The Forest Titan

Seraph kneeled before the base of the tree trunk and engraved her name with a sharpened metal guitar pick.

Her brother Markes ran up behind her.

“I reached the tree first!” said Seraph.

“How do you do it!”

“It’s a gift.”

“Father always said the same thing,” Markes sneered.

“I know.”

“But you know what I beat you in?”

“You are an excellent alchemist.”

“That’s right!”

Suddenly, they heard something large rustle ahead.

“What’s that!” said Seraph.

“Quick, hide!”

The two waited.

Their eyes widened as a towering dragon emerged into the clearing.

“What do we do?” said Seraph.

Markes marched before the beast.

“What are you doing!”

Markes took a glass bottle filled with red solution and cast it at the dragon’s feet. Vines came from below and wrapped around the dragon’s feet. The vines crept up its legs and the beast roared in anger. It spread its wings, trying to fly away.

The dragon’s chest expanded. Markes jumped to the left just in time to evade a stream of fire from the beast. The dragon spewed flames that singed the vines. The dragon broke free and Seraph and Markes fled.

They weaved in and out of foliage, as the behemoth, bull dozed over everything.

The dragon kept on their heels and just as they emerged past the forest tree line. The dragon stopped.

The two collapsed.

“It stopped following us,” Markes said between breaths.

“Maybe it hates the sun.”

“We must tell father about the dragon. All who enter the forest will be in danger.”

The two hurried home and made their way through the castle.

“Hello, young royals,” said a man in a scarlet cloak.

“Where is our father?” asked Seraph.

“King Darvy is in the royal gardens with Queen Nethaal.”

The two siblings darted off to tell their father, King Darvy.

Once in the gardens, they immediately met their mother, who held a wicker basket full of apples. “Children, you look flustered.”

“We found a dragon in the forest!” said Seraph.

Nethaal gasped. “Oh, my! We must tell your father!”

The three rushed to King Darvy and told him.

“A dragon! I thought they all live in the northern mountains. Did you see it, or did you actually make contact with it?”

“Markes threw a potion that made vines entangle its body, but the dragon broke free. We reached the forest end. Then it stopped following us.”

“I must organize a hunting party and slay this threat.”

“We should get some help from Ithicus,” said Nethaal.

“I will go to him now,” said the king.

“Can we go too?” said Markes.

“Very well.”

King Darvy and his children made their way to the alchemist’s lab. His whole lab was filled with contraptions and bubbling beakers full of liquids. “My lord, to what do I owe the honor today?”

“Ithicus, my children encountered a dragon in the forest.”

“That’s not good!”

Ithicus passed by a red balloon with a candle under it, causing it to hover over a table.

“What is that thing?” asked Seraph.

“It is a small-scale flying invention I plan to replicate on a larger scale.” Ithicus went to a shelf and pulled out three glass bottles. “I just happened to have been working on a potion especially to afflict dragons. But a dragon’s scales are impermeable. It must be administered into its mouth.”

King Darvy took the bottles and left with Markes and Seraph.

“Children, you spend hours in the forest. You must lead the hunting team.”

“Yes, father,” they said together.

A hunting team of fifteen soldiers went on horseback and they all set off for the forest.

“The terrain is blocked with trees. Me must go on foot,” said Darvy.

They crept through as the children led the way. They trudged through the forest for a time.

Markes stopped in front of the tree Seraph engraved in her name. “This is the spot we found it.”

The soldiers looked around.

“We’ll spread out into three groups of five soldiers.”

The three took the middle party and went on.

Hours went by with no sign. They crested a hill and there it was asleep on the other side.

“We’re in luck!” said Markes.

“But we need to get the potion into its mouth,” said Darvy.

“We’ll have to rouse it,” said Seraph.

“If we wake it up, it would probably angry enough to roar,” said Markes.

“Allow me,” said the soldier as he slid down the hill, striking the dragon’s face. The dragon sprung alert, standing on its hind legs, roaring.

“How do we reach its mouth up there!” said Seraph.

Markes took a cross bow and tied the bottle of potion with his belt onto an arrow. The soldier fled up the hill and screamed as he was devoured by the dragon. Next, it clawed its way as everyone scampered away. In two lightning-quick strikes with its open mouth, it gobbled up two more guards.

Markes hid behind a tree as the dragon stormed forward. It stopped once again and stood on its hind legs and Markes took his chance and aimed. The dragon swept its tail from left to right, knocking him down, as the cross bow flew away.

The two guards stood between Markes and the dragon. Markes stood, holding his ribs as he picked up the cross bow. The dragon spewed a sweeping stream of fire that set the guards aflame.

The dragon stooped forward to scoop up the burning guards in its jaws. Markes took his shot and fired into its throat. The dragon fell to its side writhing in pain. It shrieked, spewing flames everywhere as its head struck a tree, pulling it up by the roots. Then the beast was motionless.

Darvy ran to Markes as Seraph did the same.

“How bad are you hurt?”

“I’m alright. It’s a shame the guards died.”

“It’s over now. Let’s go home.”

And that was the last dragon that was ever to show itself in the forest.