Dragon Wars

by Raymond L. Weil

  “I don’t know,” her father replied, taking a deep breath. He knew that food was going to be a problem. “I strongly suspect that many people won’t come here. If we can get a few hundred, we will be lucky. Most will elect to try to sit the dragons out in their root cellars or homes. Some of the people in the village just don’t realize how powerful and dangerous the dragons are.”

  “I didn’t think about that,” replied Jennifer, realizing her father was probably correct.

  In the distance, they saw Collin and Andrew come out of the tunnel they had been exploring. Collin waved at Jennifer and had a big smile on his face. In just a few minutes, the four were back together again.

  “We have a good water source,” spoke Andrew, grinning. “There’s a large pool of water several hundred yards inside the tunnel and it’s good, fresh water. We sampled it, and it’s the best water I’ve ever tasted.”

  “It gets cooler the farther into the mine you go,” Collin informed Jennifer as he walked over to stand next to her. He put his arm around her waist pulling her close. “It’s a good thing we brought some light jackets.”

  “We’lll get use to it,” replied Jennifer, trying to sound calm. Sometimes Collin’s open showing of affection such as right now embarrassed her. She enjoyed the feel of Collin’s arm around her waist and it didn’t seem to bother her father. Collin made her feel secure and safe. “Our ancestors did.”

  “Then we need to talk to the villagers and the other farmers,” responded Anson, wondering how many of them would listen. “We must convince them to help us stock supplies in this cavern for when we need them.”

  “That might be the hard part,” Andrew replied with a frustrated look on his face. “I don’t think anyone will be willing to turn over any of their supplies to put in this cavern. With the farmers refusing to work their fields because of the dragons, we were going to be short on food this winter anyway. Because of the stock the dragons have killed there may not be enough meat, either.”

  Anson was silent as he realized that Andrew was probably right. The cavern might be safe from the dragons, but the human population might be in danger of starving no matter what they did.

  “We have to try,” he said finally. “Those that want to come here for safety will have to bring supplies with them. When we get back to the village, I suggest we began spreading the word about the cavern.”

  “At least that way we will know how many are interested,” replied Andrew, nodding his head in agreement.

  “We need to do this quickly,” stated Collin, looking at the two older men. “We don’t know how much longer we have until the dragons start hunting people. It could be any day now.”

  “Collin’s right,” Andrew said with anxiety in his voice. “We need to get people moving into this cavern immediately.”

  “Then we better go and talk to them,” Anson responded. He knew they were right. The dragons could start feeding on people any day. At some point, it might become too dangerous to try to move to the cavern.

  A few minutes later, the four exited the mine and stood outside in the daylight. There was not a cloud in the sky.

  -

  Fireheart and Braxam were out hunting. They glided low over the meadows, searching for food animals. After each successful hunt, the number of animals available for food grew less and less. This isolated valley had furnished the best hunting they had found in years. Soon they would have to decide on whether to risk feeding on the humans or leaving the valley and searching elsewhere. Braxam would rather leave. He did not feel it was right to feed on the humans in this valley.

  The two dragons spotted a small herd of sheep and instantly dove down, sinking their razor sharp talons into their victims. The sheep died instantly as their vital organs were crushed by the dragon’s deadly talons. Satisfied with their kills, the two dragons folded their wings around the dead sheep and began to feed.

  Fireheart was the first to sense that something was wrong. Once the dragon was finished feeding, he raised his head up and peered around sharply with his eyes. Moments later, Braxam did the same. There was a strange scent in the air, a dangerous scent. Something else had been hunting here during the night. As the two gazed around the meadow, the smell seemed to strike a hauntingly familiar memory. It was familiar, but they had not smelled it in many years. The two dragons looked at each other with alarm. Gilmreth! The scent was Gilmreth’s!

  The two dragons knew fear, for Gilmreth was dangerous. Twice on their long searches for food, they had found the broken, emaciated bodies of other dragons. On both of the carcasses, they had detected the scent of Gilmreth. Both dragons took quickly to the air; it was time to leave this valley. It was too dangerous to hunt here any longer.

  High up in the sky, Gilmreth had been watching the other two dragons. In anticipation of an intense, satisfying feeding, he began his dive with talons outstretched. Fireheart would be his first victim.

  The first warning the other two dragons had was when Gilmreth struck Fireheart on his back, driving the dragon back down toward the ground. Fireheart screamed in pain as Gilmreth’s talons tore through his skin. Braxam turned and fled toward the south; the dragon knew he had to put as much distance as he could between him and Gilmreth. He felt sad at leaving Fireheart, but to stay was certain death.

  -

  Anson and Jennifer were in the blacksmith shop talking to Andrew and Collin when Jason came running in. He was out of breath and excited. “Dragons! There are three of them, and two of them are fighting!”

  “What?” gasped Collin, staring at Jason in confusion. “What do you mean there are three of them?”

  “Come outside and look! They are fighting just south of the village!”

  They all hurried outside and looked south. Other people were also rushing outside and looking in that direction.

  Jennifer felt her blood run cold at the sight she beheld. Two of the dragons were locked in deadly combat. The third seemed to be flying away.

