Hello, everyone!
It’s hump day… almost Friday! I don’t know how the weather is by you, but here it is still cold, gray, and rainy, despite the fact that it will be May next week.
We all need something warm and fun to keep our spirits up this week, and thankfully, I have just the story for you! This fiery, adventurous tale was submitted by one of our faithful readers. Oliver is in sixth grade and an excellent writer.
Without further ado – The Dragon Tamer.
“Free glanced back at the dragon and its mysterious rider. A mask covered the Dragon Tamer’s face, and Free couldn’t make out any details. The dragon growled at Free and wisps of curling smoke drifted out of its nostrils. It started to chase the boy.
Free ran. He was known for his swiftness, and his feet flew across the dusty road, but the dragon behind him literally flew. Its wings flapped back and forth, its body surging forward with pure speed. In mere seconds, the dragon was upon the boy.
Desperately, Free leaped to one side off of the road and into an alleyway. The dragon zoomed past him, but soon circled around and started chasing him again. Free darted down the alleyway as fast as he could, but he realized that his own speed might not be enough.”
Whew! I can’t wait to see how Free gets out of this!
As usual, please finish the writing prompt in as little as one sentence, or as many as you want.
Enjoy.
A glint of silver caught Free’s eye as he ran. He stopped, first checking over his shoulder to see if the dragon had located his alleyway yet, then reached out a hand to pull the dusty blanket away from the object. There, in all its colorful glory, was a Nimbus 4000! He snatched it up and threw his leg over, just as the apartment door opened and an angry boy around his own age yelled, “Hey! Get off my broom, thief!”
Free looked apologetically back over his shoulder as he lifted from the ground, the broom seeming as eager to get into the air as Free himself. He paused, just out of reach of the scowling stranger.
“Sorry! There’s this dragon chasing me…”
“Yeah, whatever. You know as well as I do that dragons are extinct. Well, except for a few they keep around to study.”
“Tell that to the giant red one that’s been chasing me down the street! And it’s not going to take long for it to find me. You don’t want me anywhere near your house when that happens. I promise I’ll bring your broom back as soon as I can.”
Free leaned forward over the shimmering, rainbow-scaled Nimbus, preparing himself for the impending rush of speed. But nothing happened. He looked down to see a rope entangled in the metal rungs that surrounded the tail.
“Listen, kid. You’re making a HUGE mistake!” he screamed down at the boy.
“GET OFF MY BROOM!”
A chill ran up Free’s spine, not in reaction to the shout, but because his sharp ears had picked up another sound. He looked back to the opening of the alley and his blood ran cold. The dragon and its mysterious rider had found him. The massive beast was poised at the end of the street, sucking in air in such a way that Free knew he had only a split second before the fiery blast hit them both. Glaring down at the stubborn face below him, he leaned forward again and strained with all his might against the weight of the rope. With a mighty burst of speed, the broom finally took off from the ground just as a burst of hot air brushed past his face.
Rising into the air with a sense of relief, Free sped for the nearest cloud, hoping to hide from view, as dragons are notoriously near-sighted. He was startled by a strangled sound from below, and looked down to see the angry boy – his red face now white – dangling by a rope from the back of his broom.
Sighing in frustration, Free began to pull him up. Finally the boy was seated behind him, panting. Free turned to ask him if he was okay, but instead received a rock-solid fist to the face. He fell dizzily to one side, but managed to keep his balance.
“Kid! Knock it off!” he shouted angrily.
“That’s exactly what I’m trying to do! Knock a thief off MY broom.”
“Well, you’re going to get both of us killed! I told you…there’s a…”
The broom’s straw tail suddenly burst into flames. A dark shadow filled the sky overhead, blocking out the sun.
“DRAGON!!!!”
Nice! Thanks for replying!
What???
Dragons aren’t extinct! And what in the world is a Nimbus 4000? Oh boy, my good enemy Kronoshire, Master of Time, must have zapped me into the future there. Hate it when he does that.
Sorry ’bout that. Free sure is a feisty one.
How did he get here? Maybe Zondhyr is messing with the Wood between the Worlds again. That is his specialty, I guess.
And boy, do I hate it when he does that.
Don’t mind Free, I’ll get Zondhyr to send him back to his home world soon.
Wow, I feel honored that Free himself stopped by to tell the real story!
Hee, hee. I couldn’t help myself.
The dragon promptly chased Free again after circling around the village to enter the alleyway Free had leapt into. Its terrifying, large body wouldn’t fit into the alleyway, but its armored wings crashed into the buildings, and the walls crumbled to pieces. Free glanced back at the Dragon Tamer and the beast he was controlling. There wasn’t much time until Free would be out of tricks.
Free came to a cliff on the edge of the mountain village. He looked again at the dragon, whose wings ate up the space between it and Free. He looked down the cliff. It was at least fifty feet to the bottom – he couldn’t survive that. But the alternative was horrifying, to say the least.
