Dragonslayer Snippet – Dragon

I knew it was too late. I could feel it in my bones. The dragon was dead.

I rounded a corner and stopped dead in my tracks. The safe house and the building next to it were reduced to a big pile of rubble. Clouds of dust rose in the air and bodies were strewn on the street. Some in wolf form but most of them human. They hadn’t had time to change.

Fire rose from the buildings and smoke mixed with the dust, making it hard to breathe. It was quiet, too quiet. There should have been people screaming, the wounded whimpering, but there was nothing except the crackling of the fire slowly eating its way through old wood.
In the middle of the street lay a giant dragon, its red and yellow scales glinting in the sunlight. On top of it stood a dark gray and white werewolf. The wolf howled a long and lonesome tune that sent chills down my spine and all around me howls rose from human throats to join the alpha’s song.

Shit, they took down a fire dragon.

I slowly walked through the human wolves who moved around, checking their fallen pack mates, and I itched to draw my sword. The air was so thick with anger and rage I could almost taste it.

The wolf on top of the dragon jumped down and made its way towards me. He was a giant, even among werewolves. Easily more than twice the size of an average wild wolf. His legs were thick, ending in massive paws. His cat like claws, sharp enough to rip through a dragon’s scales, clicked on the road. He stopped in front of me, and intelligent eyes studied me. I tried hard not to stare at the freaky big teeth so close to my soft body parts. Werewolves truly were nightmares come true.

“Sheamus?” I asked when the wolf stopped in front of me.

It did a weird little nod with its head.

“I have to cut the head off, make sure it stays dead.”

The wolf looked at the dead dragon and snorted. Apparently, he was pretty sure it was as dead as it could get.

I walked around the dragon, taking in the damage the wolves had done, and I began to agree with Sheamus. This time, the dragon might actually stay down. They had carved up most of the chest and one wing was torn so thoroughly to pieces, only a stump was left on the dragon’s back. Blood covered the ground around it, and pieces of the wing were strewn around the body.

I walked over to the head and touched it lightly, trailing my fingers over the small scales on the big jaw. There was blood on its snout and when I touched it, wild and untamed magic bit my skin. Werewolf blood.

My sword made a soft whisper when I pulled it from the scabbard on my back and I could feel all the wolves’ eyes turning towards me. It was a big dragon and even with a sword and my abilities I still had to work some, before the head rolled down the pile of debris and landed on the street, spilling more blood onto the ground. A werewolf near it snarled and jumped back and I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

“Why did you do that?”

I turned around and found a very human and very naked Sheamus standing only a few meters away. Scars covered his chest and, I’m sure, the rest of him but I tried not to look. Suddenly, eye contact seemed like a good idea.

“Do what?” I took a piece of torn clothes from the pile of rubble and wiped my sword before putting it back in the scabbard.

“You touched it, petted it like you cared.” His voice was soft and probably didn’t carry more than a few feet away from us, but it contained such anger that it felt like hot water licking and burning my skin. I wanted to bow my head, close my eyes, anything to avoid his angry stare, but I didn’t. I was not one of his submissive wolves, I was not pack and something rebelled in me at the thought of showing that kind of weakness in front of his wolves.

“I don’t know.” My voice was strong but I felt so tired. Maybe I should take that vacation, and just sleep for a week

Sheamus’ anger left just as abruptly as it had come and the man standing in front of me looked just as tired as I felt. Every wolf around us breathed a bit more freely. Their alpha’s anger had probably been like a great weight down their pack bonds.

“Good people died today,” Sheamus said, and I knew it was said as a kind of explanation.

“I know.”

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