[Regin Hardhammer]

Suddenly, Eric found himself back home at the dining room table. His mother and father were hugging him and telling him how worried they were when he did not return for so long. They vowed to pay more attention to him, just as much as they gave to Eli. Even his older twin brother was glad to see him back. His mother smiled as she brought out a large succulent turkey and a mountain of mashed potatoes. Fully content, Eric dished up his plate and dove into his food enthusiastically.

He awoke to the sound of a deafening roar. Eric arose slightly annoyed, not wanting to leave his dream world, wanting it to be real. With a start, he looked up to the rustling tree bushes where he saw the big scaly bird lunging at him, blocked by the topmost branches. He let out a scream and began thrashing in a state of frenzied panic. Large sharp pointy teeth tore at the air just feet above his head. He’s going to eat me, thought Eric. Eric tried extremely hard to stay calm and think, as he did not want to become someone else's breakfast.

He had to find a way out of here, away from this ferocious monster. Eric had never run from a fight before, but then again, he had never fought anything this big before either. The beast thrashed at the trees with its claws, gleaming and sharp as arrowheads, hurling branches to the ground and overturning stumps. Frantically, Eric’s eyes dashed back to the boat as he thought of escaping on the river. But he dismissed the idea immediately; he would be vulnerable out in the open and easy prey. Eric had to find somewhere he could hide and be protected, shielded from the monster.


His weary mind raced as he looked for a safe place. It was just like a harder version of hide and go seek, he told himself. Eric spotted a patch of thick and tangled underbrush, built almost like a wall, further into the forest and not more than ten feet away. As the dragon plunged and bellowed, Eric raced toward the strange vegetation and burrowed himself deeply within it. The beast can never reach me in here, he thought smugly. He was quite proud of himself for finding such a good hiding place and felt a good deal safer. Go ahead... try to get me in here, you big meanie.

The beast let losoe one final roar of exasperation and pushed even harder against the branch shield, seemingly in response to Eric’s challenge. A tongue of fire lashed out from its mouth, burning through the branches and etching a large black hole into the ground. Then the beast flew away, leaving Eric alone, covered in the underbrush. A strange mixture of fear and relief quelled inside his chest and he sat shivering, his mouth agape and his eyes plastered open. A scaly bird that can breathe fire, he marveled. But why was such a strange creature in Dale? Eric had lived in Dale his entire life and he had never seen anything there that such a powerful beast would want.

But what if the beast came back, Eric wondered fearfully. Next time he might not be sleeping under a branch shield. He did not know what he would do if he encountered the beast again in the open. But Eric resolved to keep going, the thoughts of his family flooding back into his pounding head. He was not going to lay hiding in this underbrush forever. Reluctantly, Eric stood up and continued walking down the forest path, trying to walk under tree cover whenever possible. He was bound to be getting close to his house, which was good, because he felt his stomach rumbling even louder than before. Hopefully somebody would get to eat breakfast today.