The Book Of Dragons

Chapter 2 part 1: Echoes of noise

I sat at one of the picnic tables near to the north path and listened to the sounds around me. Rustles as dragons ran about and climbed in nearby trees. Five minutes passed. Ten minutes. Sitting alone in half-silence. Until I heard it.

It echoed distantly over the carpark. But it had a strange quality to it. It wasn't human. It reverberated in my skull, as if it was coming from inside my own head. But I knew better.

It was a cry, a dragon's cry, of pain.

And it was coming from the south path.

I listened to it for a small while, standing up and walking over to the start of the south path. It was getting fainter. I knew it was a dragon in pain, and I felt the weirdest sensation. I felt like I had to help it. So I decided that I would. I began walking up the steep path, dreading what could be up here. What if the cry was because the greater fang had attacked another dragon? It was probable, highly probable. The noise became loud again, all of a sudden, and then faded out again. I bit my lip and stopped. Should I do this or not? I was already under the cover of the trees, out of sight from the carpark. I looked at my watch. Twenty to twelve. I still had loads of time before my dad and the other hunters came back. The noise peaked again and I made up my mind in a split second. I ran up the path until the steepness caught up with me, and I had to slow down. Then I hit another snag.

The path twisted left.
The noise was coming from the right.

I could hear the sounds clearly now, even though they were quiet. It didn't sound like a dragon growling, or roaring, or anything like that. I could make out words between the whimpering and whining I was hearing, but they weren't part of the noises. The words were strangely separate, as if it was a different creature altogether uttering them. They had the same quality as the first time I heard the noises, echoey and sounding like they were directly inside my head...

Help... please, someone help...

Again, I made up my mind in an instant. I started picking my way through bushes and thorny brambles, forming my own path through the trees. I saw a tiny glimpse of light ahead through the darkness of the thick canopy. A clearing, it had to be. I made my way towards it and came out at the edge of a rather small clearing, but there was a gap in the leaves above, letting in the light from the noon sun.

And I saw what was making the noises.