The Dragon's Son (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2

Kim knew the legends of the mountain; each one more crazy than the last one. However, all of the stories had one thing in common: the mountain was home to dragons. Kim shivered to herself as she remembered the stories. Her father owned a shop on the far side of Avendal, and she sometimes worked the counter…and she'd heard the stories from hunters and travelers. Some claimed they had seen the dragons of the mountain. Some said that the dragons were evil beasts which waited to devour any human that made their way to the mountain. Others said that the dragons were friendly and loved visitors. However, when she was a child, her father had always warned her that the dragons would come down from the mountain and gobble up disobedient children.
"Could there be dragons up there?" Kim asked. She hiked on through the forest, looking around at the scenery before her. Avendal was far behind her and the sun was rising over the forest. The dew on the blades of grass and the leaves shined and shimmered like the diamond necklace she was wearing. The lush green trees waved in the morning breeze, inviting her into the embrace of the forest. The ground was slanted upwards, as the ground was slowly moving up to the mountain. Kim felt a wave of fear and foreboding. Part of her wanted to turn around and go back…to forget that this ever happened. But, she knew that this was impossible.

"Stop!" Kim spun around. Sitting on the side of the road was an old man with ratty clothes and an ugly beard was looking at her. "What're you doing here, girl?"
"I…I…" Kim didn't know what to say. She was too startled by the sight of the man. "I'm…"
"You're planning on going up the mountain, aren't you?" Kim nodded. The old man gave a very stern look.
"If you're smart, girl…you'll turn around and go back the way you came." Kim didn't move. She was solid as a stone…and she was adamant. The old man looked back up at her, and he was genuinely surprised to see that she wasn't leaving. "Get lost!" He shouted.
"I can't do that!" Kim blurted out.
"Oh, think you can tackle this mountain, do you?" The old man laughed. "Think you have what it takes to face the dragons?" Kims eyes widened.
"So…so there really are dragons up there?" She asked. The old man leaned forward, staring at Kim as if he couldn't quite believe that she existed.
"Oh yes," he whispered, "there are dragons up there…but it's not the dragons you should be worried about." Kim felt a chill run down her spine as the man spoke.
"Why?"
"You just turn around young lady…it's best you don't know." The old man said gruffly. Kim started to turn, but then she remembered what had happened to her family…her town. She couldn't flee.
"No…I have to see the dragons."
"Why do you want to see those blasted fire breathers anyway?" The old man spat. Kim paused for a moment as she thought about whether or not she could trust the man with the information.
"I come from the town of Avendal…and it was attacked last night by…a griffin." The old man froze and turned to look at Kim intently.
"A griffin you say?" He asked. Kim nodded. "That's quite serious."
"My family was separated…and I want to get rid of this monster so that my family can get back together." Kim finished.
"And you want to get the dragons to help kill this griffin?" Kim nodded. The old man sighed and nodded.
"You're a braver girl than I thought."
"Can the dragons kill the griffin?" Kim asked desperately.
"Oh, yes…a griffin is no threat to a dragon…but…" The old man stated with a chuckle.
"But what?" Kim pleaded.
"Something you should know, girl…dragons don't do anything for free…if you want a dragons help…you better be willing to offer up something…and that's assuming you even get to the dragons." Kim stepped closer to the man.
"Please, sir…how do I get to them?" The old man leaned back and stroked his ugly beard.

"Go down this path," he said finally, "you'll make it to the base of the mountain. You'll have to scale the rock surface…and then it's a long climb to the top…it's the only way up. Very few men can make that climb."
"I'll have to." Kim said. "Thank you, sir."
"Wait girl…one more thing." Kim stopped and turned to face the man.
"When you get to the base of the mountain…look out for wolves and bears of course…but…beware of the guardian." Kim gave a questioning look.
"Guardian?" The old man trembled a little and looked down the pathway.
"I saw him myself once before," he said, "at the base of the mountain lives a demon…a guardian that lives to protect the dragons…if you see him, you'd best run away as fast as you can."
"What does this…demon…look like?" Kim asked.
"…Like a human…but not a human…" the old man whispered. The man rose to his feet and started walking away. "Best of luck, girl." Kim watched as the man walked away, and silently went on her way. The words of the old man still echoed I her ears.
Kim wandered onward, steadily climbing more and more uphill. The rocky mountain was getting closer and closer…becoming steeper with each step. Kim became more and more aware of her surroundings. It was like the forest was watching her. Would she encounter the demon that the old man was talking about? What would she do if she saw it?

A low growl interrupted her thoughts. She spun behind her to see something lurking behind the trees. It was large and hairy with a bloody snout and vicious teeth. It's eyes were a menacing blue and its ears were laid back. It was the biggest wolf that Kim had ever seen…and it wasn't alone. Four more wolves came stalking from behind the trees. All were large…and all were hungry.
"Oh no." Kim whispered. She quickly made a run for the steep rock ledge. If she could start climbing the rocks, she might be able to get out of the reach of the wolves. She threw herself onto the rock and quickly tried to start climbing.
"AAAAH!" The teeth of the wolf dug deep into her leg, yanking her off of the rock ledge and back down to the ground. "Let go!" Kim screamed, trying to kick the wolf away. The other wolves were closing in, growling and snarling as they came. "Help! Someone, help!" Kim cried. She silently prayed for someone to come and help her. She would have settled with anyone…but even if they did come, who would be brave enough to fight of a pack of wolves?
"Please…help!" Kim cried, trying desperately to get away. The largest wolf moved in and was preparing to bite deep into her throat…finishing her off. Kim's eyes shut quickly, expecting the fangs to dig into her flesh.

