D.G.-Darkness Falls

Dragon Guardians
By Andrew D. Gerhold

Darkness Falls

As the sun set over the field just outside of Copper Town, two young boys watch over the horizon. “Another day has come and gone” said one the boys.
“Yeah, even though we didn’t catch a lot of fish, today was fun. It’s was funny when you almost fell in the lake, huh, Andrew?”  
“Well, at least I caught more fish than you did, Shed” Andrew bragged.  Andrew was a small boy, wearing thin eyeglasses.
“It’s not about catching fish, it’s about having fun” Shed explained “We did have fun, right?” Shed was a strange dragon. He had feet like a dragon. Hands, tail, and even skin like a dragon. But he had no wings and he wears clothes. The same orange shirt every day; it was his favorite. Shed looked like a human wearing dragon skin.
“Of course we had fun, but I think grandmother will be mad that my clothes are…”
“Don’t worry” Shed interrupted “My clothes are all muddy, too. Anyway, we should go home now”
“Okay, see you tomorrow, Shed.” said Andrew as he ran back to his grandmother’s mansion. “Good night” Shed said as he was running to his home.

“So,” said Dolores “How was your day, Andrew?” Dolores was Andrew’s grandmother. She raised Andrew along with his sister, Amanda.
“It was fun” his voice quieted down “Sorry for getting my clothes all muddy.”
“That’s quite alright, all that matters is you had fun” Dolores said cheerfully. “Now, run along and take a bath.”
“You are fine with that only because I do the laundry around hear” Char said with a little anger in his voice. Char has been with Dolores for a long time as her butler, her dragon butler.  He was a tall, dark scaled dragon.  Char has some mysteries scaring on his belly, face, arms, and tail. Whenever someone asks him about the scars, he always turns away.  He is also friendly and good with the children over the years, but Amanda, Dolores’s granddaughter, always gave him a hard time. It was a good thing that she was visiting some friends in Sky Light City at the time.

When bath time was over it was time for bed. “Good night, grandmother”
“Good night, Andrew” Dolores said as she close the bed room door. Now with time to herself, she went to the study with a hot cup of tea and relaxes. About half of cup of tea later, is when she notices something was wrong with Char.
“Is everything alright” She asked. He was standing by the bay window, staring into the night. “I’m not sure” his voice sounded nervous. Dragons can sense things humans cannot.
“You were busy all day; maybe you should get some rest, Char”
“Yes, you may be right. Good night, madam” As Char slowly walked out of the room, he could hear something coming. The noise was getting louder and louder. Then lights appeared through the window.
“Look out, madam!” Char roared. A large, black motorcycle came crashing through the bay window.  Char dove out in front to protect Dolores. She saw a man covered in black leather riding the motorcycle. Right away, she know who it was, it was no other then Him.

The noise scared Andrew right out of bed. He thought Char may have dropped a tray of tea. But, it cannot have made that much noise. Frighten, he slowly walk out of his room, down a long hallway, with little light. Near the Parlor is when he started to hear voices. They were just an echo, but as he approached the Foyer, the voices became louder and louder. The Foyer was dark, with only the light of the moon. Andrew has been through the Foyer several times before, but never that night. One of the voices he knows, it was his grandmother. But, the other was a mystery. He slowly walked to the door on the left side of the Foyer that is where the voices are coming from. There was short hallway leading to the study. There was a small crack where light beamed from the doorway. He could hear the voices a little better, then a sound that shocks him off his feet. It was a gunshot, followed by a horrifying roar. Still frightened, Andrew stumbled to his feet, but not for long. There is something other than light coming through the door. It was watery, maybe tea? Andrew saw his reflection; it wasn’t tea, but blood.

