Night of Dragons

Neyai was only half-awake when the shaking stopped, but already she could smell the smoke clogging the air and hear the screams coming through her window. She tried to see through the darkness. “Mother! Aba!” she whimpered.

No one answered.

She threw her blanket off and coughed. The room was clouding up too much, becoming more of a death pit every second. The fire outside flickered eerily against the cracked walls of the nearby houses. It was much too close to her window to be safe. 

Dropping to the ground, away from the suffocating smoke, she began to crawl. She needed to find a way out of the house as fast as she could. The dirt floor was wet with dew, but she huddled as close as she could. Anything closer to fresh air.

The light guided her way, even through the killing mist. The shadows of chairs and beds revealed no humanoid forms. She was too busy saving herself to dwell on that fact too much.

Crack! Neyai screamed. The air filled with dirt, and parts of the roof fell around her. She couldn’t breathe. Ignoring caution, she jumped up, and dashed through the house. She knew where to go, even in the dark.

When she finally reached the doorway, she took a deep breath. Even this awful air was better than indoors. She turned around. The roof above her bedroom had fallen in. She had come much too close to death.

As she looked around, she realized what had caused the disaster. Up in the sky, trails of golden fire trailed behind dark masses. Dragons, the dead legends. In the dark, it was clear there were at least five of the creatures. Even outside the house, the danger only increased.

Many passed her by. Old men, women with little children. All were running, in seemingly random directions. Some were escaping into the gardens. Others were running to the town cellars. A few seemed to be running in circles.

Nayei found herself stumbling along. At one point, she woke on the ground, never realizing she had gone to sleep. It all seemed like a terrible dream. And yet, she could hear the screech of the beasts, and the cries of her people. She felt herself fading, wishing to die.

She was close to the inner city by now. The stone ruins. At least a little shelter from the beasts, the fire. It was as good a place to die as any. She crawled through a low opening, and closed her eyes. If the dragons saw her in this place, she had nowhere to hid, and yet, she didn’t care. She had already been up half the night, and didn’t want to think about anything that had happened.

Even so, the night would not leave her be. She was too numb to be afraid, and yet she knew she needed to continue, to find her family, wherever they had gone. But all she could think was that if they were still alive, if they had left her, alone, where could they be now?

She started to cry, a small sound among many.

And then she heard a voice whisper. “Are you okay?”

She opened her eyes. In front of her was a little boy holding a still smaller girl, huddled away from the light of the window. She frowned. “Do you think so?”

The boy gave a weary smile. “That wasn’t the best way to phrase it, was it?”

She nodded in agreement. As she looked closer, she realized how truly young they were. The boy couldn’t have been more than seven years old. She tried to smile. Being cross at such a time wouldn’t help. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “You can come farther in. I don’t think the dragons can hurt us in here.” She felt her courage coming back, now that there were others around, others that were weaker than she was.

“Thank you,” the boy replied. “How long have you been in here?” he asked after shuffling over with the girl in his lap.

She looked through the window at the moon still shining brightly even though all the smoke. “About an hour, I think. The dragons seem to know they can’t do any damage to these buildings.”

“I suppose so.” The boy looked around. “It’s pretty dark in here, isn’t it?”

Nayei nodded. “And cold. Which is surely a benefit considering what’s happening outside.” She looked out. They both knew what the fire brought.

One of the dragons was near enough to see clearly. It was amazing how small it was, compared to its mighty wings. And yet, its body was large enough to kill with one breath. It was closer than she would like.

She turned back toward the boy. “I think there’s a basement. We should probably go,” she suggested. “Just in case.” She stood up.

The boy shook his head. “I can’t,” he said. “I don’t think I could climb the stairs. It took a lot out of me to even get here.” He gestured toward his leg, and for the first time, she realized, she saw how strangely it was twisted and shriveled up.

“Oh,” she said after a moment, and awkwardly sat back down. “We can stay here than.”

The next few hours, none of them talked. The little girl seemed to have fallen asleep in the boy’s arms after a while, but the boy and she only stared blankly out the opening. They didn’t see anyone moving now, though there were a few charred bodies lying on the ground. The dragons were high in the air, screaming loud, piercing cries. Monsters of the truest sort.

Nayei could feel herself wanting to sleep, to forget this. She closed her eyes partly. And to the boy, she must had looked like she was asleep, or else he wouldn’t had done what he did at that moment.

He stared at her for a moment, and then took a deep breath. A faint dark blue glow escaped out of the boy’s hands. Energy hot enough to see, hotter than even the energy that escaped from the dragons. He turned toward the opening.

She could feel the heat, and wished more than anything she could leave. But she was too scared. What the boy was doing was illegal, and even in such a time as this she could not forget. Mother had often told her how dangerous it was for even her to try to learn it. No child could truly control it.

Of course, Mother was dead, and this power could keep her safe from the dragons. If he could contain it and not let it ran wild.

Some of the energy seeped down to surround his leg, cushioning it and allowing him to walk over to the opening. He focused on the energy more, and it began to glow even brighter, until it was almost a pure white.

She heard one of the dragons screech, far above, as it noticed the light. She sat there as she saw the others fly together, their awful wings beating in unison. She felt paralyzed with fear.

