2024 Winner Short Story – Adult The Dragon King, by Teri Jobe I heard words being spoken, but it was taking a while for them to make sense. Everything around me was blurry. I blinked several times and tried to focus on something. I was lying on the ground and there was someone next to me. I started to sit up and the person tried to push me back down. “Don’t try to get up yet.” I knocked their hands away, then pushed myself into a sitting position, rubbing eyes to make them clear faster. My head was pounding and several other parts of my body felt bruised, but I could wiggle my fingers and toes, so it wasn’t anything I couldn’t power through. My surroundings were starting to come into better focus. I was in a dim cavern of some sort, with metal bars blocking the only visible exit. A torch burned on a wall a few feet beyond the bars, providing the only light. “Do you want some water?” a voice asked hesitantly. It was the same one that had spoken a moment ago. I turned to see about a dozen people in the space with me, all of them looking either tired, bored, or scared. Closest to me was a young man sitting on the ground. He seemed to be in his mid twenties, with sandy brown hair and a relatively strong build. I was sure I could take him down in a fight, but right now he was just staring at me with one eyebrow raised. He held a bowl of water out to me with one hand. I nodded and took it from him. Some water would probably help with the headache. “Thank you.” My voice sounded terrible, even to me, and talking made me realize how dry my throat was. I downed the whole bowl, several drops of it trickling down my chin. I handed it back to him and tried to say something else. To my pleasure, the water had improved the throat issues, though I still sounded like I was fighting off a cold. “Where are we?” “We are the exalted guests of the Dragon King.” The young man said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice. “He’s been scouring the countryside looking for someone and taking anyone who opposes him prisoner. I don’t really want to know what will happen when that person is found.” “Well,” I said, using the wall of the cavern to steady myself as I stood up “you may be about to find out. I’m the one he’s been looking for.” The man looked at me wide-eyed. “You’re…” “Yep. The one who hid a dragon from the King, and I’m going to get us out of here.” *** “Guard! Guard! Hey!” I pressed myself against the wall of the cell, pulling the borrowed shawl closer to my face as the young man I had been talking to shouted into the hallway. Most of the people in the cell were huddled together, all facing a body lying perfectly still on the ground. A couple others stood next to me, watching.
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