Chapter Five: Enter the Dragon's Den
“If it’s the last thing you do, do not look up”
WOCKI, GUIDE OF THE CHOSEN
1328 ad
Chapter 5
Six humans arrived at the Dragon’s den entrance: 3 broad men, 2 alert boys; and one calm nerved girl. The six travelers have been traveling for 3 days and 3 nights: Brock and his 11 year old boy Nigent, Proy and his 9 year old boy Mangon and Lord Chamansen along with his 11 year old daughter Pureza.
None of the children knew where they were going, they were just told by their father’s 3 days ago; woke up in the middle of the night, packed up and off on a journey they know nothing of.
These children were chosen by the Heavens personally. You are probably wondering how Heaven chooses it’s special children? Well by stars of course:
A star falls to earth the night of a child’s birth
Within an hour the child will start smiling, cooing and reacting as if the child was playing with someone; or shall I say “a ghost”
The child will continue this playful scene for hours
Parents who see or hear of a star falling to earth the night of their child’s birth are to leave their children in total darkness if their child acts with this playful behavior
The father is to check on the child periodically in which one of those visits will reveal something magical: Above the child‘s head will be a bright orb, like a tiny ball of lightning. These orbs cannot be stared at directly by adults for it can cause temporary blinding. But the children seem to have the ability to stare right into it, without blinking.
The child will continue this heart touching act until he or she falls asleep. Normally you would see just one orb, but it has been recorded that 3 orbs once accompanied a new born some 1300 plus years ago.
No one knows exactly what the orbs are but they seem to speak to the child by dancing around right above the child‘s head. Many believe the orbs are God itself. Some think they are Guardian Angels. You can recognize these children simply by their silence when born. They do not cry when born.
After 3 days of endless hiking they were finally at the Dragon’s den; well, only the entrance. The moon was full and the silver rays enchantingly revealed the secret entrance. Before their eyes was a crater the size of a football field. Pureza questioned in shock ,“What is that!, where do we go now?“ Proy walked to the edge of the crater and said, “Well I guess this is it.” “It what!“ Pureza nervously shuttered. “Are we going in there father” Proy’s son said with adventure in his voice. “Yes son, we are.”
The father’s knew of the Dragons; but the children knew nothing of the Dragons, nor did they know where they were going or why they were at the huge crater. The crater was so deep, Proy could not even see the bottom of the pit; it was wide as a football field but so deep it disappeared into complete darkness. Proy moved even closer to the edge, the rest of them chose to keep their distance.
Proy was a brave warrior type about 6 foot 3 inches, broad with long red hair that draped on his shoulders. Reasoning was not his way of life; for Proy it was either see things his way or take a beating. He was the kingdom’s battle strategist which was bad news for any enemy army to “Warford,” the mightiest kingdom in all the land.
“Father be careful” Mangon said with worry. “I know what I’m doing son. Why don’t you come over, take a look at the pits of hell!” “I think I will keep my distance father.” “I would like to see” Pureza said with confidence as she walked over to the crater. “Pureza,” Lord Chamansen warned his daughter. “It’s alright father.” Pureza reassured her father.
Pureza only got within 5 feet from the edge before seeing the jagged edges that seemed to go on forever. Small rocks fell from the edge showing the cliff’s unstable dangers.
“What’s that smell” Pureza softly said with curiosity, “It smells like strawberries! Very much like strawberries, do you smell it! Where is that smell coming from, is it coming from inside of the crater?” Proy looked over to Pureza as if to say, “Isn’t that just like a girl to smell Strawberries at the entrance of a deadly crater.”
“Could it be coming from inside the crater father?” “Hey” said Nigent “I can smell them too. Why is the smell so strong when I don’t see any strawberries anywhere near here; or maybe it’s too dark to see them.”
Mangon added to the conversation, “Yes, lots of strawberries must be near, I hate strawberries.” “I also hate strawberries” said Mangon’s father Proy.
“Are you sure Chamansen, this is the place” Proy said with slight anger in his voice. “Yes brother, it is” said Chamansen. Nigent, son of Brock the priest stepped forward with a worried look about his face and said: “Are we going in there?” Proy answered back with excitement “AH, YES BOY WE ARE!” “But how father?” said Mangon. Brock continued the sentence: “The lord will find us a way.” Brock was the priest of the kingdom and at times the advisor to the King. He was also the first to speak whenever Proy‘s army laid siege on a village. Whenever the King wanted a village destroyed he would send Proy to do the job.
Brock‘s job was to read a parchment to the leader and people of the village. He would tell the village that God has ordered the village condemned and that King Telefson was there to do God‘s work. Once this speech was said Proy’s army would ravage the village. Chamansen called him “Black Death.”
So there they were, six travelers standing around the cliffs of the crater. “They smell so nice but where are they?“ Pureza said. Pureza loved strawberries because it reminded her of her mother. She loved baking strawberry pies with her mother, especially when they were for her dad. “How come we cannot see them, even in the moonlight we would be able to see Whopper strawberries.” Pureza said.
“It smells like strawberries alright.” said Proy. The boys looked around for the strawberries. “It’s getting stronger” whispered Pureza. “What?” Nigent said barely understanding what she said. “It’s getting stronger!” The priest backed off from the crater and Chamansen just stood there; as if he knew something…
Soon, a faint sound came from deep beneath the crater. “Do you here that?” said Proy. Everyone just looked at Proy and got really quiet. Proy muttered, “listen…” Proy was still standing right next to the cliff.
Everyone was listening, but there was no noise as Proy stated. Chamansen looked at Proy and noticed small strands of his hair started moving, but there was no wind around the travelers, it was a calm night. Chamansen continued to stare at warrior Proy’s hair; now more strands were moving upward.
