in Oklahoma
June 28th, 2006
The fierce dragons eyes were like fire, it's courage seemed to shine through the dragon's silvery blue scales. It stared, unafraid, into it's attackers eyes. The attackers were creatures clothed in black, with a large hood hiding their faces. They also stared back at the dragon. One drew his sword and rushed the large dragon as the other swung out a bow and unleashed several arrows. One landed in the chest of the dragon, the other merely grazing it's massive paw. The dragon stared astonished down at its chest. While the dragon was distracted, the other hooded creature readied to strike the finishing blow.
Galen Hunt walked silently down the rarely used path. The forest around him was beautiful. Bright green pine trees were everywhere. Birds cheerfully chirped their chorus to whoever was willing to take the time to listen. The unused path was clearly in disrepair. Roots of trees stuck out and pine cones were scattered about the forest floor. Galen listened carefully, hopeful to find some deer. He lived with his brother, after his father and mother died when he was young. Now they scarcely had enough to eat, and were struggling to keep the house from falling apart. He hoped to find food in the form of an unsuspecting deer. He gripped his bow tighter. Suddenly a moan pierced the morning serenity. It was the moan of pain. Galen knew not what sort of beast this was, but had a feeling it would do for a meal or two.
The dragon was genuinely scared now. It was only two hundred thirty seven years old. It was too young to die. I saw its life flash before its eyes. Suddenly the creature swinging the sword groaned, an arrow protruding from its chest, and hit the ground with a thud, dropping its sword. The other creature, though now afraid, still seemed intent on killing the dragon, though for what reason the dragon was unsure. The creature strung an arrow to its bow... pulled the string taught... and let go! The arrow shot straight towards the dragon's face. At the same instant, another arrow was shot. The arrow sped through the air and the creatures flying arrow with a resounding SNAP! The dragon breathed a sigh of relief, but then thought better of it, seeing as how the danger was far from over. With an anxious glance at the creature, the dragon searched the forest for its rescuer. Even the dragon's sharp eyes could not spot the rescuer. Finally the other creature fell with a resounding thud, an arrow in its evil heart.
Galen finally relaxed, glad that the dragon was safe. He did not know much of dragons. Only what he had learned from songs and legends. Rumor was that dragons did not exist anymore, driven off by humans. In the old days, dragons were ridden. The men and women who rode them were heroes... no, legends. But the heroes died off and the legends got old until nothing was left but depressed dragons that would grow for many years longer than the human riders. The bond between dragon and rider was so great that after their masters were dead, the dragons would not get another master because of their sadness. After this sadness, that generation vowed never to allow a human to ride a dragon again. And so the true stories turned to rumors, then to wishful stories told around the inviting glow of a camp fire. Suddenly Galen was ripped out of his thoughts by the ear splitting cry of the dying dragon. He rushed to it and carefully pulled the arrow out of the dragon's chest, then treating it's deep wounds. The dragon was obviously in pain, but Galen just seemed too busy to worry about that as he scurried about searching for various herbs to ease the creature's suffering. After finding a variety of herbs he put them on the animal. The dragon finally began to relax, relieved and the pain beginning to lessen by the minute. Galen smiled contentedly. So this was a dragon? As he continued his wishful thinking, his mind began to grow wings and soar.
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