A Tale of Dragons

Chapter 06 - We're Screwed

The last thing he remembered was Nigel telling Max that they were going to land the dragons. Everything around George was black. The whole world was dark and his head felt sorta fuzzy. His body was numb and he could hardly tell if he was breathing.

He inhaled deeply and opened his eyes becoming aware of stinging cuts all over his body. The worst one was on his right arm leading from the tip of his elbow to his wrist. The blood had dried allowing him to realise he's been laying there a while. His fingers found themselves curled tightly around somebody else's.

Nigel.

George shot up quickly sending a jolt of pain to his head. Memories came flooding back. He remembered. The crash. The dragon that landed wrong.

Nigel was laying to the left of him. He was still. Unmoving.

"Nigel?" George croaked trying to kneel besides him. "N-Nigel? Please wake up."

Nigel didn't move.

"Don't do this. Not now. Come on Nigel this isn't funny mate." George was beginning to panic.

"Nigel?" George's voice trembled.

Nigel did not respond. Tears blurred George's vision. He put his head against Nigel's chest willing for their to be a heartbeat.

Instead, he found silence.

"No! Nigel! Wake up! Wake up!" George willed his friend.

George frantically shook Nigel's shoulders, ignoring tears that streaked down his face, trying to jolt him out of unconsciousness.

"No this can't be happening." He mumbled. "Not now. No no no. Nigel wake up! Come on you're the last bloody dragonlord! We need you!"

George positioned his hands over Nigel's chest and started compressions ignoring the pain as his cut on his arm reopened and bled.

Thirty compressions.

I won't give up.

Two breaths.

I can't give up.

Thirty compressions.

Not now.

Two breaths.

Not ever.

George breathed heavily. This can't be happening. Not to him. Nigel would be okay. He had to be.

Two minutes went by.

Nothing changes in Nigel. He was unmoving, un-breathing.

George continued compressions praying that Nigel would wake up. He was going to be okay, right?

A heavy weight filled his chest. Something nagging inside. A little voice that said 'Give up. He's gone. You're wasting your time.'

There came a time a few seconds later where he gave into that voice.

Nigel was gone. His beautiful blue-eyed blond haired companion was dead in front of him.

No.

George stood up. He shuffled to the middle of the small clearing and glanced at the night sky filled with piercing white stars.

He screamed until his voice was hoarse.

"He's the last bloody dragonlord you gods! Where in the blitzing hell are you?! Help him! Save him! I've got nobody else. Please." George fell to his knees his voice cracking as he delivered the next line. "I never told him how much I loved him."

The sky was dark. George closed his eyes and curled up against the ground. His ears began to ring. He covered his ears and started screaming. His best friend was gone. He couldn't bear to look at his dead, lifeless body. So he closed his eyes and begged for everything to go away.

He screamed louder, his voice cracking several times. Nothing mattered anymore. The one person who made everything okay in his life was dead.

His screaming stopped and the ringing sound slowly disappeared. The owls and crickets resumed and the forest came alive with sound.

George curled tighter in a ball.

"He's gone." He sobbed. "He's bloody well gone and I loved him. I loved him so much."

George was a guy of logic and honestly. He knew that there was nothing that could bring his friend back. Nigel had died in the fall. That's what he would tell the others when he found them. His voice would quaver, his knees would wobble, and he'd probably break down in tears before he could even deliver the message.

It should have been me that died. I'm not important. I'm not a dragonlord. This wasn't supposed to happen.

George exhaled slowly and punched ground fiercefully until his fingernails cut into his palms and his energy drained.

Somewhere from a few feet away came a coughing sound.

George lifted his head and wiped away wet tears from his face turning his head to the sound. His vision was blurred but he blinked away tears trying to see.

Something coughed again this time a little harder and George found himself wandering back over to where Nigel lay.

"Nigel?" George looked on to his friend.

Suddenly, Nigel gasped into a coughing fit and opened his eyes staring up at George who was crying and smiling at the same time.

"Hey mate. What you doing hovering over me?" Nigel managed to whisper.

George burst into a nervous laughter and hugged Nigel tight.

"W-What's wrong George? What's happened?" Nigel asked confused, looking around. "Where are we?"

"Oh my god Nigel. I-I don't know." He confessed with a small sigh, hugging Nigel tighter and pulling him up into a sitting position, gently letting Nigel take a few deep breaths. "You were kinda...dead."

Nigel starts to laugh thinking George was joking then winces as a sharp pain in his chest develops.

"What's wrong?" George panics, instantly fearing something bad about to happen and he is going to loose Nigel. He carefully lowers his friend back to the ground to lay down.

"It's nothing." Nigel brushes off. "Just my ribs hurt a bit that's all. Why don't you tell me what happened, huh? Where are we? Where's the dragon?"

George shrugs and rubs his forehead. He sits down beside Nigel who is struggling to sit up without assistance.

"We crashed I think. I remember you telling Max to follow us but that's it. The dragon went off or something. That's it. I don't know where we landed. Somewhere in the thick of the forest judging by the fact I can't hear the water."

"W-Where's the dragon George?" Nigel strained, his voice tight, still trying to sit up

"Hey, are you okay?" George asked setting a hand on Nigel's shoulder. "Can you not sit up at all?"

"I'm bloody well fine George! Where's the dragon?" Nigel's voice cracked as he gasped in pain falling back to the ground a bit.

"Nigel you're not fine." George's voice shook with worry. Nigel was hurt bad.

"Just, stop worrying about me for a goddamn second!Where's that dragon?" Nigel asked impatient.

"I don't know!" George shouted. "It wasn't here when I woke up! To be honest it was the least of my concerns when I saw that you were hurt."

Nigel stopped struggling feeling it wasn't getting him anywhere. He stared up at the sky. The stars were clear against the dark background of space.

"We don't know where we are." He mumbled. "We don't know where the only creature that can get is out is, and I can't even sit up. You know what this means George?"

He shook his head slightly taking a deep breath.

"It means that we're screwed."