Waiting

• Jose Justin Paulraj , Grade 5
• Short Story
• 2021

The time was coming near. The whispers trailing from the hole were growing in urgency. "It’s almost time" the voice slithered.The years of waiting in the dark had swallowed up the last remnants of his soul. It has been centuries since he has seen the sun his, skin is dull and hollow. The caves have been here for almost a thousand years he should have listened to the warning about this place the stories about the dragon king.

He remembers the warnings and the important scrolls about the dragon kings prison. Long ago the vast frozen wasteland we live in was reigned by a power thirsty dragon who enslaved humans and all other creatures bringing misery and hatred. The evil dragons name was Endbringer he was a vicious beast decimating everyone who stood against him leaving ruin every where he went. He was given the power to destroy. He ruled for eons until another dragon rose against him. His twin Blazebringer a dragon given the power to create he fought and won. And so the reign of Endbringer was over. After the battle they both disappeared but legend says Endbringers prison hides in the whispering forests.

The time was coming and he was stuck in this icy prison. Endbringer was coming and only he knew. "There is nothing you can do," Endbringer whispered, "you cannot escape I will rise again and reclaim my throne and Blazebringer shall not stand in my way".The ice was crumbling, in the dark icy chambers an ancient curse broke and the walls of ice shone a ominous red. He trotted slowly across the long windy caves. Each step he took felt as if someone was slowly taking away his life force. He turned around. Something was wrong. He looked up and to his terror an obsidian mask of hatred was staring at him through the ice. It was him. Endbringer. “So…my first victim,” the dragon slithered as he gazed vengefully at the pitiful human with his obsidian black eyes. It was like it happened in slow motion. Giant claws burst through the ice grabbing him ripping into his flesh and he was tossed into the beasts jaws, his bones crushed and his flesh shredded instantly by the diamond like teeth. He was finally freed of his misery.