• by:pogoe, Molly Follett

    The Valley was dark with rain clouds the night they came. Fields of tall grass and newly blossomed flowers trembled and bent in the wind. The wild deer and rabbits took cover for the bushes as the wind grew stronger. Then the rain started, pelting and pummeling the earth under it.

    The rain was the least of my worries, but it made my task of finding shelter even more urgent. My family and I galloped towards the forest’s openings, only to find that a fence blocked it. What were we to do? They were approaching swiftly and we had nowhere to go.

    My mother drew a circle, roughly the size of a trees trunk, and stomped in it over and over again. Soon the dust that billowed up from it turned into smoke. Though the smoke was one of them, but it looked different. It was older with gray hair growing from its head and chin. It was also wearing something very different from them; he was wearing a long coat with the night sky sown into it and a tall pointy hat with the same design on it.

    Before I could take a closer look he was gone. Or was I? I wasn’t in the Valley surrounded by my family or them anymore; I was in some sort of cave. The cave’s walls were dark but I could make out faint lines that formed pictures of creatures I had never seen in the valley. As I took a step forward I noticed that a small light was dancing about in the darkness. As I observed it I saw there was more, too many to count and I turned to walk closer.

    I peered at the lights and saw little bodies with glowing wings. I new what they were because we had them at the Valley, but the ones at the Valley glowed a blue-green light not a bright yellowish-red glow. We called Them Lite Fairies. They were what lit the forest at dusk till dawn.

    I took a step forward only to find that I had stepped in deep water. As I struggled to pull my leg out of the cold water, the Lite Fairies stopped their dancing and flew to my rescue. The little lights grabbed hold of my leg and lifted it into the air.

    Their touch seemed strangely warm and confronting, and I couldn’t help but thing of home. The thought of home snapped me back to the dark cave. As I thanked the little lights I pondered were I was and if the Valley was ok.

    I looked up at a close by fairy and asked,” Were are we?”

    It twinkled and seemed to smile then said,” Were are we? Were are we indeed? Are we there or hear? Who’s to know, we could be anywhere. Why should I tell you, you don’t look anything like a fairy anyways” in a squeaky, mocking voice.

    Dumbstruck and not knowing what to say in reply I just stared. In reply the little fairy flew off to another fairy muttering. The Fairies came together in a big ball of light, but all I could hear was, “Yes. No. Yes. No. Yes. No, no.” coming from the little bodies.

    Finally they stopped their yes no and turned to look at me. All at once the little lights came together again and glowed so bright I had to close my eyes. When I opened them there was a huge fairy standing in front of me.

    “You want to know ere you are.” Said the fairy.

    I nodded in reply.

    The fairy understood my nod and said,” You are in the Fire and Water Caves and my name is Flamora.”

    In quick response I replied,” Melody’s my name.”

    She nodded and said,” I have never seen your kind in my caves before, are you some kind of mountain lizard?”

    “No, no I’m a Morwane, a valley dragon. Not the biggest or scariest of dragons but we are pretty fast.” I said.

    “Morwane, well then shouldn’t you be in a valley or forest of some sort?” said Flamora.

    “I should be in the Valley, but as you can see I’m not. Somehow when we were being invaded I got here. I think it was some kind of magic.” I said.

    “Magic indeed, you can only get in or out of the Fire and Water Caves with magic.” Said Flamora.

    “Then how am I to get out of this place?” I muttered.

    “The door.” Said Flamora and with that a door of bright light appeared.

    Flamora gestured for me to go though as I thanked her for her help. Walking though the door of light was like walking trough ice water about to freeze. It was cold and made you shiver, but as you pulled away from it you felt like an inferno of heat.

    On the other side of the door was a mountain top. When I turned to look at the door again nothing was there but the edge of a mountain top.

    I thought to my self,” GREAT! I get out of I cave, which you can only enter or exit with magic, only to find myself in the middle of nowhere atop a mountain.”

    My eyes flickered to the side of the mountain only to look away, because of the long way down. I thought I saw something maybe someone climbing up the side of the mountain. As I gasped in horror I realized it was one of them, a human.

    Since the beginning of time morwanes have lived on this earth peacefully, until man came that is. Human encountered the morwanes’ valleys to find that they were fertile and the best for growing crops. Soon humans had nearly but whipped out the morwane in order to have their land.

    When they learned that morwane blood was perfect for spells they sought the little dragons even more. Soon many of the dragons were in captivity and the few wild ones lived in fear of losing their home and even worse their life.

    Many wizards saw that if all the morwanes were dead you could no longer find there blood, so the wizard society set up valleys like mine with protective shields to keep man out. In order to pay for our home each year we would give up some of our blood in order to “pay rent”.

