The Tale of The Lost Dragon

The Story

Belina wandered through the tall grasses, sneaking through them as she stalked quietly towards her goal. She let out a growl as she was jumped on by another dragon. Unable to see who was on her, she squirmed, trying to twist around to defend herself. She swatted blindly at whoever was trying to pin her, but to no avail. "Do you admit defeat?" the other dragon asked, still holding her down. "I-I surrender." She said reluctantly. "Ha-ha! I win!" the other dragon cheered happily. "Yea yea Ormr, you won. Now get off of me!" Belina said indignantly. Chuckling, Ormr got off her, stretching his wings. Belina got up, shook the dust off, and then turned to Ormr. "So, whatta you wanna do now?" She asked. "Let's play 'go find something to eat.'" He said, his stomach grumbling as he said it. With that, they started off for the cave.

When Belina and Ormr climbed up and got to the cave, their parents, Volos and Adalenda, were already there. The cave was near the base of the mountain, and the surrounding area was rocky until you got to the field, which wasn't very far away. "Did you go hunting? Did you catch anything?" Ormr asked, looking around. "Yes, it's over there." Adalenda chuckled as she gestured. Ormr ran over and grabbed some prey before heading off a little bit and lying down to eat it. Belina came over and grabbed some prey as well, settling down by Ormr. "Oh, goat; my favorite!" Belina smiled, taking a bite. It was warm and juicy, though a little bit tough, and the fur tickled her cheeks as she ate.

As they were eating, Belina noticed her mother looking out of the cave, seeming somewhat anxious. "What's wrong mom?" Belina asked, licking a little bit of blood off her lips. "It looks like there will be a big storm soon." Adalenda said, sounding worried. "Isn't rain good? Ya know, for the plants and stuff." Belina asked, confused. "Some rain is good, but too much can hurt the plants, and even cause floods." Adalenda replied solemnly. "Oh..." Belina frowned.

Lightning flashed across the sky, and Belina ducked instinctively as thunder crashed soon after. The rain was pouring now, drenching everything that wasn't covered. The wind, which came in gusts, whistled through the grasses in the field. "With how much rain is falling, the cave could flood. We'll have to get to higher ground." Volos said, who had been looking out into the rain as well. "Where will we go?" Ormr asked. "We'll go alongside the mountains and cross the gorge, there's a very thick forest there." Adalenda explained. "Let's go!" Volos said, stepping out of the cave and into the heavy rain.

As they ran, Belina could see the gorge in the distance, and could hear the sound of the river that was at the bottom of it. There was a strong gust of wind as they ran, but Belina pressed on, making sure to dig her claws into the ground so she didn't stumble from the wind. As they got closer, Belina saw that there was a humongous tree over the gorge, but it looked slippery. "When we get to the tree, spread your wings to help you balance." Volos called to Ormr and Belina. Volos crossed first, his large wings spread out on either side of him. When he got to the other side, he called for Ormr to come, then Belina, and then Adalenda. As Ormr crossed, he slipped on the wet trunk, but flapped his wings and righted himself.

As Belina crossed, the rain continued to pour down, weighing on her wings. She noticed the river at the bottom of the gorge was fast and turbulent, and looked like it could sweep away even a full grown dragon. As she was crossing, there was another sudden, heavy gust of wind, and Belina lost her balance. She desperately tried to grab onto the tree, but it was too wet from her to get a grip on. Before she knew it, she was plummeting down towards the river, the water splashing against the sides of the gorge and rushing past. Before she could try to fly, she fell into the river, her mouth and nose filling with water. She flapped her wings, trying to surface, but it didn't work very well. Her legs flailing, she managed to get her head above water. She saw Volos and Ormr on one side of the gorge, Ormr running along the side, trying to see where she was. Adalenda had crossed the tree partway, looking for Belina. Belina knew that Adalenda couldn't fly down, because then she too would be caught in the water.

As she plunged underwater again, she kicked her legs, flapped her wings, everything she could think of to stay afloat. As she struggled in distress, one of her wings smashed against a large rock. As her wing throbbed with pain, Belina noticed a rocky strip of beach that she could get to. Kicking desperately, she got closer and closer, until she could pull herself until the beach. She just lay there on the beach, exhausted and wet. As her wing continued to ache, Belina's vision started to cloud and blacken; then she passed out in the pounding rain.

When Belina awoke, she thought for a moment that it had all been a bad dream, but she realized she wasn't in the cave. She looked around and saw the beach next to the river which was flowing past, and the high rock walls stretching above. As the memories of the previous night flooded back to her, she gasped at the pain throbbing from her wing. "Well, I definitely can't just fly up." Belina said to herself. She got up and looked around for some way to climb up to the top. She smiled when she noticed a series of small ledges and holes, which she could hopefully climb. She grabbed the first one and used her claws to get a better grip, then grabbed the next one, and the next, and the next. About half-way up, she almost slipped off, but managed to grab on to a few ledges, and continued up, though she had lost a little bit of her height up the cliff.

When Belina finally reached the top, she hauled herself onto the grass, worn out from the exertion. After she caught her breath, she looked around, and saw the mountains ahead, towering over everything else around them. She started to run, eager to reach her family. When the cave came into sight, she saw her brother Ormr sitting by the mouth of the cave. He lifted his head when he saw her, and called to their parents in joy. Belina was greeted with happy greetings and worried questions, but all she could think was that she was home.