After a Dragon's Treasure

      The roar could be heard even with Jarod's village being miles away from the dragon's mountain lair. Instantly everyone in town square dropped whatever they were holding; rugs, baskets of apples, even coin purses fell to ground while the air ripping sound invaded every-one's peace.
      Jarod's first reaction was shock; he knew his village would be the dragon's target. He knew because he had caused the dragon's anger.
      The whole town had known of the dragon for quite some time. The dragon had appeared about ten years ago when the flames were first spotted. The flames would shoot forth from the peak of the mountain from time to time, and that's how the mountain got its name.
      Last week he and his friend Chris had traveled to Mount Firestorm seeking a dragon's treasure. Though the boys were only fifteen years old they were not afraid of an adult's adventure. They had never seen the dragon, but had heard stories from the adults in town of the dragon's supreme size and knee-shaking roar.
      The journey through the wood toward the mountain had been full of excitement. During the nights he could hardly sleep! The days were filled with thoughts of dragon slaying, treasure hunting, and even princess saving. Every day along the forest path they would flip a coin to see who would get the first pick at the dragon's horde, and every day the loser would ask for a re-flip.
      The day they noticed all the forest animals were nowhere to be seen was the day the excitement turned to nervousness. That was the day the mountain would cover up the sun and cause complete darkness a few hours earlier than usual.
      One night when Chris had finished making a fire they heard it. Jarod and Chris stopped and stared at each other unblinking as the sound hit their ears. Faintly from the top of the mountain they heard a roar that sounded like an earthquake. When it was over they both looked up to-ward the top of the mountain and saw a flame as wide as a river come shooting out of it. After the flame had died down they saw a massive figure shaped like a lizard jump out of the side of the mountain, and then mid-fall it spread its gigantic wings. They were twice as long as the figure itself. The dragon then let out another ground shaking scream, and then it circled the peak for a minute before flying off into the night. Chris looked back at Jarod with fear on his face and said, "No....I can't.....", while shaking his head slowly.
      Jarod quickly jumped over to his friend, grabbed him by the shoulders and yelled, "We can't go back! We have to show everyone were not kids anymore! If we can get at least one valuable thing from this dragon we'll prove to them we're men!" Chris looked down at the ground and Jarod let go of him, feeling ashamed. He let out a deep breath and calmed himself. "No more being pushed around. Isn't that what you want?" He sat down in front of the fire and started tossing twigs in the burning flames.
      Chris came and sat down beside him.
      "All the bigger guys pick on us because we're smaller than them." Jarod stared into the fire thinking of being pushed to the ground by the bigger boys and not being let back up. He looked at his friend, "We're smaller, that's why I know we can sneak in and steal some good stuff! We're good at being sneaky!"
      "Yeah, like that time we took Mrs. Goodcry's blueberry pie from her bag while she was at the market without anyone seeing." They both let out a laugh but it was soon broken by another roar from off in the distance.
      "I know we can do it, if it gets dangerous we can hightail it out of there any time we want, got it?" Jarod looked at Chris's face and saw the look of a trouble-maker smiling back at him.
      "Got it." They clasped hands and knew it was time for some rest, they knew they had a busy day ahead of them.
      The next morning they got up with the same excitement as the first day out. Soon after setting out from camp they reached the foot of the mountain. The color of the mountain was as red as clay, with rocks jutting out of it like thorns. "At least it will be an easy climb." Jarod said with a smile on his face. They started climbing up the mountain with ease for the rocks were big enough for them to stand on, and were not that far apart.
      They climbed to where they could not see the ground anymore, and the rocks got smaller under their feet before they wondered when they would reach the lair of the fire dragon. "How much farther do you think we have?" Chris asked his friend in between breaths. They were both exhausted from the climb and stopped to take a little break.
      "Not far I hope." Jarod replied while finding a flat place to sit.
      Chris walked to the edge and looked around the side of the mountain looking for some kind of difference in the rocks until he saw one about fifty feet up that looked like a perfect rectangle coming out of the side. "Hey Jarod, look up there!" He pointed to the rock he noticed.
      "You see somthin'?" Jarod got up and walked over to Chris to see what he was pointing at. He noticed it and said, "Looks like it was carved out of the rock." He looked to the sides of him then started climbing up toward the rock. Chris followed after him with excitement in his step.
      When they reached the rock they climbed atop it and saw that this rock led them to a dark passage in to the mountain.
      "Well this is it." Jarod said while looking in to the darkness.
      "Ready when you are." They both then crouched down and walked silently in to the cave before them.
      After about fifty feet into the cave complete darkness engulfed them. The parts of the cave that they could see looked like this was a building crafted in to the mountain. They had never heard of such a place. They hugged the left wall and felt out in front of them to make sure they didn't run into a wall. Jarod soon ran into a staircase. "Looks like it leads up."
      "What are we waiting for?" Chris replied, and then they both started ascending the stairs keeping as quiet as possible not to disturb the silence.
      As they climbed the winding stair the air grew warmer around them and let them know they were getting closer to their goal. After five minutes of climbing it was considerably warmer than it was outside, and they could see a light coming from farther up the stairs. They climbed slower and a little higher up the stair Jarod could see a shimmer reflecting off the stone wall. He turned the corner slowly in complete silence and gasped in awe at what lie before him. Chris heard the gasp and came up beside him to share the view.
