(Page 1 of 2) Language by Rob GarbinSUMMARY: My entry for the April 09 Flash Fiction contest "The Forbidden". The moon shone clear and bright in the deep darkness of night. Below, the ground was shrouded in an amorphous mass of fog from horizon to horizon, where only the highest crags of her distant home could be seen. Palely gleaming, the dragon stared long at the foggy earth. Moonlight made the mists glow like blue/white phosphorus.
Stretching her giant wings further, she swung her head slowly from side to side searching for any sign of what she sought. Miles away to her left, she saw a change in the color of the fog. A thinning in the mists revealed the orange glow of firelight coming from a town. She angled in that direction. With dragon vision, she could make out details of the settlement that the inhabitants would have struggled to see.
Circling the town twice, she chose a landing place just far enough from the settlement for the fog to muffle her touchdown. Her massive wings gouged a hole in the shrouding mists as she settled with a dull thump. Standing still, she waited several minutes watching for signs of alarm. When none came, she moved forward. The dwelling she had chosen was farthest from the main town and on the western side of a large hill that stood between it and the village. Her movements were surprisingly delicate for her size.
A copse of trees stood between her and her destination. Although she could see clearly, the dragon was sure that the inhabitants, if they could see at all, would only see a darker shadow moving among other shadows. As she moved upslope around the trees, she began to hear noises from the dwelling. At first, they seemed random like the wind through her mountain home, but they also held patterns like the steady drip of water down the glittering spikes of her lair. The sounds intrigued her.
These creatures and their strange sounds were why she had defied her father in coming here. Two seasons ago, she had heard similar sounds echoing through the ravines near her home cave. Unfortunately, her father had caught her just before she took off to investigate and then roared down her arguments with a single image, forbidden. She complied but the sounds haunted her sleep. As she grew stronger, she began flying further from home searching for more sounds. She waited until nightfall because her father was old and slept quite soundly, giving her enough time for her adventures.
Some moons ago she discovered the odd collection of structures spread across the floor of a valley. The dragon watched from the safety of the sky as hairy, soft fleshed beings walked clumsily on two legs from building to building. They carried shining sticks of fire to see around them. Other creatures lived in the structures, but it was clear the two-legged beings were in charge. She would have landed to learn more, but the other creatures were sensitive to her presence and alerted their two-legged masters.
She stayed curled up in her cave for several nights trying to think of a way to get close to the hairy beasts without startling them. Then the fog came.
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