A Journey Never forgotten

A caravan moved along the dusty road. A mother hushed her crying child, a man ushering his cattle along.

"This is madness," a woman whispered. "We the Ricktu, strongest fighters of all Unide, cower from shadowy monsters, and go to hide under Queen Yunin!"

An old man moving slowly with his walking stick, shambled up to her.

"Silence milady. These beasts are the worst of everything we've fought. In all my years, I've never seen beasts fight so cruelly. Never has that much blood have been spilled. If my name wasn't Klurin von Linderrott, I'd be complaining as much as you."

The woman glared angrily at the man, and turned away. A young man hopped off the cart he was riding on and walked toward Klurin.

"Never mind Er'uni. She's stubborn like that. My name is Stfen." His tanned cap flopped awkwardly on to his ear. "I was never for our fighting. Then again, you'd expect that from a person who thirsts knowledge, not war. Queen Yunin is the most peaceful leader of the Herickti. She'll save us all from the beasts."

"Over my white bones," the old man mumbled.

A shadow rose among the rubble. Yellow eyes pierced through the dust to the caravan in the distance. He stretched opened his leathery wings. The shadow rose to his full height, a black dragon. He turned to see other dragons of colors rise. Each pair of eyes was trained on him.

"The filthy creatures flee before our mightiness," he said in a raspy voice. "Let us give them a journey they shall never forget. The dragons growled in agreement. As one, they flew into the air, and descended upon the caravan. A great roar was heard across the wasteland. Screams and cries for help were lost upon the wind.

Galont waded through the murky marsh. He untangled dead grass from his feet. Galont looked up to see the cloudy sky, all dark. Then he smelled it in the air. Smoke. Turning, his eyes looked beyond the marsh, smoke was rising.

His wings caught the wind, and he sailed toward the point of the smoke. Oh no. It was a trail of humans. All were dead or wounded. Galont glanced around to see a black mass disappear over the hills. He opened his wings for flight, but then he had a change of heart. No matter what their kind did, these people were innocent.

He retracted his wings and began skirting through the burned carts, pulling people out from the rubble and checking for life. A few were bruised but otherwise not harmed. Some had the sense to look for survivors, but they kept away from Galont, eyeing him suspiciously.

Galont looked at them curiously before continuing to pull an old man out. The man suddenly woke up, yelled, and hit Galont on the nose. Surprised, Galont dropped the old man. The old man picked up a stick and began to beat Galont. Not wanting to hurt the man, he did his best to dodge the stick.

It might've been the end for Galont, if another human hadn't pulled the old man away. After calming him down, the young man turned to look at Galont. His eyes were filled with questioning. Galont probed the man and sensed lots of curiosity from him.

The man reached out a hand to Galont, but was slapped away by the old man. He yelled angrily at the younger one in a language he could not understand. The man talked in a normal voice. To Galont, it looked like he was trying to calm the old man. Rage emanated from the old man, all towards Galont.

Galont looked around at the others. All were looking at him darkly or afraid. I am not wanted here. These people will get to safety. Everyone watched as Galont took flight into the sun.

Stfen's eyes followed the beast's flight until he could see no more. He turned to see the few people from the caravan begin to calm. Some of them went to mourn for the lost. Klurin looked at him angrily before hobbling away. But excitement bubbled in Stfen. He donned his large round glasses and pulled out his book, which survived the attack and began flipping through it until he found the page.

"So it's true," he breathed. Stfen stared at the page like a child entranced by a toy. It showed a beast just like the one he had seen. A shadow drifted over Stfen. He looked up to see Er'uni scowling at him. Her robes were tattered and soot covered her robe. But, besides a scratch, she was unharmed.

"This is no time to read books!" Er'uni said, her voice thick with the accent of a Ricktu. Stfen immediately picked up the book and showed her the page.

He pointed at the beast drawn on the page. "Don't you see? The human race is wrong after all these years! These creatures live!"

"What creatures?"

"The monsters legends say our people wiped out! Dragons!"

"Impossible."

"We did just see one. That is proof they are back!"

The seven foot tall Ricktu grabbed Stfen by the shoulders. Her stone grip lifted him into the air. Surprised, Stfen dropped the book onto the dusty ground. Er'uni's eyes glowed with fire.

"Now you listen," she hissed. "Dragons are no more. They are just myths and legends. They were never supposed to exist. They are long gone you got it?" Stfen gulped and nodded slowly. Er'uni released him and he dropped in a cloud of dust.

"Come, we must make haste."

Er'uni left Stfen lying on the ground. He was a bit shocked at her denial. Stfen sat up and cleaned his glasses of dust. After putting them away, he looked at the page lying face up. He picked the book up and began following the remaining people. Alas, the human error. Stfen was certain he didn't see the last of the dragon.