Chapter 1 - The Proposition

The day starts off normal for Evie and Cedric, but quickly goes downhill when an incident occurs at the local tavern.

Evie grinned mischievously as she brandished her sword, taunting Cedric to fight her. He lunged forward, swinging his sword at the elf girl. She raised her sword quickly, their blades clashing together as she deflected his blow.

“Come on, Moon!” she laughed. “You’re holding back!”

“I am not!” he huffed, striking out again. Evie ducked under his arm and swung her blade upward at the hilt of his blade. Once it made contact, she twisted her arm and thrust away from him, causing his sword to go flying away from his hand. Before he could get to it to pick it up, Evie jumped back to her feet and pointed the point of her blade at his throat.

“You lose!” she said cheekily, sheathing her sword.

“Hmph.” Embarrassed at having been shown up by a girl, Cedric picked his own sword back up and sheathed it in his belt, sticking his bottom lip out in a pout.

Evie punched him lightly on the shoulder and pulled her red and yellow flannel shirt down from a nearby tree where it had been hung, tying it around her waist. “Don’t be such a sore loser, Moon. It’s your own fault that you go easy on me when we spar.”

“I just don’t want to hurt you, that’s all,” said Cedric, trying to defend himself.

“Hurt me?” Evie laughed. “I’m seventeen! I can defend myself just as well as you can. You’re only a few months older than me, you know.”

“Yeah, I know.” Cedric gave her a little smile. “But that still makes me your elder.”

Evie smirked. “Oh, is that how it is?”

Cedric grinned and lifted his chin. “Yeah, that's how it is.”

Evie jumped at Cedric, tackling him to the ground. He laughed, trying to roll her off of him. He managed to wiggle his way out of her grasp and scrambled to his feet, running up a nearby tree. Evie ran up to the tree and pouted jokingly, crossing her arms.

“Hey, no fair!” she yelled up at him. “You know I can't climb trees like you can!”

He just laughed, balancing on a branch high above the ground and brushing the dirt off of his denim vest. “I'll race you back to town!”

“You're on, Moon!” Evie took off into the woods, running below her friend who leapt gracefully from branch to branch, his laughs echoing through the forest. Cedric glanced down at her, and seeing that she was pulling ahead, put on a burst of speed.

The edge of the forest was quickly coming into view. When he reached it, he swung down from his branch, landing on the grass with a soft thud. “You lo--” he started to say, but before he could finish, Evie ran headlong into him, sending them both tumbling to the ground.

“Sorry!” she said, quickly scrambling off of her friend.

Cedric coughed and took a deep breath. “It’s okay,” he choked out, slowly sitting up. “I’m perfectly fine.” Evie stood and held out her hand to Cedric. He took it and she pulled him to his feet. “Thanks,” he said, brushing the dust out of his dark hair.

Now all tired out from their long sparring session in their private clearing in the forest and their race, the two elves walked back to town. The small town of New Delhi was a bright, bustling place. The old, once massive city lay in ruins just over a small hill. The war over a hundred years ago had leveled most of the cities in the world. The ones still standing were overrun with thousands of dragons that had come into the world when the strange portals had opened up in the sky. Not enough skilled scientists were left after that day to figure out what had caused the rifts, but even if there were, the EMPs and the dragons had disabled or destroyed most of the electronic devices in the world. The ones that were left were collected and hoarded by lightning dragons, who built large nests on the tops of mountains and tall buildings and flew through the clouds, searching for any electricity. If they found someone using an electric device, they would track down the electric currents, kill the person, and take the device. The people of Earth had to learn new ways of doing things to be able to survive these new threats. As a result, technology had reverted back to ancient times. Thankfully, though, medecine did not. The doctors of the new Earth used mainly herbs and other natural treatments for sickness and injury, but they had enough knowledge from books and other documents to ensure accurate treatment and made sure not to make the same mistakes that the ancient doctors had made. One such doctor was a halfling by the name of Richard Beasley who had come over from the Americas and settled in New Delhi with his wife and children. His 17-year-old daughter, Hattie Beasley, was one of Evie and Cedric’s best friends.

As the two exhausted elves walked down the sunny, cobblestone road of the town, Hattie ran out of one of the houses to greet them.

“Hi, Evie! Hi, Cedric!” she called, hurrying up to them, the top of her curly-haired head only coming up to their waists. “How was your sparring session?” she asked, looking up at them with a broad smile on her round, freckled face.

“Hi, Hattie!” said Evie, flicking her bangs out of her eyes with a jerk of her head. “It went great! I beat him again!”

“Yeah, but I beat her in a race,” Cedric said grumpily, trying to regain his pride.