  “Where did the third dragon come from?” Anson asked with wide eyes, staring in disbelief at the dragons.

  “The new one is really big,” said Jason breathlessly, his eyes focused on the dragons. “He’s much bigger than either of the other two!”

  Anson peered sharply at the dragons. Jason was right. The new one was much bigger. “This might be bad,” he said as he watched the two battling dragons. The larger one struck the red one in the wing, and the two vanished behind a small hill as the smaller one fell toward the ground.

  “Why are they fighting?” asked Jennifer, trying to understand what was going on. She couldn’t see the two dragons now.

  “For food,” Collin said simply, moving closer to Jennifer. “The third dragon found our valley and now he wants the food here. He is fighting the other two over it.”

  “I’m afraid Collin’s right,” Andrew spoke with a deeply worried look upon his face. “It might be time for us to move to the cavern. I don’t think it’s going to be safe here much longer.”

  -

  Gilmreth drove Fireheart into the ground, his talons ripping at the red dragon’s skin. Fireheart roared his pain and defiance again and again as he tried to break loose from Gilmreth’s death grip. For a moment, Fireheart managed to break free and struggled to take to the air. He had to escape. He tried to turn to follow Braxam.

  Instantly Gilmreth was on him, tearing a deep gash in one of Fireheart’s wings. Fireheart turned and struck at Gilmreth. Gilmreth had been waiting for this opening. With a fatal swipe of one of his talons, he tore Fireheart’s chest wide open. Fireheart screamed one last defiant roar as Gilmreth’s talon grasped his still beating heart and pulled it from the dragon’s chest. Fireheart collapsed to the ground, dying. Gilmreth landed next to Fireheart, folded his massive wings around Fireheart’s body, and began to feed.

  -

  “I don’t see them,” complained Jason, looking to the south. “Where did they go?”

  “I think the new one killed the red one,” Collin stat
ed, taking a deep breath. The dragons were still behind the small hill and out of sight.

  “I thought dragons were immortal and couldn’t be killed?” spoke Jennifer, seeing her mother and Clara step out of the blacksmith shop. They must have heard all the noise and come outside to see what was going on.

  “They are,” replied Collin, recalling what he had read about the dragons. “At least I think they are. I don’t think we could kill one, but another dragon obviously can.”

  “So the red one’s dead?” asked Jason, finding it hard to believe. “The big one killed the other one?”

  “We don’t know for sure,” answered Andrew, looking over at Anson. “But it sure looks that way.”

  -

  Gilmreth finished feeding on Fireheart. For the first time in years, his burning hunger was nearly quenched. He looked off in the direction Braxam had fled. For a brief moment, Gilmreth contemplated going after the other dragon. However, the abundance of food here in this valley held him particularly the presence of humans.

  When it was time for him to feed again, the humans in this valley would know the wrath of Gilmreth. With a powerful beat of his wings, Gilmreth took to the air and flew back to the north. He would wait a few days in his new lair and then return to begin feeding on the humans. The humans would last him for a good number of years.

  -

  “The new dragon is flying off to the north,” Collin said as the dragon passed over the village.

  With a sudden chill, he realized what the horses had been afraid of at the mines a few days back. This new dragon must have been inside one of the larger mine shafts. If its lair was at the old northern mines, how would that affect their plan of using the old mine cavern for a refuge? He would have to warn his father and Anson about that.

  Anson noticed a lot of the men who had been watching the dragons from the street were now heading toward the tavern. It might not be a bad idea to follow them and see what they thought about this new situation.

  “Jennifer, why don’t you and Collin explain to your mothers what just happened? I think Andrew and I need to go to the tavern and talk to the other men.”

  “Can I go?” asked Jason, pleadingly. His eyes wide and full of curiosity about what the men were going to talk about.

  “No, Jason,” Andrew replied firmly, looking at his youngest son. “You’re not old enough to go inside the tavern.”

  Jason looked crestfallen and went over to stand by his mother.

  Collin and Jennifer walked over to their mothers and began explaining to them what had just transpired. Anson and Andrew began walking toward the tavern.

  -

  Anson and Andrew entered the tavern noticing over a dozen men sitting around one long table, talking excitedly. The barmaid was setting large mugs of ale in front of them. Seeing Anson and Andrew come in, several of the men motioned for them to come over and join the group.

  “It’s over!” one of the men stated with a wide smile on his face. “The red dragon is dead, and the brown one flew away to the south. I don’t think it’s coming back. The new dragon saved us.” He took a deep drink of his ale and leaned back in his chair.

  “Yes,” spoke another, nodding his head in agreement. “We can start working our fields, and we still have time to get a fall crop planted before the weather turns cold. I’m going to turn my stock back out into the meadows in the morning.”

  Anson was quiet for a moment. Didn’t these men realize what had just happened? “Why do you think it’s safe?”

  Several of the men looked at Anson, surprised by his comment. “Why wouldn’t it be?” one of them asked.

  “The new dragon is why,” spoke Andrew looking at the men. “Why do you think the new dragon killed the red one and drove the other one off?”

