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Sacrifice

The streets were crowded with people all moving in one direction: away. Obed moved against the surging crowd. He walked with determination; his head held high, his shoulders squared. This was a foolhardy journey but Obed was reckless and daring. He liked to think of himself as brave. I suppose we should give him some credit for doing what no other man would do. Obed was going to the mountains, he felt as though he had no other choice. And maybe he would succeed; he’d be a legend, a hero.
Obed left the town and walked across the foothills of the looming mountains ahead. People said that the beast was in these mountains, lurking in the caves. They said she was death to anyone who dared cross the mountain range. Soon Obed began the long and strenuous climb up. The sky had turned an ominous gray and mist shrouded Obed’s vision. He kept climbing, one hand over the other. Obed slipped and fell over and over, cutting his hands and knees and sending pebbles plummeting below. Still, he climbed on.
Suddenly Obed stopped. He gripped the ledge and listened. A beautiful sound drifted over the vast expanse gloomy, gray rock. The sound sent shivers down Obed’s spine. Someone was singing, an angel maybe. Obed climbed the last few feet until he crawled over the ledge. He lay on the rocky ground, listening.
“Who are you?” a voice asked suddenly.
Obed sat up and blinked. A girl stood before him, dressed in a long yellow dress and her long auburn hair blowing in the wind around her.
“I’m Obed,” Obed stuttered. “Was it you who was singing?”
The girl nodded.
“Who are you? Why are you all the way up here?” Obed asked.
“I’m Darrah and I live up here,” the girl answered. “Why are you up here?”
“I’ve come to slay the dragon,” Obed answered in what he hoped was a brave and convincing voice.
“Perfect. I’ll come with you,” Darrah said.
“You can’t come with me!”
“But I will none the less.”
The two walked off to a dark and ominous looking cave.
“Are you afraid?” Darrah whispered as she gripped Obed’s arm.
“No,” Obed lied.
“Only fools do not fear,” Darrah said.
“Then yes, I am very afraid,” Obed whispered.
A great tremble shook the ground violently, nearly throwing Obed from his feet.
“Run and hide,” Obed said to Darrah.
“Never,” Darrah said stubbornly. Obed smiled grimly and raised his sword.
Two gleaming yellow eyes filled Obed’s vision as the monster emerged from its lair. It was enormous. Two pairs of leathery wings jutted from its
glittering green and blue scaly back.
“Fool,” it breathed, singeing Obed’s sleeve. The dragon stank of rotting corpses. “I have made every great knight that as ventured up here my dinner, you will be no different,” the dragon said. Obed looked behind the dragon and saw piles of armor and bones littering the cave floor.
“I am Obed and I will defeat you!” Obed said. He could barely keep the fear from his voice.
“Hello Obed, I am Uriel and you will not defeat me.” The dragon stuck out with her gigantic claw. Obed flew backwards from the impact.
“Oh look, he brought a long a girl. A man in love always tastes better,” Dragon scoffed.
“Don’t touch her,” Obed gasped as he struggled to his feet.
Uriel scooped Darrah up and gripped her in her claw. Obed charged at the dragon and thrust his sword into her scaly hide. To his dismay his sword didn’t even dent the scales and instead it snapped in two. Uriel caught Obed up in her other claw, crushing him. Obed felt his ribs snap like twigs. Though his vision darkened, he could see Darrah, struggling in the grasp of Uriel.
If Obed was going to die, so was this dragon. With the last of his strength, Obed plunged the remainder of his sword into Uriel’s open mouth and down her throat. Fire whipped around Obed but he felt himself falling. And with a stomach churning screech, the mighty dragon fell also.
Darrah’s rose to her feet slowly, painfully. The dragon was dead, lying in a pool of its blood. Darrah looked away. She saw Obed a few feet away lay on the ground near by. Darrah ran to him. His arms and face were covered with terrible burns but Darrah hardly noticed.
“You defeated the dragon!” Darrah said as she knelt beside him.
Obed opened his eyes slowly.
“I know,” he said.
“And you saved me,” Darrah said.
“Did I?”
“Thank you.”
“Any time,” Obed said. He had defeated the dragon. He was a hero. But somehow, he didn’t feel very heroic. Didn’t heroes survive the battles?
“I will always remember you,” Darrah whispered. “Everyone will.”
Heroes were always alive in stories and tales. Darrah’s tears felt cool on Obed’s face. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes.

Written by: Erin H.