Dragon Cave Mountain, Page 2

  The cyclops crashed out of the bushes after the tiger.

  Chapter 3

  Zookie’s eyes widened at the size of the thing. He spun and ran after the tiger, quickly catching up. “Now you’ve done it!” he yelled.

  “I didn’t do anything,” LT squealed. “You led him here!” He dodged around trees and hopped over fallen logs. He glanced back to see the cyclops rushing after them.

  The large thing looked slow, but its long legs covered a lot of ground with each step. It was huge. It stood almost as tall as LT was long from snout to the tip of his tail. The cyclops had gray skin stretched over large, hard muscles. One beady eye dotted its round face and yellowing tusks jutted out of its mouth. It twirled a tree trunk over its head like a club.

  “Eee!” LT screamed as the cyclops brought the massive limb down toward him. He jumped to the side as the makeshift club crashed to the forest floor just inches from the tiger.

  The cyclops stumbled with the missed swing but quickly recovered. The monster aimed its next swing at the little dragon. The log came down on Zookie’s tails.

  “Aaa!” the dragon screamed in pain.

  LT ran a little further before he realized the little dragon wasn’t beside him. He glanced back and skidded to a halt when he saw the cyclops pick up the dragon by his tail. Zookie flapped his wings, trying to escape.

  The tiger hesitated. He looked deeper into the woods and escape. “Aw, man.” He turned back and charged the cyclops. He leapt at the monster, trying to claw at it, but he couldn’t penetrate its thick skin.

  The cyclops swung the club, landing a solid blow on LT’s side. The tiger flung a few feet and flopped to the ground with a groan. The giant grabbed LT with his free hand and swung Zookie over his shoulder.

  LT winced at the pain in his side as the cyclops lifted him in one large fist. The tiger tried to growl, but it came out more like a squeak. He buried his teeth into the monster’s finger. He immediately regretted it. He let go and spit. The cyclops tasted like rotten garbage.

  The cyclops grunted and dropped Zookie. He wrapped both hands around the tiger to try to stop him from biting again.

  Zookie flopped to the ground but quickly recovered. He jumped to his paws and pounced on the cyclops’ foot. He dug in his claws and teeth.

  The cyclops grunted and lifted his foot with Zookie still dangling from it. He kicked out, but the dragon held tight with his teeth. The cyclops lost his balance and fell over. He landed with a thump on his back. He managed to keep ahold of LT while continuing to try to kick the dragon free.

  Zookie let go as the cyclops kicked up. He flew up almost to the top of trees. He spread his wings and glided back down to land on the giant’s stomach. He clawed at the cyclops’ exposed belly.

  The giant monster roared with fury. He swept Zookie off his stomach with a swing of his free hand. He pushed himself off the ground, LT still in his other fist. He stood to his full height and lifted the tiger. He brought LT to his mouth, preparing to bite his head off with his massive teeth.

  LT panicked at the sight of those slightly green teeth. In all his life, getting his head bitten off wasn’t in his plans. He buried his teeth deeper into the cyclops’ finger. A wave of putrid breath washed over him. The tiger’s eyes widened as he neared the cyclops’ mouth.

  “Tim!” a small voice called out from the trees.

  “Uh?” the cyclops grunted.

  A tiny girl stepped out of the shadows. “Bad cyclops! Put him down.”

  “Un.” The cyclops opened his fist.

  LT flopped to the ground. “Oof!”

  The girl marched up to the cyclops. She barely came to his knees but planted one fist on her hip and wagged a finger at him. “Bad boy!” she scolded.

  “Un.”

  “What have I told you about being mean to the little forest creatures?”

  “Un.”

  “Who are you calling little?” LT squeaked. He climbed to his paws and looked for the little dragon.

  Zookie stood a few yards away, his scales bristling as he panted. His eyes followed the little girl when she moved. “Compared to that cyclops, you are little,” he growled.

  The girl turned and approached LT. Zookie cast a worried glance at the tiger. Was he just going to stand there? The girl wore a slightly tattered green dress. Her brown hair stood out everywhere, framing a grimy face. She looked evil to the dragon’s eyes.

  She walked right up to the tiger and batted him on the nose. “Be nice!”

