. Gasping Ember turned around and sprinted deeper into the cave, her heart beginning to pound harder with every step she took. The cave ground steepening the further she went, loose stones threatening to trip her. All of a sudden Ember found herself trapped, the ground had finally levelled out but had brought her to a dead end. Spinning frantically she strained her eyes searching for any possible way out. Racing to one of the stone walls Ember desperately ran beside it hoping to find another passage. When she didn’t find one she sprinted to another wall, her hand pressing hard against the stone as she hurried down it. Halfway down this wall her fingers glided over deep indents in the stone and the flame in her hand caught large images in its light. Ember’s jaw dropped open as she comprehended what she had discovered. It could not be true, none of what Ember had found could be true. These carvings don’t make sense. A story contradicting the one she has been told. Dante appeared with a flamed stick of his own, brightening this part of the cave even more. His eyes weren’t on Ember but the carvings on the cave wall. Ember turned towards Dante, his eyes shone bright and dangerous. The colour of fire beginning to replace the emerald green.

“Dragons have been here before,” she said, her voice not able to be anything more than a whisper.