The site was deeply frightening. Never…seen…so much…blood, Andrew thought. Got…to…run. But he cannot; his legs were frozen. Move. Why don’t I… With one last breath “MOVE!” he shouted and ran back into the hallway, into the Foyer, and out the front door. Running as fast as he can down the long driveway, Andrew stopped to catch his breath at the front gate. Questions race through his mind. What just happened? Who was that?  With those question unanswered, he looked up to see where he was and where to go for help. On the right was the hospital, the path in the middle led to Copper town. He could see the lights coming from the windmill. And on the left was Elder dragon’s house. If anyone could help, he could. Elder’s home was more of a giant rock with a wooden porch on the front. There were lights coming though the window and that was a sign that they were still up. Andrew quickly ran up to the porch and pounded up the door. At first there was no answer, but then there was a voice. The door open and a large dragon walked out, it was Elder dragon. He was the oldest dragon Andrew has ever seen compared to the other dragon living in Copper town and the only one to have a long, snow white beard.
“Andrew?” Elder asked “What are you doing up this late?”
“Grandmother…in danger” Andrew said; he was out of breath.
“What?”
“Char…too.”
“Calm down, Andrew. Get a hold of yourself.” Elder said gently. Wondering what was going on.
“Dad, what’s going…?” Shed stopped and was suspired. After a few seconds, Andrew calmed down and tried to explain what happened.
“Rebecca, Shed, look after Andrew and stay in the house.” Elder looked worried.
“But, dad?”
“No! Stay inside, Shed” As he walked out to the porch it seemed that he was not alone.
Others started to walk up the path to the mansion. It looked like the whole town was there. But then a light came from the mansion along with a loud noise that rocketed through the crowd. As the light moved and faded in the background, so did the noise. What was that? That question was moving though the crowd. Some ran up to the mansion to see if everyone was alright. Rebecca and Shed watch from the porch as Andrew slowly walked over to Elder. There was no word from the mansion, until someone yelled “Call Dr. Kay!”

Dr. Kay is the dragon expert in Copper town. She, alongside Dr. Pierce, a doctor for humans, work in the hospital; part of the hospital is for dragons the other for humans. There was still fear in the air, especially for Andrew not knowing what was happening. If someone called for Dr. Kay then Char maybe in trouble? But, what about…“No” Andrew quietly said. He couldn’t think something like that. There were shadows coming from the light through the hole where the window on the study once was. They were moving away from the light back into the darkness. Large shadows came out of the house first, Elder quietly hid the children for they could not see the horrifying site. When it seemed the darkest Copper town has ever seen, there was a ray of light. More shadow came from the mansion; they were smaller than the first few. It was Dolores. And she was alive. “Grandmother!” Andrew shouted with relied.

At the hospital, “Alright, Dolores” said Dr. Pierce
“Everything seems to be in place.” Dr. Pierce is a funny kind of guy. He always likes to tell jokes in every situation. Dr. Kay, on the other hand, was serious all the time.
“Never mind me, what happened to Char?” Dolores was worried. She did not expect for Him to come. And Char, he dove in front of her to protect her and as a reward, he was shot. A Dragon’s skin is very thick; a bullet from a normal gun will just leave a scratch. But Char was hit with not a normal gun, but a dragon gun and the people who had them were dragon hunters.
“Dr. Kay didn’t say much. Just that she had to get into surgery right away.” Dr. Pierce answered. Usually he tries to make light of the situation, but nothing he could say would make any difference.

A few hours had past and the sun started to rise. There was still no word on Char’s condition. They all waited in the waiting room. Dolores, Elder, Rebecca, Andrew, and Shed sat and hoped for the best. Shed and Andrew nearly dosed off until Dr. Kay slowly walked out of the operating room. She started to untie her surgical mask. Tension raced through the room, but then stop at Dr. Kay smiling. It was not like her to smile. That only meant one thing,
“Char will be all right.” Dr. Kay said quietly. You can tell how tired she was by her voice. Relived, Dolores exhaled the last breath.
“Can we see him?” Andrew nervously asks.
“Yeah, can we?” added Shed. “Yes, but he will be unconscious for the next’s three to four days.”
Dolores was still a little shaken from what had happened. “Are you alright” Elder asked? “Yes, I…I…” she pauses. “I wasn’t expecting to see Him”
“Dolores, have you told your grandchildren about…” He didn’t finish. Dolores looked up and shook her head no.
“Dolores, I know that this is none of my concern, but you need to tell them…” Elder paused “…tell them about their Father.”