literature

Dragon Days Ch 15

Deviation Actions

Published: Jan 15, 2013

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Literature Text

I woke up the next morning sore all over. I groaned as I stretched a little and many bones popped. Elsie was soon awake as well and I followed her slowly outside. Only Sam was awake and he was busy getting the fire going again. I sat down in front of the now lit and growing fire, letting the heat seep into my joints. Once I was warmed up enough I stood up and stretched, getting more than a few slightly worried expressions from the other campers in the process. Sam apparently decided to take breakfast duty and started frying up some sausages while Daniel emerged rather ungracefully from his tent. He headed towards Max’s tent, grabbed one of the poles and shook it. Max appeared moments later and both he and Daniel joined us around the fire.

Sam was taking his time with breakfast so I grabbed a snack bar from my tent to dull my hunger for the moment. I grabbed a few extras for the others and they gladly accepted them. We started chatting and I was part way through a debate with Daniel explaining why Google is going to become the new Apple when Sam finally finished breakfast and brought us our plates. Lots of sausages, some eggs and hash browns covered the plate and everyone gladly devoured all of it. After we had finished and Sam cleaned up after breakfast we all sat around and tried to figure out what to do for the day.

“How about a hike? I haven’t been to the caves in a while.” I suggested.

“Aww, but I wanted to hit the water again.” Daniel complained.

“I’m up for a hike. I’ll go with you man.” Max said.

“Eh, what the heck, I’m game.” Elsie added.

“Fine then, me and Daniel will take the boat out and you three can go up to the caves.” Sam said.

We all thought that was a great idea and divided up to get ready. I didn’t grab much, just a holster I made years ago to hold a water bottle and Elsie didn’t grab anything. Max emerged from his tent with a backpack and an extra water bottle for Elsie and met us at the table. Today’s lunch consisted of sandwiches and everyone was responsible for making their own. I was busy heaping ham and salami onto mine when Sam and Daniel joined us.

“So you guys ready?” Sam asked.

I zipped up the plastic bag that held my sandwich and tossing it into Max’s bag, “I am now.”

“Same here.” Elsie added.

“Right then,” Max said zipping up his bag and slinging around his shoulder, “I guess we’re off. See you two jokers later.”

We headed off towards the trailhead and began our hike up the wooded mountain. We passed a few people and more than a few times they stared at us walking on all fours. I got bored a few times and tried to catch some birds, succeeding to pull out some tail feathers on one attempt. We reached our destination on about an hour or so and it felt nice to be out in the open under the suns rays

The caves where an outcropping of rock where the elements had chiseled away at the soft sandstone to form a series of caves. We were all getting hungry so we made our way to one of the larger caves and pulled out the sandwitches. We ate in the cool shade of the cave and we decided to do some bouldering afterward. Walking around a little, we found a suitable place to start and began climbing. I found it surprisingly easy to grip the rock face with my new claws, even when I wasn’t digging them into the soft sandstone. I was reaching for another hand hold when Elsie started yelling for us.

“Hey guys, come over here and check this out!” She called.

Max and I hopped off the rocks and made our way over to where Elsie was waiting in front of a one of the smaller caves.

“What’s up?” Max asked.

“I think this one goes deeper down but the hole’s too small to get through. Wanna give me a hand at getting it open and see where it goes?” She replied.

“I do! Let’s get started.” I said excited.

The hole was just big enough to reach an arm into and made of fairly thin sandstone. Me and Elsie began to claw away at the rock but we weren’t making much progress. It was a slightly harder rock and more resistant to claws but I remembered an old mining method that might help to make easy work of the rock.

“Elsie, stop digging. We need to heat the rock and then throw some water on it.” I explained.

“Why?” She asked.

“Thermal shock.” Max yelled out, “The heating then quick cooling of the rocks will cause it to fracture.”

“Exactly. You ready?” I asked.

“I guess so.” She replied.

We bathed the wall in flame, alternating to keep the wall from cooling down. After a short break to check the temperature, we found the wall was nearly glowing and it was time for the water. I grabbed the bottle and sprayed the wall. There was a clear CRACK as the rock broke and we had to wait a bit until it cooled enough to touch. About half of it had crumbled to the ground and it was a simple task of clearing the way but the other half had to be worked loose until we cleared a space large enough to fit through.

“I didn’t bring any flashlights so I guess you’ll have to stay here Max, sorry about that.” I said.

“Wait? Then how are you guys gonna see?” He asked as Elsie wiggled through the hole.

I went through the hole after her and before I disappeared, I turned around to Max and smiled, “Dragon.”

If I was still human, I probably wouldn’t be able to see a thing. Luckily, that wasn’t a problem and it was almost as bright as day inside the dark cave. We had been walking for about five minutes and the first stalagmites had started to appear; small at first, but as the minutes wore on they grew and grew, some forming pillars that held up the roof above our heads. The sound of water steadily grew as we descended and now it pooled on the ground and flowed deeper into the cave along the rock strata.

“Have you ever seen anything like it?” Elsie asked.

We were in a large gallery and the water trickled and flowed down the wall along smooth deposits of calcite. The ground was relatively flat save for a few boulders and the roof was lined with delicate stalactites that dripped water into the small river below.

“Once, but it had been mined and drilled through for public use.” I said taking a seat on a rock, “This is much more spectacular.”

She came and sat besides me and I wrapped my arms around her. We sat for quite some time in eachothers arms, listening to the sounds of the cave as it echoed through the subterranean passages. It is a rare thing to sit in the dark of a cave and just be able to listen to sounds that no one had heard before. Sure other people had heard the sounds of a cave, but not the specific melody of this particular cave.

