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The Dragon in the Storm

It is a dark and stormy day and heavy snow blazes down over the land. Concealed in the conveniently tall space beneath a bridge is the hero of our tale, a well-mannered dragon by the name of Jake. He carries in his hand five perfectly dry library books and a rather heavy brown package, while his other hand holds up a tattered umbrella. He stills battles with the wind to keep this in place over his head, protecting him from any sudden blobs of snow that drop between the planks of the bridge above. It's snowing too heavily for him to go anywhere, but he's still busy trying to comprehend what brought him to here in the first place. It all started in the library several hours before...

*

Jake was very much enjoying his relaxing afternoon in the library. He read a text about sponges that was thoroughly absorbing, before moving on to an article about antigravity that he just couldn't put down! It was a perfect afternoon, but something was missing... He gazed up at the coffered ceiling and pondered for a moment. He could easily sit here forever, but the old wooden furniture wasn't especially comfortable and he longed for the soothing touch of his own armchair. No, that wasn't it; he'd been sat in here for hours at a time before. What could be missing? The temperature was perfect, the silence was palpable...it made no sense!Looking around the library, he saw librarians shuffling busily and piling books on shelves and other patrons with their heads buried in books. There were statues and paintings of literary figures lining the walls creating a wonderful intellectual atmosphere and...YES! Strung from the end of a row of bookcases staring Jake right in the face was a bold sign declaring "NO FOOD OR DRINK IN THE LIBRARY!" Jake knew what he needed to make this afternoon complete; a mug of delicious, hot tea! Not just any tea, mind...a special brew he had at home, an ancient family recipe! Guaranteed to be the perfect augmentation to an afternoon with a good book. He scooped up his choice of five books and checked them out, smiling and thanking the librarian as she advised him to watch himself; a terrible snowstorm was forecast to begin shortly. Looking to the window, Jake could see that she was correct. Gentle snow floated down from the heavens and started to coat everything in a thin white layer; the sidewalk, the bus stop and indeed the bus he needed to catch.

 His bus! He huffed as he set of running, cutting through the peace of the library and bursting out into the chilliness of the street, reaching the bus stop just in time to see his bus turn the corner and disappear into the encroaching mist. Sighing, he stuffed the books under his sweater to keep them dry as the snow intensified and flung his scarf around his neck.So, with a great frustration in his heart, Jake set off trudging through the thin layer of snow on the long road back to his lodgings. The snow frosted his hair and he felt it was getting heavier; he had to get home to that delicious beverage before he froze to death! That's when he saw the Dragoness approaching him, bearing two umbrellas. One was extended over her head and keeping her wavy, jet black flow of hair in check while the other was held by her other hand, extended towards Jake. What a selfless act of generosity! However when he grabbed the umbrella, he found himself pulled towards her, uncomfortably close as she spoke to him in a thick Russian accent.

 "I have a job for you, dragon boy."Jake stuttered slightly as he tried to decline as politely as possible, tugging on the umbrella and

stepping away. The Dragoness pulled him back insistently."Listen closely, dragon boy. Today is the beginning of the future and the future begins with you. This package must leave this city undetected. You are the one to do this. I will meet you underneath the small bridge crossing the small stream to the east of here. Take this umbrella. The package must remain dry. We owe you a large debt for this favour."With that, the Dragoness disappeared into a black vehicle and speeded off into the mist, leaving Jake with a rather heavy brown parcel and a black umbrella. He held the umbrella above his head and walked on in the cocoon of dryness it created, trudging ever onwards through the ever rising snow. 

*

After half an hour of trudging, Jake found himself in the rich district, full of big mansions and dotted with beautiful snow-capped trees. The edge of the city wasn't far away now and from there it wasn't far home. That's when he met the Dwarf.

 "You, sir! You look like you need to get somewhere and you look like you need to get there in a bally hurry! Right this way, sir! I have just the ticket, sir, just the ticket!"Despite his best protests, Jake found himself at the mercy of this pushy Dwarf as he was pushed down a side street and through a gap in a fence, into the large back garden of one of the mansions."Through here, sir! This way, sir! Nearly there, sir! Bally good job you found us, sir! We'll get you where you're going, sir, and we'll get you there in a bally hurry, sir!"Jake could hardly believe his eyes as he saw what he was in for. He craned his neck upwards slightly as he saw the massive expanse of a hot air balloon inflating above him, with an army of dwarves surrounding the basket and affixing sandbags, fiddling with the burner or making random exclamations like:"Top ho, sir!""What ho, sir!""Chocks away, sir!"Jake tried to scramble his way away from the crazy engineers; the last thing he needed to be doing in this storm was taking a ride in a hot air balloon! Unfortunately, he couldn't escape and before long he had been funnelled into the basket with the Dwarf, who started releasing sandbags and playing with the burner and the basket quickly left the ground. A dwarf scrambled up and threw a top hat to the piloting Dwarf, who handed it to Jake remarking: 

 "You'll need this, sir!"Jake donned the top hat and clung on for dear life. Much as one would expect, the high winds soon caught hold of the basket and blew them wildly off course, not that the Dwarf had ever asked where they needed to be going in the first place. A lovely hot air balloon ride was something that Jake had always wanted to try, but not in conditions where the heavy mist meant that visibility was zero and the winds were blowing them every which way!The Dwarf still chattered to himself optimistically as the basket flew in random directions, the disorienting grey mist being the only thing visible in any direction from the basket. Jake couldn't even figure out which direction they were going!An unknown amount of time passed, but it felt like Jake spent hours clinging to that basket in fear when the Dwarf suddenly checked a compass, perched himself on the side of the basket and grabbed a nearby lever."Looks like this is your stop, sir! Happy voyage, sir!"He pulled the lever; the

bottom of the basket gave way. Jake had never been so scared in all his life as he found himself falling through the terrifying mist, the snow around him seeming to fall upwards as he exceeded its speed. It seemed like he would never get home to his armchair and his delicious tea!

