Dragon Seekers

Chapter 5

The lightning storm last night, the one that had emitted a shattering bolt of lightning hitting a tree, was all Jamie could blame for this. His sacred tree was split down the middle like a banana's skin being peeled. It was blackened at the centre, some of it's once beautiful leaves were shrivelled up completely. It lingered over Jamie like an intimidating ghost. It filled Jamie with such despair as he slowly approached, what he had dubbed, the heart of the woods. As he felt like his heart broke, he felt like the woods had died. All the warmth that he felt had gone stone cold. The songs that Mother Nature had conducted herself had come to a halt. The forest around him had become frozen in time around him. And he hated it.

Jamie took mournful steps towards his safe space. Or what was left of it. Out of all the trees that the storm could've hit, it had to be this one. He knows that it wasn't the end of the world, but that's what it felt like to him. Carefully, he placed his hand on the rugged bark. It scratched his hand a little, but he ignored it. He still couldn't believe what he was seeing. As Jasmine once said "nature can be cruel". Saying a silent goodbye, Jamie couldn't help but inspect the damage. He knows that there is nothing he could do to save it, but he couldn't help but stare. It clenched his heart uncomfortably just looking inside the once proud tree. He was angry and depressed at the same time seeing the splinters inside the trunk and how it was split so easily. Jamie was about to turn around and leave when something caught his attention. Something shining in the glistening light of the sun.

Taking a deep breath, Jamie steadily reached inside. The wood scratched at his skin, some even leaving small cuts. He pushed through it, determined to see what laid inside. His hand brushed against nothing but wood until he felt ice cold metal jabbing at his fingertips. It wasn't smooth, it felt immensely rough like sandpaper. Jamie curled his hand around the object and pulled it out. He stared down at his hand, seeing a small metal statue resting in his palm. Despite it being metal, it was surprisingly light. It was no longer than his fingers and was the width of his palm. It was in the shape of a dragon standing on top of a rock, it's long tail wrapped around the rock almost completely. It was silver coloured, with tiny rubies (or what seemed to be rubies) for eyes. The detail on it was amazing to say the least. The scales could be seen clearly and the wings had wrinkles where they folded against the dragon's back. The teeth were pointed and sharp. The dragon looked completely ferocious indeed.

Jamie couldn't help but admire how well the statue was made. Whoever made it must have put their heart and soul into it. If Jamie didn't know better, or if someone had told him, he would've believed that the statue truly was a dragon trapped in an encasing of silver. It was truly magical. Jamie glanced around the area, wondering if there was anybody else around. There wasn't, he was the only one there. He wondered how the statue could've been inside the tree in the first place. Perhaps it was hollow inside somewhere and he never noticed. He added to that by thinking some kids may have even playing a game and left it behind by accident. It must have been recent as the dragon didn't have any signs of it being old. It was brand new to Jamie.

He would've pondered on it longer when he faintly heard his phone going off. It let off the obnoxious whistle you would hear when a phone gets a text message. He took out his phone, the screen cracked a little. He unlocked the phone, seeing that the text was from Jasmine.

From Mum:

Gone to pick up Carl. Police station. Please be home before we get back.

Jamie felt like laughing at this. So Carl got some comeuppance because of his alcoholism. He didn't bring himself to laugh however when he realised what Jasmine was doing. He texted back as fast as he could.

To Mum:

I'll be home soon. Please be careful. Or tell the police about what's going on. Please Mum.

Jamie waited intensely for a minute, but he got no reply from Jasmine. He can only assume that she was driving and couldn't get to her phone. Jamie sighed heavily and pocketed his phone. He glanced at the dragon statue. He was tempted to leave it where it was, but he couldn't bring himself to. It was strange, but he felt a connection with it. Like it was a part to him. It was strange.

Jamie sighed again. Screw it. He doesn't care if he gets into trouble with Carl for it, he's keeping the statue unless someone comes looking for it. After carefully placing the statue in his bag, the boy ran home. He didn't know how long it would take for him to get back, but he hoped that he would get home before Jasmine and Carl did.