Red Sunset Pt. 2

After the dragon flew off, my shock level was higher than a roof. My eyes watered from dryness and pain and I refused to blink them, afraid that the dragon would appear behind a tree and burn me to death. But it's eyes. With eyes so gentle like that of a young wolf cub, seemingly incapable of any harm. But I was soon brought back to my senses by the rancid smell of burning flesh on bones. 1

I looked around to find the source and found a newborn baby who must have been ripped from her mother's arms. I hate it when the young ones are the victims, unable to know what to do when they are stranded. This one looked so young, it must have just been learning to walk. Hardly past one winter. I myself was of 14 winters, and incredibly vulnerable to the death and deception the dragons are said to possess. But this young child was too vulnerable. It seemed I could already hear the shallow cries of the mother who would for the first time see her daughter dead. Hopefully it was quick, I thought. 2

All of the villagers were still hiding among the thick forest trees, scared to death and sometimes waiting for hours until they were sure the dragons had left. I was alone, with one small hut in flames and 2 dead bodies. The other was an older man who had sailed in from the sea and whom we proveded shelter temporarily. His facial features were so badly burned they were no longer visible. The man, called Soyokichi, was not accostomed to the warning bell and the dragons themselves. He must have been looking at the dragon with pure fear and froze in his position before the dragon spat its deathflame.3

The hut that had caught fire was thinning down now, with warying sources of fuels that had powered it. So much destruction, so much death. What did they want, and why was it here?4

A slight rustling behind me in the trees made me throw myself around while painfully twisting my neck. It was a young boy of about 6 winters, and who had obviously never seen a scorched body. The boy, known to me as Tauro, must have seen me out and decided that it was safe. Young children, such as Tauro, were kept inside the forests by the adults until the bodies were disposed of into the sea. Only when a child is of 10 winters is he allowed to see the damage. Tauro stared not at me, but at the dead old man burned beyond recognition lying at my feel. His eyes were wide with horror, and his mouth slightly open. He is in need of comfort, I thought. I walked slowly over to Tauro, his eyes never leaving the man called Soyokichi. As I knelt down beside him and gracefully took the boy into my arms, I felt drops of hot, wet tears on my shoulder. 5