 His mind raced with possibilities...he had five books, but they couldn't help him...that heavy brown parcel was only making him fall faster at the moment...the umbrella! Would it work? He had nothing better to try...in a quick movement he had the umbrella opened and held above his head and he quickly felt the rate of his descent slow. It wasn't enough, but maybe it was at least survivable...he curled up around the base of the umbrella and tried not to look downwards towards the approaching tree line...

*

Jake awoke slowly, light trickling gently down through the trees as he dragged himself from the snow bank he had landed in. His back was a little sore, but miraculously he was unhurt! Nothing a hot mug of tea wouldn't cure. Nestled in another snow bank he found his collection of books and the heavy brown parcel; he smiled to himself for a moment at how undamaged and resolute they remained after all they'd been through. Up above him he saw the tattered remains of the umbrella hung in the trees. He pulled it down; it could still be of use on the way to the bridge. He could tell from a quick look around that he was in the forest just east of the City. A little way north would be the bridge, but he didn't know which way that would be, let alone how he would stay on course in this snowstorm!

 "A dragon looks lost."All at once, Jake squealed and tried to turn around to face the voice and fell back into the snow as a shadow fell over him. Stood before him was some kind of hybrid creature with the body of a female cow, udders and all, and a male human connected by the waist to its withers."A dragon should not wander in a storm."Jake was all out of options now and asked as politely as he could if he could get a lift to the bridge over the stream."The Cowtaur does not normally give lifts, but a snowstorm is relentless..." Jake begged and pleaded...all he could think of right now is ditching this package and then finding some way back home to that delicious, hot tea. "Where does a dragon go? Really? The Cowtaur goes in that direction himself. A dragon may climb aboard the Cowtaur, but the Cowtaur may not be convinced..."Jake climbed up on the back of the Cowtaur, eliciting a grunt from the creature when he accidentally kicked its udder. "A dragon should be more careful, or the Cowtaur may well leave him to freeze."

 The Cowtaur certainly didn't sound enthusiastic about giving Jake a lift, so he thought the best thing to do at this moment would be to give the creature some kind of gift as an incentive. The umbrella was all in tatters, he still owed the package to the Dragoness and he'd get laden with some serious library fines when he tried to explain that he gave a book to a mythological creature as a peace offering. That's when he saw it, lying there in the snowdrift; it was the top hat the Dwarf had given to him! He quickly hopped down and back onto the Cowtaur's back, lowering the top hat down onto his head as if crowning a new king. The Cowtaur gasped in disbelief. "The Cowtaur has...a hat! A dragon would give this to the Cowtaur? The Cowtaur's services have been satisfactorily enlisted. A dragon holds on to the Cowtaur, and we ride!"All of a sudden the Cowtaur set off at breakneck speed, darting between trees and over logs as fast as its bovine legs

would carry it. Within minutes they had arrived at the bridge, out in a clearing where the snow pounded down harder than ever. The Cowtaur dropped off Jake and trotted off into the forest, fiddling with his new headgear as he went.

 Desperate to escape from the snowfall, Jake squeezed himself into an alcove under the bridge and hung the remains of the umbrella over his head, waiting.

*

It was a long, cold period of waiting, but soon Jake's ears perked up as he began to hear an odd engine noise approaching. He scrambled out from under the bridge and dropped the umbrella in awe. Speeding along the path and across the bridge, almost tearing it down in the process was the Dragoness and another anonymous agent aboard two huge snowmobiles. She gracefully swung herself off of the vehicle and headed towards Jake, greeting him with an odd gesture."You have done well, dragon boy. As I said, we owe you a large favour, and here it is. May it carry you home in comfort." She took the package from me, considerably lightening the load and then as quickly as they had appeared, the Dragoness climbed aboard the other agent's snowmobile and they both sped off into the mist.Jake couldn't believe his luck! He stuffed the books into a box on the back of the snowmobile and jumped onto it, revving it up as he set off down the path to his home. He went slowly at first, but when he got the hang of the controls he zoomed down the path at breakneck speeds, the wind rushing through his hair and the snow sending an invigorating chill through his face.

 The dragon soon arrived home and threw down his books, intent on reading them later with an extra sense of accomplishment about the fact that he even managed to get them home. He pulled out his favourite mug and poured out a glass of the delicious nectar he had been waiting for, removing his scarf and slumping down in front of a roaring fire, supping at his prize."Ah, perfect!"

by AllisonTowers