    When I realized that it wasn’t a human but a rather tall dwarf. I let out a deep breath. After the tall dwarf reached the top he looked up at me in amazement.

    The stunned dwarf sputtered out,” Dragon, your an dragon.” Then he danced about in rejoice for some reason unknown.

    “Ummm, what’re you doing and why are you so happy to see a dragon?” I asked

    “Making a desomoning circle of course, what else would I be doing? As for the being so happy to see a dragon, I am because a dragon can sense rock and metals.” Said the tall dwarf as he stopped moving.

    “Sense metals and rocks? I can’t do that. No morwane can.” I laughed.

    The dwarf gaped at me in horror then said,” You’re not a snow mountain dragon and if you aren’t then why are you hear?”

    After exchanging stories and names I learned that Joel, the dwarf, had been searching for a dragon for his village for some time. His village was in great need of money and the rock and metal would bring it. He also told me that if he didn’t come back with a dragon, hence the desomoning circle, he would be too ashamed to live.

    I asked Joel if he had ever heard of minka stone he said no so I told him about how it could be tuned into a shiny metal when melted, but it could only be found in my valley.

    I agreed to take me home and then I would help him find some minka stone to take home. Joel told me that the desomoning circle would take me home, so we both walked into the circle and were gone.

    As my eyes open to see My Valley they cried tears of joy then tears of sadness for my family and heard were not there.

    “Look over there is that were your heard lived?” said Joel.

    When I turned to look my eyes met a sad sight of burnt and broken trees with the occasional blood splattered across them. After wiping the tears from my face I started to walk around too see if there was any clue of were my heard had gone. Joel pointed out the summoning circle that my mother had drawn and human shoe prints leading to and from it.

    The fence the humans had put up was gone now in it’s place was a magic barrier the would keep anyone from entering or leavening the forest. The barrier must have been put up by the wizard, the man who made me disappear. As we searched on for any sign of life I came to a tree that had been burnt to a crisp. When I peered closer I saw fire writing, writing made by dragons, it was from my mother and said that everyone had been taken to the humans camp and would soon be killed. It also said that the wizard tried to help but a human struck him with a potion to make him sleep so he couldn’t help us. There was instructions that told us to go to the forest and find the wizard in the well clearing, once we had him up and awake. When that was done the wizard could cast a sleeping spell on the town so we could go in and save everyone.

    Joel and I thought long ad hard, examined every possibility to being able to get in the forest. No stone was left unturned, as we walked around the forest’s edge. When we reached the river cutting the forest in half it hit us. If the water could flow into the forest maybe we could sail into it.

    We agreed and took four logs ,tied them together than placed the burnt stick tar from the tress on the bottom ,to help it float. Joel pulled the heavy raft into the water and we were off. The barrier didn’t even ripple as we passed though it, it remained solid looking, but it obviously wasn’t.

    Soon as we were in the forest I told Joel to look for a red tree that would indicate that the clearing entrance was near. In no time at all Joel saw w it and we stopped. Walking into the well clearing we saw the wizard sitting next to the well.

    He was eating some berries and nuts and said,” Finally a dragon that is clever enough to find out how to break a magic barrier. So I assume your hear to get me to cast a sleep spell n the village so that you might have the chance to free your heard.”

    “Yes, exactly.” I said

    “Done.” Said the wizard.

    Joel looked at him with a strange look and said,” I thought wizards were suppose to do so sort of chant or something when they cast a spell.”

    “No not all wizards do, but the real thing is that I cast the spell after your family and heard were taken. Oh yes, I’m sorry you were sent away, sometimes when someone uses a summoning circle to summon someone something disappears to balance things out.” Said the wizard to us.

    “ Will you come with us and help my family out then?” I asked.

    “ Sorry to tell you but they don’ need rescuing they already escaped long before you arrived at the clearing.” said the wizard in a smart tone.

    “ What! Why didn’t you tell us that in the first place and where are they?” yelled Joel

    “ You never asked, and they are perfectly fine living in the Valley on the other side of the forest were you’ll be happy to know lives not a single human.” Said the wizard.

    “Take me there.” I said forgetting about Joel

    “ Ok I’ll take us there, just calm down.” Said the wizard

    I turned around in frustration only to find that I wasn’t in the forest. I wiped my head around to see if Joel and the wizard were still there. They weren’t, instead they were running towards a huge stone table covered in different foods. I noticed Joel eyeing the silver plates as I walked over and told him he could have one.

    To my enjoyment I saw my heard every were. Safe and sound, my mother was standing not but ten feet from me as we ran to meet in a huge.

    After she told me everyone was alright except the humans that had been bitten, I told her my saga of getting back home.

    A few days later I showed Joel the minka mines and told him he and his village could take as much as they needed but he would have to come back to visit some times. Joel agreed and new that now we would both rest easy with are worries and fears gone.