  LT flinched back in surprise. He was so shaken he couldn’t even manage a squeak.

  “Stay away from her, LT,” Zookie said. He gained control of his panting but his muscles remained bunched as he stared at the human.

  The little girl frowned at him. “You be nice or you’ll get a bop on the nose, too!”

  “Un,” said the cyclops.

  “I could eat you, human,” LT said. “But I’d worry about choking on one of your pointy bones.”

  “Un,” said the cyclops again.

  “Not now,” Zookie growled at LT. She looked like a human youngling, but who knew how vicious she could be. He eyed her tentatively. “He thought I was going to eat him when we met.”

  “You attacked me!”

  “I fell out of the tree,” Zookie said.

  “Well, you—” LT started.

  “I’m Lena,” the girl cut in.

  “I, uh, I’m Zookie,” the dragon replied.

  Lena stuck out a hand toward Zookie. The dragon took a step back and stared at it, unsure what to do.

  “And this is Tim,” she said, jerking a thumb at the cyclops who sat on the ground picking between his toes.

  “You named a cyclops Tim?” Zookie asked.

  “Yes,” she said with a big, proud grin.

  Zookie watched the great beast pick something from between his hairy toes. He sniffed it, made a face, and flicked it away. A little grossed out, he turned to the East where the sky had started to darken. He shook his head. The appearance of the human had reminded him of his urgent need to get home. “Hey, LT, I don’t think we’re going the right way. Didn’t you say you knew where Dragon Cave Mountain is?”

  “Of course we’re going the right way.” LT looked up, frowned, and looked around. “Well, if it weren’t for this overgrown bag of stink, we would be.” He nodded toward the cyclops.

  The massive monster removed his finger from his hooked nose long enough to grunt, “Un,” before reinserting it.

  “Ohh!” Lena’s eyes lit up. “Where are you going? On an adventure to a mountain?”

  “We’re going to Dragon Cave Mountain,” Zookie said but regretted it. What if she found out where it was located and brought her whole human clan to invade it?

  LT snorted and rolled his eyes. “Do you always tell everybody your business?”

  “The Dragon Cave Mountain?” Lena said, her eyes going wide with wonder. “I’ve never heard of it, but I’ve always wanted to go there!” In a moment, her face changed to one of resolve. “When do we leave?”

  “I don’t think—” Zookie started to say.

  “As soon as we get some sleep!” LT said around a yawn.

  “Wait,” the dragon said. Keeping an eye on the girl, he said to LT, “Can I talk to you?”

  “What?” LT said when they were out of earshot.

  “Do you think taking her is a good idea? What good could that skinny thing be?”

  “Hey! I’m not a thing!” Lena protested.

  Zookie glared at the girl and moved further away.

  “She might not be any help to us,” LT said, “but he might.”

  Zookie turned toward the monstrous cyclops. The tiger wasn’t wrong. Tim could take on any creature, but the human girl seemed to have some kind of control over him.

  Tim’s eyes drooped as he flicked something else away. He flopped on his back, shaking the ground a little, and curled into a ball.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Zookie protested.


  “Come on! Don’t be a scaredy-cat, er, dragon.” LT turned and went back toward the creatures as if the matter had been settled. “We’ll sleep a couple hours and then head out!”

  Lena squee-ed and smoothed her brown hair down with her hands. It stuck back out as soon as she stopped. “Sleep!” she said and walked up to Zookie as he settled on the ground.

  The dragon tensed, but the girl sunk to her hands and knees and crawled against him. She grabbed one of his wings and folded it over her like a blanket.

  Zookie stared at her with wide eyes as she started to softly snore moments later.

  Chapter 4

  Zookie woke up when the sun slashed a bit of light into his eyes. Lena was still asleep so he tried to not move beyond lifting his head to look around. Maybe he and LT could leave before she woke up.

  It wasn’t meant to be, though. LT was still asleep and Tim sat tossing a boulder back and forth between his hands.

  The cyclops noticed the dragon awake and tossed the large rock over his shoulder into the woods. It landed somewhere out of sight with a thump.

  “Un,” he said before pushing himself up and disappearing into the woods.

  “Tim!” Zookie said in a loud whisper. “Get back here.”

