dreams of flame

                                                 

         The city is rank with fear, for weeks strangers have come and gone hauling the bodies of innocent citizens off for burial. No one leaves their home, no one works; the city has fallen into a coma. It started three years ago, the day the monsters returned.

         It was a beautiful Saturday in June, the sky was clear, the summer festival was underway and the inhabitants of Salvation were in high spirits. I walked from the restaurant I cooked at to a bar just down the corner. The Queens pub is the local foodservice hangout spot. If you cooked, or waited tables; chances are you would make your way here after work. Everyone needs to unwind right?

         Opening the front door I took two steps into the seedy establishment and was quickly greeted by the scent of smoke and stale beer. Only four other people called this place home today, not unusual as it was only three in the afternoon. I calmly walked over to the bar and pulled out a chair, the bartender an aging yet well built man of calcuttan named Nesh turns to me and hands me my usual purchase. Cheap beer accompanied by a bright smile.



“Hey, Martin how are you doing today?” he asks; his smile broadening over his dark, weathered face.

I grip my drink in one hand the coolness of the bottle calming the fire in my burned palm.



“Not too bad, burned myself today; but you know… just another little thing to remind me of how I need a new career.” I reply taking another swig from my beer.

         

Outside the sun burns into the pavement, the occasional passing car sends a jet of light into the bars front window blinding me. Another boring Saturday afternoon… The television over the bar displays the news of the day, some bleach blonde news anchor whining about the economy, or some corrupt government official being arraigned for questionable business practices. The usual: war, famine, and murder. Its sad that we’ve become so complacent with just how awful our world has become. Thinking this spurs me to take another swig of my beer, just doing my part. Suddenly the television cuts out to static, outside the sky seems to darken; as if a large storm is moving in.

With a brief hiss the TV sputters back to life, the blonde has been replaced with some handsome and (obviously) trustworthy male news anchor.



“ Good afternoon ladies and gentleman. I am Harvey Williams in for Deborah Gains. The world is in a state of panic right now over what can best be described as, the single greatest discovery the world of biology has ever seen. Scientists on the island of Sumatra have stumbled on an ancient cave containing what sources close to the expedition have called a dragon. The beast was found in a state of hibernation, shortly after scientists exhumed the animal it sprang to life, its current whereabouts are unknown. Stay tuned for more details as this story develops.

Again I gaze into the small parking lot, the sky has grown ever darker. The only light coming from outside is a faint orange glow that gives everything around me an odd rust colored hue. Finishing my beer I stand up to pay my tab, my attention finally leaving the television; the bar is empty.

“ Hello? Nesh?” I shout, no one answers me, peering through the front window I see the parking lot crammed with pedestrians, all of the staring and pointing to the sky. Dumbfounded I join the throng gathered outside. It’s hot, much hotter than it had been since I was last out here; the sky looks as if it is on fire. Large menacing clouds boil above us, flames dance from cloud to cloud as the occasional lightning blot tears through the air above us. It’s so hot. The fire in the sky spreads through the air growing ever more violent as it nears the city. The first of the city’s skyscrapers is shrouded in this maelstrom, though nothing appears to strike the building, a large explosion rocks the street nonetheless. Glass and mortar rain down on the street as the building is torn apart by the deadly storm. More fire, more thunder; people running, and me standing like an idiot. An ear splitting roar wakes me from my daze, overhead the clouds part momentarily, the only thing I can do at the sight of this new horror is scream.

I passed out after that, when I came to the entire city was demolished, and the dragon was gone. Since then the sky has burned and the governments of the planet have crumbled and most of the world population has gone into hiding. The dragon was only the first monster visited on us, in the two years to come other long forgotten creatures surfaced, goblins, satyrs, merfolk just to name a few. The world has been overrun by myth.

Now what few of us remain are trying to retake our world, but we fight a losing battle. Today is a very important day; over the past few weeks we’ve managed to locate the Dragons nesting place.  The sputter of helicopter blades is deafening in my ears, cradling my rifle I whisper a prayer to myself, we have been flying now for five hours, we have refueled twice and our moment of glory is almost at hand. Hopefully if we destroy this reptilian harbinger of death, we may stand some chance of regaining control. All my training has led to this moment, still holding my rifle as if it were my lover I strap my helmet on and ready myself. The helicopter dips as we draw closer to our destination, the place where this al started, Sumatra. What used to be a lush jungle paradise is now an island of ash, pools of melted rock cover the landscape like badly infected sores. The pilot finds a flat place to land and shuts off the aircraft; our team of six leaps from the cabin and forms a tight circle, like a football team during a huddle.