      Before them were mounds a gold coins that looked like a golden ocean and the sunlight shining through holes in the ceiling made it seem like the ocean was rolling. Among the gold were gems and other objects gleaming in the sunlight. They walked toward the mound forgetting all about the gold's guardian. They were both sweating from the intense heat and both grabbed a handful of gold. "This is more than I ever imagined." Chris was too busy picking up a medallion the size of a dinner plate with a picture of two dragons fighting an airborne battle carved into it to reply to Jarod's comment.
      Jarod looked ahead of him and saw gold coins of oval shape that were twice as big as the others and walked up the mound over to them. "This is unbelievable." He said to himself as he dropped to his knees in front of them. He went to pick one up but it wouldn't budge. Jarod sat up confused then pulled on the coin as hard as he could but still it did not give. He then punched it in frustration. The gold coin and the few around it slid up into the other gold coins to reveal an eye a little larger than his head that resembled a lizard's.
      It then blinked and looked right at him.
      "Dr.....dra....DRAGON!" Jarod fell backward down the mound of coins as the gold dragon's head emerged from the massive pile.
      Chris looked over to see what was causing the noise and dropped the golden goblet he was holding at the sight he saw. Gold coins were sliding down the pile as it was raising higher. He got up as quick as he could and went to help Jarod up as the dragon revealed his entire head and neck. Most of the mound of coins was actually made up of the dragon's head; its body must be gargantuan! The dragon then let out a blood curling roar that shook the very mountain and almost caused the two boys to fall over.
      As they made their way to the staircase they saw a bright light hit the wall in front of them. They missed the dragon's flame breath by only an inch as they turned down the stair. They ran downward as fast as they could Almost stumbling whenever stairs were uneven. When they reached the bottom the ground shook with incredible force that caused them to topple onto the floor.
      When the roar stopped the sound of cracking rock followed. The ground below them collapsed and sent them sliding down into the heart of the mountain. They slid and slid for what seemed like forever. Their clothes ripped on small rocks and they were slammed against the walls every time the chute shifted their course. They fell even further downward until the tunnel started to flatten. Before their speed could lessen they found themselves shooting out of the side of the mountain toward the tops of the forest trees. The tree branches broke their fall and when they hit the ground they immediately got up and ran as fast as they could into the midst of the forest. Close behind them were the sounds of the dragon's roars. Despite the dragon's screams they ran without looking back and soon the roars grew quieter behind them.
      They did not stop until they collapsed because their legs could not run any more. While lying on the ground next to each other they both started laughing. "Look at us! Our clothes are ripped; our hair is a mess, and no treasure to show for it." Jarod panted then dropped his head to the ground.
      "Not quite." Chris rolled over and pulled the dragon medallion out of his shirt.
      Jarod saw it and opened his eyes wide. "How did you get out with that in your shirt?"
      "Very uncomfortably." They both laughed until they passed out from exhaustion.
      After they had made their way home they showed off their treasure to all the townspeople. Jarod and Chris's parents were worried sick but were so relieved to see their boys that they forgot to be angry with them. When the boys told everyone of their journey all of the adults thought the kids got lucky and found a lost treasure in the forest, then dirtied up their clothes to add to their dragon story. No one tried to take the medallion from the pair because whatever item some one finds is rightfullly theirs by law. A few of the townspeople seemed to have theirs eyes on the gold so the two boys hid it somwhere safe so no one could take it.The little kids in town could not get enough of the adventure and the boys found themselves telling the story countless times a day. They were the talk of the town ever since.
      That was all over now. The dragon's roar in the distance could be heard by everyone, and they all knew why the dragon was angry; someone had stolen its treasure.
      Jarod ran to Chris's house as fast as he could, and when he got there he was already outside with medallion in hand. "It's after the medallion!" Jarod yelled at him as he approached.
      "I know. Do you think we can give it back?" Chris replied as they ran toward the side of town that looked out toward the mountain.
      "Lets hope so."
      They waited on the side of town for about a minute before they could see the dragon flying closer in the distance. "Stand on my shoulders and raise the medallion toward him so he can see it!" Jarod had to yell to overcome the dragon's roars.
      "Okay!" He then climbed up on Jarod and stretched his arms as far out as he could and hoped the dragon would see him.
      The dragon drew closer and closer until they could see the dragon's shimmering eyes filled with fire heading directly for them. The dragon dove toward them like a hawk diving for a mouse, roaring as loud as ever.
      In unison both boys thought of how their stupid child adventures put their entire village into danger. They thought of how they wish not only they be saved, but their village, friends, and families. They poured every ounce of their souls into that thought and the medallion heard it loud and clear.
      The medallion then glowed with blinding light, and it shot forth a pillar of light that stretched outward into a cone that engulfed the dragon. With one last roar from the diving beast, the light grew so bright it blinded everyone around and caused the boys to fall over backward.
        When the boys recovered themselves Jarod sat up, looked over to Chris and asked, "What happened?"
      "I don't know." Was all Chris could reply. He picked up the medallion, which was cool to the touch. He then looked at the carving set into it. There were now three dragons in the picture, fighting an endless battle they would never finish.