Dragon Slayer

DRAGONSLAYER

The knight staggered forward warily, his armour shifting to bring that familiar metal-on-metal clink. His sword shook in his trembling hands, and it took all his efforts not to let it fall. He wiped his brow with a cloth, a token from his Lady Leona, and tucked it safely into his chest plate. The sweat was coming fast, as it always did when he was in difficult situations. Suddenly he felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around, his heart racing. Who was behind him? Had it already found him? When he saw it was only his brother, his heart beat even faster. “Johan!” He said, as loud as he dared, “What are you doing here? You should be at home, comforting mother!” The blonde ten year old raised his eyebrows and pouted like the baby he was. “I don’t want to go; I want to stay with you. I can help you Mikael. Look, your hands are shaking; I can carry your sword!” Mikael cursed silently and bent down to look his brother in the eye. A wisp of hair fell down from inside his open helm and he blew it away. “Johan,” He said, his tone as serious as he could make it, “You go home now or you will be the one I cut down tonight.” He stared into his brother’s eyes a moment longer and finally the little boy gave up. He threw his arms around his older brother and the first tears began to stream down his rosy, young cheeks. “Do your best brother!” He croaked, the words coming hard in the sadness of goodbye. “Do your best, remember your training and you will win! I love you Mikael.” The boy detached himself and looked back into his brother’s eyes, both his and Mikael’s sparkled blue in the dim evening light. Mikael swallowed a lump in his throat. “I love you too; now get on home you little scamp. Don’t tell mother you came here.” Johan hugged him once more and then ran. He didn’t look back, he didn’t dare. For if he looked back he would never be able to leave.

Mikael shuffled towards the mouth of the cave, trying his best to be quiet. Silence was crucial at this point in particular, and Mikael would not lose the trial because of his noisy armour. He took long, slow breaths. He would have to be ready for anything. After all, it was his first time. He took a moment to steady himself before he went in, calming his thoughts. The cave was very high up, very high indeed, and the fact that the passage up to it was only four foot wide at most didn’t help Mikael’s nerves. The knight looked up towards the sky; the light was fading now, and the sun was slowly setting beyond the Korap mountains. He looked down towards the ground, strewn with pine trees and split by the deep Chuckrock river, one of his brother’s favourite things to do was swim in that river. He smiled to himself. He was ready.

The cave was dark and reeked of dead flesh, burned flesh. Mikael tried to ignore it, but it was too prominent to be ignored and soon the knight was walking with one hand pinching his nose. He stepped over small pools of liquid, but it was too dark for them to be identified. The young knight could only hope that it wasn’t blood. He looked up and noted that there were numerous stalactites hanging from the ceiling. They gave him chills, dangling there threateningly; it was as if they were daring him to step past them. But he did, and soon the ceiling was smooth. Mikael’s worries began to leave as he rounded another column of rock and there was still no sign of his prey. Maybe the beast wasn’t there; maybe Mikael wouldn’t have to do the trial after all. But those worries came back as quickly as they’d left when he heard a deafening roar. He didn’t know where it had come from, for it seemed to echo off the walls and bounce at him from every direction. Mikael gripped the sword tighter, his fingers turning blue now, and rounded another column. He came to a sudden halt, his breath left his body and he nearly dropped the sword. Perched on a giant rock in front of him was the most vile, cruel-looking beast he had ever seen in his life. Its dirty green scales glistened in the dark and sharp claws protruded from its grubby hands and feet. Mikael was lucky for the few holes in the ceiling; if not for them he’d have been completely blind. Faint columns of light shone from them and cast a soft golden glow over most of the cavern, just enough for him to see where he was going. ‘So the sun isn’t down yet…’ He thought, looking up at the holes. The dragon’s eyes opened and Mikael jumped back, his stomach doing flips and threatening to throw back up his dinner. Mikael stared at the two black slits in the centre of those green eyes and they stared back at him. A few seconds, and they were still watching each other, waiting. Then the inevitable happened, it attacked.

A column of fire, a flash of sharp claws, Mikael desperately swiped with his sword, trying to hit anything he saw. His training didn’t mean anything anymore, not in this mess. It was like fighting a cloud; he didn’t know where to hit. Swipe, swipe, stab, he was getting nowhere and now there was something painful in his side. Then his sword made contact, it hit something soft and went the whole way in until the hilt was the only part that stuck out. This was his chance, the beast was injured. Mikael stepped back and looked as the dragon stumbled about, the sword had gone right up through his belly. The young knight felt his side, and he looked down in dismay as he realised he too was dying. A sharp claw had come off and now protruded from his ribcage. It had pierced right through the armour and into his soft flesh beneath. He couldn’t believe it, after everything, after all his efforts. A flash of images passed through his mind, his brother, his Lady Leona, his mother and his deceased father. This was it, he was dying. But he wouldn’t go down so easily. He threw down his sword, and it clattered as it hit the stone ground. He wrenched the claw out of his body with a painful scream, and he looked up. With a roar that made even the beast stop in its tracks he ran at it and clambered up onto its back, avoiding the flapping wings and the chomping teeth. He would throw him off the cliff, that’s what he’d do. He would- He would do no more. The beast had its own ideas. It stumbled forward until they were beneath the stalactites again. Mikael didn’t have time to do anything but scream. And he could only think of one thing to scream as a picture of his little brother, his best friend, his little baby passed through his mind. “I’m sorry Johan!!!” He shouted, and the words echoed and echoed around the cave as the dragon flew straight up, impaling both Mikael and itself on a sharp stalactite. There and then, in agony, they died together.

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