Day 336 of the Search for Dragons
It has been a few months since my last update, and I have both good and bad news. The good news is I saw a Dragon! The bad news is I experienced what their fire was like.
Detective Wagalot and I followed a lead into an abandoned mining cave a few months ago. The cave entrance was hidden in the forest. The roof was unstable, and there were signs of large scratch marks on the walls. Wagalot and I quietly crept forward through the maze of mining tunnels. They got smaller and smaller, so we wondered what size of Dragon we were dealing with.
Eventually, it opened into a large cavern. Without the torch it was pitch black. We suddenly heard a deep growl from behind us and felt the warm breath of a dragon, laced with the smell of rotting meat. I dropped my torch in surprise and shock. I tried to turn and get my camera turned back on again, but the dragon breathed a huge plume of fire at me and Wagalot. As we flinched against the walls of the cavern, it jumped over to the torch and crunched it in its mouth. We were left in darkness. Wagalot barked at me, she would sniff out the path we came in on. It was no longer safe for us here. The dragon roared fully this time, and loose rocks in the cavern cluttered down. With another breath of fire that burnt my back, we sprinted as fast as we could. The intermittent flames lighted the way. We were only saved by the mining entrance being small. We heard it slam into the rocks behind us and roar. There must have been another way it came into that cavern.
In darkness I followed the sound of Wagalot’s pawsteps until we were blinded by the sun’s rays. Wagalot was fine, but I had sustained quite extensive burns on my back, so to the hospital we went after a trek back down to the nearest village. The doctors and nurses didn’t believe me when I told them the source of my injuries!
Anyway, I have recovered and aim to return with better preparation this time. I learned my lesson and will bring fire-resistant clothing, dragon bribery, and backup torches next time.
