"The dragons are here, at least fifty of them! We must hide, and protect the women and children," shouted a man, as his powerful legs carried him swiftly towards a haystack.
He dove in head first, then stayed perfectly still. A small dragon tucked in its gleaming silver wings, and plummeted towards the ground. It pulled up at the last second, after setting the haystack on fire. With a single roar, its breath scorched the ground for fifty yards.
The terrified man went running, now leaping from one foot to the other, to try to put out the little flames licking at his pants-legs. With his hair singed and still smoking, he ran into a hut.
Screeches were heard from within. "Get out of here, you fool! If you don't set the place afire, you'll surely draw the dragons," yelled a woman. As he fled the hut, a rolling pin sailed after him. It hit him square on the head, making him go down a short distance from the hut.
The dragons circled the village one more time, then seemingly soared away. Once out of sight, they flew upward, until they appeared as the smallest of dots.
A short time later, the inhabitants of the village met in the small log church.
"I don't know why they left. Not one child was taken, just a few herds of cattle. They rarely raid a village unless it's for children," said the man with the scorched feet and singed hair.
"What are you going to do, Governor? If they come back, we can't fight them. I saw you running for your life earlier," said a large young woman, as she cradled a rolling pin.
His face went beet red. "Under the circumstances, I think the best thing to do is get the women and children over to Coldwall before the dragons come back. Then we can build a stone fortification. I'll lead the women and children myself," the Governor announced gallantly.
"I'll bet you will. Then you'll hide in Coldwall," grumbled the woman with the rolling pin.
Quickly a caravan of wagons were assembled, with the children all being loaded in the ones with the sturdiest tops.
"No matter what, just stay in there. The dragons can't easily cut through that wood, and from what I understand, they won't use their fire on you. They want you alive," said the Governor.
After the procession was several miles from the village, the dragons dropped from the sky. The largest ones went directly for the wagons with the children, having watched them being loaded up.
"Here they come!" shouted the Governor, as he rolled off of the wagon, abandoning the reins as the huge draft horses neighed and screamed in terror.
The other drivers did likewise, all taking shelter as best they could, either behind rocks or under wagons.
The largest dragons snapped off the shafts holding the horses, then gently took the wagons containing the children, and placed them in crudely made nets. Then several dragons worked together to get them airborne.
The smaller ones sniffed at the other wagons. Satisfied that they only contained adults, they left.
The dragons flew for many hours, taking turns helping with the nets containing the wagons. Finally, they landed in a small village beside a cliff. It was tidy and well maintained.
In the cliff were many massive caves, only accessible from the air. Just outside of the village, a waterfall plunged from high above, into a deep pool of clean water.
"Hello! It's so good to see you again, Quicksilver," a blonde girl of perhaps fifteen called out. Then she ran towards a small silver dragon, who lowered his head to receive her affection.
Several more young people rushed to the scene, all of them equally happy to see the huge predators. Once the greetings were finished, the dragons backed off.
"Hey, you can come out," several of the younger children said, tapping on the wagons. Soon doors opened, and curious faces poked out.
Not seeing any dragons, they relaxed somewhat. "Where are we?" asked one of the youngest.
"You're safe. My name is Galina, and we were all brought here to start a new way of life. One where people and dragons coexist. As you know, our ancestors, and the dragon's ancestors have been at war for generations. This generation of dragons has decided that we must learn how to live together, before there are so few of either of our kinds as to maybe be no more," said the girl who had greeted Quicksilver.
"But how is that possible? Don't they just want to eat people?" asked a boy of about eleven.
"No, silly. Do you want to eat everything you find? And if it was smart enough to talk to you, would you kill it for food?" asked Galina.
"Of course not! But I'm a person. Dragons can't talk, or care about people," he replied confidently.
"They talk to me. Not the way you do, the words come into my head. I answer back by speaking. And they help us all the time, they are more than friends - like our family," she explained patiently.
"Can we ever go home?" he asked.
"Yes, if you wish. We are all to be given that choice five years from now. I'm staying, and so are most of my friends. The dragons want some of us to go back though, and explain why we were taken. They also want the parents to know that their children are alive. I'll send a letter to my brother with someone who leaves, so he won't worry. We are both orphans, but he was already an apprentice carpenter before our parents died," she explained.
"Then we will be going home after having a real adventure, and learning all about dragons? If I get to ride on one of them, I guess I don't mind that," he said, becoming excited.
"Don't worry, you will have plenty of dragon rides. You're going to love it here," she assured the child, as the others quietly listened, some with huge smiles on their faces.
Cover image made in Canva using their gallery