The Dragon’s Heart

I’m running through the dense forest, clutching the small, worn leather pouch to my chest. The brush and trees claw and snatch at my dark hooded cloak as I run. The sharp wind blowing tears the hood from my head, exposing the golden hair which now flails behind my shoulders. I don’t have time to stop and pull the hood back up just to conceal my hair. It won’t do any good with me crashing through the foliage the way I am. He will eventually spot me, regardless.

I can’t stop. Can’t. Won’t. I have to keep going.

The air fills my lungs as I push myself faster. Behind me, an angry roar sounds across the top of the trees. He’s found me. I knew it wouldn’t take long, but I didn’t expect him to find me so fast. I’ll have to hide or he will catch me. My side begins throbbing and a pounding starts in my chest. I won’t be able to go like this for long anyway. I slow to a stop and glance around quickly. To my far left, the trees abruptly end on a cliff. From there, canyons and gorges stretch out for miles of nothing but orange rock. They are known as the Tierstar Cliffs. To my right, is an arrangement of large mossy rocks. It's hard to notice them if you don’t look close enough. As if they’re intentionally camouflaged. I sprint to them and look for something. Anything.

I walk to the side of one of the boulders and lower my hands, still holding the brown pouch. I glance over the rocks once, twice, three times before I notice a small alcove-looking indention in one of the large boulders. It looks as though someone just scooped out the underneath of the face of the rock. I hastily rush to hide underneath the soggy rock, leaves crunching. This will have to work for now. I close my eyes and whisper to myself. Malti eyh inligt hivth seigt. I can feel the magic swirl inside me as the spell takes effect. My temperature, smell, and trail are no longer visible to him- I have created a mind illusion spell. Now he can’t tell where I am and will leave.

I crouch at the back of the small cave for a while, waiting. Not only waiting for him to come and go but for sleep. I am wary after my travels and am ready to rest. I begin to stretch out my legs when another roar resonates near the Cliffs. 

I draw my legs up to my chest and then shift to a crouching position with one knee on the ground. I keep as still as possible so that he won’t hear me and ready my mind in case I have to fight. I close my eyes and listen for any sign of his wings flapping heavily through the air. All at once, the ground shakes and I struggle to maintain my balance on one knee. Outside I can hear a noisy brushing sound across the ground. A low growl thrums around the rock and bounces around in my ears. He’s here.

I can feel the ground thumping and shaking as he drags his tail across the solid Earth. 

So this is what Mother meant. To keep the faith in myself even when my courage fails. I feel the tears spike at the back of my eyes and try to focus all my energy into forming spells. I clear my mind and inhale. I concentrate on the sound of the wind blowing through the gorges and on the dry leaves crunching underneath me. I open my eyes. 

I can’t keep running from this. Every time I have run, it has caught up to me. This must end. And now. I raise to most of my height and search for a good place to hide the leather pouch. Finding no place to put it, I dig a deep hole in the ground at the back of the cave. I put the leather pouch in, fill in the hole, and cover it with leaves. I turn and slowly inch towards the entrance of the small cave-like structure. From here, I can hear him take off into the sky yet again. He must be leaving.

I sigh to myself and lean back against the cool rock. I stalk forward and pull the hood to my cloak over my head to finally conceal my hair. 

The air outside is a little tense and murky. I walk back inside to get the pouch when I hear a loud airy sound. Like a bird struggling to stay in the air. I stand still and listen, the sound continues and I ignore it. It’s probably just the wind. I dig up the pouch and hide it away in my cloak. I walk back outside to decide where I should go from here, when I am blasted by several gusts of air coming at me in intervals. I struggle to look up and I’m not surprised to be greeted by the biggest ruby red dragon on the Earth. 

Him. Draczul. I knew he would find me. I don’t know what to do. There’s no sense in running, right?

“Oh, my dear girl. Would you dare think you could outsmart the greatest dragon in the world?” he questions with a deep throaty rumble as he lands with a shake of the ground.

I can’t test him or I will not make it out of this alive. But then again, my mother always told me not to back down simply because of fear. What would she advise I do? I swallow hard. Then force an answer. “Of course not.”

“Oh? And you decided to run from me anyway?” he says as he narrows his eyes and extends his long neck in his own prideful way.

I hide a smirk. “You never implied anything about running away from the worst dragon in the world so, yes, I ran from you.”

“Child, you will not insult me. I am the last descendant from a legendary line of great blood. My parents were powerful dragons and you will not take my heritage in vain. Surely, you would not think to call me the worst. And even if I am the worst, there is nothing you can do to stop me. You are the one in the wrong, thief.” He spits his words as though they are foul to his tongue.

“And you have killed many of my kind. So you have no privilege to call me a thief when you took so many innocent lives.”

“Considering the conditions, I’d say it was justifiable.”

“Considering the conditions? Are you referring to my parents? Because I have absolutely nothing to do with what my father did in his lifetime!”

