Dragon Falls

Chapter One

'I wonder what else can go wrong...' Kia thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile, 'I've lost my fiance, my bank account, my apartment, and my band...what next!?' Kia knew better than to jinx himself with the thought, and briefly contemplated sending up a quick prayer or two, to whatever deities might be listening in an attempt to forestall the bad luck, 'Ah, screw it!' He decided a moment later in a quick burst of fatalism, shaking his head as he let loose a humorless laugh, 'What gods are gonna listen to me anyway? Besides, I already HAVE bad juju, so what's a little more?'

He quickly shook off the last of his niggling doubts and continued walking down the dark, damp alley towards his van, shrugging the strap of his guitar case higher onto his shoulder while wishing that the light, drizzling rain would stop. As he walked he debated whether to rent a cheap motel room for the night, or buy food and some gas for the Beast. He had only made seventy-five dollars from his gig at the crappy hole-in-the-wall bar behind him, and didn't have another gig lined up for almost three weeks. So, unless he was lucky enough to land another one in the meantime, he would have to stretch that seventy-five bucks 'till it squeaked in protest so loud that the astronauts on the space station could hear it.

No matter what, he soon realized, he would be spending a lot of nights in his van 'till he worked again. 'Food and gas.' He decided with a resigned sigh, 'A long, hot shower or bath and a soft bed would be nice, but I'll need the other two far more.' Suddenly, his depressing rumination was interrupted by a resounding roar that resonated almost painfully in the tiny alleyway, and along with it came a loud clapping, like the sound of massive sails flapping in the wind.

Kia's long duster jacket whipped about him in a strong gust of wind, and he stopped dead in his tracks. Right then, an animalistic scream of pain from above made him look straight up, only to leave him watching in stunned disbelief as a dragon, an honest-to-god dragon, crash-landed on his van. He stood and stared for at least a minute, his mind frozen in shock, before one frantically inane thought finally broke thru. 'My van!!!' His mind screamed, 'Where am I gonna sleep now!?' Kia's mind soon after became a tangled mass of confusion as thousands of other thoughts suddenly battled for supremacy, but it, again, snapped back into order with a singular, irreverent thought, 'Well...at least now I know what else can go wrong!'

He continued watching silently as a second dragon glided overhead, it's black scales gleaming oily in the faint light of lampposts from further down the street. 'From bad, to worse...' Kia thought as he watched. The position of the dragon's elongated head and the tilt of it's wings seemed to convey an arrogant smugness as it looked down on it's fallen opponent, for opponents they must have been. They both bore multiple injuries, but the downed dragon was definitely the worse off of the two.

The black dragon only circled once before flying away, and Kia sighed mentally in relief, for the black dragon had emanated menace in nearly palpable waves. Once Kia had assured himself that the other dragon wouldn't return, he took a closer look at the fallen one and pondered what he should do.

The dragon's white-blue scales glittered dully, but with a rainbow sheen even under all the blood that covered them, the blood only seemed to add a dark ruby tint that faded slowly in the drizzling rain. The dragon had landed on it's back and now lay unconscious, the crushed remnants of the Beast scattered around it. At least one of its wings was broken, as it was bent up at an awkward angle, and Kia thought he could even see a bone poking out of the torn flesh.

The long, slender white dragon didn't have the same menacing feel as the other one, though it's sheer size was still intimidating, and Kia wondered momentarily if that was simply due to it being injured and unconscious. He debated with himself for a few minutes before finally deciding to get closer for a better look, despite his understandable and inherent caution. 'Not every day that you get to see a dragon...let alone close up!' He mused to himself as he inched forward, ''Course, there's not supposed to be any such thing...maybe I've finally cracked?' He laughed at the thought, the tone slightly manic, and continued forward, 'Well, if I have, at least I know the hallucinations are gonna be interesting!'