There was a yelp and a bark. The wolf holding Kims leg released her suddenly. Kim's eyes flew open and saw that the wolves had abandoned her, they had directed their attention elsewhere. Kim looked up from the ground and saw a sight that she simply couldn't believe…
Standing a few yards away from her was a boy…a boy only a little taller than her. He was naked other than a pair of dirty and torn trousers. He had long dirty brown hair that looked almost like it was covered in mud. The large wolf that had tried to kill Kim only a second ago was being held off the ground by its throat. The other wolves had surrounded and were attacking the boy. Kim watched in amazement as the boy threw the large wolf he was gripping at the ground and then threw a vicious punch at another wolf. A third wolf tried to jump on the boys back, but he had dodged the leaping beast and had grabbed it by the tail, swinging it over his head like a lasso.
"WATCH OUT!" Kim cried. The 4th wolf broke from the rest and bit into the boys wrist. Kim cried out in horror as she heard a bone break! However…the boys wrist was fine! The wolf let out a yelp; its font teeth chipped. The boy spun, grabbed the wounded wolf by the collar and held it over his head, throwing it against a tree. Kim looked at the boys bitten wrist and only saw a few puncture wounds…as if he had been bitten by a kitten.
The boy looked at the pile of beaten wolves and let out a furious roar…a roar that made Kim's hair stand on end. It wasn't a human roar…it sounded beast like…it was primal…his roar was loud and animal like. The boy turned and saw her. Kim felt a jolt of fear as its eyes fell on her. This must have been the demon that the old man had mentioned. The demon took a few steps towards her. Kim backed away quickly, but the pain in her ankle was too much. She couldn't stand.
"Please…stay away!" The demon stopped and stared at her. She looked into his eyes…and stared as well. They were a deep gold…a yellow color that was gorgeous to look at, but also very mysterious. The boy then walked over to her and crouched down next to her leg, looking at the bleeding ankle.
"Leave me alone!" Kim cried.

"Vradin." The demon said. Kim gave him a shocked look.
"What?" Kim asked fearfully.
"Ka drus humatil." The demon continued. He then bent over Kim's ankle and stared at the injury. "Ti drus sierva."
"I…I don't understand." Kim cried. The demon boy shook his head and began scratching his head.
"You…hurt…" the demon struggled to say. Kim was surprised by how human his voice was. He sounded like a normal human. "I…help…"
"Oh, um…" Kim quickly tried to think of an excuse or a reason why the demon shouldn't help. "I'm fine…I just need to rest…I…" she looked at the boy who was staring at her mysteriously. She tried to climb to her feet, but found that she couldn't stand by her own strength. Her leg was bleeding terribly and she couldn't stay up. She started to fall back to the ground, when suddenly she felt the boy grab her by the arm.
"Vërn-k" Kim looked at him as he spoke…there was an odd power behind that word…she felt like she didn't want to resist it. It sounded so strange…yet so commanding. What did it mean? What language was he speaking? Without warning, the demon boy suddenly lifted her off of her feet and put Kim's body over his back, like if he were giving her a piggy back ride.
"Hang on…" The boy said simply. Kim prepared to protest or shout at him, but the boy was already running at the mountain. Kim watched in stunned amazement as the boy ran at the jagged rock ledge and grabbed a foot hold. Almost instantly, he started scaling the wall…but not only was he scaling it…he was FAST! The boy was practically sprinting up the mountain on all fours, as if he had been doing it all of his life. He climbed faster than any mountain climber that she had ever seen. She had no choice but to cling to his neck in fear that she would fall. Where was he taking her?
"Where are we going?" Kim asked. The boy didn't answer. He simply kept climbing, faster and higher. The air was getting colder…and her body was starting to feel a little numb. It was getting a little more difficult to breathe in deeply. The boy was taking her all the way to the top.

Eventually, the boy stopped and the ground leveled. He eased her off of his back and she looked around. She could see for miles around…but it was what was in front of her that interested her. There was an enormous cave that went deep into the peak of the mountain. The wind whistled by her and it chilled her to the bone. The boy looked unbothered. He stepped forward and stood before the cave.
"VRADIN! TI SIERVA-K" The boy roared. He began shouting other words in that strange language…but Kim wasn't paying attention anymore. There was a movement from within the cave. Something was coming out…Kim couldn't breathe…all of her breathe was taken away by the sight of what came out.

It was magnificent! An enormous scale covered body that was gold in color. It had spines going down its spine all the way down its tail, and horns on its head. Its claws were huge and sharp. It's tail was as long as its long snake like body. Jutting from its back were absolutely massive wings. It's snout was long and lizard like. Its eyes were a golden yellow…just like the boys! The dragon was staring at Kim.
"Hello, human…welcome to the Great Mountain peak." The dragon said in a very old and wise voice. Kim couldn't speak. She was looking from the dragon, back to the boy, and then back to the dragon. The dragon looked at her and noticed that she kept glancing at the two of them.
"Ah, I see that you have already met my son."