Fear On Wings

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. That’s what the old one used to say. Milton’s grandparents specifically. They were advanced in years, being almost twice as old as my grandparents, and many people in our settlement thought that they were senile or mad, but I believed them. I suppose I was lucky since I have been able to see a fair amount of the world from a young age. My family has been taming dragons for years, though it isn’t like breaking horses I’m told. With horses, anyone could ride them after they are broken, but dragons tend to only allow the person that trained them close. We learned this the hard way when my sister tried to mount the dragon my father had successfully broken, and got her hand bitten off.

Dragons are only trainable if you are the first thing they imprint on, and since I was about five when Kola hatched, we were basically raised together. When he was big enough to ride for long distances, I had broken him in record time. I was the strongest boy in my age group and many of my friends believed that I would be a great leader, and I did everything I could to become one. I was going on hunting parties, building or repairing our shelters in the trees, learning the best ways to camouflage the entrances to our caves, stores and gardens, and sitting in on meetings between the leaders. I never spoke or voiced an opinion, as I preferred to observe the opinions and suggestions of others, and I followed orders as they were given, even if I didn’t believe they were the best course of action.

It was during the meeting three days ago that I was tasked with investigating the ruins of a human settlement with nine boys that were five years older than me. I was at the rear of the formation when we got close to what was once called a city. A sign that once read the name of that city greeted us as we flew low to it. The blackened and charred metal was giving way to corrosion, just like the city itself. We had been told that humanity had once built structures that scraped the skies, but the ones that we saw in this city were no taller than oak trees. I don’t doubt they were taller but given how dragons seem to target anything man made, it is more surprising that the everything wasn’t completely flattened, and the earth scorched.

After two days of finding just enough provisions to feed ourselves and our mounts, we prepared to leave when a thunder of dragons appeared on the horizon. I wasn’t afraid, but whenever a squad had encountered a full thunder, at least one person was killed. Our leader, Bart, called for us to split up, two by two and fly separate directions, after which we would rendezvous at the camp, we had made the day before getting into the city. Bart ordered me to go with Joseph, who was easily the best flier and best shot with a rifle. Joseph didn’t like me, and he had made that clear to the group before we left, but he carried out orders regardless of his grievances.

We set of on the most direct route to the camp. After about twenty minutes, we had evaded most of them, but there were about five right behind us. If they did catch up, it would be a bad time for all parties involved. Dragons seem to enjoy fighting each other almost as much as they like destroying traces of humanity. Joseph yelled at me to dive for cover toward the trees, I did while he somehow performed an aileron roll, and shot one of his pursuers in the eye before starting a dive himself. I meanwhile spotted a gap in some trees just wide enough to get beneath the canopies.

One of the dragons that followed me hit a tree and slammed into the ground, but the red striped one behind it proved far more maneuverable. I pulled out my rifle, but I wasn’t nearly as good a shot as Joseph. I cursed as I reset the hammer, and then it happened. A third brown dragon that I thought had gone after Joseph had collided with us. The collision itself knocked me out. When I awoke, I realized that Kola was being held by the talons of the brown and red striped dragons flying us far away from our rendezvous point. I didn’t move for fear of being mauled right there, but I did see and feel that Kola was growing weaker and colder. He was losing too much blood, and his right wing was clearly torn up. I contemplated what to do when suddenly, there was a great and mighty roar that seemed to shake even the sky around us.

The dragons that held us aloft seemed as stunned as we were. We suddenly started falling, as I looked down, a massive hole in the ground marked what may become our final resting place. Suddenly, Kola started flailing. The brown dragon let go and crashed into the ground as we continued falling down the hole. I threw myself at the red stripe. It spread its wings like I had hoped and slowed our descent, but we still hit the bottom hard. I was thrown about ten feet away from them to the back of the chamber. I got to my feet after a struggle, and then, I saw It.

It was the largest dragon I had ever seen, if It flew above our settlement, it would block out the sun. Its hide was as black as pitch, and eyes like a fiery sunset. It reached out its head and in almost a single motion, snatched by Kola and the red striped dragon in its mouth. My heart sank and rage built in my chest, but even as I watched the monster break the bones of my friend, and force his broken body down its gullet, I couldn’t move. It took notice of me and stepped forward. In that moment, my very senses were overwhelmed.

The light from the fires that burned around me and the sun above us nearly vanished. The fires still burned, and I could hear them crackling not five feet behind me, but I felt like I had never fathomed the idea of warmth in my life. In this void of existence, the only thing that could be seen were those eyes. I wanted to gouge out my own in fear as its gaze seemed to pass through into my soul and whisper something. It growled as if It was speaking, though if It could, it was a tongue that I didn’t know or could ever hope to learn. All I knew was that the expressions blaring in and around, though inaudible, told me the feelings and desire of this creature, and they were horrific.

The dark understanding that I seemed to be granted by this monster made me feel like a witness the tragedy that had befallen humanity over fifty years ago, but I realized that the soul and ambition of this dragon was far greater than that of the ones that merely destroyed our monuments and keep us from progressing as a species. This monster wished to consume every light in the sky and scorch the earth so that they only things that eyes would ever see nothing but a world as dark as Its hide. I shudder to imagine why this monster chose to share with me a part of Itself. Was it simply engulfing me with fear? Showing me Its own desire and genuine jubilation in death and erasure before consuming me like a well basted bird?

It opened its mouth slightly, ready to consume, but to my surprise It seemed to blow the air from within to knock me back through a chamber I didn’t know was behind me. I got to feet and found that the chamber was labyrinthian but when I turned around, I could no longer see the beast, I immediately betrayed the rules I had set for myself since I was a child. Boys don’t cry. I wept. Only babes’ soil themselves. I did. Only cowards buckle when an enemy harm their friends. I fell.