Draconic Awakening

by saber1994

A Proud Savior

The close proximity of the roar made Elliot’s survival instinct to kick into gear. Every fiber of his being was telling him to run and get as far away from the sound as possible. However strong this urge was, he knew that those ponies were most likely in grave danger. He knew that if he stood around and did nothing that at least one of them would get eaten. Walking on shaky legs, he started to head towards the source of the noise.

After a short trek he saw the three ponies from earlier huddled against an outcropping similar to the one he had located. Approximately ten feet away Elliot could just barely see the lion’s head through the trees. Knowing that he needed to act quickly, he grabbed a rock from nearby and stepped into the clearing.

Taking a deep breath Elliot threw the rock at its head and shouted “Over here you dumb… Cat?” Elliot’s jaw dropped at the sight before him. The creature wasn’t quite a lion, but a lion with a scorpion’s tail and bat’s wings. As he was beginning to freeze up again, the manticore turned to face its assaulter. Currently the only thought that was racing threw Elliot’s head was how horrible an idea this had been. He had approached what he thought had been a lion without even an inkling of a plan.

Cutting his thoughts short the manticore let out a terrifying roar and began to charge. This snapped him back to attention and he promptly turned and started sprinting through the forest. Elliot didn’t even have to glance backwards to ensure that the manticore had given chase. The sounds of it crashing through the trees behind him told him enough. He began trying to think of a plan to defend himself or to at least shake the manticore off of his trail.

Noticing a large thicket of trees Elliot changed direction and ran in between them. However the manticore’s progress didn’t falter in the slightest. He was about to change direction again when the manticore lashed out with his paw. The claws sailed straight through the flesh and muscles of Elliot’s calf causing him to trip and roll forwards a few times.

Acting quickly Elliot didn’t allow enough time for the pain from his wound to register. He quickly flipped to his back and extended his right arm just in time to block the manticore’s jaws from closing on the back of his neck. Pain was now the only thing that Elliot could think about. The radius and ulna in his arm were surely shattered after the crushing force closed on his forearm. However Elliot refused to give up. With his vision beginning to turn red he tried his best to beat his adversary senseless with his left fist. Seeing no visible change in the manticore’s attack Elliot began to lose all hope. As he started to slip into a state of unconsciousness, Elliot wondered why his right arm seemed to have turned a different shade of red from his blood.

Elliot slowly began to stir. Opening his eyes, he looked up to see that the moon was now high in the sky. After a short moment memories of his recent encounter he bolted upright and looked around. To his right he saw the manticore sleeping peacefully. Elliot started to try and crawl away, but he noticed a fairly large puddle of red that had gathered around its head. Curiosity caused him to crawl towards the motionless manticore.

Using all of the force that he could muster he used his left arm to flip the creature onto its back. Upon quick inspection Elliot saw the source of the puddle of blood. A series of five parallel gashes graced the throat of the manticore. Elliot began to laugh to himself. Lying on his back he started to laugh harder and harder until he was having trouble breathing.

“I’m Alive!” he shouted up to the night sky. Whatever had killed the manticore had spared him and Elliot found this a good enough reason to be giddy with excitement. However his joy was short lived as he remembered the state that his arm and leg were in. He knew that he could easily bleed to death from the wound in his leg if he didn’t get it taken care of. Crawling a few feet away Elliot found a fallen limb that could easily be used as a crutch. Using his improvised crutch he started to head towards the nearby stream.

Once he got there he hobbled into the running water and began to use it to try and clean his wounds out. After a short wash he used his shirt to stop the blood that was still slowly leaking from his massive leg wound. He ripped the shreds of his jean leg the best he could and fashioned them into a sling. As he finished his mediocre first aid, grabbed his stick and traveled up the stream and back to his little camp.

After arriving he snacked on a few berries and then leaned against the rock wall. Blood loss was beginning to take its toll and Elliot soon found that all he wanted to do was to fall asleep. He began to fight against these urges with all his might. Thinking that if he were to fall asleep his luck would run out and that would be his last nap that he ever took. However he soon learned that his efforts were futile and he slumped to the side and fell into a deep slumber.

The return of the pain of shattered bones forced Elliot to return to the waking world. However he seemed to be in another unusual place. He glanced around and saw that he seemed to be in a house of some sort. Strange masks and various bottles seemed to adorn every square inch of the room that he was in. Elliot looked down at his arm and saw that a proper sling had been put around it. His leg had also been wrapped in a now pink bandage.

Elliot began to smile as it seemed that his luck was still with him. Someone out there had found him and had taken care of his injuries. His elation began to slowly fade away as he finally found time for his thoughts to return to those of being in a strange place. More tears began to well up and he would have began sobbing right there, but the door opened and in walked another strange creature. In its mouth it carried a basket that held various plants and flowers.

He began to worry that maybe this was another dangerous creature that was going to try and eat him, but his rational mind won out as soon as he noticed that it was a zebra not some carnivorous monster. He let out a sigh of relief and this drew the attention of the zebra.

“I am glad to see you awaken from your sleep. I had been worried when you had suffered from wounds so deep,” said the zebra in a perfectly executed rhyme. Elliot thought that maybe she had been preparing that line to make his awakening easier to cope with.

