This story is a prequel to my recently released book, Dragon’s Domain, which is now available exclusively on AudioMazes! Check out the section at the end of this story to learn more.
The year was 1980, and it was a cool September night. Roger Harrison sat in the backyard of a remote cabin with his feet propped up on the stones surrounding a fire pit.
In front of him, the flames crackled and danced. He took a sip of the scotch in his left hand and then a puff of the cigar in his right. The two paired perfectly together, a wonderful dance of sensation and flavor.
Roger let out a satisfied sigh. “Man, it feels good to be out of the city.”
Roger’s friend Todd sat on the opposite side of the fire pit. He raised his glass with a grin. He had his cigar propped in the corner of his mouth like some kind of mobster.
“I’ll drink that!” Todd said, pulling the cigar out of his mouth long enough to steal a sip of his scotch.
Roger leaned back and looked up at the sky. He wasn’t used to seeing so many stars. The way they glimmered reminded him of that day five years ago.
The day when Dragons poured out from starry portals in the sky.
“Hard to believe it’s been five years since Dragonfall,” Roger said.
Todd snapped his fingers. “Oh yeah, you’re right. I forgot today was the fifth anniversary. You’d think I would have remembered, given how much they’re talking about DIRA on the news. Did you hear they started rounding up people’s dragons?”
Roger nodded. “It’s about time. They’re dangerous animals, not pets.”
Todd shrugged. “Having a pet dragon would be pretty cool if you ask me.”
Roger chuckled. “No one asked you.”
An awkward silence descended over the two men. Roger was deep in thought.
“I forget. Where were you when it happened?” Roger asked.
“Dragonfall, you mean? I was at work. You were on the road, right?”
“Yeah. I was on the highway, driving home.”
Todd whistled. “Damn, you must have really seen some action then!”
Roger’s mind went back to that day. He didn’t like to talk about it. It was a memory he wished he could forget.
But he couldn’t forget.
The way they crushed entire vehicles when they landed.
The sound of people screaming as they ran for their lives.
The way those things breathed fire.
Lightning.
And ice.
Destroying everything they touched without a second thought.
Roger took another sip of his scotch and shook his head. “I’m glad the world’s finally waking up to the danger dragons pose. With any luck, this new DIRA agency will finally bring some peace and safety back to the world.”
The cabin’s back screen door shut behind Roger. He turned and looked as his teenage son, Stephen, walked over to the fire pit wearing a backpack.
“I’m heading out to explore,” Stephen said, holding his hands over the flames.
Roger nodded. “You got your flashlight?”
Stephen lifted a flashlight and clicked it on. A bright beam shot up into the night sky.
“Don’t be gone long, alright? I heard talk of dragon sightings around here,” Roger said.
Stephen sighed. “I’ll be fine. Dragons aren’t the monsters you make them out to be, Dad.”
Roger grunted, taking a long draw from his cigar. “You didn’t see what I saw that day.”
Stephen rolled his eyes. “You always say that. Anyway, I’ll be careful.”
The teenager set off into the woods behind his family’s rental cabin with his flashlight in hand.
He and his family visited multiple times each year. It was a dependable schedule, which Stephen needed. It was hard to get out there on his own, so he had to make the most of each trip.
Stephen walked a practiced path through the darkened trees. He shined his flashlight on simple carvings etched into trunks as he passed them. They were markers he had left himself after their last family trip several months prior.
He approached a small creek, carefully stepping across the shallow and icy water. On the far side, a rock outcropping offered some semblance of shelter.
Something stirred in the darkness. Stephen could barely hear it over the sound of the running water behind him.
He shined his flashlight into the space beneath the outcropping. A pair of golden eyes glimmered in the darkness.
“Hey Zara, it’s me,” Stephen whispered.
A young dragon emerged, no larger than a baby deer. Her crimson scales sparkled in the light of Stephen’s flashlight.
Stephen pulled off his backpack and unzipped it. Zara approached slowly, her nostrils eagerly sniffing the air.
“You’re lucky my dad hasn’t caught me. Pretty soon, he’s gonna figure out that his steaks are going missing,” Stephen said, pulling out a ziploc bag filled with meat.
Zara snatched the bag out of Stephen’s hand before he could react. The tiny dragon ran back into the darkness beneath the outcropping. Stephen chuckled as he heard her rip open the bag.
“You know, a thank you would be nice,” Stephen said with a smile.
He ducked beneath the outcropping and sat down beside Zara as she ate. The dragon eyed him with suspicion, pulling the shredded bag of meat further into the alcove.
“Relax, I’m not going to take it from you,” Stephen whispered. “I just want to sit with you for a few minutes.”
Zara continued enjoying her meal, never taking her eyes off him.
“I wish I could know what’s going through that head of yours. Could you imagine if we could talk to each other? Wouldn’t that be something?” Stephen asked.
Zara’s forked tongue licked her lips as she finished the last of the meat. Stephen reached back into his backpack and pulled out a bulky portable TV.
“I thought maybe we could watch some TV together before I have to go,” he said, setting down the device.
Zara’s gaze turned to the screen as Stephen checked the batteries and turned it on. He adjusted the antenna until a picture began to come through the static.
Zara’s eyes widened. Stephen chuckled as she cocked her head to the side.
“It’s called a TV. Oh, looks like this is the latest episode of Of Fire and Ashes. It’s got dragons in it like, you Zara,” he said, pointing to the small screen.
Zara stared intently at the screen. Stephen laughed as she cocked her head in confusion every time a dragon appeared on the screen.
Stephen slid closer to her and rested his hand on her back. She tensed up briefly, but ultimately relaxed.
“There we go. This is nice, right? Much better than the first time we met.”