  “I don’t know,” the man who had spoken earlier replied, his eyes narrowing. “But you saw the brown one fly off and the new one leave, flying to the north.”

  “The brown one is probably gone,” said Anson, agreeing with that assumption. “But the big one will be back. Don’t you men realize the fight between the dragons was probably about food? The new dragon won. He will be the one preying on our stock now.”

  “He’s also larger than either of the other two dragons; much larger! Which means he is probably much more dangerous,” added Andrew.

  The men were suddenly quiet and looked quite somber. Their celebration had been cut short. They realized now that they hadn’t actually thought about the consequences. Their elation about the dragon danger being over had now been dashed.

  “What do we do now?” one of them finally asked.

  Anson and Andrew looked at each other and then began telling the men about the cavern at the northern mines. However, both men felt apprehensive. The new dragon had flown off toward the north. Could one of the northern mines be the dragon’s lair?

  Chapter Six

  For the next two days, Anson and Andrew met with many of the village people and local farmers. They described in detail the cavern they had found in the old mine. While many agreed that it sounded safer, they were hesitant about leaving their homes. Anson and Andrew both tried to stress just how dangerous the new dragon might be. Many of the people they talked to just didn’t want to leave the comfort of their homes. Besides, they reminded Anson and Andrew, the dragons had never attacked the village. Why would this new dragon do so?

  “What do we do if they won’t go to the cavern?” asked Andrew, feeling flustered at the resistance so many were voicing toward going to a safe refuge. “I thought people with children would be more interested. Their families would be safe in the cavern.”

  “I think many are not sure if this new dragon is a threat or if it will even return,” replied Anson, staring out the large double doors of the blacksmith shop. He felt frustrated by the people’s refusal to move to the cavern.

  More villagers than usual were out today; it was as if they felt the danger was gone. He could hear people in the street laughing and talking as if there was no danger at all. They were going about their normal business as if nothing was out of the ordinary. There was almost a festive air in the village.

  “Only twenty-six families have agreed to move to the cavern and bring supplies,” continued Andrew, wishing it had been more. “That’s not a lot out of twelve hundred people.”

  “They may think differently when the new dragon attacks,” Anson replied with a deep sigh. It was mid afternoon, and it was starting to get warm. Anson wondered why people wouldn’t listen to reason.

  “I wonder when that will be?” asked Andrew, coming to stand next to Anson and gazing outside. He didn’t want to think about the new dragon attacking the village. But that could happen and very soon.

  Business had been slow for days. Very few people had brought anything to the blacksmith shop to be repaired. With farmers not working their fields, there had been no plows to repair or horses to shoe. Andrew wondered if the villagers suspected the danger wasn’t over, but were just unwilling to accept it.

  “If we are correct and this new dragon killed the red one and drove the brown one off to secure this valley as its personal hunting ground, then tomorrow or the next day the dragon should return to feed,” Anson spoke worriedly, turning to face Andrew.

  “We know the dragon is using the big hill to the northwest as its lair,” added Andrew, seeing several people go into the general store and then turn around and come back out empty handed, looking aggravated. “From what Collin and Jennifer have said it’s the only one with an intact mine entrance large enough to accommodate the dragon.”

  “That puts it two miles from the northeast hill, the one where the cavern is located,” commented Anson, uneasily. “That could be a problem.”

  “How do we move everything to the cavern without attracting the dragon’s attention?” asked Andrew. Being so close to the dragon could be dangerous if they had to venture outside of the mine.

  “I think we need to spread the word to everyone to sleep in their
root cellars the next few nights, particularly those that agree with us.”

  “Some will listen,” Andrew replied. “But I fear that most will not. There are also a lot of families in the village that don’t have large root cellars.”

  Anson nodded his head in agreement. He just hoped that when the dragon fed that it did so on the few cattle and sheep remaining in the meadows and not on people.

  “After the new dragon returns and feeds, then we need to move everyone to the cavern. We should have two days at least before the dragon rises to feed again.”

  -

  Jennifer was inside the house with Collin, Jason, and Marten. She could smell the tantalizing aroma of freshly baked bread coming from the kitchen. Her mother and Clara were discussing the current situation in quiet tones.

  “What do you think the new dragon will do, Collin?’ Marten asked with a curious look on his face. “Will it come to eat more of our cattle and sheep?”

  “It’s going to eat us!” Jason interrupted with worry in his voice. “The cattle and sheep are nearly gone. Soon all that will be left will be people. That’s why the new dragon has come. It wants to eat us!”

  “It’s not really going to eat us, is it?” asked Marten, looking uneasily at Jennifer. “It only wants our animals.”

  Collin was sitting next to Jennifer. He looked at the two younger boys. Both were obviously terribly worried about this new dragon, particularly since it was bigger and had killed the red one.

  “We don’t know what the dragon is going to do,” replied Collin, trying to sound calm. He didn’t want to frighten the two any more than they already were. “That’s why we’re planning on moving into the big cavern we found in the old mine. We will be safe there from the dragon.”

  “When are we going?” Jason asked excitedly. He had heard Collin and his father talking about the cavern. It sounded like a neat place to explore. He wondered if he could talk Marten into exploring it with him.