Post by Smenzer on Jul 6, 2005 23:09:56 GMT -5
This is a fantasy story I wrote a while ago. It has a twist ending....
Knights of the Red Scales
By Smenzer
The messenger arrived at the stone keep covered in dry blood, long bloody gashes zigzagging across his horse’s flanks. With a finale snort, the overworked animal collapsed, pinning the rider’s right leg under a thousand pounds of dead horseflesh. A pain filled scream erupted from the man’s mouth as his leg bone snapped.
Skirts held high, Izenoras dashed out of the Keep of the Red Scales. Others followed her and they helped the man inside.
The healer was tending to the man’s broken leg Lord Neesyig walked into the room. With dark eyes, a crooked beak-like nose, a big mustache and an imposing height, he was the perfect leader for the Knights of the Red Scales. From neck to boot his armor blazed the brilliant red of the setting sun.
“P..Please! You have to help my village! You have to save it from that dreadful beast!” moaned the messenger in a tight, pain filled voice.
“I’m sorry, but most of my knights are already out on missions. The rest are recovering from injuries. I don’t have anyone I can send right now but you may wait until one returns.” Smiling politely, Lord Neesyig eyed a shaply kitchen maid that brought a pot of boiling water to the healer.
Stepping forward, Izenoras knelt near the man’s head and wiped his sweaty brow with a clean cloth. “What is wrong in your town?”
“A best is eating our children!” he sobbed. “I saw it take my poor Tommy right before my eyes and there wasn’t anything I could do!”
“What does this beast look like?” Izenoras pushed her silky blonde hair out of her eyes.
“It’s a giant lizard with wings!” shuddered the man in terror, as his dark eyes grew wide. “It has a long scaly body with an even longer tail and a cavernous mouth filled with razor sharp teeth! Its mouth is big enough to swallow a full-grown man. Where the thing came from I don’t know but it suddenly was there preying on our poor village! And it has wings! It swoops down from the sky like a demon to snatch our children to feed to its evil stomach. And its eyes! They glow like hot coals and twisted steel horns sprout from its head.”
Struggling to sit up, the messenger clutched Izenoras’ hand. His face was chalky white as he whispered fearfully. “It’s a dragon!”
Rising to her feet, Izenoras stood straight with her head held high. “I will ride to your town and slay the beast. Then your children will be safe.”
“No! You can’t do that!” The man uttered, panic in his voice. “It will kill you, Fair Maid! Let a Knight do it! It’s their job!”
“I have lived with the Knights my entire life and know how to slay a dragon just as easily as they do.” Gazing down at the injured man, she smiled to reassure him. “I have watched my brothers train and have often practiced with them. There is no reason I cannot be a Knight, too.”
“But this dragon is a killer!” protested the man. “Men from my village went to kill it and not one returned.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Izenoras assured him in a soft voice. “I’ll be wearing armor made of red dragon scales. Though the armor is thin, it will protect me from the dragon’s fiery breath. A dragon always attacks with its breath weapon first. Plus I’ll have my lance and sword.”
“But, but…” stuttered the man as he lay helpless in bed.
Dressed in red armor, Izenoras rode off on a white charger. She followed the directions to the man’s town and soon arrived. Asking around, she quickly discovered the beast had made its lair in a cave near a mountain. As she neared the cave she slowed and freed her lance. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Turning her horse around, she saw it swooping down at her with bat-like wings. Holding her breath, she prepared for the blast of fire she knew was coming.
It never came.
Instead a burning pain centered in her stomach and spread outward. Glancing down, she saw her own red blood pumping out of a hole in the thin red armor. Growing dizzy, she fell off the horse onto the rocky ground and landed on her side. Her terrified horse ran off, leaving her alone. The blast of air from the dragon landing nearby blew sharp grit into her eyes.
What happened? She thought. I feel like I’ve been poisoned but dragons are not poisonous. Why didn’t it blast me with its fire?
The dragon waddled closer, the foul smell of rotten meat drifting from its open jaws. She could see it clearly now. Its pebbly brown hide, the way its horned head bobbed up and down when it walked on its hind legs, the long tail with its wicked stinger on the end.
Stinger? She thought. Dragons don’t have stingers! This one doesn’t even have front legs. Why, this creature isn’t a dragon at all!
Sharp jaws bit into the tender flesh of her paralyzed leg. When it lifted its head, blood dripped from its snout.
I should have known a commoner would have called any lizard with wings a dragon! How would they know the difference when they never saw the real thing? Didn’t I once read about an animal like this? What was its name?
