Zac S

The Ice Dragon!

by Zac Sherratt

“Everyone calm down" boomed the pilot of the ship.

This is my first time on a plane and it is not going so well. The plane is about to have a terrible crash landing but I don't see or understand why this is so. A sharp pang of smoke is looming in the air. I look around and notice that all the worn out red rough seats have pieces of ice shards pointing like plants growing from the ground. How is that even possible? They should be on fire or just sitting there peacefully untouched.

I am the only passenger on the tiny plane called Vicious Bomber. I saw the name on the side of the plane as I boarded it. I tried to run to the pilot’s seat to see what was going on but the plane wobbled and I am knocked to the back. There was an unnaturally incredibly strong force that almost knocked me out. I tried to get up but the force of the freezing cold crashing into the plane is too strong and I tumbled back down, face first.

Then the back of the plane broke off with a deafening crack and I went flying out the plane like a sky diver without a parachute. As I was falling to the ground like a bullet I caught a glimpse of a humungous terrifying creature with flaming red eyes. It was so big it could swallow a grown man without a single complaint.

I hit the ground and everything ached like a boulder has just rolled over me. There was an amazingly loud ringing sound in my left ear. I couldn't feel my legs and I was lying in a pool of blood. My last glimpse was a large blue and white creature spitting a substance that can freeze anything it touches. This explains the icy cold plane and the ice shards coming out of the strangely empty seats.

Everything turns black and I feel my head getting more and more dizzy and in all my desperation my eyes close. I hear a fire sizzling and realize there was no giant or even small fire at the plane crash. There were only ice shards and it was not warm and cozy. It was actually painfully cold with ice shards showered all over my body, head to toe.

I opened my eyes. I realized I wasn't at the site of the plane crash at all and the fire wasn't a giant blazing dangerous fire, rather, it was a fire that you would find in a small hut. Suddenly I realized that I am in a hut. The ringing sound in my left ear had stopped and my limbs have stopped aching.

"Oh, good you're awake. You're lucky you didn't break anything. Just a few small cuts and by the way my name is Sam" an old sarcastic crackling voice said.

I sat up with a lot of effort and I was sitting in a tiny wooden hut with one small cracked window on the opposite wall letting in a little bit of light, but the warm cozy fire lit up most of the hut with a deep orangey red.

There was an old grey bearded man with wrinkled skin. He was sitting in the corner of the small, smoky and cozy hut on an old wooden vanished chair with a pillow built into it. I couldn't tell whether he was smiling or frowning. He looked somewhat neutral. I stood up I saw an old antique shotgun above the fire place. I was still wearing my old leather jacket and long tracksuit pants.

I heard a loud threatening roar that sent shivers down my spine and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It sounded like thunder crackling in the gloomy afternoon sky. The old man muttered "So the dragon's back and it wants more. But whoever defeats the dragon will become rich and be respected by all animals." Then he shot up out of his old antique chair and grabbed the shot gun that was sitting on top of the ancient fire place.

Instinctively I followed Sam out the door. I saw what it was. It was the threatening ice breathing razor sharp toothed ice creature that took down a whole plane single handedly and it is here right in front of my eyes!

Now that I have had a closer look and find it is a dragon with huge skeletal wings and a look of evilness. One can see some of its bones poking out of it's cold barren flesh. Its eyes look like they are blazing with rage and they must be hotter than the sun but it's breath is colder than Antarctica. The eyes of this 'ice dragon' almost blind those who look directly at them. The scales on this creature are unusual and different to the ones you see as pictures on the internet. They look like ice shards for they are light blue and a frosted pale white ice kind of colour. With an armored chest that looked somewhat indestructible with the capability to make any blade that touches it blunt!

I hid behind a tall smooth barked tree with pink and purple leaves that looked like a fuzzy pompom.

"You shouldn't be here" shouted Sam.

"I can't let you do this by yourself. You saved my life. I can't let you die from this dragon" I shouted back at him.

"Very well, there's no point arguing with you. Maybe you could be of some help and if you want to seek revenge, be my guest" screamed Sam and a cheeky looking smirk appeared. "We need a distraction to get behind the dragon. I found a missing ice shard on the back of its neck. One bullet directly in the hole should take the giant beast down" Sam shouted over the ear breaking roars of the ice dragon.

"So this isn't the first time you fought this thing?”

“Ok. I have an idea. We should light a fire with lots of green and wet wood because it make a lot of smoke and it will catch its attention. Then we can get behind it and get a clear shot, so it can stop attacking you. Afterwards the forest can be peaceful once again." I screamed as loud as I could.

