A cart was running along a dirt road in a certain kingdom deep inside a forest. The weather was raging outside the carriage. Lightning lit up the skies, lighting up the forest.
Inside the carriage was the current princess of the kingdom, Sofie. She had been on a diplomatic visit to a neighboring nation and was currently on her way home. Unfortunately, they had hit a storm on the way.
Usually, it was a procedure to halt the carriage in such a storm, but the chauffeur had pleaded with the princess that he had to get home by the next day, or it would harm his business.
Suddenly, a loud crash sounded nearby. Thenβ
*bang*
The carriage came to an abrupt halt after hitting something.
Princess Sofie fell forward in the carriage. She quickly recovered from the shock of the crash, and shouted, "Are you all right out there? What happened!?"
She received no response. A few seconds passed, then a few minutes. She decided that the chauffeur had probably been hurt in the crash. Managing to get to her feet again, she pushed open the door to the carriage and was instantly met with a flood of rain and wind.
Shielding her eyes from the wind, she ventured out of the carriage. The ground splashed as her expensive shoes sank into the mud outside.
She perceived her surroundings. There was no light in sight besides a little lantern sitting on top of the crashed carriage, providing some slight illumination in the otherwise dark surroundings.
She forced her way to the front of the carriage, trying to confirm the chauffeur's condition. When she reached her destination, she found the chauffeur slumped over in his seat. She could tell from his undulating shoulders that life hadn't left him yet.
She walked over and shouted through the storm, "Hey, wake up, we need to seek shelter!"
This time, the chauffeur woke up. He jerked before slowly opening his eyes. At first, he seemed confused, but soon, clarity entered his eyes. He looked over at Princess Sofie, "I can't take shelter. This business is too important for my family."
He sounded desperate and slightly afraid at the same time, his eyes vigilantly jumping around the dark forest.
"Princess, how about this, I will take the horse and ride back to town. Then, I'll send someone to come get you. Don't worry, it won't take too long, you can just hide in the carriage while you wait."
It was clear what the chauffeur was trying to do, but the Princess had no choice but to let him go.
"Then go."
"Thank you so much, Your Highness," the chauffeur presented a formal thanks, before hurrying towards the horse.
"Raaarrhhhh"
Suddenly, a loud animalistic roar was heard from the forest. Both faces instantly turned pale. The chauffeur looked back apologetically at Princess Sofie, before hurrying the horse to ride into the darkness.
Princess Sofie felt despair at that moment. To think she would become beast-food. How could she have been so unfortunate?
"Rahhhhrrr!"
The roar sounded again. After hearing it a second time, Princess Sofie noticed that the roar sounded more desperate than threatening, like a plea for help. She tried to peer into the forest, but it was too dark to see anything.
She hesitated for a moment, before deciding to investigate the noise. If it was dangerous, then it would make no difference if she waited to be attacked or went to greet it head-on. She grabbed the little lantern on top of the carriage, before venturing into the dark forest.
The storm was less intense beneath the thick crowns of the trees. In exchange, no light seemed to exist besides the light currently in her hand. Leaves rustled in her surroundings. Slowly, the pleading roar became clearer and clearer. In tandem, Princess Sofie's pace also increased the closer she got to the noise.
Then she gradually noticed that the amount of time between each roar increased before it stopped altogether.
She knew, however, that she must be close to the origins. Venturing further in, she suddenly heard some deep breathing, clearly from a beast. Then, amid the darkness, two yellow orbs lighted up.
Moving the lantern closer to the source, her face paled.
Right before her eyes, a massive, scaled creature was intensely staring at her.
The black scales shone under the light. The yellow reptilian eyes made her blood flow backward. Long claws extended from the limbs of the creature.
This world was one of beasts and magic. Since she was little, she had been obligated to study, so she instantly recognized the identity of the creature. A drake. A dragon-like creature without wings. They are known to be very intelligent, but also highly dangerous.
After recovering from her shock, she calmed down a bit. For some reason, this drake hadn't pounced on her yet.
She used the lantern to assess the situation of the horrifying creature before her. A tree had clamped down on its long neck. Usually, this wouldn't have been that great of an issue, considering the strength of a drake, however, it seemed the drake had already been exhausted before the accident, on top of lying in the cold mud. It no longer had any energy left.
The fallen tree was currently stuck. One end was still half attached to the original stump of the tree; the other end had been latched into the ground. There was no way for the frail Princess Sofie to lift the tree out of the ground, so the only thing left would be to somehow detach it from the base.
She remembered there being a sword back at the carriage. She looked at the drake suffering under the fallen tree, before turning around and rushing back to the carriage. Soon, she returned with the sword. The drake, noticing the human returning with a weapon, instantly became hostile.