  “I’m sleepin’,” Lena muttered, pulling Zookie’s wing closer around her.

  LT opened his tired eyes and blinked. “What are you yelling at?” he asked. He climbed to his paws and stretched. “Where did Stinky go?”

  “That way,” Zookie said, nodding in the direction Tim disappeared. “Tim just ran off, Lena.”

  Lena crawled out from under his wing. Her hair stood out even more. “I was sleeping!” she complained while she flopped back on the soft grass with a long yawn.

  LT opened his mouth to say something but Lena interrupted.

  “Did you hear that?”

  LT’s ears perked up. “Hear what?”

  “There it is again!”

  “What is—” Zookie began.

  “Listen!” She sat up and the group in the little clearing went quiet.

  The only sounds were the normal noises of the forest waking up. Birds chirped. Squirrels chattered high up in the trees. Bugs buzzed.

  Lena’s stomach growled with the intensity of rolling thunder. “That!” She flopped back to the ground. “I am so hungry!”

  Zookie turned his head the direction the cyclops went and said, “There is a blackberry bush that way.”

  Lena’s stomach growled even louder. “I could eat a horse!”

  “What’s that smell?” LT asked. “Is that…”

  Tim crashed through the trees carrying a skunk by the tail. The animal wiggled in his hand, spraying its stink everywhere.

  LT screeched and covered his nose with two paws.

  Lena sat up. “Tim, no!” she scolded. “I told you before we don’t eat skunk.”

  Tim blinked his eye. “Un.” He dropped the skunk.

  The smelly creature scrambled to his paws, fur standing on end. He gave the area one last spray before disappearing into the bushes.

  “Should I go hunt some squirrels or rabbits?” Zookie asked, snickering.

  “What?” Lena exclaimed. “Squirrels and rabbits are too cute to eat! I’ll just do it myself.” She let out a great groan and stood. She disappeared into the bushes in the opposite direction of the skunk.

  LT whimpered. “I can’t take this smell anymore!” He rubbed his nose vigorously with a paw, trying to shake the skunk stink loose. He dug a small hole in the ground and stuck his snout in the dirt. A minute later, he pulled it out with a gasp and blew dirt everywhere.

  Zookie’s flared his nostrils in irritation. He stalked into the bushes, muttering, “I’ll get some rats, then.”

  “Wait! Don’t leave me alone with him!” LT looked at Tim.

  The cyclops stopped picking his teeth with a small tree limb. “Un,” he grunted.

  “That’s it, I’m out of here.” LT hopped up and stalked toward the bushes.

  He stopped short when Lena appeared with an armful of weeds. “Breakfast!” she declared.

  Zookie’s head popped out from the bushes with three rats clenched in his teeth. “These practically ran into my paws,” he said, his voice muffled.

  “Those poor creatures!” Lena cried. “You don’t need to kill things to eat. There’s plenty of plants to eat. See?” She shoved a long, thin weed in her mouth and started to chew. She grimaced at the taste but kept chewing.

  “Dragons don’t eat plants except for berries sometimes,” muttered Zookie, dropping the dead rats to the ground.

  “Un.” Tim grabbed a small pine tree and pulled it up with a swift tug. He bit a chunk off the top and chewed. He smiled, mimicking Lena. Little bits of pine needles stuck between his teeth.

  “What have I gotten myself into?” moaned LT.

  “Does anyone else want some or am I going to eat these myself?” asked Zookie.

  “I’m good,” Lena said, choking down a bit of weeds.

  “Un.” Tim stripped the bark off the sapling with his teeth

  “Can we just get moving?” LT asked. “The sooner we get started, the sooner I can be rid of you three.”

  “Yes!” Lean cried, throwing away the weeds. “Let’s go! Which way?”

  “Le’ me eat,” Zookie mumbled around a mouthful of rat.

  “How can you eat with the smell?” LT asked. He looked a little sick. “Look, it’s making my tail go curly.” He turned his backside toward them, showing his tail. It wiggled a bit but wasn’t all that curly.

  Zookie swallowed. “You need to eat so we can go on longer. Build up your energy. Have a rat.”

  “Eww!” cried Lena.

