Beyond Here There Be Dragons (standard:fantasy, 2169 words)
Author: Comshaw	Added: Sep 14 2000	Views/Reads: 4298/2478	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
An Apprentice discovers a Dragon invasion, and learns for the first time of the Dragon wars.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


"Yes Elder the story will be finished with dispatch.  This apprentice
was about to stand and proceed to the trail when a noise echoed from 
the trees. It was a series of creaks, like two trees rubbing together 
on a windy day. Then came a snort. The tales told to the young ones on 
the rookery sands came to mind: of demons, devils and dark shapeless 
things in the night. It almost caused this apprentice to high-tail down 
the mountain, but shadows and childrens' tales should not frighten an 
apprentice of the Hunt Master. This apprentice decided that his 
imagination was making devils from shadows, having been alone in those 
silent twilight woods most of the sun-cycle. Besides, by that time 
curiosity had been aroused. This apprentice just had to know where the 
noise was coming from." 

"Sound echoes when thee are close to a rock face, echoes enough that it
is hard to tell from which direction it comes. The noise seemed to be 
coming from behind the protuberance of rock along the wall. Stealth 
being the best way to approach an unknown situation, this apprentice 
slowly sneak-footed it along the wall to the outcropping. After taking 
a few deep breaths, to calm the heart, this apprentice peeked around 
the rock. All that was visible was a smooth section of the wall about 
five lengths long with a cave opening in the center. The trail this 
apprentice had followed earlier ended at the cave mouth. This 
apprentice could here the sounds very clearly, but could see nothing 
but the cave. The cave. . ." 

With a hiss like steam escaping from a boiler, the middle age Elder
shifted his bronze bulk; his voice was like distant thunder when he 
said, "We have other important business to consider. Thou have used the 
allotted time. Please, come to the point of the story." 

The apprentices' yellow hide paled. He lowered his long tapered snout in
respect as he continued his story. 

"This apprentice was trying to include all the information that might be
important. This apprentice stood behind the rock for a while observing 
the cave. The sounds did not seem to be getting any louder. After a 
while when nothing happened, a closer inspection seemed in order." 

"After rounding the outcropping and taking two strides, it happened. The
ugliest thing ever, walked from the cave. Reddish brown in color, 
covered with hair, it had four long legs ending in solid one piece 
hooves. The neck was long and tapered with an elongated head; a bulging 
eye protruded from each side. In its mouth it held a strap. The strap 
extended from both sides of its mouth, back along its neck, the ends 
were being held by a thing on its back." 

"This second thing was like nothing this apprentice has ever seen
before. It did not cling to the other creatures back with all four 
limbs, as is proper, but sat upright. The lower two limbs, hanging down 
the others sides, were long and ended in a large strange looking---" 

The apprentice could not find a word to fit; instead he extended one
talon and scratched a rough outline on the ground. 

"---hoof? The other two limbs were shorter, ending in five blunt
looking, flexable talons. The head of the thing was round, like a 
melon; the eyes were in the front, but very small. The features were 
almost flat, no snout at all. The hide on the thing was very strange, 
wrinkled and of two different colors: night sky blue on the lower half 
and runner tan on the upper part." 

"Hold!" roared the gold colored Elder. "You are trying our patience, we
should end this interview before it becomes any more outlandish." 

"Please, Elder, Please, allow this apprentice to finish. It is very
important that you listen to the rest of the story. When this 
apprentice finishes the tale, three items will be offered as proof that 
the story is true." 

After a quick mumbled conference between the three Elders the oldest
turned his black, bronze tinted head, and in a low soft hiss addressed 
the apprentice, "You may proceed, but if the proof is not satisfactory 
we will be very, very disssspleasssed." 

The apprentices' hide paled to hatchling white.  "Aye, great Elder. When
this apprentice saw the thing, it shocked him numb. All this apprentice 
could do was stand and stare at the apparition that had appeared. The 
creature spotted this apprentice and stopped dead still. After a short 
time of staring, this apprentice flicked his tongue to taste the scent 
of the thing. At that moment the tall, skinny creature pointed a long 
stick, roared, disgorging smoke and fire. At the same time it must have 
thrown something, for it cut this groove", he used a talon to point out 
a down the side of his neck," and broke a piece from the rock behind. 
The larger four legged creature started jumping around, snorting and 
squealing; The skinny one using all four limbs to hold to its back. It 
was jumping and stomping so hard that some of the things on it started 
flying off. After what seemed like a season, it plunged back into the 
cave and disappeared." 

"It was many heart beats before this apprentice calmed enough to be able
to move. About to high-tail for safety, this apprentice caught a glint 
of sunlight reflected from pieces that had dropped from the monster. 
Thinking that proof would be needed of the encounter, this apprentice 
picked up several of those pieces. Here is the proof that this 
apprentice has brought thee." 

His three taloned paw held a Remington bolt action rifle, a set of
leather saddle bags and a stainless steel thermos bottle. The three 
Elders that had been listening to him hissed in surprise. The tips of 
their long tails curled and twitched in a sign of agitation. The oldest 
Elder flicked his forked tongue out over his fangs, to taste the scent 
and said, "Apprentice, we were ready to deny thee the rank of Hunter 
and banish thee to the north land. We thought the demons had touched 
thee. The objects thou hold are proof that thou story is true. The 
scent upon them is that of a beast from our past; Those are implements 
of a dragon. The thing you saw was indeed two different beasts. The 
larger one, the one with the straps in its mouth, is a rather stupid 
beast of burden. The one sitting on its back was the dragon. The thing 
it pointed at you can kill with one blow. The thing that cut the grove 
in your neck, had it hit thee square, would have made a hole straight 
through thee. Thou were very lucky, for they are a nasty vicious breed. 
I hope this was an isolated incident." 

"Two hundred seasons ago when I was not long out of the egg, the last
dragon in our land was killed. During that battle four of our tribe 
fell mortally wounded and two were crippled. They are a fierce enemy 
and it saddens this Elder to know they have returned." 

"Legend has it that they came down from the mountain; The same mountain
where thou were hunting.  Appearing one day in great numbers, they 
started killing our tribe by the score. It is said that they came from 
a different world, how no one knew, with the intention of taking our 
land." 

"We lost over half our numbers before the last was hunted down. When the
Elders of that time were sure that all the dragons had been destroyed, 
they ringed the mountain with "taboo" scent posts. They swore all the 
remaining tribe to silence, to keep the next generation of hatchlings 
from living in fear of these nasty beasts. That is why none of the 
tribe hatched after the dragon wars, other than the Elders, knew why 
the scent posts were there." 

"For thy service thee have rendered our tribe, I grant thee status as a
Hunter. This entitles thee to use thy name while speaking to others. In 
addition I grant thee the boon of using the formal "I" in place of 
"this apprentice"." 

"Tomorrow, Smerg, thee will lead a party to where this happened. We will
set a watch on the cave, perhaps if they arrive again we can stop them 
before they enter our land. We will also ring the area with scent posts 
to warn all others of the danger. It has been many, many years since we 
have used this type of scent post: BEYOND HERE THERE BE DRAGONS." 


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