The Dragon Curse

What a night

I was running in the forest with a torch in my hand and my bow on my back, trying to find the way out, but it was too dark since it was night. The growling sound which was coming from behind me was getting louder and louder as the group of hungry wolves was chasing me.

I turned to at least lost them, but they followed me, right into a dead end. I was standing in front of a cliff wall, blocking my way, so my only escaping chance was through the wolves. They stopped in front of me, growling and grinning at me, showing their white, big fangs. I swung my torch at them, which made them scared and backed away a little, but they didn't leave.

I didn't have more arrows, so I didn't have anything to defend myself with. My torch died out, so the wolves with more anger and desire to eat me up were walking slowly towards me before the pack leader launched at me. I defended myself with the piece of wood in my hand, when I heard a loud growl and shout, then something from above grabbed me and pulled me up on the cliff. Before I could turn around to see who or what it was, the thing jumped down in front of the wolves, shouting.

It was too dark for me to see what the thing was, but luckily it could scare the wolves away. When I heard they were far back in the woods, I once more looked down, but the thing disappeared. It surely had claws, because it hurt me a little, but not too much.

I lit my torch again with the stones I found then held it up, lighting my way out of the forest.

After I could finally see something, I quickly started running out of the forest, because I didn't want to get into another fight with the wolves. When I finally reached the end I saw my little house in the open field. It was surrounded by fences and I also had a little shed beside it.

This was my parents' house, but they died in the plague, so the whole farm now is mine, and I continue my father's job, being a woodcutter. It's not the best job, but at least I get money for it, selling wood to furniture masters or for firewood when the winter comes, and usually here in England the winters are really cold.

By the way, I haven't mentioned my name yet. I'm Mark, living in England, not too far away from Worcester. I was there three times in my entire life, and it's not really my area. It's noisy, filled with people, and the whole atmosphere is faint.

So, I better stayed here, out in the countryside, alone, with nothing just the field and the woods. I was about to go to sleep when suddenly a loud knock was heard on my door. I stood up and went over to it and as I opened it I saw a man, who looked exhausted.

"Please, help..." he said before he collapsed into my arms.

I didn't know who this man was, but he definitely needed help. I laid him down on my bed and that was when I saw, he was bleeding. I rolled up his shirt and he had three cuts on his side, which more likely were caused by a wolf. I took off his cloak and put it on a chair, then grabbed something that I could wrap around his injured body. I carefully washed it, but I don't know if it was a good idea, more because the water wasn't that clean. Suddenly he started heavily and rapidly breathing and he was sweating as well.

"N-no... p-please..." he muttered. "Leave m-me, I-I didn't do anything..."

"Shh, it's okay," I said, rubbing his sweating forehead with a cold, wet towel, then he suddenly grabbed my hand. His arm was covered with armor and he wore gloves, but only on his right hand.

He calmed down eventually and let go of my hand, but he still was in a bad shape. I let him sleep on my bed, maybe a little rest will be good for him. I looked at the piece of cloth which was around his body, soaked in blood from his wound. Whatever happened to him, he is lucky that he could make it here. And I also wonder who is he. A soldier maybe?

I woke up on the floor as the sun was shining into my eyes. I didn't even realize that I fell asleep. I stood up and looked at my bed and the stranger in it. I went closer and checked his temperature. It was good and he wasn't sweating anymore. The blood dried on the cloth, so maybe it's better if I change it. I searched through my chest for something, when I heard moving. He was up, rubbing his eyes and looking around with wide eyes, then he spotted me.

"You're finally up," I said, smiling at him.

"How did I get here?" he asked, still looking around.

"You knocked on my door last night, then when I opened it, you collapsed," I explained, while he was rubbing his head to remember. "My name is Mark."

"Jack," he said and tried to sit up, but he grabbed his side as the pain hit in.

"Don't move. It looks really bad, it needs to heal." I said as I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back to lay down.

I carefully removed the cloth from his wound, to clean it and wrap it back in a cleaner cloth, but when I took it off, his wound was nowhere. Like he wasn't injured at all. He was looking at me when I looked at him, waiting for my reaction, but another knock interrupted us. He stood up with me, then the knock was heard again.

"Open up for the King's name." shouted a man, who was probably a soldier from the king's army.

"N-no, they're here for me," whispered Jack and backed away from the door. "Please, don't give me to them. I can explain everything, just please."