Free gulped down his anxiety and breathed out calmly. He had to think this through. He estimated he had about two seconds until the dragon caught up with him and devoured him. He looked at the drop to the dusty earth below, and at the snarling jaws of the dragon. He really only had one option.
Free jumped. He spread out his arms to find a grip on the rocky wall, but he was too far away from the cliff face to reach it. He glanced at the ground below him. His stomach rumbled sickeningly.
The dragon caught him before he hit the ground, its talons seizing his ratty tunic and bringing him up to its scaly hide. Free couldn’t bare to watch as the Dragon Tamer, sitting on the back of the dragon, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and sat him down on the dragon’s back right in front of him.
“I would have you know,” Free said, trying to sound brave and intimidating, “that my father is the greatest bounty hunter of all time.”
The Dragon Tamer said nothing.
Free’s throat felt dry again and he gulped. He opened his mouth to speak again, but nothing came out. He didn’t trust his voice not to crack in front of the husky figure. “I am an accomplished warrior as well,” Free noted. The Dragon Tamer’s masked face slowly turned to stare him down.
“So am I,” came a deep, raspy voice from underneath the mask.
Free decided that his method wasn’t working. He changed tactics. “What do you want from me?” he asked. The Dragon Tamer didn’t answer. “I don’t have any money.”
The Dragon Tamer turned to him again. “Money?” he asked, as if he didn’t know what the word meant. His voice hardened as he spoke again: “I have no need for money.”
“Then why did you capture me?” Free asked. The Dragon Tamer did not answer. He just kept steering the snarling creature below him.
After hours of riding, they finally reached a large cave. It had many multi-colored lights coming from the inside, and Free saw moving inside. He then realized in astonishment that the cave was packed with dragons. There were a couple of fires laid out that had enormous beasts roasting above them. They looked to Free to be whole cows and bulls, and he even saw an entire oliphaunt in the corner being ripped apart by the beasts.
Free saw a cage in a dark corner of the cave and the Dragon Tamer landed his dragon right next to it. He grabbed Free again and dragged him over to the cage, hurling him inside. As Free landed with a “Humph,” the masked man slammed the door shut and whispered to him two discouraging words.
“Good luck.”
How exciting! I’d love to know how it ends.
I’m actually writing a short book from the prompt I sent. I’ve recently finished the first chapter.📚
P.S. Just figured out how to use emojis on windows!
Yes! I love your story. I can’t wait to find out why the Dragon Tamer kidnapped Free.
He looked forward. Free gasped! Dead end! He looked back, wishing the dragon was gone. It wasn’t.
Free leaped toward the dragon, but that was a big mistake.
The dragon growled and breathed a lot of fire. Free began to cough. He darted out of the alley and into fresh air.
“Well, well, I’ve finally got you, Free Timothy.”
Free turned about to see Peter Buffet, a man who escaped from jail five years ago and went into hiding.
“Why d-do you w-want me? I haven’t done anything w-wrong!” Free managed to stammer. “G-go away.”
A voice echoed from the alleyway. A bunch of policemen and Free’s best friend John jumped out.
“You’re under arrest!” the police chief shouted.
“Wow,” murmured Free under his breath.
“What are we going to do with the dragon, sir?” asked a policeman.
“Who wants a dragon?” called the chief.
John and Free ran to claim it.
Oo…I want a dragon too, Ella!
For example, if someone steals a new Nimbus 4000, or an escaped convict comes to get you, a dragon is always a handy guardian.
Nice, Ella!
Free saw that a stream was ahead. He jumped in and hoped he could hold his breath long enough for the dragon to leave.
The dragon went away. Free jumped out of the water very angry and ran back to the dragon tamer.
“Why did you let that thing chase me?” Free yelled, catching the attention of the people around.
“The dragon attacked you?” the crowd was shocked. “The dragon?”
Thanks for replying! I wonder if Free will be chased by any dragons in the future.
Probably.
Smart move by Free, Lily. 🙂
Free glanced behind him and he saw that the dragon was following him at a quicker speed than before. As he ran he grew more tired. Suddenly, a different dragon that was red dove from the sky and landed straight in front of Free. Free was running so fast it was hard to slow down. Once he had stopped running, he was under the dragon. The dragon that was following him came to a stop. Free wanted to run while he had the time, but the red dragon was keeping him from going anywhere. He could feel the heat from the flames and smell the smoke, but the red dragon was blocking his view. Free could now tell that the two dragons were fighting, and the red dragon was thankfully on his side. The red dragon moved its body off of Free and approached the other dragon. Finally, the first dragon fell to the ground with a resounding Thud! A rider jumped off the red dragon’s back.
“You better hop on my dragon before the other dragon wakes up.”
Free looked at the unconscious dragon, nodded, and jumped on.
What a fun ending, Laurel!
Great story, Laurel! I love that another dragon came and fought for Free.
🍕🙃😂😜🤐
Laurel,
As I read your writing, I felt like I was in Free’s place, with all my senses going at once! Good description and action!!!! You are getting to be a really good writer!
Grandma North