Mist Breather

II

The woods are usually my safe haven, but not today.

I've been walking for maybe four hours. The knowledge that there is an alleged dragon in this very forest, a Spark no less, makes me jump at every. Single. Noise. Every time something skitters along the ground or a breeze rustles the leaves, I startle. I must have 'eek'ed at least a dozen times in the twenty minutes I have been walking. The wailing river is to my left, and I'm following it into the forest because I overheard the Cheiftain talking to Ithil about it. If I wanted to find this burnt-out section of the forest, this is my best lead. Besides, I just have a sense of adventure. Or I guess you could say I'm just sort of ignorant.

I look to my left, at the twinkling water of the river. A fish hops out of the water, catching about half a second of air before dunking back in at the perfect angle. Leaves crunch under my boots and I catch small patches of dull autumn sunlight as I walk under the shade of the trees. It almost seems peaceful.

I look past trees and bushes, into the dim foliage, and see a deer. The doe has her head cast down and her short snout shoved into a blackberry bush, shaking the leaves as she eats. I watch her for a second, her head shoots up, frantic. At first I think she's noticed me, but instead of facing me, she jerks her attention to the sky for a split-second and then she immediately takes off, away from me and whatever she's startled by. The birds immediately go silent as well. At first, I'm confused.

Then it decks me in the face: there's a fucking dragon in this forest.

I burst into a full sprint, tearing through low-hanging branches and stinging thorns.

Whoosh, whoosh.

The thumping of wingbeats drowns out the quiet din of shaking leaves and rushing water, replacing it with a menacing rhythm. I cast my head fretfully to the canopy of branches and glance around. My mouth falls open when I see it. But even then, it's little more than a giant airborne shadow against the sunlight, darting in and out of my peripheral vision.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Almost unable to tear my attention from the sky, I cast a glance forward just long enough to see the oak tree before I slam into it face first. Fuck. I flop onto the forest floor and touch two fingers to the left side of my forehead, next to my temple. They come back into view smeared with blood.

Whoosh, whoosh.

Wiping my hand on my pants, I stand again and take off. I'm coming up on a clearing, but I'd be too exposed there. I turn right and continue running.

Whoosh, whoosh.

The wingbeats growing ever louder, I run along the edge of the clearing for maybe five minutes before deciding to just go for it. But as soon as I step out of the woods, I've made a huge mistake. This isn't a clearing.

I've made it to the burnt-out part of the forest. Blackened logs are everywhere, and the scent of burnt meat fills the air. Ash covers the ground and darkens the leather and cloth of my boots.

Whoosh, whoosh.

As quickly as I can, I turn around. But I'm not quick enough. The ground shakes and the wingbeats stop as it lands. It ends up disturbing the layer of ashes and I'm soon sprinkled in gray, smudged embers as they blow towards me.

The sound of its wings is soon replaced by the impossibly loud sound of my heart pounding. I don't dare turn around, but I can't bring myself to move an inch either.

It's breathing through its snout, with the pattern of a horse, but immeasurably louder. There's a roar, so loud it makes my ears ring. And over the ringing, just barely, I hear the beast speak.

"You're a long way from your village, girl."

Its voice is deep and laced with a growl, somehow right on the edge of calmingly quiet and deafeningly loud. It takes all my willpower to stay on my feet and as its stomping seems to shake the trees. It draws closer, and closer. And I get more terrified with every centimeter it moves towards me.

"Turn around." I stay frozen, but not by choice. "Now," the beast demands.

With all, and I mean all my might, I snap out of my fear-induced paralysis and turn one hundred and eighty degrees, facing the monster.

When I turn the half-circle, I make the mistake of actually looking at it. Just a glance, but it's still nearly enough to make me faint.

The beast itself is a behemoth to say the least. It must be at least as large as the village hall. It's covered in rough red and black scales, and it's wings are  intricately patterned. It stands on all fours, like most mammals, and it has a long snout, baring its huge yellowish fangs. A tail moves in smooth, absent motions behind the monster.

But the eyes are what scares me the most. Its eyes are vantablack, the blackest black, darker than any color man could think of. They seem to have no depth at all, not even a glimmer of reflected light. And then I see something flicker. A bright red dot, oscillating in and out of sight in the middle of the eyes. It appears and disappears at random, and I can't help but stare at the entrancing eyes of this ferocious monster.

It speaks again, snapping me out of the trance, "You look like a tasty little one." It curls its lips up into what I can assume to be a sneer. "Shall I roast you before I eat you?" A wisp of smoke curls out of its snout and disappears on its journey upwards. It curls up its tail, and I feel its icy scales through the clothes against my back. It runs the spearhead of the tail up my body, nearly completely covering the surface of my back, before it gently wraps the thing around my waist and picks me up.

Whoosh, whoosh.

That dreadful sound again. But we're not flying. It's coming from above.

"Put the human down, Stygius!" A new booming voice, a bit higher-pitched than that of the monster holding me, yells down from above. 

"Brother," Stygius responds, "You've always had a soft spot for their kind."

"I will not ask a second time!" The second voice replies in a fierce tone.

"You do not have to." I almost get my hopes up, but before that even happens I feel a sudden change of speed. He's winding up to throw me!

I let out a scream, and look to the skies in hopes of at least seeing this other dragon. I do, I see the silhouette of another beast. Much smaller than the one holding me, I can tell, and it seems to be a multitude of colors. And as I move through the air in Stygius's tail, I catch a bright gray glint where its eyes are.

"Stygius!" The second beast yells.

I don't hear 'Stygius''s response. He lets me fly, and I can't even hear my own scream. All I can hear is the roaring wind in my ears. But in a fraction of a fraction of a millisecond, the wind cuts out and I  hear a crack. I don't know if it comes from me or the tree I slammed into, because I black out immediately.