Herb Gathering

I wondered around the nearby forest, collecting some red clover and agrimony. The birds chirped eagerly to one another across the trees and a faint wind stirred some leaves about the woods. I followed along a small stream that led through the trees in a serpentine pattern, finding more herbs growing close to it's nourishing waters. Suddenly there was a sound of rolling thunder, silencing the sounds of the critters of the forest. I looked up, noticing for the first time that dark clouds had taken place of the blue sky. I had wandered quite far from the castle, but I figured I could find a little more red clover before I headed back. I felt light drops of cold rain as I wandered by a cave, where a lot of red cover was growing outside of its entryway.

I turned to head back when a great downpour started. I juggled with the idea of just heading back in the rain, but thought best to try to wait it out, being several minutes out and suddenly feeling tired. I took cover in the opening of the cave, watching the rain fall in the dirt, making mud. I felt even more tired watching the rain, and felt very cold from the water that tried to drench my cloak. The darkness and dampness of the cave seemed to make me feel even weaker so I back up from the entry to lean against the wall. In my attempt, I tripped over something that was lying in the middle of the cave, causing myself to fall backwards and drop my basket. I landed sitting down, but my feet still on top of whatever it was I tripped over. I reached my hand forward to feel it and was surprised by how cold and oddly textured it was. It reminded me of a kind of snakeskin, but harder. Suddenly there was a warmness against my ear and neck. I turned and saw the glow of yellow eyes gleaming from the dark. The darkness moved and shifted into the light, revealing a large dragon with a low grumble in its throat. It opened its mouth and its long, yellow-tinted, sharp teeth gleamed in the dark and the cave filled with the scent of rotted flesh.

The dragon let out a shrill roar that I felt certain made my ears bleed. I jumped up and started running, wishing this dragon was, in fact, a wolf. It followed after me, shrieking awful sounds of terror. I did not know where I was going, only that I had to run. I tried to fit through tight spaces between trees, but no matter what I tried the giant beast ran through it all. In a sad attempt at escaping, I made my way to a tightly wound group of shrubbery that hid behind two trees, hoping I could maybe hide from my pursuer. When I reached it I jumped over the base of the trees, which grew close to each other, but was jerked back by my cloak getting caught on a protruding branch. The dragon caught up within the second, knocking the tree over and sending me flying with it. I landed away from the tree, my cloak ripping away from me. I tried to get up, but with each second I felt weaker and weaker. My mind grew foggy and the dragon became a blur of angry, screaming, blackness.

I desperately tried to think of a spell Merlin might have taught me that would help, but nothing came to mind. The dragon loomed over me and opened its mouth in a putrid greeting. I took a deep breath, thinking it would be my last, before I saw an arrow shoot straight into the dragon's throat. The dragon thrashed about, tossing its head side to side, and smashing trees and boulders. Suddenly Merlin was at my side saying something to me, but I couldn't understand anything he was saying. I looked back to the dragon and saw Aurelius standing in front of the dragon, wielding his sword, bow and arrows lying at his feet. I felt Merlin trying to pick me up, and still trying to talk to me as well as I felt myself say, "At least it wasn't a wolf" before everything went dark and silent.