Chapter 4

Debris fell from the roof of the cave as the knights and their horses charged on above. Ryuijin curled into himself, his claws hovering above his head, taking extra care of his horn. He kept his breathing shallow, his hearing focused on what was happening above him, waiting for the silence. He heard the familiar voice of the captain as he barked his orders. The wound on his head started to ache, throbbing unbearably. Whimpering, Ryuijin curled himself tighter, his bottom jaw trembling. He could hear the faint noise of a knight calling out to the captain with his findings. “Captain,” he called. “The area is clear.”

There was a brief silence before the captain’s voice spoke up: “Continue to move forward, men! That dragon could not have gotten far.” The ground above shook again as the knights galloped away, following their vengeful captain’s orders.

Eventually the debris stopped falling, and the gallops of the horses faded into the distance. Ryuijin’s muscles relaxed, his claws dropping to the ground with a heavy thud. He lay there, his body floppy against the ground, not wanting to move, though his stomach grumbled. “Hungry,” he choked out the words, his throat stinging from the cries of the day before. Sunlight bled into the cave entrance; Ryuijin dug his claws into the ground, pulling himself across the dirt and debris, cutting the soft tissue of his belly.

His head poked out of the cave, wincing as the sunlight hit his eyes. Taking a few deep breaths, Ryuijin continued to drag himself, taking note of his surroundings through squinted eyes. His breathing became shallow as his arms tensed with each tug of his body. After a few more painful tugs, he reached the small river, dipping his mouth in and taking deep, shallow gulps.

After having his fill, Ryuijin pulled away from the water, droplets running down his chin, rippling his reflection. Seeing himself with only one horn for the first time, it hit him in a way he couldn’t describe. His claw reached out to the water, running along the water where the reflection of his horn should have been.

The others he left behind… his clan... they all would have had their horns removed, and yet here he was, barely having escaped with one. “I can’t return home like this.” he smacked his reflection, water splashing against his face. “Pathetic,” he growled as his reflection softened from the ripples. He met his own gaze, scolding himself. “Didn’t even attempt to fight back for your clan…how can you ever face them again?”

Roaring, Ryujin smacked his head into the water, repeatedly hitting his forehead, water splashing high with the force Ryujin thrashed with. “You’re pathetic,” he patronised between thrashes. “All you did was run.”

He buried his face deep into the water, completely enveloping his head; the birds that chirped as they flew overhead were nothing more than a muffled sound. ‘All you did was run,’ the words repeated in his mind constantly. He wasn’t strong enough to fight back, to stand up for what he knew was right, but he was strong enough to run away, to save himself.

He pulled his head out of the water after a few minutes, the water dripping from his chin, rippling the water below. “Where do I go from here?” He asked his reflection, hoping to find the answer in his own eyes, but the dragon staring back was nothing but a coward.

Ryuijin continued to stare into the eyes of his reflection, desperately searching for something, anything that would tell him what he needed to do next. From the east, a beam of light flashed into his eyes. Wincing, Ryuijin raised his claw to block the beam. With a squint, he looked to the east, trying to see where the light had come from; perhaps it was the shield of one of the knights? A warning from a fellow dragon? Though from this distance, Ryuijin couldn’t see anything.

He gulped, relaxing his brow; it was a risk, but something was calling to him. If it was another survivor, it explained why he ran away. Or even if it could be something as simple as shelter, something that could get him through the coming winter and to lie low until it was safe to return.

If it would ever be safe again.

He took a few deep breaths before pushing his legs towards the east, to where the beam of light came from. Dragging himself forward by digging his claws into the ground, Ryuijin’s body shook as it exerted the energy he didn’t have, and his stomach growled louder as the hunger started to creep up on him. His breathing became heavy, his claws digging deeper as he pulled harder.

The bushes and trees around him scraped against his scales, nipping and pulling at them through the narrowness of the forest. His large frame made it harder to reach the clearing he could see up ahead. He had never had to struggle through tight spaces before; even as a youngling he stayed in the open, avoiding small spaces in favour of spreading his wings.

The clearing soon appeared in front of him, the blinding light that caught his attention on the horizon. With a final tug of his body, Ryuijin pulled himself into a large opening, surrounded by trees and flower beds that had started to bloom with rare and unusual flowers. His eyes widened at the long spiral tower standing in the middle of the opening. Vines and flowers climbed the cracked bricks, poking out to reach the sunshine. “What is this?” He stared in awe, instinctively moving closer. At the base of the tower, a small moss-covered tablet stood out to him. He placed his claw on top of it and carefully pulled away the strands of moss, revealing the worn-out letters hidden beneath. He let out a gasp; though barely visible, the letters were enough to tell him where he was. “Dragonmount…”

Ryuijin hadn't stumbled upon just any tower; this was the wizard’s tower of Dragonmount. Legend had it that a lonely wizard came across Dragonmount when it was home to a small group of dragons and took up residence in the area while honing his magic. No one knew if the story was even true. No dragons ever spoke of the wizard as if they truly knew him, and no dragon was able to find the tower. Yet before him, now stood the tower.

The tower that became the wizard’s legacy.