And there will be Dragons

Roy hugged me "No!" He said, his face contorting and tears falling from his eyes.

This broke me even more inside.

We both hugged and cried.

This world is too cruel.

Too damn cruel.

…

Crows start screaming and flying in the distance.

Those accursed beasts followed death at every step, but it was uncommon for them to grow so agitated.

The last time this happened I was just a baby, but the stories told by the adults come right out of a horror movie.

Starved hounds came to the villages and caused trouble. Three entire families were lost when the beasts managed to get inside the houses.

For all the men that lost their lives in the conflict, they only managed to take down 2 of the huge hounds before the beasts decided to leave.

The crows follow such beats, trying to get anything to eat from what is left of the remains of their prey.

So when we heard the cursed creatures singing in the distance me and Roy grew deadly silent.

Since I knew myself for myself in this world I've been told stories about wicked witches, powerful demons, wandering mages, and the like.

Stories about dragons and unicorns luring away and eating village children were a popular way to control the younger kids from getting too far from the houses.

But I never believed them.

Why would why? I had never seen such mystical creatures.

The strangest thing was the eternal night. But this planet could simply be rotating at the same time to follow the celestial bodies around it.

If there is life on this planet there must be there is a sun on the other side of the globe. Simple as that.

But then I heard it.

The beating of huge wings moved the air with unbelievable strength.

And then I saw it.

A huge red beat soaring through the night sky, it's still pure illuminated by the red moon making it feel like blood was covering the beats.

It was too far and too dark to see any details. But I knew what it was.

Dragon.

And it was headed straight to the village.

Roy looked at me with horror and I simply mimicked his expression.

If the village is destroyed we are both fucked.

There are no other villages nearby. We would essentially be stranded in the middle of nowhere with nothing but our clothes. And we already are entering autumn.

"We need to run," Roy said, gripping my wrist and pulling me in the opposite direction of the village.

"No," I said, pulling my wrist. "We need to go to the village. See what is happening and if that beast is truly attacking. If so, we will need to hide and wait for it to leave. Then we can see what's left" I said, building a plan in y head of where we could hide.

There is a swampy area near the lake. We can hide there in the mud, there is no way the dragon will be able to sniff us out.

"Shit" Roy hissed, finally understanding that if we leave we will die.

We started to walk back towards the village, Roy was holding my hand while I walked in front of him. If anything happens I can just try and make the dragon go after me to give the kid a chance.

Or would it be too evil to leave Roy behind to fend for himself in this dark wasteland?

I ground my teeth and kept on walking.

As we approached no fires could be seen. If this dragon is anything like the stories on Earth the entire place would be up in flames by now. Maybe they can't breathe fire in here?

Who fucking knows.

From there it didn't take long for us to approach the village and, instead of people panicking and running or shouting in rage and pain there was no commotion. Everything seemed to be normal.

Me and Rory started at each other before I let his hand go and both of us entered the village. I could see some people hurry away from the center of the village, daughters tightly held by their Mothers.

"-nd as such this village has reached the quota with Cathar's Daughter!" A booming voice echoed in the center of the village. The voice was deep and rough, it felt like it shouldn't belong to this world, and a shudder went through my spine.

I turned around the corner of a house and there it was.

A red dragon the size of four horses. Atop it was a man wearing full black armor, a set of two horns adorning his head.

My heart froze for a second as what I believed to be fantastical tales to scare children flooded back into my mind.

An infinite army of Dragon Dark-Knights led by a monstrous being said to take pleasure in death, torture, and blood. An eldritch horror capable of making entire continents shake with a flick of his finger and the one who brought eternal darkness to our lands.

The one and Only Draco King.

And my Father was holding a leather pouch in his hands, the sound of metal coins hitting one another was the loudest noise in the quiet village square.

Time seemed to stop for a moment. Why is Father receiving money from that cursed knight?

He turned to me and smiled broadly. "Rosemary, glad you are here so soon! I was going to call you" He said.

Father never smiles like that.

NEVER.

The spell in which the world slowed down was finally released, and I could see people gossiping in the background.

"Is this the girl?" The rough-voiced demon asked.

My heart started beating fast and sweat covered my hands.

"Yes" Was the word I dreaded would leave that man's mouth.

Has Father sold me to the fucking demon?