Wind was coming from the cave! “Woa, where did that come from” said Proy as he felt the wind on his face. Wind was definitely coming from the huge crater. The children started to see Proy’s hair flowing up and their eyes got big. The strawberry smell was even stronger now.
Proy continued to stand right next to the edge. He knew something was wrong with the crater but his pride would not let him back off from the unstable cliffs. “Brother?” Chamansen said with just a little worry in his voice. But he knew telling Proy to back off from the cliff would be nothing but worthless breath. Proy was as stubborn as a Warthog digging for unreachable grubs.
The wind was even stronger now and Proy’s hair was fully flying upward into his face. “Dad, get away from the crater!” his son said with worry. Chamansen slowly walked over to his daughter and grabbed her arm. Pureza looked back at him and stepped back with her father.
Proy finally stepped back from the crater, but only 10 feet. He could still look inside the crater. Brock grabbed Nigent, walked over to Chamansen and Pureza. Mangon started to kneel down as if he was a bit scared.
Air was coming from within the crater and the smell of strawberries filled the night air. A deep hollow sound came from deep inside the crater as the air blew upward; it sounded like a giant Tuba (the size of a football field). The sound got deeper, so deep that the travelers covered their ears. The ground started to vibrate because of the deep bass.
Proy stood just a bit further from the crater now. The children saw that Proy was a bit worried and started to get a bit frightened because this was an unusual thing for Proy to do. He was not afraid of anything.
The smell of strawberries continued to fill the air, then the air stopped coming from the crater. The rumbling stopped, the sound stopped; it was completely silent, but the faint smell of strawberries continued to go up the nostrils.
“Wwhat was that” said Nigent. Pureza was holding on to her father tightly. Mangon was laying on the ground with his face down full of fright. “By the god’s, what was that?” Brock said with shock.
Proy stood up from his kneeling position and spoke: “I don’t know, but there” WHOOOOOOSH!!!
Out of nowhere a huge figure shot out of the crater! It was loud enough to make Proy immediately drop back down to the ground. Everyone hit the ground, except for Chamansen WHOOOOOOOSH!!! another figure shot into the air. It was too dark to see what came out of the crater.
Pureza looked up to the sky and saw the silhouette of something in the moonlight. She adjusted her eyesight to see two figures that looked like giant bats gliding across the night sky.
“Father look!” she said with both excitement and fear in her voice. “What is it father?” Just then, the rest of the group looked up into the sky to see the rather large figures gliding across the moonlit sky. “Father what is it” Mangon said with fright.
Proy took out his sword, ready for battle. “Prepare son, looks like you might be getting your first taste of battle. I don’t know what it is, never saw anything like it; but whatever it is, we will fight it and kill it!” Mangon had a sword also, but was very much afraid to pull it out. He knew that once he pulled out that sword, the creature would surely attack.
The creatures were flying even lower now. Brock held his son and began to pray. Nigent looked at his dad with worry. “What is it father?” said Pureza. “Worry not daughter, they will not harm you” said Chamansen. Pureza looked at him as if to say “How do you know that? Do you know something I do not?”
The creatures were flying even lower now, enough to see them. Proy got in his warrior stance, ready to fight; Brock covered his son and continued to pray. Pureza whispered to here father, “I still smell strawberries.” Chamansen answered back, “Yes, my daughter”. He had a proud look on his face and seemed to be very excited as if he were looking forward to meeting the great creatures.
The belly of the creatures were clear, they had great big wings, they were the size of a 8 passenger jet plane. As they glided in circles around the travelers their wings made a deep swooping sound.
The winged creatures were now but 24 feet above the group of travelers! “Are you ready lads!” Proy said with conviction. Then the Creatures dropped from the sky with great speed! They did not even dive, they dropped like a human doing a cannonball into a lake, as if they were jumping off of a bridge. Everyone backed off, the children screamed with fear, Proy backed off also.
The creatures landed on the ground; WITH BOTH FEET; STANDING UPRIGHT, LIKE HUMANS! When they hit the ground the whole earth shook beneath the travelers, Mangon fell to the ground. Wind blew past the group as the creatures landed and it smelled very much like strawberries.
The travelers could barely see the winged creatures. One creature lifted it’s head; it had a long neck which made the creature even taller. It stood about 30 feet (the length of a school bus). The other creature just laid down and stuck it’s neck out. It put it’s wings back and just relaxed like it was resting. Oh yeah, we cannot forget about Proy… Proy was standing there, in shock with his mouth wide open, his sword had fallen out of his hands. He then came to and picked up his sword. He started to run towards the standing creature and the creature spread it’s wings as if to warn Proy.
“Proy, stop!” Chamansen yelled in demand. “They are our friends” he continued. Chamansen looked at the standing creature, then bowed to it, with his head down. “Syeeeeeeeeeeee” Chamansen said as he kneeled.
The creature put down it’s wings, walked towards Chamansen; the ground shook every time the beast took a step. The beast’s head was clear now, it was the size of a SUV. Pureza whispered to hereself, “ddad?” Chamansen continued to kneel.
Everyone was focused on Chamansen and did not realize what was standing (and laying) before them. They were Dragons!
“And then what happened Prophet Ziare?!” The kids were still sitting at the fire pit, in shock from Ziare’s story about the Dragon Trials. Ziare then told the children, “We will continue this story next time.”
“Aaaaaw” the children all aaaaawed, wanting and begging for the rest of the story. But it was late and time for bed. Ziare was always good at telling stories. He loved to leave people on the edge because he knew the story would stay in their heads until next time.
Copyright © 2009 Keepers of the 2012 World: (The Dragon Schlytha Trials) . All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission.