Dragon Life: A Collection of Short Stories

The Escape

Mattie's Story

She ran, the branches flying thick past her face. Her skin screamed from a thousand tiny scratches, her lungs burned as she pushed her body past the point of exhaustion. Even then, it wasn't enough. Faster she willed her feet, her body. Faster. Slowing wasn't an option. Stopping was death.

The screech that sounded from above was deafening. She ducked her head, as though that couple of inches would hide her from sight. It was too close, too dangerous. The trees shielded her for now, but that wouldn't be an option for much longer.

The uneven ground was treacherous in the dark. She prayed she wouldn't catch her ankle and leave herself helpless on the forest floor.

She could feel an unmistakable heat pressing down on her from above. Risking a glance upwards, she was horrified to see the tree tops were on fire. Ducking lower, she pushed harder.

Almost there.

Light flickered in the gloom ahead. The village was there, and safety. One more obstacle to cross, possibly the most difficult one. She instinctively slowed as the trees began to thin and the open space between the woods and the village came into view.

Another screech from above, and the lights marking the village went dark. Heat licked at her from behind, pushing her forwards toward the open ground. Her heart stopped. She wouldn't make it through the gap, but the only other choice was fire. In the near distance, the village walls rose dark in the moonlight. Torchlights now appeared along the top of the wall, marking what she knew to be archers and sharpshooters.

She marshaled every bit of strength she had left and shot out from underneath the tree line, willing herself to cross the gap and make it beneath the metal spikes that created a safety zone around the village.

The next screech roared directly behind her. She wasn't going to make it.

At that moment, something unfamiliar tickled at the back of her neck. Unfamiliar, yet calming.

Matilda. . .

It was a whisper, a ghostly sound passing in the darkness. She couldn't explain the strangeness of it, but she suddenly felt as though she could breathe again.

With relief, she shot under the first metal spike, only for a earth-shattering crash to send her tumbling to the ground. She rolled and moved to rise, but an almost human-like shriek of awful proportions stopped her in her tracks. She lifted both hands to her ears in a useless effort to block the noise. A shadow blocked the moonlight, and her eyes lifted to a terrifying and magnificent sight.

Two forms rose almost directly above her, twining and whirling towards the sky, their bodies locked together in brutal combat. In the darkness, their colour was impossible to determine, indeed it was hard to tell where one form ended and the next began. The glittering of scales caught the moonlight, and she was rooted to the ground, frozen in fear and awe.

It was the shouting that brought her back to herself, the cries coming from the wall where the villages waited in relative safety. Safety where they watched, their only effort at helping her being their yells of encouragement for her to run! mingled in with their cries of wonder and terror.

Still, it was several more heartbeats before she could tear her eyes from the incredible sight of the two beasts swirling in the air above her, snapping and clawing at each other. Even then, she had managed no more than a few steps backwards, steps that backed her into the ruins of a rusted transport, it's flatbed trailer fashioned with more metal spikes that reached towards the sky.

No, it was the fire that finally set her feet to moving. The fire that suddenly rained from the sky, an indication of how deadly the battle above had become. The ember that landed on her bare shoulder was enough to send her feet to flying.

Between the man-made spikes that filled the open field - a dangerous collection of debris and scrap that had been fashioned to provide a modicum of protection from an attack from above - her feet flew, purposeful now. The wall grew closer, and she dimly recognized her brother at the top of the gate, gesturing madly to those below him, his mouth moving fast. The gate inched open, moved by unseen hands. The space was barely wide enough for her to slip though, but it was enough.

Her last look at the sky before the gate slammed shut stole the breath from her already air-starved lungs. In a shower of sparks and flame everything exploded. The night sky lit up, evoking a hazy childhood memory of fireworks, and happier times.

It was the last thing she saw before exhaustion, fear and terror overwhelmed her, and her world went dark.