The Storm of Fire

[Dae314]

Preface

This is a small sample of the full story that I'm still writing based on the fantasy/fairy tale story I wrote for the random contest. This is actually part of the original story I had written for the contest, but I was at about 1500 words and still hadn't finished the first fight yet so I decided to switch story-telling style and take on a more traditional fairy tale voice. This version is much more detailed and takes a god-like perspective that follows Diarai the dragon rather than the complete 3rd person narrator I used in the fairy tale telling of the story. I really liked what I had written for this, and I hope to be able to finish telling the entire story in this voice. I'm actually well ahead of what I'm giving you, but I don't want to feel pressure to release what I write immediately so I'm only giving a bit at a time. The rest of the story will come in later posts.

The Storm of Fire

In the hundreds of years Diarai had lived, never had he been more vexed by a single knight than he was now. Unlike knights in the past who foolishly attempted to fight Diarai in cumbersome suits of armor that could easily be melted or broken, this knight fought with only light boiled leather, a small steel cap, and a strong round shield. Armor would do nothing against Diarai’s claws or fiery breath, and Diarai had to give this man some respect for his shrewd choice to dodge such attacks rather than try to defend against them.

However, speed would not be enough to best a dragon. As the knight danced away from Diarai’s claws, his foot landed on a crack in the cave floor, and he lost his footing. Spotting the opportunity, Diarai swiftly swung his tail intending to strike off the man’s head, but the knight fell to the ground and rolled out of the way allowing the deadly strike to pass above him. He then scrambled behind a low, jagged rock near the cave wall as a puff of Diarai’s flames scorched the place where he had fallen. However, now the knight was cornered. That small rock could not cover the knight from a full blast of Diarai’s fire. Diarai drew in air and prepared a white hot blast meant to melt the rock and the knight hiding behind it. However, before Diarai was finished, a thin green streak shot up from behind the rock where the knight was hiding. The enchanted arrow exploded on the cave ceiling, striking a large stalactite hanging above Diarai.

Edited September 22, 2012 by Emotional Outlet

[Leviathan]

Love the way you started your story here. Will be looking forward to see how this new and detailed version ends up.

[Anubis the muse]

Very nice, I feel like I could really get into this story.

[Dae314]

Diarai jumped out of the way of the falling rocky dagger, but when it slammed into the cave floor the rock exploded into fragments. A large chunk landed on the dragon’s leg causing him to screech in pain and release the blast of fire meant for the knight. The knight hadn’t been carrying a bow or arrows when he was fighting, Diarai considered spitefully, so he must’ve hidden the weapon there earlier anticipating the fight to lead back to the entrance of the cave. No that was wrong, Diarai corrected himself, the knight had been intentionally dodging back to the entrance the entire time to set up a surprise attack. Outraged, the dragon turned his eyes wide with murderous rage to the rock where the knight was hiding intending to let the knight burn for his insolence, but the knight was not there. When Diarai had jumped out of the way of the falling rock, it put him in a position where he could see where the knight should’ve been hiding. There was a bow and an empty quiver of arrows there, but no knight. Well, at least the scheming devil had no more enchanted exploding arrows, Diarai considered. While those arrows couldn’t fell a dragon, they would hurt quite a bit, and Diarai wasn’t interested in letting the knight fire a direct shot at him.

As Diarai struggled against the jagged shard of rock pinning his leg, he searched the cave floor for any sign of the knight. Suddenly an arc of pain ripped its way into Diarai’s back. The knight was on top of him! Thrashing wildly, Diarai realized that the knight must’ve used the arrow as a distraction to climb the cave wall. The knight’s weight combined with the force of his fall had broken one of Diarai’s scales and driven his sword deep into the flesh of the dragon’s back. However, that wasn’t the reason for Diarai’s panic. Not more than a few feet from the spot where the knight hung desperately on to his sword, Diarai’s one weakness lay open and vulnerable for the knight to exploit. This spot was a small indentation in Diarai’s spine which was nestled at the base of his neck. The spot was unarmored and sat above a small gap in the bone where one well placed stab with something as short as a hunting knife could kill a dragon. All dragons carried this weak spot. The little valley was just large enough to be a saddle for a man to sit in. The scales in front of the area were even folded a bit and could be used as handholds. Legends told of dragon riders from ancient and forgotten times who would use that spot to fly into battle with their dragon as an ally. Allowing a man to sit in that spot was representative of the trust between dragon and rider. A dragon trusted his rider with his life and in return the rider would defend his dragon’s weakness to prevent others from exploiting it. However, this knight was not Diarai’s rider. The last of the dragon riders had died ages before Diarai had been born. No matter how wildly the Diarai thrashed, the knight held on to his sword which was buried too deeply for the dragon to simply shake out. Soon Diarai’s sides were heaving and his trashing lost some energy. The knight took advantage of the dragon’s fatigue and launched himself from his sword and seated himself right at the base of Diarai’s neck. Diarai heard the knight’s knife whip out of its sheath, and he could felt the point hovering lethally over the gap in his armor.

