Hatch: A Dragon Story

Chapter III: The King

He spoke with evil in his voice: a deep chuckling evil. As he chuckled, it was almost as if the entire cavern shook with his pleasure.
"Brilliant," he said as he looked over upon the forest. "Absolutely brilliant."
Thunder crashed through the distance, revealing a large mountin spouting an orange glow from its top.
The dragon spread his wide wings and took flight towards the volcano. The dragon hovered above the volcano's top peering in through the large opening revealing a long drop covered in flaming hot lava.
The dragon dove into the mouth of the volcano, ignoring its flaming hot feeling. He dipped down avoiding rocks or sharp edges on the sides of the volcano.
Then he hit a rock and fell straight down into the boiling lava. Then he came out alight with flame and screaming with terror, and he flew out of the volcano landing painfully on the ground. In his hands, was a stone. Shaking in agony and pain the dragon clasped the stone tightly in his claws. He muttered something to the stone in a hushed but painful whisper. Suddenly, light erupted from the stone filling the sky with an eerie green.
"It is not over!" shrieked the dragon. "I shall return! I am Smaug! And I shall be the most powerful dragon in the universe!"
Smaug took one last breath, and as light from the stone filled him, he collapsed, dead on the ground... and then darkness filled the world.

~~

Marman woke up. He was sweating and his throat was dry.
It was daylight and Marman looked all around him. He was on a small island next to an exhausted fire. Marman walked towards the open sea to bathe himself in the refreshing blue. As he settled himself in the water, He noticed tiny fish swimming about. Marman snatched one up and gobbled it up hungrily. It wasn't the breakfast he was hoping for but it would have to satisfy him for now. Suddenly the blue dragon, Barnabas, came up behind him.
"We leave in ten minutes," he said. "Enjoy yourself."
Marman looked up puzzled. "Where to?"
"The Dragon City," said Barnabas. "Where else? You can't stay hidden for much longer, can you?"
"Hidden?" questioned Marman. He hadn't considered living in the wastelands as hiding.
"Well," said Barnabas. "What're you waiting for?"
                                                                                                  ~~
At the head of the table was King Tiberius, his sharp beard hanging neat and firm from his chin. Left to him was his soon-to-be bride, Queen Windham, with her straight lips and her neat hair hanging loosely over her head.
Right to King Tiberius was his daughter, Princess Olivias, who was wearing bright red lipstick, which was all anyone could fuss about. She was a prim little miss with bright blond hair curled up in a bun and she had sparkling blue eyes.
King Tiberius stood up from his seat and announced to the table, "Today is a day where we celebrate the defeat of dragon kind. A hundred and fifty years ago our world was swarming with dragons. Kingdoms fell, cities were destroyed and the world was chaos! Until..."  With this, he took a giant swig of wine. "...They were all defeated, including the great Anacalagon the Black, the most powerful and most terrifying dragon in the world!"
Everyone at the table cheered and applauded. Suddenly, the doors to the hall burst open.
A large man with tattoos covering his arms and legs walked in. He had a giant black beard that hung in dreadlocks from his chin. A massive scar crossed his left eye and he wore a large helmet.
He spoke in a gruff voice, "It's not over yet."
Tiberius looked at him puzzled.

"Afraid, sir, we do not allow uninvited guests into our -"
The man pointed at Tiberius,
"You," he said. "I need to talk to you. Now."
King Tiberius looked at this man in confusion. He knew it wasn't right to talk to a complete stranger. He could, in fact, be an assassin. But there was something in this man's voice that meant something bad at happened and that King Tiberius needed to know about it instantly.

"Everyone, continue as normal," he said as he left the table. They all continued eating while Tiberius went to the end of the room to speak with the man.

"I'm sorry to bother you, your majesty. My name is Guyton. I'm a dragon hunter and have been hunting dragons for the past... let's see... thirty-two years?"
"But there are no more dragons."
"Until now."
The words froze Tiberius.
"What do you mean?"
"Just yesterday, me and my men were sailing in a boat. It was a warm day, the sun was shining on our faces, one of my pals was singing a tune..."

"Guyton! Focus!"
Sorry, your majesty. As I said we were sailing in our boat, then suddenly, a large winged figure swooped over us. I aimed my bow and shot it dead into the sea. I looked over the railing... but saw nothing."

The King looked at Guyton for a while, then he started to chuckle a low chuckling sound which came forth in a roar of laughter.

"Hahahahahahahhaha!" he laughed aloud. "Oh, Guyton. You almost actually got me worried there for a second! My, my, that thing you saw could've been anything! It could've just been a giant bird, or... or... a phoenix! My dear Guyton, there is no need to fret, there are definitely no more dragons."

With that, King Tiberius lumbered off happily towards the dining table.