He gave me a sharp nod. We started collecting green leaves and wet wood to make the fire produce an unmeasurable amount of smoke (so we can catch its attention). We set the fire up like a pyramid and lit the fire with some gun powder for the guns and a match from a match box that Sam uses to light the small fires in his fire place.

Once the fire lit up it looked and sounded like a fire work because steam was splattering everywhere and it was making sharp crackling noises. It was producing unnecessary amounts of smoke. That was good because it definitely got the magnificently ginormous ice dragon’s attention because it was sniffing the air and roaring like a lion saying "This is my territory and you have to go through me if you want it."

“And that is exactly what we are going to do.”

The ice dragon swung around to face the smoky fire. Its big tail was tumbling behind, obliterating everything in its way including knocking down trees and even small caves, sending rocks and trees flying everywhere. Sam and I were running around like crazy, dodging trees, sticks, rocks and other things that can't really fly!

Sam was following closely behind but he needed to highjack the dragon and bring it down because I have never shot a gun before and I will miss the soft spot (missing ice shard). The dragon heard the deafening gun shot. It freezes me and then I notice Sam. It was about to give him a frighteningly brutal death, even more brutal than mine will be.

"Sam you need to get onto the dragons back so you can defeat it.”

“I can't do it. I have never shot a gun and you said that you needed a precise shot at the missing shard to bring the beast down. I'm not sure I can get such a precise shot, let alone the incredible force of the dragon wobbling around shaking me of" I shouted, as though expressing all my thoughts.

"Very well," Sam responded with a sigh.

Once Sam was ahead of me the ice dragon's tail came sweeping towards us. I ducked expecting Sam to do the same. But instead he put his shot gun in his jacket pocket and even with the incredible force of the tail thrashing into him, the old man held onto it even though it was icy cold and super slippery! Sam scampered up the cold slippery scales of the dragon like a tiny little squirrel on a humongous tree, though in this scenario, Sam is climbing up an ice dragon.

Suddenly, just in Sam’s last moment of hope he heard an overwhelmingly loud screeching sound that made his ears burst out in excruciating pain. He scanned the forest to see what was making that sound and out of nowhere he saw the most frightening and terrible sight. I couldn't believe it. There was a figure falling from the endless sky. Then once my senses came back to me I took a proper look at the figure and my heart skipped a beat. It was Sam. He must have fallen off the ice dragon when I wasn't looking!

Thump. There he was. Sam just lying there right at my feet. It was hard not to flinch at the ugly sight. His head had a big dent in it and blood spewing out of him. Sam was once a kind loving man. Now he's gone, gone, gone, gone... I knelt down beside him. "Avenge me, free the forest, free the forest" Sam splattered out with all his strength and then his eyes shut.

"No, don't go. You can't. You, you, can't leave me. I can't. I can't do it."

“I have to do it. I must avenge that man. I must stay strong until the end if this ever will end,” I thought.

I checked his pulse just for some last hope of survival. Nothing.

Sam was lying in a streaming pool of blood. He deserved more for he had saved my life and then died trying to save others. I picked the old man up and limped to a cave that should shelter him from the dragon. The cave was dark so I let my eyes adjust to the dimly lit cave. The smell of smoke was no longer reeking in the air. Now it smelt more like a jungle because of the moss and weeds growing on the inside of the wet slimy cave.

I peered out of the cave just in time to see the ice dragon's huge icy tail sweeping over the tiny wet cave. Then the small light in the distance turned off. The ice dragon must have reached the fire and frozen for it was in a little ice ball which meant that the dragon has probably noticed that it was a distraction and probably was now heading my way to eliminate any imposter that dares to take its territory. Now's my chance.

I took the old antique shot gun out of his torn jacket pocket and ran outside the slimy cave, away from death and towards glory. Now I ran with an extra burst of energy, running faster, faster, faster than I ever have in my life towards the icy beast. Once I got near the dragon it turned around and faced me. I stopped and skidded a meter on the crisp stale leaves. Its eyes were blazing, hotter than lava. Now what? It's too late I thought. But the dragon ran straight over me. It must be going home for the night because the sun's orangey red rays were dying out.

I can't let that happen I thought with desperation. As the beast ran over to me I grabbed onto the dragon’s icy tail that almost froze my hands as they locked onto it. The sudden force of the dragon pulling its tail along seemed unnatural but with two arms I just managed to pull myself onto the dragons back. Then the dragon sent its tail flinging up in the air that would shoot me into the endless sky and this time I would be dead. Once I was on the ice dragons back it was much easier to climb up because it was more steady than the tail, even though it was still very slippery.