  “I couldn’t eat anything now if I wanted to,” LT said. “You eat them if you want. I’m going.”

  “Yes!” Lena shouted. “To the Dragon Drop Mountain cave place!”

  “Un,” cried Tim, holding up what was left of a sapling trunk.

  “Cave,” Zookie muttered. “Dragon Cave Mountain.” Louder, he said, “Okay, I can’t really stop you, but don’t blame me when we have to stop to eat.”

  “Finally!” LT squeaked. He cleared his throat and repeated, “Finally.” He turned and stalked off into the woods.

  “LT!” Lena said.

  “What now?” the tiger growled.

  “You said Cave Dragon Mountain place is that way.” She pointed in the opposite direction.

  “I knew that,” LT snapped. “I was just stretching my legs.” He walked in circles, pushing his paws out one at a time and making a show of stretching.

  Zookie shook his head. “I thought you were in a hurry to go. Stop putting on a show.”

  “A show?” LT replied. “The Lightning Tiger never puts on a show.” He lifted his head and turned so that his vaguely lightning shaped stripe was on full display.

  “An adventure!” Lena exclaimed, clearly not paying attention or caring about the exchange. “I love adventures. Let’s go! I’m ready.” She hopped up and down on her toes.

  “Un,” Tim said.

  Lena paused her bouncing long enough to think a moment. “Although, I’m sure this won’t be as good as the time I met Tim. Now that was an adventure.”

  “Well, I’m sure you won’t have experienced anything like Dragon Cave Mountain,” Zookie said defensively. “That’s for sure.”

  Lena snorted. “We’re just walking there. Now, when I met Tim, that was something.” She followed Zookie with Tim right behind her. “Picture this; a giant, never-ending desert!” She gestured wide with her arms.

  Tim mimicked her snort.

  “I was alone in the desert. I was separated from my parents. Alone. Did I say that? Tired. Thirsty. I’m sure I was dehyerdrated…dehydra…de…I was thirsty!” She had stumbled over the long word but quickly regained the story. “So, there I was struggling in red sand up to my ankles…”

  “What have I gotten myself into?” Zookie asked out loud, but nobody was paying attention.


  He stopped listening to the human girl. His first thought had been to run when she and the cyclops appeared out of nowhere. The large, one-eyed giant scared him, but the human frightened him more. Some deep-down instinct had stopped him from fleeing, though.

  It was only as they traveled through the woods that it occurred to him. The simple cyclops no longer caused fear in the little dragon. Zookie knew his dad could take care of the monster easy.

  As for the girl? She was human. It was humans who captured his mom. Once his dad took care of the cyclops, he’d force the girl to show them where his mom was.

  Zookie was so caught up in his thought that he didn’t notice the dark shape watching them from the shadows.

  Chapter 5

  “My brother chased me onto the savannah near Dragon Cave Mountain once,” Zookie said. “A were-hyena tried to eat me.”

  “A were-what, now?” LT said.

  Zookie wasn’t sure why he lied. He just knew he had grown tired of the human’s nonstop boasting about all the adventures she’d been on even though he knew they couldn’t be true. She was too young for all those things to have happened to her.

  The real truth was Zookie’s older brother, Zek, had chased him onto the SwayGrass Savannah for calling him Snot-Snout. It wasn’t Zookie’s fault the older dragon had a streak of green just under his nostrils. He thought it was funny. Zek did not.

  He didn’t go far onto the open plains and all Zookie saw was a family of meerkats. They stood on their hind legs and watched him go by as he slowly walked back toward the mountain after Zek had given up tormenting him from the air.

  Zookie had heard something, though. By the time he reached the tree line of the forest that surrounds his home, the sun had climbed halfway over the edge of the world. Twilight was fast approaching. Normally, the little dragon wasn’t afraid of the dark, but a sound had startled him. It was a low, distant howl that rose in pitch before ending in a series of yips that almost sounded like something was laughing at him.

  He had heard tales of were-hyenas that prowled the SwayGrass. They were said to be large creatures with razor sharp teeth that liked to prey on naughty hatchling dragons who didn’t obey their parents. Zookie wasn’t a hatchling anymore, but he sure didn’t want to find out if the were-hyenas could eat him.