Bursting Box Publishing

I wrote this to submit to an anthology, but (lucky for you) it only passed two rounds of eliminations. Since it’s only a semi-finalist, that means I get to share it with you on my website!

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Dragon Slaying for Dummies

Something shiny in the sand caught my attention, and—being a descendant of dragons—I was naturally drawn to it. The shiny something stuck out between a rock and a shell, half buried in the sandy bottom of my lagoon home near Port Fairy, Australia. Fluttering my wings as fast as possible, I swam to it at a whopping 450 feet per hour.

Hey, not all dragons were fast. Not all dragons were gigantic monsters either. Some of us were mistakenly called seahorses.

Psh, as if I had four legs with hooves and a hairy tail to swat the flies that constantly buzzed around me. Gross.

I didn’t even look like the typical seahorse that floated upright with a curled tail.

No, I was a seadragon! (Incorrectly prefixed with “common.”) I floated like sky dragons with my belly down, face forward, and decorative flower petals—I mean, horns!—down my back and tail. I didn’t breathe fire, but I could breathe underwater! I was also a good foot and a half in length. I wasn’t a beast of burden to carry anyone on my back. No, I was a majestic creature, collecting beautiful treasures. I had stripes and spots to blend into my surroundings, and a long nose to reach for that oddly translucent and shiny—

A wave washed over me. Not like an ocean wave on the surface or a current change, but a wave of magic. It was a call to adventure from an adventurer.

A voice in my head told me to “Come.” I obeyed like I was born for this moment, swimming to the surface and edge of the lagoon.

My mum said that her great-grandad was once called by an adventurer. They never saw him again, leaving me curious about his adventures. What greatness could possibly keep him away from our beautiful lagoon and pleasant life? Every day was already an adventure as strange new pieces of human life washed into our lagoon. Even if I wasn’t curious, the voice that beckoned me was strong and irresistible.

As I abandoned the shiny what’s-it, I passed my second-most annoying cousin, Nerid. I almost didn’t notice his camouflaged body until he shifted away from the green seaweed.

“What’s your hurry?” he jeered. “Ooh! Something shiny! I bet it’ll look great in my hoard! Everything looks better in my hoard, unlike your hoard that’s full of trash.”

I ignored him and continued upward. Usually, Nerid’s words hurt and left me hiding in the seaweed for hours, but today, I was on a mission. I alone was affected by the summons. That made me extra special!

“Crikey, where is it?” a deep voice boomed from above the surface. “I summoned a water-breathing familiar, and nothing’s here.”

“Try it again,” a second booming voice said with a higher pitch.

The wave of magic crashed over me again. I fluttered faster. Almost there!

“I don’t see anything.”

I’m here! I mentally shouted. Stop trying to summon me, I’m coming as fast as I can!

“Crikey!” the summoner shouted. “I heard it. It’s on its way, but what’s taking it so long?”

I’m…almost…there! With my last word, I popped above the surface. G’day!

Two humans stood at the edge of the lagoon. They were almost as big as dolphins, but much less beautiful. Their faces were squished and round, and they wore funny fabrics over their unshiny skin. My summoner made a funny sound as he sucked liquid from a cup into his mouth. His companion had features that defined her as a female, I think.

The summoner’s eyes found me, and he cursed. “A seahorse? Crikey, I wanted a familiar that could breathe underwater, but—a seahorse? What good is this thing gonna do? I need something to help me slay a dragon, not a leaf!”

His companion smirked. “It’s fitting. That’s what you get for being a level-one adventurer trying to check off level-ten adventures.”

I am a dragon, I said proudly. Don’t you see the resemblance with my long snout, tail, and scales?

The summoner gaped at me while his companion burst into laughter.

“Looky there! It’s a level-one dragon for a level-one adventurer! Hah! Do you think you can slay it, oh mighty warrior? Careful, it might flop on you!”

“Ugh, this is useless. I quit.”

Releasing me from his magic summons, he threw his cup into the water. It splashed over me and sank from its heavy contents.

Freed from the spell, I watched as the cup bounced off the reef and landed with a ploof of sand not far from Nerid.

My annoying cousin dropped his shiny wrapper to inspect the adventurer item. It was larger than we were, though had a similar long nose sticking from one end.

The sweet-smelling contents were blocked from spilling free, but leaked lightly from the tip of the nose.

I struggled to swim for it, but, of course, Nerid reached it before I was even half way.

“Hmm, what’s that smell?” he taunted. “You want to know how it tastes? Well, too bad, because I’m here first, so it’s mine!”

I fluttered faster. First, he took my shiny thing. Then that summoner rudely rejected me. Now, Nerid would take this curiosity from me too?

Anger filled me as my cousin slid his gluttonous mouth into the long nose of the cup. The nose was translucent enough to let me see my cousin’s face as he wiggled farther, taunting me, reaching for more of the cup’s juices.

I finally arrived as he slurped up the last that he could reach and tried to pull back. He couldn’t. He fluttered harder, but remained inside.

“I think I’m stuck,” Nerid said.

Uh oh. My anger was squished by the heavy weight of dread.

His fins became frantic as he tried to swim backwards, harder and faster.

“I’m stuck! I can’t get out! Will I suffocate in here? How will I eat? I’ll starve if I can’t get out!”

We shared worried glances without an answer. The wasteful adventurer had slain a dragon after all.