Hattie giggled. “Well, then, you two must be pretty worn out, huh?”

Evie nodded. “Yeah. And hungry, too.” She winked and Hattie bounced a little bit, her bright, brown eyes becoming even brighter.

“Oh, wonderful!” exclaimed the little halfling. “I just finished making a lovely lunch!” She grabbed Evie’s hand, pulling her towards the house, rambling all the way about the food she had prepared for them. Cedric followed closely behind, shaking his head and chuckling. As the friends approached the house, Cedric breathed in the delicious scents wafting through the air from the open kitchen windows. He licked his lips in anticipation. Hattie always made the best lunches. In fact, she could make anything taste good. She grew all of the vegetables she used in her cooking in her little backyard, and made the most delectable dishes with them. Cedric had been living in New Delhi his entire life. Even his ancestors from before the war had been from the country previously known as India. It then became part of the Elven Empire that spanned across most of Asia. As a result of this, the Western flavors of Hattie’s food were very different than what he was used to, but he loved it anyway.

The three friends sat around the table which was full of delicious-looking soups, salads, sandwiches, and a big pan of macaroni and cheese. That was Cedric’s favorite of the foods that Hattie brought with her from back in the Americas. He loved how the cheese on top was crispy and the cheese in the middle was gooey and soft. He scooped a big spoonful off of his plate and shoved it into his mouth, enjoying the warm, cheddar cheese flavor.

“So,” said Evie, enjoying her own plate of macaroni. “Anyone want to head to the tavern after lunch? That’s the best place to hear about what’s going on in the world outside of this town.”

“Well…” said Hattie nervously. “I don’t really drink. I don’t like the feeling it gives me.”

“You don’t have to!” assured Evie. “I’m not going to drink. I just want to see what’s new around the world.”

“I’m fine with that,” Cedric shrugged.

Eventually, Hattie reluctantly agreed as well.

After finishing Hattie’s lunch, the three friends walked down the street into the center of town. The townspeople, who were mostly elves, since the area that was formerly India was in the Elf Kingdom, bustled around the square, going in and out of stores and houses with boxes of eggs, bottles of milk, and other such things. Horses pulled carts full of goods from neighboring towns down the dusty street, people quickly getting out of the way to avoid being trampled. On the far side of the square stood a tall, stone building with a green, wooden sign hanging over the porch that read, “Barton’s Brewery and Inn” in large, black letters.

Cedric opened the door, allowing the two girls to enter in first. As soon as Cedric stepped through the doorway after his friends, he could smell the distinctive scent of alcohol. He didn’t personally care for it as much as some people, but he enjoyed listening in on conversations around him to learn about goings on in the rest of the world, so he went to the tavern for that purpose alone. Evie had told him that she went for the same reason. “If I can’t be there myself,” she would always say. “I want to hear as much as I can about it.”

He and his two friends walked over to a small table in one corner of the crowded room, and almost instantly the owner of the tavern and inn, Barton, was beside the table. He had short, red hair that curled around his pointed ears, freckles splattered across his nose, and wore a long, green apron over his white, t-shirt and black pants. “Good day to ya, lad and lassies,” he said cheerfully in his strong Irish accent. “What can I get for ya on this fine day?”

“Do you have anything non-alcoholic?” asked Hattie cautiously.

The bartender laughed. “Of course, darlin’. Lemonade alright with ya?” Hattie nodded happily. Evie and Cedric also ordered lemonades, which they sipped on contentedly.

While they were drinking their beverages, Cedric overheard a muscular dwarf with shaggy, red hair and a bushy beard on his chin behind them saying some rather disturbing things.

“I’m tellin’ ya, they’ve all gone nuts,” said the dwarf. “Sure, there have been shadow dragon attacks before, those beasts are always causing mischief, but this is different. They’re not just burning down a building here and there, those creatures are out to kill us all! The last town I visited was attacked by three of ‘em at once! They never attack with more than one. And even if they did, the light dragons would stop ‘em. But no one has seen a light dragon in two months!”

Cedric glanced over at Evie, who had obviously also heard the dwarf. His expression was dark and uneasy as he looked at his friend, silently warning her not to get involved. Of course, she didn’t listen. She turned around to join the conversation.

“Did something happen to the Uriela?” she asked. “She’s the dragon that the light dragons get their power from, so if they’re disappearing, that must mean that somehow someone has stopped her from empowering her followers.”

“That’s the assumption,” he replied, taking a drink from his mug of ale. “Since Mount Everest is in the Elf Kingdom, you’d think they’d do something about it. But they haven’t. Which is why I’m going there myself.”

