Broken Wings

Dead Man

The second I saw the dragon, I froze, struggling to take in the beast before me. It had forest green scales with some lighter and darker patches scattered about its hide. Its eyes were large and golden with black slits for pupils. It had a pair of tan-ish, off-white horns extending from the back of its long, narrow head. Spikes ran in a single row from the base of its skull to the tip of its tail. A pair of enormous wings were folded at its sides. I could easily imagine the mouth full of long sharp teeth it surely had. And worst of all, it was huge. Bigger than any animal I'd ever seen. It had to be at least fifty feet from nose to tail! And even laying down, its shoulder looked at least five feet off the ground, like an elephant but much longer.

My heart hammered in my chest, and I felt light headed. I waited for it to jump up and charge me, but instead, it just stared at the water. Does it even know I'm here? After about a minute, I slowly turned around. I dragged myself back until I hit a tree, then propped myself up against it. The dragon still wasn't looking at me. I took a shaky breath, then drew my pistol. Then the dragon sniffed, flaring its nostrils, and looked at me, piercing me with a golden stare.

I stayed very still and stared right back. Our gazes stayed locked for several long moments until it glanced away and started to get up. As soon as it moved I leveled my pistol at it. The dragon flinched, then let out a low, rumbling growl, glaring at me again.

That almost made me open fire; the only thing stopping me was the fact that I probably wouldn't be able to kill it without an incredibly lucky shot. And my luck had not been great the last few days. I figured my chances were better if I didn't provoke it.

The dragon paced a short stretch back and forth on its side of the water, swiveling its head on its long neck to watch me even as I tracked it with the gun. After a few laps, it stopped and growled again. Then we stared at each other for a few minutes. My heart hammered away in my chest, nervous sweat ran down my face, and frantic thoughts raced through my mind as I tried to figure out how I could scare this monster off. To my growing panic, I couldn't think of anything workable that didn't stand an equal chance of just pissing it off. Before I came up with anything even resembling a plan, the creature stepped into the pool separating us and strode steadily toward me.

"No! Stay away!!" I shouted, but the dragon barely reacted, just growling again and continuing towards me. When it got halfway across the pool, I snapped and opened fire on it. The rapid blasts of the shots were deafening against the quiet of the forest, easily drowning out the waterfall and setting my ears ringing. The dragon recoiled and leaped sideways after the first few shots, landing in deeper water with a terrific splash! I chased it with my bullets, firing and cursing continuously. Then suddenly, all I could hear was my own involuntary battle cry.

I shut up and stared at my weapon, my adrenaline super-charged mind struggling to understand that I'd already burned through the entire magazine. A monstrous roar broke me from my stupor, and I looked back at the dragon in horror as it surged toward me with wings half spread, kicking a huge spray of water skyward and appearing more like an avalanche or flash flood than an animal! I quickly ejected the empty mag and struggled to reload with my injured arm, but I only ended up fumbling the pistol. The dragon reached the shore as the gun hit the ground, and my nerve broke completely. Rather than go for my pistol, I tried to stand up and run, broken legs be damned. I actually made it a full step on my bad ankle, but as soon as I planted my left foot, a lightning bolt of agony shot from my leg straight into my skull! I collapsed hard on my chest, spots blocking more than half of my vision.

I stayed conscious through adrenaline and sheer willpower and rolled onto my back. I grabbed my knife out of its sheath and waited to go down fighting for all I was worth! The dragon was on top of me the second after I readied my knife, and it took a quick swipe at my legs with its claws! I slashed wildly at the paw, grunting as the movement strained my injured ribs, but the dragon jumped back before my blade struck it. It landed a few yards away and reared its head back like a cobra preparing to strike. Then a torrent of fire poured from the creature's maw and rushed toward me!