The name came to her mind just before she passed out.
Wyvern.
Knights of the Red Scales
By Smenzer
The messenger arrived at the stone keep covered in dry blood, long bloody gashes zigzagging across his horse’s flanks. With a finale snort, the overworked animal collapsed, pinning the rider’s right leg under a thousand pounds of dead horseflesh. A pain filled scream erupted from the man’s mouth as his leg bone snapped.
Skirts held high, Izenoras dashed out of the Keep of the Red Scales. Others followed her and they helped the man inside.
The healer was tending to the man’s broken leg Lord Neesyig walked into the room. With dark eyes, a crooked beak-like nose, a big mustache and an imposing height, he was the perfect leader for the Knights of the Red Scales. From neck to boot his armor blazed the brilliant red of the setting sun.
“P..Please! You have to help my village! You have to save it from that dreadful beast!” moaned the messenger in a tight, pain filled voice.
“I’m sorry, but most of my knights are already out on missions. The rest are recovering from injuries. I don’t have anyone I can send right now but you may wait until one returns.” Smiling politely, Lord Neesyig eyed a shaply kitchen maid that brought a pot of boiling water to the healer.
Stepping forward, Izenoras knelt near the man’s head and wiped his sweaty brow with a clean cloth. “What is wrong in your town?”
“A best is eating our children!” he sobbed. “I saw it take my poor Tommy right before my eyes and there wasn’t anything I could do!”
“What does this beast look like?” Izenoras pushed her silky blonde hair out of her eyes.
“It’s a giant lizard with wings!” shuddered the man in terror, as his dark eyes grew wide. “It has a long scaly body with an even longer tail and a cavernous mouth filled with razor sharp teeth! Its mouth is big enough to swallow a full-grown man. Where the thing came from I don’t know but it suddenly was there preying on our poor village! And it has wings! It swoops down from the sky like a demon to snatch our children to feed to its evil stomach. And its eyes! They glow like hot coals and twisted steel horns sprout from its head.”
Struggling to sit up, the messenger clutched Izenoras’ hand. His face was chalky white as he whispered fearfully. “It’s a dragon!”
Rising to her feet, Izenoras stood straight with her head held high. “I will ride to your town and slay the beast. Then your children will be safe.”
“No! You can’t do that!” The man uttered, panic in his voice. “It will kill you, Fair Maid! Let a Knight do it! It’s their job!”
“I have lived with the Knights my entire life and know how to slay a dragon just as easily as they do.” Gazing down at the injured man, she smiled to reassure him. “I have watched my brothers train and have often practiced with them. There is no reason I cannot be a Knight, too.”
“But this dragon is a killer!” protested the man. “Men from my village went to kill it and not one returned.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Izenoras assured him in a soft voice. “I’ll be wearing armor made of red dragon scales. Though the armor is thin, it will protect me from the dragon’s fiery breath. A dragon always attacks with its breath weapon first. Plus I’ll have my lance and sword.”
“But, but…” stuttered the man as he lay helpless in bed.
Dressed in red armor, Izenoras rode off on a white charger. She followed the directions to the man’s town and soon arrived. Asking around, she quickly discovered the beast had made its lair in a cave near a mountain. As she neared the cave she slowed and freed her lance. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. Turning her horse around, she saw it swooping down at her with bat-like wings. Holding her breath, she prepared for the blast of fire she knew was coming.
It never came.
Instead a burning pain centered in her stomach and spread outward. Glancing down, she saw her own red blood pumping out of a hole in the thin red armor. Growing dizzy, she fell off the horse onto the rocky ground and landed on her side. Her terrified horse ran off, leaving her alone. The blast of air from the dragon landing nearby blew sharp grit into her eyes.
What happened? She thought. I feel like I’ve been poisoned but dragons are not poisonous. Why didn’t it blast me with its fire?
The dragon waddled closer, the foul smell of rotten meat drifting from its open jaws. She could see it clearly now. Its pebbly brown hide, the way its horned head bobbed up and down when it walked on its hind legs, the long tail with its wicked stinger on the end.
Stinger? She thought. Dragons don’t have stingers! This one doesn’t even have front legs. Why, this creature isn’t a dragon at all!
Sharp jaws bit into the tender flesh of her paralyzed leg. When it lifted its head, blood dripped from its snout.
I should have known a commoner would have called any lizard with wings a dragon! How would they know the difference when they never saw the real thing? Didn’t I once read about an animal like this? What was its name?
The name came to her mind just before she passed out.
Wyvern.
