The Guardian

(This is a story I’m submitting to a Vocal competition. I would appreciate a critique before I submit it.)

The war had been raging for over a hundred years, but in the farming community of Tranquility, life carried on in much the same way as it had for centuries—until today. Today, the marauding hordes of Jikininki, dead humans who had kept partial brain function, were approaching. They possessed an insatiable hunger for living flesh. The Jikininki throng, driven forward by humans called Beast Masters who controlled them, crested the hills protecting Tranquility. Only the Indestructible Legion was powerful enough to repel the Army of the Soulless, and no one had seen them near Tranquility in decades.

The villagers, armed only with pitchforks and other farming tools, were hopelessly outnumbered. They fought valiantly, but the inevitable could not be denied. The Beast Masters spent the evening celebrating their victory while the Jikininki gorged themselves on the dead and dying villagers. It was a vision of horror that would remain burned into three-year-old Alexander’s mind for the rest of his life.

When the battle began, Alexander’s mother was told to hide him in a root cellar with the other children, but trapping him in a hole in the ground made no sense to her. Instead, she ran to a large barn close to town, and they hid in the hayloft. From there, they watched the battle and the gut-wrenching feast that followed. Her decision to hide in the loft was justified. She watched as the children in the cellar were discovered and taken away by the Beast Masters to be used as slaves. The weak ones were given to the Jikininki. They had to escape the village now or suffer a similar fate.

Alexander and his mother lay in the loft until just before sunrise. Jikininki don’t sleep. They enter a period of inactivity while the Beast Masters rest. The valiant mother, with her son, clutched close to her chest, ran for all she was worth. This would be their only chance to make a dash for freedom.

The forest was just feet away when a high-pitched, whooshing sound broke the silence. She heard a heavy thud followed by an unknown force pushing her to the ground. Then came the pain as the arrow penetrated her back and pushed forward, piercing her heart. Her last words to Alexander were, “Run! Don’t stop running until the trees can protect you!”

Alexander could hear the Beast Master guard running towards his fresh kill. A blinding fear overcame him, and he ran into the forest. He ran until his little legs could run no more. The young boy collapsed with exhaustion and dropped into a deep sleep on the forest floor. He had escaped the carnage that overwhelmed his village but now had to survive a new set of dangers.

When Alexander finally awoke, the sun had already started its descent into the western sky. His first thought was to look for his mother, but the horrific memory of her death forced its way into his mind, and he wept uncontrollably. Slowly, his grief was replaced by hunger.

The boy scanned his surroundings, looking for something to eat and drink. On the other side of a clearing, Alexander spotted a bush with berries. They looked like the ones his mother gave him for breakfast, so he walked toward them. Midway through the clearing, the rustling of bushes followed by low growls made him freeze. Entering the clearing from the other side slinked a pack of dire wolves. His three-year-old mind first thought ‘dog’ and he smiled at the approaching pack. His smile turned into a worried frown as the alpha male let out a low, menacing growl.

Alexander walked backward as the pack approached. He was about to break into a futile run when a powerful gust of wind blew him to the ground. The surrounding earth shook and the sky above him darkened as a beast, large and terrifying, landed between him and the dire wolves. They snarled and howled at the interloper, but none of the pack advanced on the beast. The dragon raised up to its full height, inhaled a massive breath of air, and spewed fire in an arch separating the wolves from himself and the boy. The dire wolves knew they could not fight a creature of such magnitude and ran back into the woods.

The massive dragon turned and lowered his head in a gesture of friendship to the quaking three-year-old. Dragons are incapable of speaking verbally, but if a person has an open mind, they can communicate telepathically. No one has a more open mind than a young child.

A deep baritone voice seemed to wrap around Alexander like a warm blanket.

“My name is Draco, and I will not harm you. What are you called?”

A meek voice replied, “I’m Alexander and I’m three.”

Draco reflected on how most animals reach maturity in several months to a year, but humans take several decades to reach adulthood. He would need to sleep a dragon sleep of many years soon and could not care for this child.

“Alexander, I want to take you to a place where you will be well cared for until you are big enough to care for yourself. It’s far from here and we’ll need to fly to this place. Will that be alright with you?”

The boy looked puzzled, then stood and flapped his arms like a bird. “You can teach me to fly?”

“No, but you can ride on me as I fly. Are you ready to go?”

“The man hurt my mother!” whimpered Alexander. “She never got up!”

Thinking about his mother lying in the dirt caused him to cry again.

“I’m sorry that happened, my friend. I am taking you to a place that will teach you many things, including how to fight bad people. Come, we must go now. It’s a long way away.”

Draco lowered one wing. Alexander wiped his eyes and scrambled up onto the dragon’s back. He found a secure purchase as Draco took to the air. At first, Alexander was terrified, watching the ground shrink below him. His three-year-old mind quickly transitioned from fear to elation as the flight continued.

“You will always be able to talk to me no matter how far apart we are,” said Draco. “Our bond is strong. All you have to do is call out to me in your mind and I’ll hear you.”

Alexander really didn’t fully understand what Draco meant, but it didn’t matter. He was flying like a dragon on his way to a new home.

This was the beginning of a long and complicated friendship.