Zara didn’t answer. As the two watched TV in silence, Stephen's thoughts drifted back to that last trip several months earlier when he first met Zara.
It was just before sunset, and Stephen was exploring the woods surrounding his family’s rental cabin like always. It was eerily quiet. All he could hear was the crunch of leaves and sticks beneath his feet as he wove between the trees.
A loud metallic clang cut through the silence. Stephen froze in place as a creature yelped in pain. It didn’t sound like a bear or wolf.
His eyes went wide. “Is that…a dragon?”
Stephen’s curiosity took hold. It had been nearly five years since Dragonfall, but he had yet to see a dragon in person. His father always told him to stay away if he encountered one, but it sounded like it was hurt.
It wasn’t even a decision in his mind. He had to help.
The dragon’s cries continued to echo through the trees. Stephen followed the noise, slowing down as he spotted its silhouette in the distance, framed by the orange-red hues of the setting sun.
It was an infant dragon, roughly the size of a baby deer. Stephen’s heart sank when he saw that its back left foot was caught in a bear trap.
Blood seeped out from the wound, but it wasn’t any color he had ever seen. It shimmered like the surface of oil with an entire kaleidoscope of colors.
The baby dragon’s head spun around to face Stephen as he stepped into the clearing. Its golden eyes narrowed as its lips pulled back to reveal rows of glistening fangs.
Stephen instinctively raised his hands. “Hey, it’s okay! I’m not here to hurt you!”
A low rumble escaped the dragon’s lips. Its mouth opened, and Stephen saw a ball of fire forming in its gullet. It was like staring down the barrel of a gun.
“WAIT, DON’T!” Stephen screamed.
This was it. There was no way he could escape a dragon’s fiery blast. He instinctively threw up his hands to protect himself as the fireball leapt from the dragon’s mouth.
Stephen braced for an inferno, but nothing came. He slowly lowered his hands and saw the baby dragon furiously fire off several more fireballs that quickly dissipated shortly after they left its mouth.
He let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh and a chuckle. It was clear that baby dragons didn’t have much firepower. He was lucky.
“I know you’re scared, but I’m here to help,” Stephen said, slowly approaching.
The dragon finally ceased its attempts to attack him and returned to whimpering. It leaned down and licked the wound where the trap’s spikes had penetrated its crimson scales.
Stephen knelt to look at the trap. “These things usually have a release mechanism.”
The baby dragon watched intently as he ran his hands along the device. He found a pair of springs on either side of the mechanism and pushed them down with his hands.
The trap fell open, and the baby dragon quickly limped away from him, diving into some nearby trees.
Stephen stood up and reached into his backpack. He had a steak sandwich that his mom had packed for him earlier. He pulled it out and opened the bag it was in.
He smiled as he saw the baby dragon’s golden eyes peer out from behind one of the trees. Its nostrils flared as it picked up the scent.
Stephen knelt back down and held out one half of the sandwich. “Come here, it’s okay,” he whispered.
The dragon limped toward him slowly. Stephen admired the beautiful color of its scales. Judging by their color, this was an Ignis dragon, one of three different species that had been identified since Dragonfall.
From what he recalled, Ignis dragons were all female. With that realization, he started thinking of a name for his new friend.
The baby dragon finally got close enough to snatch the sandwich out of Stephen’s hand. She dropped it onto the ground and sniffed it before finally devouring it in a single bite.
Her eyes wandered up to the second half of the sandwich in his other hand.
“You can have the other half, but in return, I want you to let me help you with that wound on your leg. I’ve got some first-aid stuff in my backpack,” Stephen said.
The baby dragon watched him silently. He knew that, logically, she couldn’t understand him, but Stephen swore he could see a hint of recognition in her eyes.
She approached slowly again and took the other half of the sandwich, but this time she didn’t run away.
Stephen slowly took off his backpack and pulled out the first-aid kit he kept in there. The baby dragon took more time finishing the second half of the sandwich, so Stephen seized the opportunity to carefully wrap gauze around the wound.
The dragon watched suspiciously, but didn’t try to move. When he was finished, Stephen looked into her golden eyes and smiled.
“I just thought of a name. What do you think of Zara?” he asked.
Stephen’s mind returned to the present. He checked his watch and sighed. He knew his father would be angry if he didn’t come back soon.
“Alright, Zara, I gotta get back,” He said, packing up the portable TV in his backpack.
Zara turned and rested her head on his knee, staring up at him with those golden eyes.
Stephen sighed. “Don’t look at me like that.”
Zara huffed and walked away from him. She spun in a circle twice before collapsing dramatically onto the ground.
Stephen crawled over to her, leaned down, and planted a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll always come back for you. I promise.”
Stephen pulled his backpack on and crossed the creek once more. He turned around and looked back at Zara. She was standing on the other shore watching him.
“I’m sorry, I know you don’t understand. Just stay here where I can find you, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.”
It pained him to leave her, but the world was quickly becoming less and less safe for dragons. He had to keep her out of sight.
From the moment he met Zara several months ago in those same woods, Stephen made a promise to himself: he would keep her safe. He wouldn’t let DIRA or anyone else take her.
No matter the cost.
Enter The Maze…
The story continues in Dragon’s Domain, a new immersive audiobook from AudioMazes that offers a branching narrative and nearly ten possible endings.
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I love the relationship you are building here, and I can already guess what some of the choices will be in the continuation of this story on audiomazes.com I am looking forward to embarking on that adventure very soon! 🐲
Bradley, I love the story of Stephen and Zara. You've done a really good job of portraying the tentative nature of the connection between the boy and the dragon. I would love to see Zara completely adore Stephen, but keeping the relationship uneasy and possibly tentative raises the tension wonderfully. Bravo!