“And what do you suppose you can do for a dragon as big as the mountain she sits on all on your own?” scoffed a tall, burly, dark-skinned human sitting across from the dwarf, his voice strangely deep.

“That’s why I came here. I want some people to join me. We will go to the mountain and find Balance and restore order to the world.”

The man laughed. “That’s a hopeless quest! Mount Everest is days from here. And even if you do manage to reach the mountain, whoever or whatever did something to Uriela will probably do the same or worse to you, too. You really think people will be willing to join you?”

“Cedric and I will!” Evie piped up.

Cedric choked on his drink. “We will?”

Evie elbowed him in the side. “Of course we will. We’ve always longed for an adventure. This is our chance!”

“Well, there you go then!” the dwarf said conclusively, putting his hands on his hips and smirking at the burly man across the table. “I’ve got two people willing to join me already! I’m going to find out what happened to Uriela.”

The man shook his head and took a swig of ale. When he lowered his mug, his eyes were fully black. “I can’t let you do that,” he growled, his voice now raspy and even deeper than before. Before they could react, the man began to stretch and transform. His face elongated into a snout, sharp tusks growing up out of his mouth and long horns emerging from his skull. Two bulges developed on his back as black fur grew all over his body, and his spine lengthened into a long tail. The man dropped to all fours on the floor, thrashing violently and continually growing in size.

The three friends and the dwarf stumbled back away from the frightening sight as the man’s back began pushing against the ceiling. From out of the bulges on his back, two black-feathered wings sprouted, unfurling to their full, massive length and breaking open the roof, sending rubble and debris raining down on the frightened townspeople in the tavern. His hands and feet became paws and he unsheathed his glistening talons. His head reared back and he let out a loud roar, sending a chill down Cedric’s spine. The now gigantic creature glared down at them, sharp teeth gleaming in the morning light.

“A shadow dragon,” growled Evie, reaching for her sword.

Cedric put his hand on hers, shooting her a worried look. “Evie, this dragon is full grown. It’s twice the size of the one I killed before.”

“Well, so are we,” she replied, her normally cheery expression now dark and angry.

“Please, Evie, don’t be reckless,” he pleaded. “We have to--”

Before he could finish, the dragon opened its maw and spewed black flames at them. Cedric ducked below the column of fire, pulling his friends down with him. He looked up as the dragon lunged, but it was not aiming at him. He glanced quickly over his shoulder and spotted the dwarf crouching under a cracked table, his expression unreadable. Cedric jumped up as the dragon leapt over his head, and drove his sword upward into the underbelly of the beast.

The dragon screamed in rage and pain, its thick, dark blood pooling out from the wound as Cedric yanked his blade back out.

“Run!” he yelled, grabbing Evie’s hand and sprinting towards the door of the ruined tavern. Cedric gestured for the dwarf to follow him, and he didn’t hesitate to scramble out from under the table and join them in running from the dragon.

They stumbled through the half-collapsed doorway, tripping over bits of stone and wood. Behind them, the dragon let out another deafening roar, and Cedric could hear it crashing through the rubble and quickly gaining on them.

“We don’t have a choice,” Evie panted, running beside Cedric. “It’s going to catch up to us eventually. We have to kill it.”

Cedric nodded reluctantly and skidded on his heels, turning around and brandishing his sword. The dragon seemed surprised and confused at this sudden change in behavior, and stumbled to a stop in front of Cedric and Evie. It snorted, staggering on its muscular legs as blood continued to gush from its wound.

“I’ve got this, Evie,” Cedric said quietly to his friend. “You stay back and stay safe.” Before the elf girl could protest, Cedric pushed her behind him and stood facing the dragon, his dark brown eyes staring intensely into the black eyes of the beast and his sword held level with the middle of its forehead. The dragon stared right back at him, stomping its massive paws in agitation.

From behind him, Cedric heard the frightened shouts and screams of the townspeople. He glanced briefly over his shoulder at the crowd that had gathered in the streets. Then he heard Evie scream, “Cedric, look out!” He turned just as the dragon swiped with its massive paw and knocked Cedric’s legs out from under him.

The elf boy hit the ground hard, knocking the air from his lungs and the sword from his hand. The blade clattered across the road, landing far out of Cedric’s reach. He gasped in a shaky breath, struggling to get back up. As he staggered to his feet, the dragon lunged again, this time with its maw open wide and its teeth bared. Cedric threw up his arms to shield his face, but just before the beast could sink its teeth into him, Evie jumped in front of Cedric and stabbed her blade into the dragon’s forehead, the force of its own momentum driving the sword all the way through the beast’s head and out the back of its skull. The dragon stopped mid-lunge, it’s mouth still open and its eyes wide with shock and pain. Slowly, its eyes glazed over and it gave one last shuddering breath before collapsing to the ground. The massive body slowly morphed back into the form of a man, the sword still embedded in his forehead.

