Prologue - First Blood

A nuclear war brings the dragons, and 100 years later, Cedric seeks to keep Evelyn from making any rash decisions.

August 5th, 2087

The President of the United States had begun to panic. All of the superpowers in the world, including the United States, were launching nuclear missiles every hour. New York and San Francisco had already been leveled by Japan and Russia, not to mention all of the other states and countries that had been hit in the past few days, and he suspected that Washington DC would be next on the list. The radiation levels in the atmosphere were increasing dramatically with each time a missile hit, and his citizens were beginning to change. Some people’s ears grew long and pointy, some people began shrinking to the size of garden gnomes, and other people turned into green, goblin-like creatures. He was used to radiation poisoning, but this was entirely different. He suspected that something other than the radiation was causing this, but of what that was, he was unsure.

The president paced by the tall window in his office, trying to decide what he should do. He tugged at his hair and wrung his hands nervously. Outside his window, he could see a huge mushroom cloud billowing up in the distance. Suddenly, as he watched, the clouds above the city began swirling and turning purple. He stared, open-mouthed, as the sky ripped open, leaving a giant crack suspended in the sky that was growing bigger and wider by the second. The purple clouds swirled violently around it as a giant, reptilian eye appeared on the other side of the crack. It glanced around at the city for a moment, as if deciding what to do next. Then, a massive, clawed foot pushed the hole open further and a dragon the size of Mount Everest stepped through onto the city, crushing skyscrapers under its feet. The sounds of millions of people screaming, trying to flee the repulsive beast, filled the air, and the president pressed his face against the window, trying to see the head of the dragon. Its glittering scales were fiery red and high above the clouds, its black eyes surveyed the ground below. Jagged, black horns curled out of its head and on the end of its tail were long, black spikes like those of a stegosaurus. It threw back its massive head and let out a thunderous roar, spewing a column of fire into the sky. As the sound resonated throughout the city, a swarm of hundreds of smaller, black dragons flew out of the crack behind the monstrous creature. While considerably smaller than the dragon whom the President assumed was their leader, they were still about the size of a two-story house.

The black dragons circled the sky around the red one as it spread its black wings, which stretched as far as the eye could see and blocked out the sun, plunging Washington DC into darkness. A great wind arose as the red dragon pumped its wings up and down, preparing to take off, and the president was thrown back across the room as the White House shook beneath him. Dust fell from the ceiling and the president scrambled out of the way as the window shattered. The wind pushed the president against the crumbling wall, and he struggled to pull his way across the wall towards the door, but the sickening sound of shattering granite above his head stopped him. He screamed as a beam fell from the ceiling directly on top of him and the entire building collapsed.

   In the same hour, another tear in the sky had formed in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean before the eyes of a group of soldiers on a small, Russian battleship, and another dragon of monstrous size emerged. This dragon had ice-blue scales and gentle, blue eyes. Long, white horns sprouted from its head, and its slender tail had a single, razor-sharp blade on the end. Its humongous feet caused tall waves to go rippling across the ocean in all directions as it stepped through the portal. Behind it, several hundred white dragons the approximate size of the black dragons poured out and circled around the majestic, blue dragon, their feathered wings gracefully gliding on the ocean breeze. The blue dragon spread its wings and rose into the air, the beating of its wings causing the ocean below it to churn intensely, capsizing the battleship. Most of the stunned crew had bobbed up to the surface in time to see the dragon turn and calmly fly away towards Asia.

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100 years later...

   It was a cool night in April, 2190 in the small town of New Delhi. The town was peaceful as the residents returned to their homes and were settling in for the night. 11-year-old Cedric Moon sat casually in a tree in a small forest beside the town, his leg swinging below the branch and his spiked, dark brown hair rustling in the light breeze. His brown skin and black t-shirt made him almost invisible to anyone who would look his way.

