1-Nafton
Original Publication Date: July 2, 2019
Nafton
The smoke and fire engulf the town; the farmers and residents scurry to find safety. Swooping over their heads, a black and purple reptilian beast known as Talon blows flames from his mouth.
His colors are quite unique, black on the top and back of his body, and purple on the underside.
Men, women, and children are huddled in corners and under the roofs of houses that are not yet destroyed.
As the dragon makes its landing in the middle of the half-destroyed town, he lifts his head to roar, and the terrified people cover their ears.
The dragon is nine feet tall as he stands on his hind legs. His wingspan adds to his large presence and threatening power. His eyes glow blue in a hypnotic way, his teeth jagged and large, like a great white shark’s. His tone that of a conceited and dangerous psychopath, his voice booming through the night. “I will kill all of you bastards! I’ve waited too long!”
Leaping from one of the many dilapidated barns, Robert Brant makes his entrance. Long blond hair, six feet tall, silver armor, blue eyes. Smoke surrounds him as well as dying flame.
The dragon has been biding his time, seeing how scared he could get his victims before performing the final blow. The town of Nafton, and soon the entire kingdom of Forlorn, would be reduced to ashes. Robert, however, knows this will not be the case, for he knows how to kill such a mighty force. This is not his first time.
Running across from his house, past the broken piles of wood and some bloodied dead bodies, he hops behind a pile of hay. Peeking over the top, he spots it.
A black spot among his armor: every dragon has a weak point. Smirking, he makes another dash to his house in a zig-zagging fashion to stay hidden from Talon. Everyone keeps quiet; the dragon chuckles and stomps around, unaware of the potential danger he is in. His footsteps shake the windowpanes of the houses that still stand.
His heart pounds in his chest as he looks for the item; sweat pours down his neck. His living room nothing but a wrecked mess as he gets his wife to safety. Looking under his bed, he grabs his bow and arrow, setting up the equipment perfectly. He hears the bellowing of the dragon as he destroys more homes with his arms and tail. Robert prays that no one is dying. Taking a deep breath, he ascends to the roof of his home, using an old ladder.
Pulling the bow back and aiming the arrow is easy; now to get the beast’s attention.
“Asshole!” Rob yells into the night, causing the adrenaline-fueled dragon to turn his head towards Rob. He exhales, clearly annoyed by his presence, but smiles softly.
“Robert Brant. The famed dragon fighter. What a pleasure to see you again.” The dragon remembers him. Talon had kidnapped his wife; that is how the two met.
Flapping his wings, a bird-humanoid creature lands beside Brant, a tall gryphon. Among the commotion, the big bird was the least of everyone’s issues. He too has a bow and arrow, firing at Talon. His swiftness has been impressive, but he has done little damage. Talon lumbers over to Brant and exhales to throw him a fireball. The mysterious bird flies to another roof and Brant preforms a somersault, landing on the opposite end of the roof.
Aiming the arrow for the magic spot, he holds his breath and releases the arrow. He knows that if he didn’t perfectly calculate his shot, his life may be over. The sound of breaking skin makes Brant sigh in relief as the giant black and purple dragon screeches, but he still has strength to regurgitate a flaming ball his way.
This is the seventh dragon he has killed during his lifetime, so he knows the beast is weak but not quite dead. As the dragon nearly falls, it gives Brant time to evade the last careening fireball, which destroys his home and engulfs it in red hot flame. Using the flame, he pulls yet another arrow, this time lighting the tip on fire.
Releasing the arrow, he hits the same spot. The dragon doesn’t have the energy to scream. His belly lights up, and a large dragon on fire is a dangerous thing.
“Get back!” Rob yells to townspeople standing too close to the action. The beast goes first to his knees, then collapses into the ground, causing the land to tremble. The next thing Brant hears is the sounds of cheering.
The afternoon presents the current issues the dragon caused. He is dead but has still caused a lot of damage. Robert helps to rebuild what the dragon has successfully destroyed. The smell of horse manure and food cooking permeates the air. Brant gathers large piles of wood, as everyone lends a helping hand to restore the quaint town. Normally the homes stand side by side, very closely knit. Everyone knows everyone’s name, and it is hard to keep secrets -- but not impossible, if one is sneaky enough. The homes wouldn’t look much different from how they looked before, but now they would be built stronger, with more bricks.
Thankfully, the creature hasn’t destroyed all the various shops; to gather more supplies, Rob walks between the dilapidated homes, past the horse stables. Two miles he walks, straight ahead to a gathering of shops where basic needs like food, water, and clothing are kept. In this quaint marketplace, the tone is depressed, but a bit merrier as at least food is available. Many thanks and congratulations are given to Rob as he walks his way to the shops, checking on the owners and customers, the left and right sides full of food baskets and quaint stores.
The same bird from before approaches Rob, weaving in and out of crowds of humans who give him odd looks. “Impressive shooting, soldier!” Obviously, Rob is a bit startled to see a non-human standing by him. He shakes the bird’s hand.
“Robert Brant. And you are?”
“William of Del Wood!” The bird says with a smile.
“Del Wood? Lots of creatures there.”
The bird and human walk away from the marketplace, past the sign which reads Nafton Market, for only a few feet from the store lie the broken homes. Robert and William begin to repair what they can. The bird speaks.
“I only wish I could live here and help Nafton.” Rob would never admit it, but he is uncomfortable with William. His personality seems adamant, but the fact that he is a gryphon throws him off. Nafton was separated from Del Wood and its creatures for a reason, he thinks to himself.
“Well, thank you, William, but I think we can take it from here.” Slightly disappointed, the bird smiles through it.
“Well, good day to you sir.” Flying off, he is out of sight in a moment.
Robert’s mind wanders as he works, not to the dead dragon or the other creatures in Del Wood, but to Tyler-his newborn son.
