Waking the Dragon

She heard something stirring deeper in the cave. “Oh God,” she stood up nervously. “Bears,” she stretched her eyes as if that would help her see more clearly. Maybe it was nothing, but then again, maybe it was something. She cautiously started to back up as the noise grew louder. Before she could make it toward the opening she saw a rather large, rather cerulean blue and gold dragon. It wasn’t possible.

“This is so not real,” she trembled with fear. “Either I’m dead and in hell, or I’ve lost my mind.”

He looked at her, his sharp green eyes flickered gold. The realization hit her that she might just be unconscious in the plane having a nightmare of astronomical proportions. “Head injury,” she took another step back and he, the dragon, took a huge breath before blowing it out and starting a fire on the sticks she had piled in the middle of the floor. She yelled. “Oh my gosh,” she started to run toward the exit when the dragons’ tail swung out and clamped down in front of her, blocking her passage. She turned sharply, watching the massive beast rise to bigger heights. Her eyes slowly traveled upward. “Nice dragon,” she said softly. “I’ll just go find another cave to stay in,” she said cautiously. “Nice dragon.” She took another step backward and his tail came up and lightly swatted her in the back, pushing her forward toward the fire, closer to him.

“Please don’t eat me,” she tried to access if there was another way out, but there wasn’t. She couldn’t go deeper into the cave because that’s where the dragon came from, and there might be more. What was she thinking? There shouldn’t even be one. Dragons weren’t real. They were the thing of fairytales, yet this one was right there in front of her; staring at her as if she were about to become his dinner.

It lowered its head; its nostrils close to her, and then it inhaled before groaning. What happened next surprised her, scared her and made her realize she really was losing her mind because first of all there was no such thing as dragons, and secondly, dragons would not turn into a six foot tall hunk of a man with solid muscles and long blond-brown hair. But there he stood.

“You awakened me,” his voice rumbled, sending strong vibrations through her body.