HENRY

Picking up his axe by the handle, Henry wondered if he’d ever leave his family farm or if he was destined to a life of chopping wood and milking cows.

He sighed, feeling guilty for even thinking such a thought. Henry‘s father had been content in the job and so had his grandfather and his grandfather‘s father…and so on and so on. They had all been happy it seemed, passing down the farm generation after generation.

But Henry felt like he was destined for something different. He had heard stories from travellers passing through, about the larger towns nestled within the walls of the neighbouring Kingdom of Haaden.

He’d been mesmerised by stories of the hustle and bustle of the goings on of such places, with all the details of the colours and sounds of the marketplace which was a stark contrast to the life he was used to. Isolated on the small farm, Henry spent most of his time doing his chores, talking to the animals and when he was sure that his father was otherwise occupied, he would practice his sword skills with the small wooden sword that his father had crafted for him when he was young.

Henry had also heard stories of the Knights Of Haaden and had decided that he would one day travel to the Kingdom and show the King that he was worthy to join the elite Knight’s Guard himself. Henry knew that once he had a chance to meet the King in person, his Royal Highness would be so impressed with Henry’s swordsmanship that he would instantly beg Henry to become a Knight Of Haaden too.

Henry smiled at the thought and used his free hand to pick up a piece of wood as he daydreamed. Placing it on the old gnarled tree stump that he stood over, he lifted the axe and brought it down, splitting the wood in two. Pushing back his unruly blonde hair, he paused from his work and wiped his hands on his tunic.

A screech from above made him look up into the dimly lit dawn sky.

“Probably just a hawk.” He whispered to himself as he squinted his eyes, he made out a large silhouette flapping its wings high in the distance.

He pushed his hair back out of his eyes again and proceeded to pick up another log to continue with his chore and chop more wood for the fire. Henry raised his axe into the air once more and as he did so, a large creature swept at him from above grabbing the axe from his grasp.

Surprised, Henry stumbled backwards, tripping over the pile of logs he had created and landing on his back. Looking up, he saw a golden orange and red scaled creature sweeping down upon him again with its talons outstretched and jaw open, Henry could see a multitude of extremely sharp white teeth in its mouth.

It reached out at him as it whooshed past and Henry put his arm up to shield his face. As he did so, the monster’s claws caught the skin on his forearm causing a deep gash causing Henry to yell out in pain.

The creature flew up into the air once more then turned and faced Henry, using its giant wings to hover steadily in the sky. It opened its giant jaws and started to make a strange humming sound. Henry gulped as he saw what looked like the start of a ball of flame began to manifest in the back of the creature’s throat.

Quickly looking from side to side for something to hide behind, Henry saw a large piece of wood laying beside the stump. He reached for it, picking it up ready for the creature's attack.

The beast opened its mouth wider and launched an explosion of fire in Henry’s direction.

Smashing against the makeshift shield Henry was holding, the ball of flame exploded into a shower of sparks and splinters. He quickly grabbed another piece of wood and held it up to protect himself from the onslaught of fire.

Wiping the ash from his eyes he advanced forward. Another fireball hit him and he flew backwards, falling heavily to the ground. He groaned as the impact caused the air in his lungs to leave him and he felt a searing pain surge between his shoulder blades. Coughing and gasping, he rolled swiftly to his side and scrambled back to his feet.

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He fought to breathe. Every inhalation was filled with grainy blackness from the plumes of smoke that filled the air.

Early morning light had been turned into murky darkness and Henry found it challenging to see past himself. His eyes stung. His body ached. Another ball of flame shot through the air past his right shoulder and Henry dove behind a large tree stump. Panting, he lay back against it and worked to calm his thoughts and heart. Looking around he tried to find something he could use as a weapon.

The bunch of wood he'd been collecting for the fireplace lay scattered and discarded. It was the middle of winter but the air was searingly hot due to the fires burning all around him. Sweat ran down his face and his body was drenched in it, his white tunic stuck to him and was stained with his own blood. A scream rang out and Henry grimaced as he realised it had come from him.

Seeing a discarded axe, its blade buried deep into a tree across from him, he quickly reached for it and wrenched it free. With it clasped tightly in his hand, he propelled himself over the stump to land squarely on his feet. Orange and red flickered within the haze, catching his eye and he took a deep breath.

“Dragon!” He yelled, spitting the name in hatred, his stance challenging.

Clutching the axe handle tightly, he stood in the dense billowing smoke and waited for the beast to return.

Hearing a screech from behind him, Henry quickly turned and came face to face with the creature. With his teeth gritted, he raised his axe, adrenaline pulsed through his hand and he clenched his weapon tightly.

The dragon bared its teeth, growling as it moved its head forward to stop just in front of Henry’s nose. It’s hot breath blew into Henry’s face and warmed his skin, singeing his eyebrows and nostril hairs.

Drawing its head back, the dragon roared a deep thunderous roar, covering Henry‘s face with foul smelling saliva. He quickly wiped away what he could with the sleeve of his tunic, smearing it even further across his face while still trying to maintain eye contact with the beast.

Opening its mouth, the dragon drew its head back again. Henry closed his eyes and readied himself to suffer a fiery onslaught, but none came.

After a few moments, Henry opened his eyes and looked at the dragon confused.

Staring back at him through shining eyes, the creature raised its eyebrows in a quizzical expression and shook its head as if it was trying to get rid of something from inside it.

Henry gripped the axe tighter, rocking slowly back and forth from foot to foot, nervously awaiting to see what the dragon would do.

The beast lowered its head and slowly moved forward sniffing at his chest. He felt his already fast beating heart accelerate even quicker in pace as the dragon nuzzled him with its nose, pushing at his wounded arm. Confused, Henry raised it to show the dragon and to his dismay the dragon began to shed shiny diamond-like tears.

Henry lowered his axe and watched as the dragon turned its head slightly to allow the tears to flow onto Henry‘s arm. The tears felt cold and caused a stinging sensation on his skin. To his surprise, the gash healed instantly leaving no sign of a wound at all. He rubbed his fingers across his skin where the wound used to be and gasped in awe. Feeling his mouth drop open, Henry looked at his arm and rotated it gently from side to side, noting that it felt even better than before. He realised that his whole body felt even better than before. His bruises began disappearing and his energy felt reborn and renewed. He looked at the dragon incredulous.

Its eyes filled with sorrow as it turned its head looking at the destruction that it caused. Kneeling before Henry, lowered its head and closed its eyes. Henry felt compelled to lean his forehead onto the dragons. Hesitantly he moved forward and close his eyes, touching the dragons forehead with his own.

He could feel the warmth of its breath blowing gently against his skin, the sensation made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck and goosebumps appeared on his arms. The scales felt like worn leather and were surprisingly warm, he had envisioned that its skin would be cold like what he thought its heart must be.

As if hearing his thoughts, the dragon's eyes opened and it started backwards, Henry jumped backwards too in fright at the sudden movement of it.

Its large black eyes filled with tears again and it stared deep into Henry‘s eyes. He stared back, unable to look away. Like an explosion in his mind, the words ‘I’m sorry’ made their way to the front of his thoughts and he staggered a few steps back from the dragon, trying to comprehend what had just happened.

The dragon stepped forward towards him and touched his forehead again with its nose.

‘I’m so sorry, please forgive me.’ It sent the words to him again.

Henry fell to his knees in shock as the beast turned from him and ran, launching itself into the air. Its large wings flapped and carried it off into the early morning sky.

Watching it rise, Henry began to feel nauseous as intense pain grew within the confines of his brain. Clutching the sides of his face in an attempt to alleviate it, darkness took over his vision and he was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to close his eyes. He lay down and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.