Man and dragon stopped moving, and the sound of their labored breathing filled the cave until it sounded like the thunder of a great river. The dragon waited. He could feel the tension tangling itself in the small bit of air between flesh and steel. Each heartbeat Diarai counted as one before his last unable to move, unable to think of anything but the knight’s blade sinking into his flesh. What would it feel like? Would the knight cruelly slip the blade in inch by maddening inch denying the dragon respite from this cruel death until the very last moment? Or would he flash the knife down as he had with his sword and allow everything to end in an instant? Diarai felt the knight’s grip tighten and imagined the knife towering madly over his back.

The knight sharply drew in air as the dragon tensed every muscle in his body waiting for the blade to fall, and he said in a deep commanding voice, “Do you yield?”

[Dae314]

Yield? What is this knight thinking? The dragon paused for a minute stunned by the knight’s ludicrously unexpected question. Diarai suddenly began to snort and growl rhythmically from within his chest. His sides shook, and he arched his neck back to let out a burst of flame along with a scratchy coughing sound. The knight tightened his grip to maintain his balance, but stayed poised to drop his knife at any moment. When Diarai’s laughter subsided, he addressed the knight in a raspy impression of the human language, “Warrior, you are an amusing one. Do you also ask a boar to yield before driving your spear through its snout? Do not tell me that you view me as less of a beast than a boar, sheathe your knife in my back and be done with it!”

Still laying on Diarai’s back as though carved from stone, the knight replied, “It is known. If you yield to me, you are bound by the laws of your ancestors to grant me one request that is within your power.”

Diarai paused to consider what the knight had said. That law… yes, I remember now. The last I had heard of it was before I could even fly. It was an ancient pact between men and dragons just after the fall of the dragon riders. How had this knight come across such knowledge, and why would he bring it up now? He couldn’t possibly believe that dragons would still hold to such an ancient agreement. “That law died with my ancestors who made it. Why do you wish to bring it up now? Do you wish for me to be your pawn? Do not jest with me knight, I would sooner drop your blade myself before I would bow my head to you.”

The knight shifted his position and tightened his grip on Diarai’s back. “I will make you an offer. I require your aid for one task and one task only. A warlock from my country has kidnapped my son, and I believe he is planning to do something terrible to him during the coming eclipse. If you help me return to my kingdom with my son, I will set you free of this oath.”

Diarai gave pause to consider the new offer. This knight is full of surprises. His deal does not sound bad, but can he be trusted? To become a human’s pawn for even a single task is humiliating, but what if this knight refuses to hold my oath fulfilled after it is done? I could kill him, but there would be no honor in that. He does not dress like a king or even a lord so what could a warlock possibly want with his son? At best this knight is probably a sellsword who’s being paid to rid a village of my pestilence.

Diarai considered the matter further. But if this knight is playing a jest, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit for him. The knight is obviously skilled at fighting dragons. It’s possible that he has asked this question of many dragons before. If that is so, he must be very determined. If I do not yield, there is little doubt that he would go off to find another dragon. Perhaps he isn’t lying about his son. But that does not stop him from lying about setting me free once the matter is dealt with. Diarai flexed his wings in frustration. This knight is giving me a headache. I don’t like any of this, but he’s giving me a choice between life with possible enslavement or death. Diarai turned his head to stare out of the cave at the slowly dimming sunlight. The rays sketched a glimmering pattern across the clouds hanging over the far mountains.

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Luckily I keep my own copy of what I'm writing so I didn't lose an entire post .