A Tale of Blood and Flames

I frowned looking at the moon shining in the dark sky. Taking long sigh, I buried my face in my hands. My fingers slid and reached my blond hair.

After hours of being left at the bottom of that ravine, I was certain they wouldn't come back to help me. I was in the middle of the woods, there was nothing around except for trees and the only way back I knew was climbing the almost 20 feet high cliff that I fell from.

All by myself and feeling a latent pain on my twisted ankle – maybe even broken ankle –, I could barely move and had no supplies, except for the little water left in the canteen.

Betrayed. I was betrayed by my patrol "brother". When I swore the oath, they said we would live in a brotherhood, where everyone should take care of each other, especially during missions. This wasn't the case. It's not like I had a choice anyway, it was either the patrol or living on the streets, so I'd rather have food in my stomach and a roof to sleep under. Survival was the priority, not everyone gets to fulfill their dreams anyway... All of that to end up alone in the middle of the woods.

In desperation, I had already tried to scream for help and tried multiple times to climb my way back, grabbing onto tree roots and rocks, but I was unsuccessful: the wet earth just made me slide right back again and it was even harder to move without using a leg. Now, defeated, I just stayed on the ground. I had no way to escape. I massaged my temples, struggling to keep my eyes open, lightheaded. Dying stuck like that and not even getting to be buried or cremated wasn't even close to what I had pictured for my end...

Chills ran down my body and I crossed my arms on my chest trying to keep myself warm, at least the uncomfortable leather vest was helping me not to freeze to death. Despite my exhaustion and muscles screaming in agony, my mind kept going, searching for alternatives to get out of there.

Wings flapped and by the loud noise, it could only be a dragon, making my heart jump, drumming at my chest in a violent rhythm. I pressed my back against the ravine wall, in a stupid and irrational attempt to disappear from the gigantic reptile's radar. The typical guttural noise escaped from the creature, it couldn't be very far.

I was still, not even breathing so that no sound could get the attention of the creature. After another low growl, the dragon went away. I let out a sigh of relief. Tired and ignoring the pain on my ankle, I relaxed to get some rest and try to climb the ravine again the next day.

***

I was regaining consciousness little by little, but my eyelids were heavy, just like the rest of my body. I expected to be welcomed by the strong sunlight, however, it was even darker than before. I rubbed my eyes and sat up slowly. The cave was dark and wide, with a narrow, long path, from there the only light source came. That was where I needed to go.

A wave of pain hit me as I tried to get up, my ankle pulsed with such strength I nearly lost my breath. Suppressing a complaint, I forced myself to stand, supporting my weight on my non-hurt side.

Something bright moved on the other side of the cave. I leaned against the rough wall. The creature came forward, getting in just enough in the weak light for me to recognize the scaly skin of a white dragon. My hand went directly to my waist, where my sword should have been, however, I only found air instead of the sword.

The dragon moved one of its feet, touching and dragging something lengthy: the sword in the sheath. I gasped and didn't even think before trying to run away; it was obviously a terrible idea, because my hurt ankle gave up after three steps. Determined to get out of there as soon as possible, I turned and crawled my way to the exit, since I couldn't get up again.

A red apple rolled in front of me, hit the wall and halted. That was so unusual that my body froze for a moment. The dragon wanted to feed me? Certainly, it was trying to fatten up its next meal.