 Settling into a groove in the bark of the tree, his youthful mind wandered as he thought over the events of the past few days. His best friend, Evelyn Woods (or Evie, as he called her), who was only ten years of age, had just lost her father in a shadow dragon attack a few days ago. He knew that the dragon was currently living in that very forest not far from the town, and he knew that Evie was likewise aware of that. Cedric wanted to be sure that both the town and his friend were safe, so he sat in his tree and watched over the dark, little houses of New Delhi. He would sleep now and then, but he was a night owl and he enjoyed being outside under the stars, listening to the other nighttime animals.

   As he sat on his branch, his eyes slowly closing, he suddenly perked up his pointed ears. He listened carefully and detected the faint sound of a door creaking slowly open and shut again somewhere in the town. He wasn’t surprised when he saw a girl with Evie’s distinctive, blonde pixie cut running towards the trees. She was brandishing her pearl dagger and had a furious and determined look on her round face. Cedric sat still, not wanting her to know he was there, and watched as she ran into the forest towards where the dragon lived. As quietly as he could, he followed behind her, stepping lightly from branch to branch in the trees.

   Evie reached the cave in which the dragon resided and called out, “Dragon! Come out and face me!”

   Cedric crouched in a nearby tree, still silently watching. The forest was silent. There was no sound from inside the cave. Not even the crickets were chirping. He pleaded to whatever higher being might be out there that the dragon would not come. He didn't wish to think about what might happen if that dragon attacked his friend.

He continued to wait from his spot in the tree, watching Evie, who herself was getting more anxious by the second. Her pointed ears twitched as she listened intently for any sound coming from the cave. When still nothing happened, he concluded that either the dragon hadn’t heard or that it had left, and breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Then the sound started. A quiet rumbling sound coming from deep inside the cave. As it came closer, he recognized it. It was the growl of an angry beast. Before he could warn his friend, the massive, black shadow dragon burst out of the cave, spewing black flames left and right. Evie screamed and fell backward, clutching at her leg. Cedric leaped out of the tree and sprinted towards her. “Evie!” he shouted desperately.

Time seemed to slow down as he saw the terrible creature lift its paw, claws gleaming menacingly. Cedric pushed himself to go faster, lunging in front of Evie just as the dragon struck out with its claws. He was smashed into the ground, the hard blow knocking the breath from his lungs. He gasped for air, struggling to sit up. Crimson blood oozed from long gashes across his face and chest.

Cedric wiped the blood away from his eyes, panting heavily and shaking off the lightheadedness. He clenched his fists in determination as the dragon began to advance on Evie again. Despite his wounds, the young elf boy jumped to his feet, drawing his sword and shouting loudly at the beast, swinging his blade left and right. The dragon backed up slightly, surprised. It opened its mouth, preparing to spew fire at Cedric, but the young elf took the dragon’s surprise to his advantage and lunged forward, trying to stab his sword up under its chin, where it was the most vulnerable. The dragon reared back quickly, deflecting the strike, but suffered a painful gash to its leg, the blade having severed a blood vessel. The dragon’s blood spilled onto the green grass, the dark red liquid glittering in the moonlight, and it roared in pain, trying to swipe at Cedric again with its other paw. The elf boy nimbly ducked out of the way, jabbing his sword into the dragon’s other leg. Now furious, the dragon opened its mouth again, ready to fire.

Taking the opportunity, Cedric threw his sword as hard as he could into the mouth of the dragon, piercing through the skin of its throat and stabbing through the back of its head. The dragon’s fire stopped in its throat, its legs wobbling and eyes glazing over. It staggered forward a step, gasping out its final, raspy breath, and collapsed to the ground in a blood-soaked heap, lifeless.

   The young elf walked up to the dragon and yanked his sword out of its mouth. He felt sick. He had never killed anything before. Cedric looked down at his stained clothes, realizing how much blood he had lost already. He started to bind his own wounds, trying to stop the bleeding, but quickly turned when he heard the faint crying from Evie behind him. Cedric immediately dropped his bloody sword and fell to his knees beside his sobbing friend.

