Dragon's Blood

The Beast

Iyla darted to Sams side and crouched down next to him. Through the doorway, to her horror, came a creature like nothing she had ever seen. It looked like a dog, no, a wolf, huge, hunched and snarling. Its coat was jet black, its hackles raised. Its sharp yellow fangs were revealed as cruel lips drew back in what looked like an evil smile. Its foul breath immediately polluted the air in the room and drool dripped from its muzzle as it looked straight at Iyla with glowing red eyes.

She was frozen in fear, Sam was tugging violently at her arm, desperately trying to get her to move as the creature prowled across the threshold, a terrifying confidence in its movement, as if it knew there was no need to rush, it was enjoying their fear, playing with them. She was dimly aware of Bill shouting, of Mr Kalam diving behind the sofa in terror. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion and suddenly every single detail was crystal clear. She saw what could only have been recognition in the animals eyes as it looked at her, triumph in its face. She saw the subtle change in the muscles of its body as it readied itself to spring. She saw flecks of sweat on its haunches as it leapt into the air straight towards her. She heard Sam shout, his arm came around her waist and pulled her back with surprising force. Iyla saw movement and looked to her right, just in time to see Bill sprint across in front of her and Sam, straight into the creatures path, the shelf bracket he still held glinting in the light. She screamed as Sam literally threw her into the kitchen, slamming the door.

Scrambling up from the floor, without thinking, she ran straight back to the door, only to be pushed back again by Sam, "Stay!" he roared at her and the door crashed shut once more. Iyla pulled on the door but could feel it being held shut from the other side as she screamed at Sam to let her out. Her heart was pounding as she heard another sound - the crash and the roar of her dragon as it finally escaped the stockroom. She pulled on the kitchen door again and found no resistance this time, opening it just in time to see the dragon burst into the flat, taking what was left of the doorway with it. It fell upon the wolf-like creature, swiping with its lethal talons and spiked tail and shooting bursts of flame. Iyla searched the room quickly and saw Mr Kalam pressed against the wall, covering his eyes with his hands, Sam circling the beast and the dragon as they fought, Bill's abandoned shelf bracket in his hand, and Bill crouched behind the sofa. He saw her in the doorway and moved in her direction, Iyla thought he going to seek refuge in the kitchen with her but he kept his eyes on the fight and placed himself between Iyla and the tangle of roaring scales and snarling fur.

Suddenly, the creature took a powerful swipe of the dragon's spade tipped tail which sent it flying across the room, the opposite side, thankfully, to Mr Kalam, who was horribly exposed. Sam took that moment to pull his friend from his frozen spot and steer him towards the kitchen too, they were all now on one side of the room, whilst the fight between the dragon and the terrifying beast was on the other.

The creature recovered itself quickly and turned to snarl at the dragon, readying itself to pounce. As it pushed off and launched itself into the air the dragons eyes flashed and with a roar, a great jet of white hot flame burst from its mouth. The terrible creature was hit mid leap and let out a blood curdling howl as the flames hit its chest and it fell in a smouldering, twitching heap on the floor, the dragon not relenting the stream of flame until it was clear the animal would not be getting up again.

They were all still and silent for what seemed like an eternity, staring at the animal as its body shuddered and its movements ceased. The dragon flexed it wings, as if checking for damage, and remained over its kill, guarding, waiting incase it should move again.

An eerie sort of calm fell as everyones breathing started to slow. Poor Bill looked like he was going to be sick and stumbled into the bathroom; Sam wordlessy got a small fire extinguisher from the kitchen and put out the parts of the animal that were still smoking, along with the scorched parts of the living room, before sitting down heavily on the sofa with his head in his hands. Mr Kalam just sat on the kitchen floor where he was. Iyla joined Sam.