Why heights?
Marigold swung her leg to the next outcropping of rock. Pebbles collided with her sweaty brow on their way to the bare brush far below. Muscles spent, she reached for the hints of greenery above her head. Slick, squishy. And firmly rooted. Grunts and bruises brought her to the top. Thick fog blanketed the empty expanse.
At least she couldn’t see the ground.
Rising on sore legs, Marigold brushed off her torn skirt. The resulting black streaks reminded her of the soot on her fingers and sleeves. One terror replaced another.
A hollow whimper filled the silence on the cliff. With a few steps, she found the stranger. Huddled under a bivouac of dead branches, his thin frame shuddered. Torn trousers were his only covering, soot dirtying his toes and gray hair.
Marigold knelt a short distance from him. “Alek.” Unfocused eyes met hers. “Alek, it’s okay. The beast is gone.”
He shook his head vigorously.
Her village had heard rumors of a horrible creature razing the countryside. Some said it towered like the grand structures of London. Others insisted it shot fire from its eyes. The only certainty was how ridiculous the stories were.
Until a stranger came to town, embodying every nightmare rumored.
Skin chilled, Marigold inched closer. “You don’t need to be afraid.”
Alek grabbed a twig, marking the ground outside his bivouac. Shapes became letters. RUN.
“After climbing for what felt like days? Not a chance.”
He scratched out the word and wrote another. DANGER.
Her blood curdled. He’d stumbled into the village a few weeks ago, proving the rumors true. Nothing more. His lack of speech had been attributed to trauma, his gangly form a result of harsh travels. The people didn’t hesitate to welcome him, providing worn clothing and bountiful feasts.
Good deeds swiftly punished.
Hairs rising on her neck, Marigold eyed the sky. Wondering if the beast still haunted this poor soul. No shadows darkened the fog. Clearing her throat, she clenched her skirt. “I know you didn’t mean for the creature to harm our village. You couldn’t have known it would follow you across the continent.”
Alek’s eyes held an array of shifting colors. In the low light, they appeared to glow gold, sparking with mystery and knowledge. Thin lips pursed, he scratched out his messages. The blackened grass disintegrated into the dirt with every pass of his writing utensil.
Marigold scooted a little closer. “I don’t know what you remember from before. Or what you remember now. But everything will be okay.”
He glanced between her and his work, signaling a new message. His drawing gave her pause.
Buildings on fire, a creature flying through the sky. Motionless bodies.
Swallowing stiffly, Marigold rubbed the soot off her fingers. Tried to scrape it off her face. Wished to awake from the nightmare. But the visions remained memories of a beast appearing in the sky, wrapped in ash and scales. Fire descended from the sky, destroying the world she knew. The people she loved lay in ash or disappeared in the forests.
But she had followed their mysterious stranger, named after the knight that founded their town.
She scattered the earth, erasing the past she couldn’t rewrite. “This doesn’t need to happen again. You’ve survived the creature twice, perhaps more. You know how to beat it, or to get away. Please Alek, help me stop the beast.”
Skin ashen, his pupils widened. And shrunk to slits. Marigold paled as a voice like thunder left his parted lips. “You assume too much.”
His body contorted, arms lengthening and hair receding. Skin hardened to scales, head stretching into a muzzle. His small frame grew, exceeding the capacity of his bivouac.
Marigold shuffled away, heart stuttering with every snap and crack of his ribs and joints. Smoke emitted from thick nostrils, golden eyes scanning the barren scenery. Leathery wings formed within the joints of former arms, a pointed tail whisking across the land. Horns pierced the fog, fulvous fangs jutting from underneath lizard lips.
The air quivered with a massive roar. Flames pierced the sky, evaporating the darkness.
Cowering in the dirt, Marigold prayed for rescue. To be awoken from the nightmare. But the rumors were true. A dragon lived.
And it had lived among them as a man.