Page 2 of Wild for the Wyvern

Kori

“Why me?” Why is it always me who gets lost? I mean, I set out on this silly hiking trail with my three best friends. I can guarantee they are still walking through the wooded property surrounding the Greentree Resort in the Catskill Mountains. Meanwhile, I’m lost in the middle of nowhere with no path and no clue which way the hotel is.

I’m not outdoorsy. I’m a put me up in a nice hotel with a good book. I’m a stay home with a cozy blanket and a book. Just give me a book and leave me alone. I love my friends and I know they mean well when they bully me into venturing out of my comfort zone, but it’s called a comfort zone for a reason. What’s wrong with wanting to be content and not adventurous?

Every tree looks the same. The sun is mostly shaded by the late-spring leaves of the canopy far above my head. That stump seems familiar. Oh lord, I’m going in circles.

Stopping, I try to figure out which way is east. We set out from the hotel, walking away from the sun, and it was early. My stomach is growling, which probably means it’s afternoon. The sun is pretty high, but maybe that way is east.

I turn right at the stump and hope it takes me out of these woods and onto a road where I can find someone to take me back to the resort. It would be my luck to be picked up by a serial killer and no one will ever hear from me again.

Trudging farther, I sniff the air. Maybe I smell wood burning. That could be the big fireplace in the lobby. I break into a jog and follow my nose.

Something under the old leaves catches my toe. I hit the ground hard and let out a yelp. Keeping still, I assess whether or not I’m injured while the damp seeps into my clothes at the knees and elbows. I push my hands against the ground and a stick pokes my palm. “Ouch.”

There’s a loud crack and snap. The world turns upside down. Something grabs me from every direction. I’m screaming, but I don’t even know what’s happening. Everything is moving. I’m whipping away from the ground at lightning speed. My stomach lurches.

I’m bouncing in the air. After a second, everything slows. The rope net that I’m trapped in is like something for a bear and the stiff material cuts into my arms and legs. Fresh leaves fall from the trees.

Slowly, my bouncing stops and now all I see is the ground, and the creaking of the branches makes my panic button go into full alert. I’m going to fall thirty feet to my death in this godforsaken woods and no one will ever see me again. Maybe I’lljust hang here and die of dehydration or starvation. I would have been better off with my fictional serial killer.

“Help!”Don’t look down, Kori. Hold yourself together and don’t look down.“Help!” I feel as if someone is watching me. “Is anyone out there!”

There’s movement below me and a loud rustling.

“Help me!” My scream echoes through the woods.

A shadow passes over the sun.

Turning forces the ropes into my ribs. I stifle a grunt and stretch my neck to look toward whatever is blocking out the daylight. Shades of turquoise and green, mixed with gold beautifully shining iridescent. I scan the scaly surface, my gaze rising until I find a large gold-and-garnet eye staring back at me. “What?”

The eye narrows and its owner’s huge nostrils flare.

My scream is trapped in my throat. I’m going to be eaten by a dragon in Upstate New York and that is why no one will ever hear from me again.

Its elongated nose shifts to view me with its other eye as its spiked tail wraps around the bottom of the rope trap. It opens its mouth revealing razor-sharp teeth.

My scream finally finds a voice as the creature snaps its jaw shut on the thick snare above my head.

Cradled in its cool wings, it jumps with me to the ground.

“Dragons don’t exiiiist!” I scream as I fall through the tree’s limbs. I land so softly that it takes me a moment to realize I’m on land. I’m on my back and the trap falls away. I can’t catch my breath as I scramble backward and try to get away.

It cocks its head and bares its teeth.

Had it understood me? I stand on wobbly legs. “I’ll just go and you can go back to not being real.”

A low rumble echoes from its throat and it blinks at me.

Taking a step away, I stumble and a beautiful wing whips out to keep me from falling. Palms flat on the scaled surface, I sense the blood rushing through the appendage. “This is the most realistic dream I’ve ever had. I’m sure that any moment now I’m going to wake up safe and sound in my bed at the resort. None of this is real. Either that or I’ve had a psychotic break and I’m going to die in these woods.”

I’m back to the fact that no one will ever find my body or hear from me again.

The dragon lowers its nose and inhales long before letting out a low rumble. It steps closer. The claws dragging through the forest’s underbrush are at least four inches long and razor sharp.

“Time to go.” Even as I say it, my feet won’t move. I’m mesmerized by the beast’s magnificence. “I’m sure there’s a logical explanation for why you’re here. It probably makes perfectly good sense. You probably don’t get out much and that’s why no one has ever reported seeing a dragon–ever–anywhere.” Finally, my legs listen to my brain’s command and I step away. When I look back, the dragon is watching me.

The problem is that I still need to figure out how to get back to the Greentree. There’s no path and I have not gained a sense of direction in the last hour. I keep walking away, but it’s like the world is going faster and I’m going slower. My brain won’t process what I’ve seen and touched. The feel of its scales against my fingers and his warm scent. Yes, I’m sure the dragon is male. I don’t know how I know, but I do.

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