“Yeah I was worried too,” he said looking back to his wounds. The thoughts of just how close to death he had been began to overwhelm him. No longer was he able to hold back his tears. However he didn’t sob or shudder any because he was crying out of relief. He had stared death right in the face and he had managed to walk away with his life.

He looked to the zebra who had begun to put various plants into a cauldron in the center of the room. “Thank you for saving me. I would have died if it weren’t for your help. I am forever in your debt. If you don’t mind me asking what is your name?”

The zebra looked at him and smiled “Zecora is my name. Is it alright if I ask you the same?”

Elliot grinned a little. It seemed that Zecora would always reply in a rhyme. “You can call me Elliot,” he said when a thought occurred to him. “Aren’t you scared of me? I’ve never seen a talking zebra before so can I safely assume that you have never seen a human before?”

Zecora chuckled to herself and grabbed a ladle to stir her brew with. “Afraid of you I am not, for strange beings I have seen a lot.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Elliot mumbled. The distance that he feared he was from home only increased. He began to think that he might not even be on the same planet anymore. Again his ruminations were cut short when another thought came to mind, however this one was much more urgent. “What happened with those three ponies?”

“These ponies I did not see, could you please describe them to me?” Zecora asked the concern now completely evident on her face.

“Well they were all smaller than you so I guess they were younger. There was a white one, an orange one, and a
yellow one. I think their names were Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Applebloom.” Elliot replied his level of concern also beginning to grow.

“Those three fillies always get into trouble. I should check with their families on the double. Stay here and I will soon return. There is soup in the cauldron should you begin to yearn.” After she said that she quickly ran out of the door and left Elliot alone in the strange hut.

The smell coming from the pot soon became intoxicating. Elliot looked around his bed and found a more appropriate crutch was lying near him. He wondered for a second how she had managed to acquire one so quickly but decided to be grateful rather than questioning. Placing the crutch under his armpit he hobbled over to a counter where Zecora had set a bowl and spoon.

Elliot grabbed the bowl and set the spoon inside of it. He made his way over to the cauldron and carefully used the ladle to fill his bowl to a reasonable amount. Afterwards he sat back down on the bed and he began to dig into his meal. The soup tasted delicious. It was filled with exotic flavors that Elliot was sure that he had never tasted before. Even though he wanted to eat more, his full belly told him that that would be a bad idea. He placed the bowl and spoon back on the counter where he found them and he went to relax on the bed again.

With the blood rushing from his head and down to his stomach he slowly became sleepier. Elliot was finally glad to be able to sleep without worrying about getting eaten or mauled in the night. After getting into a comfortable position underneath the blanket he slowly drifted into the world of dreams.

Elliot was walking down the sidewalk with a large smile plastered to his face. Nothing in the world could make him happier than being able to hold hands with the girl that was standing next to him. This day just couldn’t get any better.

Elliot glanced around. They were walking around a popular park that was only a short distance from his house. He sighed contently as the children in the area laughed and played with one another. This sight was one of the most wondrous the world could offer. Children being able to live happy lives always made him smile.

This moment was quickly ruined as he saw one child run out into the street to retrieve a lost ball. Elliot saw a truck speeding down the road towards the kid and he knew instantly that the driver wouldn’t be able to stop in time. He sprinted as fast as his legs could carry him and he dove to push the child out of the way of the truck. Behind him he could hear screaming with one particular voice shouting his name. A tear slowly slipped from his eye as he realized that in saving the child he had doomed himself.

Elliot shot up from his position on the bed. He could feel a fine sheen of sweat that covered his entire body. Breathing heavily Elliot tried his best to recall the details of the nightmare. The only thing that stuck out to him was the fact that he had saved a child’s life but lost his own in the process. This thought helped him to relax a little. He looked out a window and saw that the sun was just starting to rise.

Before Elliot could start to wonder where Zecora was currently, the door to the hut opened. He saw Zecora walk in with a smile on her face. “I take it the three are safe?” Elliot asked.

She looked over at him and replied, “They were able to return safely to Applebloom’s farm. Gladly none of the fillies suffered any harm.”

Elliot relaxed and allowed a large smile to spread across his face. He decided that the dream he had had earlier was
a representation of the previous day’s activities. He could gladly accept that he would have died to save the lives of three young girls. However his smile soon faded as he saw that Zecora wasn’t alone. After she had made her way to the door Elliot could watched as a purple unicorn followed in behind her.

Author's Note: Just to inform all of you none of this is pre-written so the days that I update could vary greatly. I aim to update at least once a week, but I will probably update much more often than that. I am also aiming to keep the chapters at no less than two thousand words,

P.S. Is it weird that I decided to write this chapter at 1:30 in the morning?

Comments

[Firedon]

It's not weird to write a chapter so early, in fact, I am reading it and it's about 2:00 am
Also from what you've written so far, it seems like a very good story, keep up the good work

[saber1994]

Next chapter should be up sometime tomorrow. I ran into slight writer's block and couldn't decide how to start the chapter, but I've gotten over that problem now.