A Dragon After Dusk

Galen and I, both twelve, looked ahead of us at the entrance to the woods, shrouded by the morning mist.

“You sure you want to do this?” I asked, looking back at the village. “Nobody really comes here anymore except the rangers. And not all of them make it back.”

“We’ve been talking about it for years.”

“Think we’ll get back before dark?”

“Of course. Nobody we’ll notice we’ve left.”

The journey started easily enough. The trail was clear with several large rocks to climb over. We climbed over a few rocks, went up and down steep hills, and crossed over gurgling streams. Several hours into our journey, we took a break to eat.

“We should head back,” I said. “don’t you think they’ll notice we’re missing by now?”

“Oh, c’mon, we’ve barely seen anything. Let’s go for a bit more. We still have time as long as we remember the way back.”

“Fine.”

We got up and continued onward.

Despite our best efforts, we lost our way in the early afternoon.

We came to the top of a hill. Out of the brambles, an adult wolf emerged, growled, and started to walk towards us.

Galen glanced at me and whispered one word: “Run.”

We took off down the other side of the hill and the wolf gave chase. At the base of the hill, we looked back and saw it gaining. Galen sprinted ahead of me, and I heard its rapid footfalls behind us. I turned a corner, spotted a small, narrow entrance to a cave, and ducked inside.

I knelt inside the cave, waiting, not making a sound. As I studied the entrance, the feet of the wolf and its snout came into view. It lingered there, inspecting the area.

I then heard a beating of wings and a screech. The wolf wandered away.

I stayed in the cave for a while before I poked my head out again to inspect the surroundings. Seeing no sign of the animal, I crept out of the cave, dusting off my tunic. The trees were casting long shadows, as the sun was low in the sky.

Looking around, I could hear the first sounds of crickets. A mist started to settle, and I could only see a few feet ahead. I called out for Galen, but could only hear my faint echo.

Since I was two, I had heard tales of dragons attacking wayward children in the woods and eating them alive. I had always thought of these to be the stuff of fairy tales, but after the wolf, I wasn’t sure anymore.

Fighting the urge to panic, I headed down a path that I thought looked the most familiar. Every rustle of a leaf, every crack of a twig, made me think of the wolf.

The path led to the edge of a stream. On the other side of the stream was a large thicket, flanked by a birch tree on the left and an oak tree on the right.

Hoping that crossing the stream might take me back out of the woods, I placed my foot on the first of several rocks that reached above the surface of the water. As I swung my other foot to the second rock, I heard a rustling from within the thicket ahead of me.

I froze. The rustling had stopped; I only heard the trickling of the stream below me. A second later, I spotted a small reptilian head poke itself out from behind the oak tree. Within seconds, it fixed its eyes on me. It opened its mouth slightly, revealing small, razor-sharp teeth.

Startled, I stepped back, lost my balance, and fell into the foot-deep stream. With my clothes and arms soaking wet, I got up and struggled to regain my balance. As I found my footing again, the creature stepped out from behind the tall oak. Sporting green-blue scales, it was about the size of a hawk, with only two slender legs and two wings. At the end of its long neck was the head of a lizard with two frills on either side. As it stepped towards the edge of the stream, it studied me with penetrating eyes.

I scrambled off the rocks and back onto the stream’s edge. The creature leaped up, lingered in the air with three quick flaps of its two wings, and slowly descended on my side of the stream, its sharp-clawed feet landing on the soil two feet away from me.

For a moment, we locked eyes again. With its wings spread wide, it seemed poised to attack. I steadied myself, glanced at a large stick to my right, and considered picking it up. No, I thought—if this is a indeed dragon, it would just burn it to a cinder.

While I was gripped by fear, the way it regarded me made me think of the birds I used to feed by the river when I was younger. I reached into my satchel that was slung around my shoulder, took out my last hunk of bread, and tossed it to the creature, which snapped it up instantly. It then took a step closer and tried to peer inside my satchel.

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I don’t have anymore.”

After looking up at me, it turned towards the stream and plunged its head into the running water. Seconds later, it pulled out a fish, which flopped around in its mouth. In three vicious snaps, it ate it and gulped it down.

The dragon then crept past me and started to walk the way I had come. This was my chance to escape, so I started towards the stream, I heard it make a high-pitched screech, reminiscent of the one I had heard from the cave. It turned, and with one of its wings, it motioned for me to follow it.

Had it been the one to draw the wolf away? Should I trust it?

With the path across the stream looking bleak, I followed it down the path. Despite the onset of dusk, it continued on without breaking stride. When we encountered large fallen logs, it used its wings to stay in the air as I climbed over them.

The trail narrowed and I heard a loud hiss through the trees. I saw the dragon dart forward and an arrow appeared buried in the tree where the creature had just been.

To my right, I heard deep voices. I looked that way and could see dim specks of lights off in the distance.

Rangers. While they had been charged with protecting our town, they had been known to hunt in these woods.

The small dragon picked up the pace. At this point, I struggled to keep up. While moving down a steep descent, I tripped on a large root and fell into another stream. Hearing the splash, the dragon looked back at me and glared, waiting for me to get up.

As the descent flattened out, another arrow hissed by, this time grazing the creature’s leg as it burrowed into the soil. Blood dripped from its leg and it started limping more, fluttering its wings more often to stay off it.

Then we both saw it again.

The wolf, looking right at us.

In the darkness, it looked larger and more imposing. It leaped at me, and I ducked and rolled, grabbing a fallen tree branch.

I stood up, holding up the branch. The little dragon flew over and blew a stream of fire over the branch, which immediately burst into flames.

I brandished the makeshift torch at the wolf, which finally looked at me in fear.

“Leave us alone.”

The wolf retreated into the shadows. With the sound of footsteps getting closer, we both ran down the trail, pushing away vines and brambles as we went. I stopped to throw the branch down and stomped on it to put out the remaining fire.

We reached the edge of a clearing. I heard a familiar voice and slowed down to a creep. I peered through some bushes and saw a silhouetted figure walking from one edge to the other, calling my name.

Found him, I thought.

I looked at the dragon, who knelt by me.

“Thank you,” I exhaled.

It nodded and put a sharp claw on my hand. I couldn’t tell whether it was a sign of camaraderie, a goodbye, or a plea for me not to be so dramatic.

I looked behind me, into the darkness of the woods, then turned to face it. Its eyes seemed to glow in the darkness.

“I have to go now before they run off,” I whispered, holding it up. “But be careful.” The dragon put its claw down, nodded, and looked towards the path we had come.

“Wait.”

I ripped off a piece of my tunic and tied it around the dragon’s wounded leg, covering the area that was bleeding. It looked at it with this quizzical expression and looked back at me. There was a sudden flutter of wings, and it was gone.

I then turned towards the clearing again. Nearly tripping over myself, I ran over to my companions, calling for them. They turned around, surprised.

“Where have you been?!” Galen exclaimed. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

I turned and looked back at the bushes where the dragon had been, then looked back at them.

“‘I couldn’t keep up after the wolf chased us.” I looked away, embarrassed. “I got lost.” I looked back at Galen.

“Oh. I’m sorry I lost you. That wolf—”

“It’s okay. You know the way out of here now?”

“I think so,” Galen said. He lit a small lantern and took the lead. As we started out of the clearing and down a path, we heard another howl of the wolf and footsteps nearby. If we got out without getting caught, there would be some explaining to do when we returned to the village, but at the moment, I was relieved we were all alive.

As we made our way back, I heard the hissing sound of arrows again. I hoped my new companion would make it through the night.