Finding Hope

• Eric Huang , Grade 6, Blaxcell Street Public School
• Short Story
• 2016

3rd in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

The day the 4 dragons in cell no. 456 had always feared had arrived. They were being descaled today. The knights that they had been hiding from, battling for centuries, had won. They were going pluck every scale from their drained, enervated bodies if they had to, even if it killed them. The impending moments of doom were fast approaching and neither of the 4 had a gambit ready to put into action.
Lightning, the youngest of the four was pacing against the rear wall of the cell, the only thing that separated him and his family from freedom. It was however made of a substance known as eladome, a substance made especially to withstand the powerful force of a dragon's breath. His two-headed brother, three-headed father and grandfather were sprawled along the dirt-stained floor, thinking possibly their last thoughts before torturous death.
"I've got to try," Lightning mumbled to himself with confidence, and without any further ado, he stepped towards the back of the room and drew in a great intake of breath...then released it.
To his delight, what had once been an impenetrable wall was now in smithereens but the blast had also blown a hole into the next cell. Lightning could now clearly see who had been dwelling next to them on their time at the knight prison. There were two female dragons in the next cell. One was unknown, but the other was instantly identifiable.
"Hope..." his father groaned.
A single word escaped Lightning's snout.
"Mother..."