I checked in my jacket pocket to feel if the shot gun was still there. Nothing! I checked again. I could not believe it. It must have fallen out of my pocket while I was climbing the dragons tail.

"Now what" I muttered to myself in a depressing voice. “I can't stop. I have to let Sam sleep in peace.” Then I had an idea uttering to myself. “What if I grabbed onto a branch of some tree that the dragon is running past? It just might snap off so then I could stab the dragon where the missing scale is and that might bring it down. What are the chances that the branch will snap off? I have to give it a try.”

There is a big tree coming up. Perfect! Once I was next to it I stuck out my hand and reached out to grab a branch. I got hold of one in the last second and with my other hand I grabbed onto an icy scale of the dragon. I tugged and tugged but it didn't budge. Then I heard a crack that was surprisingly loud and I let go of the branch but it didn't fall to the ground, instead it stayed on the tree untouched and it looked untouched.

Then I realized where the crack came from. It was the ice that I was holding on to for support. I touched the top of the ice shard that I was holding with the tip of my index finger and blood dripped down my hand. Good it's sharp. This will have to do. I climbed up the ice dragon's back some more, now only with my right hand because my left hand was holding the ice shard that should make the dragon fall to the ground.

I scampered up the dragon like a one handed squirrel on a tree. Until I got to the dragon's neck I saw the empty hatch that an ice scale would have been in. That must be the soft spot. I scrambled towards it but the ice dragon swung around flinging me onto its icy head. The force of the landing sent the shard flying from my hand and smashing it into a million pieces.

The dragon's head was hotter than the rest of the icy body, in fact, it was boiling up. It is probably because of the dragon's fiery eyes that must contain its body heat. Suddenly the dragon flung its head up. That made me go flying up in the air like a rocket. Then I tumbled like a baby chicken right into the dragon's mouth.

The mouth of the dragon was squishy, slobbery and it smelt like cow manure. The flesh was cold and pink. I felt the muscles in the dragon's mouth tensing. It was about to swallow me whole! I scanned the wet mouth that I was standing in. Suddenly I saw a bone stuck in between one of the dragon's teeth, I ran over to the bone and shoved it out of the teeth and started bashing it against the top of its mouth so it would open it to sneeze.

The ice dragon started to open its mouth. Now or never I thought. I ran out of the dragon’s mouth and climbed back onto its head with the large cream white bone. I took the bone and stabbed the dragon's left red hot eye that made the bone catch alight. That made the dragon roar as loud as it could, so loud that it almost made me deaf! I just slid down the dragon's neck, just in time because the dragon was shaking its head like a maniac.

I stopped sliding once I got to the missing ice shard (soft spot). I grabbed the shard next to it and heaved myself onto it. The hole was disgusting looking with pink flesh and puss spewing out of it. My hands were trembling I took the non-flaming side of the burning bone and with all the courage and strength in my body, I shoved the flaming bone into the ugly wound.

Suddenly the dragon started shaking. Everything seemed to get warm but surprisingly the ice shards didn't melt, instead they turned into pure gold that shimmered in the moon light. Then a memory hit me of Sam muttering. Whoever defeats the dragon will turn rich and be respected by all animals. This must be what he meant by becoming rich but what did he mean by earning the respect of all animals.

Out of nowhere a flock of rainbow lorikeets started circling above my head and started chirping a song that must mean thank you. Then all the other animals in the forest came out from the endless sea of trees and started roaring, barking, howling, crying and chirping. So that's what he meant by earning the animals respect.

Once all the noise died out I stumbled back to Sam's tiny hut head. My aching legs were throbbing. I guess I'm stuck here in the forest. I live in Sam's hut and eat in the hut. Sam, Sam! I need to bury him next to the hut. I ran to the cave were I left him. He was still lying there peacefully so I carefully picked up Sam and carried him one step at a time until I got to the hut.

I found an old rusted shovel and started digging a small hole for Sam to lie in. Once I finished the hole I picked the still body and placed him in the small hole. I watched him in the hole for a while and then I buried him slowly. When he was buried I found a piece of wood and carved onto it. This man died trying to save others but had a brutal death. Then I scrambled to Sam's small hut and lay in the old man’s bed. For the first time I thought where am and what is this place? I was too tired to think so I shut my eyes and fell asleep.