We reluctantly decided it was about time to head back to the surface and rejoin Max but not before looking down another passage. It led us to nowhere but a dead end so we doubled back, making note of a small crack that let a fresh breeze into the cave that could go deeper down. We took our time on the way back, stopping often to examine a rock formation to prolong our time spent in this underground wonderland. A while later we caught the first glimpse of sunlight and found the hole we crawled through to enter this previously undiscovered cave.

“Welcome back to the surface! How was it in the bowels of the Earth?” Max asked when he saw us.

“It was beautiful.” Elsie said.

“Yeah, I felt like Professor Lidenbrock going through that cave.” I added.

“Well come on, we should probably be getting back and not to mention we have to tell the park rangers about this.” Max said picking up his pack.

“Fine, but let’s block it off so someone less respectful and more stupid than us doesn’t go in.” I said.

We piled the rocks back up around the entrance before heading back to camp. The hike back was uneventful, excluding of course the look on the faces of the few other hikers who say me and Elsie walking on all fours. We reached the camp in no time and Max promptly sat himself down in front of the fire pit. Sam and Daniel still weren’t back yet and I had some energy left to burn. I asked Elsie if she wanted to go flying around for a bit and she said she’d go so I took a few big gulps of water before walking past Max on my way to the shore.

“I think we’re gonna go fly around for a bit.” I told him.

“Ok, take as long as you want.” He said half awake.

I followed Elsie down to the lakeshore and she sprung into the air. I followed her up and we started flying a large circuit around the lake. About halfway around we started playing aerial tag. Elsie might have the advantage of long distance endurance flying, but I was the ace when it came to dogfights. She would try and twist away but I had the tighter turning circle and caught her almost instantly. After a while, fatigue was starting to get the better of us and we headed for home. That’s when my worst nightmare happened.

Bang!

“Aahh!”

I looked around for the origin of the bang but I couldn’t find any hint to tip me off so I started looking for who screamed. I didn’t see anything on the ground but when I turned my head and saw Elsie holding her chest and descended rapidly, I knew who it was that screamed. It didn’t take long for me to put two and two together. She had been shot. Rage boiled up inside of me. I wanted to find who was responsible but Elsie’s safety took priority at the moment. She was wavering, her wing beats were becoming labored and I could see blood dripping into the lake below. I swooped down and closed her wings, wrapping my arms around her.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” I whispered in her ear.

She moaned and I winged back towards camp. I sped as fast as I could, diving down to get more speed and finally coming across the boat as Sam piloted it to shore.

“Max, get the first aid kit and call 911! Now!” I screamed as I set down in the campsite.

Max was asleep when I landed but he woke up quickly and looked in my direction. When he saw my face and caught a glimpse of Elsie he shoved the chair out of his way and sprinted to the car. I heard him throwing things around inside the car until he found the first aid kit and came running back as I set Elsie on to the ground.

“What happened?” Max asked.

“We were flying and there was a bang. She screamed and started going down.” I said frantically, “I don’t know why but I’m sure of it that she was shot.”

Max got up and reached for some towels, pulling them off of the clothesline where they were drying. He rolled one up and put it under her head, taking another and swabbing up the blood from her chest. Multiple puncture wounds dotted her chest, a sure sign of a shotgun. Daniel and Sam came skidding to a stop behind Max, pressing him for questions as I tore open the first aid kit. I was looking for the antiseptic when another woman came up from behind me and pushed me to the side.

“Move over, I’m a doctor.” She said, rolling up her sleeves, “Can you hear me? My names Rachel, I’m here to help. Can you tell me your name?”

“Elsie.” She groaned.

“Ok, Elsie. I’m gonna fix you up, you’ll be fine.” Rachel said before turning around, “Helen dear, please go get your father and tell him I need my med kit. And hurry!”

“Edge. Where’s Edge?” Elsie whimpered.

I took her hand and gently squeezed it, “I’m right here.”

I didn’t watch what Rachel or anyone else was doing, time seemed to slow down as I kept my eyes on Elsie’s face. My heart would skip a beat every time she winced or groaned in pain. I thought I heard someone else approaching followed by the sound of a tackle box opening but I can’t remember for sure. After a bit she passed out and Rachel told me it was just from the pain when I pressed her for answers in a panic. I didn’t move from her side until I was eventually and forcefully pulled away by what I guessed was Rachel’s husband and went to curl up as tight as I could by the fire pit. I was worrying myself sick thinking of all the bad things that could happen when Rachel came and waved me over to where Elsie lay; breathing shallowly on the ground, blood staining the dirt around her and the bandages that covered her chest.

“She’s stable now but she needs to be in a hospital, and soon.” Rachel explained.

“Fine then, I’ll fly her there.” I said stepping closer.

Rachel held me back and stepped between us, “No! Something like that would only make it worse, we need to wait until the air ambulance arrives.”

“But who knows how long that’ll take! I’ll take her now.” I growled.

She slapped me right across the face, “Do you want to make it worse! She could die if you fly her to a hospital no matter how careful you are! I phoned in and called for a medical chopper and they should be here soon.”

I growled and took off. If I couldn’t make her better now, then I would find whoever was responsible and make them pay. No one could mistake us for birds, they had to shoot with the intent of hitting a dragon. All that I knew besides that, is that whoever was responsible, better pray I didn’t find them...

Well that was relatively fast. Had some trouble with this one but after a little inspiration I was able to pound it out. I just finished reading A Journey To The Center Of The Earth by Jules Verne and it reminded me of the few times I was in a cave.

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