Where There Be Dragons

Chapter 3

As we ominously boarded the vessel. Hank insisted that we each don some pieces of armour as he paraphrased my own words back to me.

"We don't know what dangers lie ahead".

After a thorough search, it was clear that the entire crew had died of starvation. If they'd been looking for a way out, it was tragically apparent that they'd been looking for a long time, with no success. In one of the offices, I'd found a marked up calendar hanging on the wall from the year 1981. Yes, they had been looking for a long time.

These men and women were husbands and wives, mothers and fathers and they all had families waiting for them to come home. It was a bleak reminder that we too had loved ones on the other side of the gateway and that there was a very real chance that I may never see my Dad again.

The only positive from all of this was that they did leave a couple of interesting clues in their wake. There was a log book with a number of entries showing the various stages of their voyage and according to each of the accounts, it was clear that they had successfully managed to circumnavigate the entire castle wall. But, even more intriguing was a sheet of graph paper, it looked like a map and drawn upon it was that same shape that I had seen on the island. Jotted down next to the shape were various different geometric calculations and a crude sketch of a sphere. But what did it all mean?

I pocketed the log book and the sheet of paper and joined Keira and Hank on the deck above who were scavenging for supplies. Keira had found a few rifles and some ammo, while Hank had found a stockpile of flares and a flare gun.

"Listen, maybe we should think about heading back to the island?" said Hank. "We've seen enough dead bodies for one day, huh?".

"No" said Keira. "I'm tired of going around in circles. I want to fire off a flare and see if anybody's out there. Somebody who knows the way out? Someone who could help us?

We all knew that such a decision would weigh in with a certain degree of risk, but I think the starvation of the crew had already had quite a dramatic effect on us.

"At least, if we send a flare, help might see us and come and save us." she reasoned.

"Yes, but it might not be help that comes for us" I countered.

"You mean like how you lit the fire back on the island? If you hadn't, then we would never have found you."

"You're right. I never would have met you both and I'd know even less about this place than I do now. It's just a big risk, but you're right".

"You both understand that we're gonna get eaten alive by cannibals?" cautioned Hank.

"Just do it already, Hank".

Hank handed us each a rifle, with a basic run through on how to use it, though I think daddy's little girl had already had quite a bit more experience than me on the shooting range.

He then loaded a flare into his flare gun and raised the gun high above his head, and as he pulled the trigger, he cried -
"Battle stations, everyone".

As the flare streamed into the air, we had no idea of the mysterious eyes that watched it from afar.

At first, we heard the screeching, like some unnatural war cry. Then came the sound of flapping and then the roar of fire.
"What on Earth are they? screamed Hank.
"They look like...like.." I said at a loss for words.
"Dragons" concluded Keira as she squinted, looking up into the sky.
"Everybody, take cover!" cried Hank.