The Charred Lands: City of Ash Page 20
The mountain was so vast, I struggled to imagine where might have been a suitable place to build a settlement of this. I could only assume the ground levelled out somewhere. I had no option but to follow this a path up to wherever it lead me, and pray to the lord above that the Church of Fire awaited me at the end of it. Should I get there and find nothing, or that the people living here had long gone, then my mission would have been for nothing. The egg that my dad died for would be useless. All the people that sacrificed themselves in order to aid me had died for nothing, and my life would be without meaning.
I had to push those thoughts to the back of my mind as I felt my previous burst of hope begin to subside, I couldn’t afford to dwell on such possibilities, I simply had to get on with it and pray that all of this hadn’t been for nothing. I took one final look at the dead city at the base of the mountain, before continuing on up.
Finally, I came to a clearing, the ground here began to level out. It was little, but it was the first I had come across whilst making my way up the path. I instantly felt a growing sense of unease, back on the path I had been surrounded by two large walls of rock which covered my sides, but here I felt out in the open, I felt vulnerable. I gave my surroundings a scan and saw nothing, but I didn’t help my ever growing nerves.
Suddenly, the sun above seemed to get swallowed by a thick black cloud, covering the opening in a dark, forbidding shadow. I couldn’t help but look up, expecting to see a sky that looked ready to burst and storm down a torrent of rain, but instead I saw something else.
I didn’t believe my eyes when I spotted the beast above. It was of magnificent size, circling me like a predator stalks it’s pray, but that’s exactly what it was. Dragons are predators, and mankind were the tastiest of prey. For a few seconds it continued flying above, but all I could do was stare. I was completely frozen in fear.
In that moment, I knew it was over. I scanned my surroundings, but there was no cover from the beast. I was out in the open, with no hope of evading it. I thought about reaching for my revolver, but it knew it would do me no good. A bullet from my gun would only piss the thing off.
Finally, the creature stopped its relentless circling above and came in for a landing. Every single muscle in my body tensed as I watched it land on a rock ledge above me. I was a sitting duck.
The knowledge that I had come so far, and gotten so close, only to die on the mountain was enough to drive me insane. I stared into the creatures large, marble like eyes, waiting for it to end my life.
A sense of intrigue slowly began to overlap the fear that was coursing through my brain. Only when I looked beyond the beast did I see exactly why it hadn’t attack me.
A man that I instantly recognised sat atop of a shoddy saddle on the creatures back. He had a thick, grey beard with long, wire like grey hair which looked to reach the bottom of his shirtless back. I knew exactly who this man was. It was Mogbane.
I stared at him, and he stared back. For what felt like an eternity we stood in silence, staring at each other as the beast below him sat patiently like a domesticated animal. It was so numbing to be in the presence of one of these creatures, and not having to worry about it reducing me to a pile of ash and bone. Of course, that didn’t make it any less scary. Every time it moved I felt my nerves twitch, always ready to take a desperate leap behind a rock should it suddenly turn violent.
Suddenly, I became aware of a noise behind me. As much as it pained me to turn my back to Mogbane and his creature, I had no option but to. I spun around, gun aimed at the ready.
Thirteen, maybe fourteen men and women stood at the other end of the clearing, all armed with bows and spears. I aimed my revolver at them, but didn’t speak a word. Neither the sight of my advanced weapon, or the dragon behind me didn’t faze them in the slightest, they all stood tall and brave, staring intently at me.
“What's your business in this area?” A man called out from the pack.
“I'm looking for the Church of Fire.” I boldly called back, though part of me was beginning to realise that I had already found it. These people all looked similar to Mogbane. Long, unkempt hair and warn, torn clothes.
“And what is your business with the Church of Fire?” The same voice asked.
“I have something for them.”
“Be you friend or foe?”
“Most certainly a friend. I've travelled a long, long distance to find you.”
“And why would you do such a thing?” He called out in response, seeming to raise an eyebrow. I could tell that I had his curiosity. I guess that was half the battle done, I had no doubt in my mind that these people would be willing to at least hear me out once they realised what I had brought them. A lingering fear that I hadn’t been able to shake for the entirety of my journey was the prospect that these people could have simply shot me dead on sight, but they hadn’t, and now I had my chance to introduce myself, I had my foot in the door.
“Because in my possession, I have a dragon’s egg.” I explained, numbing the group into complete silence. For a few moments I stood there, waiting for their response. They began mumbling and whispering to each other, but it was impossible to make out what they were saying. Slowly, their actions became lively, as their voices became less hushed and more frantic. Suddenly, one of them said something to another that I could hear. “The great prophecy has arrived!” I heard someone loudly proclaim.
Without warning, they bared down their weapons and dropped to their knees – I could only stare at the group of men and women, all hunched down, mumbling inaudible words to themselves for a few moments, before something clicked in my mind.
They were praying… and they were praying to me.
Author’s note :
I would like to give a massive thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read the second part in my Charred Lands trilogy. Work begins on the third soon! – Josh A. Murphy
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Email – JoshAMurphyWriter@gmail.com