Evie stepped up to the man and yanked her sword out of his skull, the blade dripping with blood. She turned to her friend and smirked, “Can’t let you save me every time, can I?”

Cedric pulled himself to his feet. “Thanks, Evie,” he replied, hiding his fear behind a small smile and sticking his hands in his pockets so Evie wouldn’t see them shaking. He didn’t want her to see him as a coward. He did his best to be brave, but even though he wouldn’t admit it, he had been terrified.

All of a sudden, Cedric felt something run into him and wrap around his waist. He looked down and saw Hattie hugging him as tightly as her little arms could and sobbing hysterically.

“You scared me half to death, Moon!” she cried.

Cedric sighed and patted her curly head. “I’m fine, Hattie, okay? Please stop crying.”

The little halfling unwound herself from around her friend and wiped her eyes. “Sorry,” she sniffled. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Cedric gave her a little smile. The townspeople were beginning to crowd around the body now, gasping in horror or whispering anxiously to each other. Suddenly, a loud voice rang out through the mob.

“What is going on here?” shouted a man at the back of the mob. The crowd hushed, and stepped back from the body, allowing the tall man to walk through. The mayor was much taller than most people in the town, and was thin and gangly. His skin was wrinkled from age, his short, white hair was slicked back on his head, and a thin, pointy moustache sat above his upper lip. He was an elf like most of the town residents, but wore clothes that were much nicer than those that the people wore. He wore an elegant, white shirt with a stiff collar, a black suit jacket like what had been worn by humans before the war, long, black pants, and shiny, black shoes.

His strides were long, slow, and stiff as he walked towards the body. He glared down at the man with his piercing, ice-blue eyes.

“Who killed this man?” he asked, his voice quiet, but angry.

Evie gulped nervously as the townspeople began pointing towards her. “Uh...s-sir...I-I can explain!”

“I don’t want your excuses, Miss Woods,” growled the mayor. “Did you kill this man or did you not?”

Evie hung her head and nodded.

“Wait, Mayor Petri!” Cedric piped up. He didn't normally speak out, but he couldn't watch his best friend get punished unfairly. “It’s not Evie’s fault. That man attacked us. He turned into a dragon! If Evie hadn’t stepped in, he would have killed me!”

Mayor Petri looked at him like he had sprouted two extra heads. “That's impossible. Dracomorphs are just a myth!”

“I wish that were true.” The dwarf stepped forward, somehow managing to reach up and place his hand on Cedric’s shoulder. “I saw him transform before my own eyes.”

Several others from the crowd piped up, backing his claim.

The mayor glowered down at Evie. “Very well,” he growled. “Just don't let me catch you having killed anyone else, dracomorph or not.” With that, he stalked away, back to the town hall.

Cedric breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that Evie couldn't afford to get into trouble. Mayor Petri already didn't like her at all. He didn’t need any more reason to hate her. The thing he never understood was his reason for not liking her and her friends. He told Cedric the time he had caught him and Evie practicing with their swords behind her house that he didn't like people fighting or knowing how to fight. Cedric partially understood the desire to decrease the amount of violence and crime in the town, but that wasn't that big of a problem in their tiny village. There wasn't that much to steal and everyone knew everyone else. The dragons that attacked one or two times a month were a much bigger problem. So he and Evie found a secluded area in the nearby woods where they could practice sword fighting without being caught so that when dragons would attack they could protect themselves and others.
"What you did was pretty brave, young lady" said the gruff voice of the dwarf, snapping Cedric out of his thoughts.
"Oh, thanks," replied Evie. "My name is Evelyn Woods, by the way. But everyone calls me Evie."
"Nice to meet you, kid. I'm Jarret. Jarret Stone," he said, shaking her hand and then Cedric’s. His hand was rough and calloused and his grip was firm, almost hurting Cedric’s fingers. "And who is this dashing young man?”
"Oh, he's my friend, Cedric Moon," she replied.
Jarret raised an eyebrow. "Just a friend, eh?"
"Yeah, why?" Evie cocked her head, obviously confused, and Cedric blushed.
"Oh, no reason." Jarret waved off the topic. "So, you still interested in my little ‘quest’?"
Evie nodded eagerly.

“Well, I-” Cedric started to say.
"Great,” interrupted the dwarf. “Meet me in the square tomorrow at noon." Then he walked away, disappearing into the crowd before Cedric could protest.

Author's Note

Any feedback is appreciated