Then the fear became panic and she screamed. “Don’t!”

The boy turned around, startled. “Wha-“

Only she noticed as the first dragon approached him, its mouth open. In a second as long as a millennium, she saw the fire burst out.

She felt the heat, and closed her, curling into a ball next to the girl. They both screamed.

 But it was too late for the boy. “Run!” he screamed as the fire engulfed him.

Almost robotically, she lifted the little girl into her arms and rushed to the back. She scrambled around the rubble. She looked back briefly, and saw the dragons still circling around the boy, but ignored it. Her clothes fluttered in the wind, and she could still hear the dragons, but she never stopped. The child wrapped herself around her neck, and held on as they fled.

They could hear the crackling of the fire, the screams from within. But she did the only thing she could and ran. She felt nothing, saw only the smoke and the tears it produced. Every so often, she thought she could hear a shout for help, or even the creatures still surrounding the house. But their work was done already. The fires would finish it.

The streets had become unfamiliar, a stranger to her. Crumbled houses strewed the roads, but she rushed around them as the child wept. Once or twice, she found a dead end, but for the most part, they were free to go. The creatures were done.

At some point during the night, they reached the end of the city, though she didn’t know when. She was too weary, she realized after a while. The sun was almost up, and all she wished for was rest. She finally put the child down. “Do not worry,” she said through a parched throat. “I’ll protect you.” The child didn’t respond, only stared at her mutely.

She sat down and stared blankly at the sunrise. Everyone she knew was dead. Mother, Father, her brother, her neighbors. And the boy who had tried to destroy the dragons, and only ended up killing himself. We have become weak, she thought. It was too easy for them to hunt us. And it was true. She and the little girl had survived only through luck, and even then they were hurt. For the first time, she could feel the burns on her face and arms.

Half asleep, she wondered if they were the last two people in the world. “It would be a very lonely world,” she muttered. “Though I suppose we could make do before we die.” She tried to keep her eyes opened, to watch the girl who was already snoring in her sleep. This was not the time to be tired. The beasts could return at any time.

She couldn’t think or see straight, though. For a moment, it looked like there was a human shadow in the distance. But everyone’s dead, she thought. And when day arrives, we’ll find a new people, the girl and I. Repopulated by the gods of old. She just needed to stay awake.

What seemed only a moment later, she found herself awaking to a gentle hand shaking her shoulder. She looked up. “Yes?” she muttered at the shadows of two strange men.

They didn’t reply. One only lifted her up as the other lifted up the girl, and began to walk away.

She couldn’t get herself to care. Whoever they were, she thought before she blacked out, they were better than the dragons.

When Nayei awoke, she recognized where she lay as one of the many caves in the cliffs. There were about twenty others, scatter about and quietly talking. Not of what had happened; that was much too recent, if in fact it was even in the past. No, they talked instead of memories. Of far off places, strange lands, not the familiar that was now forever gone.

She tried to concentrate. They all smelled of smoke and sweat, but she didn’t mind. She felt safe for the first time all night. Or day, she supposed.

One of the women noticed she was awake, and smiled as she walked over to her. “Hello, dear. My name is Ainee. You and your sister are safe now. You had a fever when we found you, but it looks like you’re doing better now. Your burns are healed. You’re a little weak for the moment, but some food should cure that. There’s a few out gathering, but they should be back soon. Just rest for now.

She nodded weakly. “But what about the dragons?” she asked. “Are they gone now?”

Ainee stared at her blankly. “Child, what are you talking about?”

“But the fire-“

Ainee shook her head. “Fires happen naturally. Even large ones. The earthquake broke one of the major pipes, and lightning ignited the gas.

“But there were dragons. And people screaming. I met a boy and girl, but the boy tried to use magic and died. and-“ She looked over. “I think she’s his sister.”

Ainee gave a smile, but even as weary as Neyei was, it seemed fake, as if her eyes were not a part of it. “I’m sorry. This must be very confusing for you. Just sleep some more. You’ll be more awake afterwards.”

“No,” she shrieked. “I need to find my family. They’re still down there. We need to get them.”

“I’m sorry,” Ainee, “but there’s nothing we can do. If they’re still down there, they will be dead, and if they escaped, we wouldn’t know where to look.” She stood up and left her side quietly.

She nodded and looked out after she left. From where she sat, she could see there were still small fires in the distance, though most of the main ones had gone out. But that was all there were. The plants had turned black and small. Even from this distance, she could see the bodies. Human bodies. Littered everywhere. The lucky ones had been burned completely, but there were still some that could be recognized as human.

Including, she realized, the boy’s. The stone buildings had been built on a hill, and were the easiest part to see. The house she had sneaked inside was in plain sight in this direction. The boy had somehow gotten outside of the house before he died. He hadn’t gotten far, though.  She could imagine his eyes, black and fearful, looking where she fled.

She closed her eyes. How could this had happened?  She felt tears running down her face. She felt completely alone.

It was only when she opened her eyes again that she saw it. Only a shadow in the clouds, off in the distance. But if she concentrated, it almost looked like a dragon.