“Our objective is at the back of the island, we have four hours before the chopper takes off in which to complete our mission, and this is a zero fail endeavor, stay sharp and follow me.” Our squad captain barks, his name is Jaffe. A tall man with broad shoulders, a pair of nickel-plated revolvers hangs loosely at his sides. He is not the kind of man you want to disrespect, and he hates volunteers. We trek over the scorched land around us, the sand melted into glass that shatters under our feet.  Bones litter the landscape s we draw nearer to the mountain this thing calls home. Ahead a strange sight rises up to meet us, a vast expanse of trees looms at the base of the mountain, with the rest of the world desolated by fire and drought, this lush vision before us should not exist. We push through the underbrush; hacking and slashing through thick green vines and spiky bushes that sprout everywhere, the farther we go the thicker the vegetation becomes, just when our journey becomes almost impassable the forest gives way to a clearing. Valley is far more appropriate, a large lake stretches out before us, its glassy surface not moving, and strange sounds permeate the air around us. Raucous chirps and twitters echo all around, something is moving in the trees above us.

Without warning a mass of strange creatures leap from the canopy, they resemble skinned monkeys, roughly three feet tall, they swarm over our position, long wicked claws tear two of my companions to shreds in seconds, our gun fire does little to quell the horde, from the back of the group comes a much larger ape, its crimson flesh rippling with anticipation for the meal it’s about to enjoy. Tow wickedly curved horns twist from its temples and curl into the air making the beast seem much taller than it really is. With terrifying ferocity it tears through us. The solider to my left falls to the ground screaming as the things deadly claws tear his face. I fire a quick burst from my gun at the creature and head off toward the mountain, I can hear Jaffe screaming curses and firing at the swarm as he attempts to follow me. I knew this would be my last day alive, but I refuse to be stopped. Running, like a man possessed I jump over fallen trees and over the random crevices carved through the forest floor. After what seems like an eternity I reach the base of the mountain; again the landscape is transformed into a barren and glassy place, the heat is still unbearable. I scan the mountainside searching for a cave or some other obvious hiding place, faintly as if looking through a dirty windshield I begin to make out the shape of a cave, a large football field sized hole is carved into the rock, more bones spill from its mouth and cascade down the hillside. With my destiny in sight I begin climbing up the slope.  The ground is terribly loose, thin fragile stones underfoot cause me to slide back down the hill again and again. After roughly and hour of the hardest work I’ve ever been a part of I reach the cave.

The rhythmic inhale and exhale of the beast within sounds like some giant bellows deep beneath the earth; trying to remain calm I clamber down into the cave… into hell. I am alone, I can only hope that some of my comrades survived and, made it to the helicopter.  Inside the cave is dark, it smells strongly of sulfur and rotting meat, the steady breath from below floats up to me offending my nostrils so badly that I can feel bile rise in my throat.

Looking away from the tunnel ahead of me in an attempt to quell the demons in my stomach I see a pile of bodies lying in a corner. Looking closely at the corpses I notice the charred remains of the men and women I arrived here with. How they ended up here I’ll never know, pushing the remains around I learn with shocking certainty that I really am all that is left. With renewed fervor I plunge deeper into the cave, determined to at least try. After only a few yards the path down disappears entirely, below me is a pit bathed in shadow with no way to the bottom. Reaching into my vest I withdraw an emergency flare, light it and drop it into the pit. As it falls I can faintly make out some huge form below. I’ve found it. The flare fades from sight; I can hear it bounce off of the monster below.

That same roar I heard years ago rushes up to meet me, the ground shaking from the force of this vocalization. A blast of hot air and the sound of wings flapping in the dark brings an immeasurable number of childhood fears to life before my eyes. I drop my gun and slide to the ground as the creature towers over me.

Long white teeth frame a mouth large enough to swallow a city bus; its eyes burn with orange fire. Small flames puff from its nostrils, as it smells the air for me. Arching its thick neck it breathes fire into the void above me, my hair is singed, the smell of it burning causes me to wretch once more, now I can see the beast clearly. Ruby and onyx scales cover the things hide creating a beautiful mosaic, fierce yellow spikes protrude from the dragon’s shoulders and wings, and four black horns stand in erect defiance from its forehead. It roars one final time, I cannot hold back the scream fighting its way out of my throat, I feel my bowels give way as the thing sees me. It climbs further up the wall of the pit and places one immense ruby clawed hand on the ledge next to me, arching its neck one last time it opens its mouth even wider, with a sharp stabbing motion like a flamingo while fishing, it plunges its head down on top of me. I close my eyes waiting for the end, its hot breath on my face, and again I scream…

“ Hey my man, are you alright?”Nesh asks; I open my eyes and look around me. It’s still Saturday and I am still in the Queens pub. What just happened, my beer is warm now, and I am still alone in this place.

“Nesh where did everybody go?” I ask, my voice still shaky after the vision I’ve just had. I get no answer from the bartender, wiping the sweat from my eyes I gaze around the bar once more, bringing my eyes to rest at the front window, outside the sky has darkened to an orange glow, the clouds boil with furious anger. In a daze I walk outside, looking up I see the clouds part just like before.  The tears that begin to flow do little to cool my burning cheeks.