Young Writers Society

Blue lightning sliced across the clear night sky, hissing and spitting like a nest of serpents. The planet Pleon’s ghostly figure loomed in the sky above while thousands of comets shot across the heavens. A cruel wind whipped through the forest’s craggy branches. The groans of the trees nearly drowned out the frightened cries of the little dragonet creeping through the Ziptar Woods.

Pendar shivered, tucking his wings in closer in a futile attempt to stay warm. He was exhausted after running aimlessly for hours. He still couldn’t find a way out. He was lost. Why had he wondered off? His parents had warned him about the forest and its dangers; the freak lightning storms on clear nights, a mysterious fog that knocked you unconscious for days and…the dreaded Nightmouth.

A thin finger of ice ran down Pendar’s spines and his teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. No one had ever seen the Nightmouth and lived to tell the tale. Dragons would disappear in the middle of the night, followed by screams and shrieks. In the morning there’d by a trail of blood leading into the Ziptar Woods.

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of lightning and the howling wind vanished, leaving the forest deathly still. Pendar cringed. Not a sound disturbed the night air. Shivering, the dragonet crept forward through the dark underbrush. He kept his undeveloped wings close to his body and tucked his tail between his legs to prevent making a noise. His eyes darted wildly from shadow to shadow as they seemed to take on a life of their own, twisting and coiling like snakes about to strike.Strange scents bit at his nose, musty and bitter. It was impossible to tell which way they were coming from. Impossible to tell were the danger was.

Just hours earlier he’d been playing in the village with the other dragonets, laughing and playing in the tropical sun. Now he was here, lost in the Ziptar Woods in the dead of night, all because of one stupid dare.

Suddenly a twig snapped a ways behind him. Pendar froze, his eyes wide with fear, but there was nowhere to run. Everywhere, the forest seemed to be moving, warping into strange shapes. Not a blade of warm moonlight filtered through the dense canopy and the air was filled with the distorted calls of the beasts lurking in the darkness. Pendar let out a small whine as he turned a full circle. The forest look the same from all sides; dark and forbidding.

Then, without warning, a pair of gleaming yellow eyes appeared out of the gloom behind him. Pendar’s heart started to thump in his chest as panic surged through his body. He wanted to run, but his legs felt rooted to the ground.

The cold eyes blinked slowly, never lifting their steel gaze as the creature watched its terrified prey. Hissing in satisfaction, it stepped out from the vegetation, sweeping the brush aside with its long tail. Pendar collapsed with a whimper of fear as he felt his legs turn to water. He knew he couldn’t out run this creature in his weakened state. With the body of a black wolf and the wings of a dragon, it would easily catch him before he could so much as taken a step. The beast flashed it’s fangs at him in a sort of cruel smile. It knew he couldn’t escape and was enjoying his fear. Pendar hid his head in his paws, waiting for the killing blow.

He lay there, shaking violently as he waited for death to come, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, Pendar peeked out from between his paws. The creature was still there, staring at him with its glittering gold eyes. It cocked its head and sniffed the air uncertainly. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Pendar tentatively got to his feet. The dragon wolf watched him the whole time as if trying to figure out what he was. Pendar and the creature stood there for a few seconds just staring at each other.

“A-a-are you t-t-the Nightmouth?” Pendar’s teeth chattered uncontrollably. His heart was still hammering away in his chest and his couldn’t get his limbs to stop shaking. He didn’t even know if this thing could talk, let alone tell him the truth.

A low growl rumbled up from the creature’s throat as it hissed with some difficulty, “No. Me not Nightmouth.”

“S-s-so you’re not g-g-going to eat me,” Pendar stammered, his muscles rigid.

A barking laugh burst from the creature’s jaws and Pendar flinched, throwing his paws over his head. After a few more pants of laughter, the creature replied with a hint of amusement, “No. Me not eat you. Little dragon taste like bad fish.” It flashed its fangs at Pendar.

Relief flooded through Pendar, but before his muscles could even begin to relax, the creature spoke again, “Little dragon not safe yet. Nightmouth still out there. Me can hear him. He hungry.”

Pendar instantly was on his paws, looking wildly around him as if the Nightmouth was about to jump out on top of him, but the forest was as dark as ever. Nothing moved in amongst the shadows. Rain was starting to fall and its thin pitter patter on the canopy drowned out the eerie sounds of the forest and all warnings of danger. Pendar sank back on his hunches, wrapping his tail over his paws. Why had he thought he was safe? He was still lost in the depths of the Ziptar Woods with no help and the Nightmouth was still out there. His only hope of survival was this dragon wolf. He knew it was desperate, but what choice did he have? Pendar looked back towards the dragon wolf, who was starting to walk back the way it had come. It looked like the creature wasn’t going to help after all. Pendar had known that it was unlikely.

Just then, the creature paused for a moment as if considering something. Finally it turned to him, fixing its piercing eyes on him, “Little dragon come to Wolfton’s den. Little dragon stay till morning. Then go back.”

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” Pendar leapt to his feet and bounded over to the creature, who cast a slightly annoyed look at him as if regretting its decision a bit. It flicked him lightly over the head with its bushy black tail, before loping back into the forest.