   “What were you thinking?” he exclaimed, examining the burn on her leg. It was too dark to see much, but there was just enough moonlight to see that the dragon’s fire had burned away a large patch of skin on Evie’s left shin. It was bright red, blistering, peeling, and the tips of the peeling skin were charred and black. “Oh, Evie…” he breathed, his voice full of sympathy. Her jaw was rigid from clenching her teeth and her eyes were squeezed shut, but her teary eyes opened when she heard his voice and immediately widened when she saw him.

“C-Cedric, you’re h-hurt!” she cried, prying her shaking hand from around her leg to touch his bloody chest.

“Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. But this burn is serious,” he said worriedly. She tried to reply, but could only whimper and clamp her arm back around her knee in an endeavor to keep her leg still. “I have to get you back to town.” He tore off a piece of his shirt and bound it carefully around his friend’s leg. “You’re going to be fine, Evie,” he reassured her, looping his arms under her knees and back. Evie pinched her eyes shut and hissed in a breath as he gently lifted her into the air.

“Th-thank you, Moon,” said Evie, wrapping her hands around his neck as Cedric carried her back through the forest.

He smiled down at her. “I could never let anything happen to my best friend.”

The young, blood-covered elf stumbled into town carrying Evie and calling, “Someone, please, help!”

Shortly after, several townspeople rushed out of their homes in their nightgowns, running to the young elves’ aid. One of the stronger adults took Evie out of Cedric’s arms and carried her to the doctor’s house, Cedric following close behind. As he walked, his vision began to go blurry. The color drained from his skin, and his breath came in short, ragged gasps. One of the women who had come out to see the commotion noticed his deteriorating condition, and ran over to him just as he began to collapse. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Cedric groaned and opened his eyes. He blinked away the blurriness and looked around the room. He realized quickly that he was in the house of the town doctor. The white walls and thin curtains made the sunlight that shone through the open window seem even brighter and a slight breeze wafted in, ruffling his hair. He turned his head to the side and saw Evie laying on a bed beside him with a bandage wrapped around her leg, her big eyes watching him worriedly. When she saw him look over at her, she sighed with relief.

“You gave me quite a scare, Moon,” she stated, reaching over and poking him in the arm. “You were out for pretty long. The doctor said you got hurt real bad. He said you’re lucky to be alive.”

“How long, exactly?” asked Cedric.

“A little over a day,” replied his friend. “Glad you’re awake, though. I was gettin’ bored.”

Cedric smiled, but a twinge of pain brought his hand flying up to his cheek, where he felt small stitches in his skin. He looked down at his chest and lifted the clean bandages away to reveal three long gashes in his chest, also stitched up. He lowered the bandages and laid his head back on his pillow, letting out a long breath.

“Why’d you do it?” asked Evie after a moment of silence.

“Do what?”

“Jump in front of that dragon. Don’t get me wrong, it was real brave, but still. You risked your life for me. Why?”

“You’re my best friend. That dragon was going to kill you. I wasn’t going to let that happen,” replied Cedric.

“Thanks, Moon.”

“Anything for you, Evie.”

Author's Note

Any feedback is appreciated

Reviews

[Paul Bell]

I like this story.
But I'm just wondering if people will see it as George and the dragon.
Just thinking. If you changed it to Aliens who had manipulated all the nuclear states to attack each other.
It may give your story a darker feel.
You have a great talent for writing.

[Talia M.]

Thank you for your feedback. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
I assure you, though, this book is nothing at all like George and the Dragon. I already have it all planned out, so I can't exactly make as drastic of a change as you are suggesting. The entire book is centered around dragons, but there is much more to it than just fighting the dragons. Remember, this is just the prologue. There is still a lot more of the story to come.
I hope you continue reading as I post more chapters!

[Paul Bell]

Okay, look forward to it.