“I’m not satisfied with your father’s actions towards my species. That’s best left to the past. But what your mother did was unforgivable. Any hope you had left with the dragons is now spoiled. It was not her place to steal the only prized possession we had! We spent centuries on that and she just took it and expected nothing to come of it. And now chaos has erupted amongst all the dragons of our time. Is that what you wanted?” he growls.

“If my mother was the one who took your beloved treasure, then why are you after me?”

“Your mother took it, yes. But she is dead. Don’t try to play the fool to a dragon. I know she gave it to you for protection.”

“Do not talk as though you knew my mother!” I growl.

The crimson dragon bares his teeth in defense. “I know you have it! Do not try to hide it from me. And don’t bother to change the subject. I know you are hiding it, I can sense it. So either give it to me now or I’ll tear your heart out and feed it to the rabid deer of the Northern Mastern colony.”

I have no choice. I must finish him now. It can’t wait any longer. I begin to form a spell in my mind when Draczul takes a sharp intake of air. I can tell by the look in his fierce eyes that he’s about to blast me with roiling fire. 

I jump to the right and roll on my side, pulling my cloak out around me to protect me from the fire. The cloak throws the fire away from me and I can feel the rush of energy leave my body as the protection spell takes effect. I jump back to my feet and turn to face him, ready to fight. A spark of doubt courses through me. How did my mother do it? How did she manage to fight so much with so little power and still live? Or did she have more power than she let on? I can’t possibly be able to accomplish what she could do. I wish she was still here. But she isn’t. And it’s all. Because. Of. Him. And now he will feel her wrath through me. I will not let him get away with this; he took the one thing I valued in my life away from me. He will pay. He will. 

Still feeling the fire in my soul, I construct a spell to destroy his fire. Vaerni dispai erugit.

 All of a sudden, the large dragon’s eyes widen with horror as the fire in his gut dissolves. A rush of energy leaves me and the edge of my vision blurs, then clears quickly. That took a lot out of me. I need to be more careful from now on and not let my anger get the best of me.

The blood red dragon shakes his large snout to get rid of the feeling and swats at me with the scratched talons on his claw. I duck and run to the side. I have no weapons. I have no weapons. The only thing I have is my dodging skill and a dagger left from my mother. Which is hidden in my leather boot. What am I going to do? I run a short distance away and subconsciously touch the leather pouch. 

Draczul draws his lips into a nasty snarl and slides his large blue-black tongue across his sharp razor teeth. Spit drops out of his mouth to the ground as his eyes dart down to where I touched the pouch. I lean over and slowly drop into a crouch, ready to sprint away from him if he attempts anything. I try to distract him so I will be able to draw the dagger and stab him in the heart. “Can’t we just negotiate? I am sure there is some way we could-” I am cut off as he spits his words at me in a hiss-like fashion.

“It is too late for negotiation. You have what is rightfully mine. And I want it back. Now!”

To my left, a rabbit leaps through the brush as Draczul’s last words come out in a sharp shout. He looks in the direction of the rabbit and I make a quick notion to pull the dagger. I lunge toward him, but am too slow. He turns his head, whips his tail, and lashes me across my whole right side with his talons. Leaving behind long red streaks of torn skin and blood from the impact. I am thrown bloodied to the ground and lay for a few seconds before I realize he’s leaping towards me in an effort to pin me down. I roll on my side yet again and manage to slightly dodge the large claws as I race to my feet and run for his chest. I have one shot at this. I have to make it worth it. I have to. For elves everywhere. For freedom. For my mother. This can’t go on. It must end now.

He opens his wide jaws and snaps at me. I leap forward and roll across the ground between his lengthy front limbs and spring back up to my feet. He’s so massive that I’m standing under his torso.

I grab the dagger in both my hands and clench it. I can’t miss. My life depends on it. My mind races all the while fighting itself on why I’m doing this. My chest thrums with energy and power and longing. I love the feel of it. I feel my soul bursting with life inside of me as I compel myself to force the dagger up and to the left. Where I know the mighty dragon’s heart is. 

He shakes a little and I draw the dagger out and run to the nearest tree. I turn back just in time to see him collapse onto the ground with a roll of his eyes and a last sigh. I did it. I just defeated the most dangerous and well-known dragon on the planet. 

I calm myself down and turn to the sun, my back to the dragon. I pull out the pouch and clutch it to my chest. I did it, Mother. I made it. I’m still alive. And I defeated a dragon! A tear rolls down my cheek and I ignore the sharp pain in my side as well as the blood soaking through my clothes. I am finally safe.

Suddenly, a noise stirs behind me. I turn and glance over my shoulder. Only to see Draczul hovering just a few feet from me with an evil smirk strewn across his face. My eyes grow wide with terror. He parts his mouth and draws a slow breath.

“Silly girl. Everyone knows that all dragons have two hearts.”