Cursed

I was 10 when I first saw a dragon. I remembered it like it was yesterday. I was late getting home because I had been talking to Madeline, the bakers wife. She didn't have any kids, and she always had a soft spot for me. She snuck me a apple tart before I left. I had been so concentrated on the tart that I barely noticed the sound of wings beating. It wasn't until I heard a large 'thud' that I actually tore my attention away from the sweet to the monster that crouched before me. It was huge. It was the length of at least two horses from head to tail, and bigger than any of the huts in our small village. It scales were red as the setting sun. It wings were stretched out, as if it was trying to catch the wind. I stared at it and it stared at me. I had been told since I was a baby about dragons. The monsters that would tear you from limb to limb without a second of hesitation. They would cook you or claw you until death. They were ruthless, cruel, and above all else, murderers. And this one had made no move to kill me. I had stood there transfixed by the dragon's eyes. They were almost catlike, except that they terrified me. They showed no remorse or conscious. Just a mild, bored curiosity. I knew that the second it got bored it would kill me. So I did what any ten year old girl would do. I screamed. That's when all hell broke loose. The dragon reared back onto its hind legs. People came streaming out of the seemingly empty houses. They held spears and swords. Someone picked me up and dragged me inside one of the houses, and I never got to see the rest. I was later told that the dragon killed two people. Nicholas and Carter, two local guards. I knew them both on some level. Ever since that day, I had been terrified of dragons. Of course, that had been 6 years ago. 6 years is a long time, and I had most definitely seen my fair share of dragons in my life.