Strikes Quest, Chapter Two

STRIKES QUEST

by

Brett Glidden

(age 15)

 Chapter 2

Twig burst into the camp with wild eyes. He stopped in front of the prey pile and picked an eagle. He gulped it down in a few minutes. “Catch any prey?” asked Claw. Twig just stared at him. “Twig?” questioned Claw. “Twig, what happened? Herb! Herb!” Herb came running up to Twig.

“What happened?” he asked as he looked all over Twig for wounds.

“Don’t know. He just returned from hunting at the canyon.”

“Well, what ever happened scared him out of his wits. Nobody should go there until we figure out what happened.”

“I’ll go tell Star.” Claw hurried off to Star’s cave. Star came out and walked over to Twig. “Twig, Twig. What happened? Are you alright?” Twig didn’t answer. He just stared. At that moment, Strike flew over. “Twig! Are you alright? Speak to me. Twig!” wailed Strike. By now, the other dragons came over to see what was the matter. “Listen, everyone.” called Star. “Something happened to Twig at the canyon. No one is to go there, understand. If Twig doesn’t tell us in a couple days, I will lead a patrol to see what the problem is.”

  A couple days went by and still Twig was not well. He just kept staring and didn’t speak a word. Strike was with him all the spare moments he had. Strike was with Twig when Star came up to him. “ Strike, I am leading a patrol to the canyon. I want you to come with me.” At that Twig began to screech. “Don’t go! You’ll be killed. Don’t go!” Twig began to shake uncontrollably.

“He’ll kill you all! You’ll all die!”

“Who’ll kill us?” asked Star.

“He will! A nightmare of nightmares. He could destroy all the tribes in minutes. Don’t go. I beg you!”

“All right. All right. We won’t.”

“That seemed to calm Twig down. Strike and Star left him. Strike turned to Star, ”So we aren’t going to investigate what this monster is?”

“Yes, we are,” replied Star. “However, it seems too dangerous to lead a group of dragons there. I will only have one dragon go. That way, there is a better chance of surviving. You are the fastest, Strike. Therefore, I ask you to go.”

“It will be an honor.”

“Now don’t take any unnecessary risks. I don’t want you to die. By what Twig said, it sounds like it is a very dangerous creature.”

“I’ll be very careful. When should I leave?”

“Now. The sooner we know what this is , the better.”

Strike flew off straight towards the canyon. When he reached the canyon, he cautiously crept along the edge of the canyon. Then ,on the other side of the canyon, he saw huge claw marks on the ground. He became even more cautious and peered over the canyon edge. He saw even more claw marks on rocks jutting out in the canyon. He realized that the monster lived in the canyon. Strike wondered how to find out what the creature was. He definitely wasn’t going in the canyon. Then he got an idea. Strike grabbed a big rock with all four feet and started yowling and roaring. He then dropped the rock. It fell in the canyon, crashing against the side of the canyon. All of a sudden, Strike heard a deafening roar and a humongous beast came flying out of the canyon with lightning speed. Strike was terrified . This monster was taller than many trees stacked on top of each other and longer than twenty dragons.  Strike shot off and headed for the forest, then realized he would lead the monster to his home if he went back. Strike turned around and came face to face with one of the monster’s heads. He turned around to see another head. He was trapped. After trying to escape for a few moments, he realized he would have to try something daring. He flew right up to one of the faces and just stayed there. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another head ready to strike. Strike darted up just as the head struck, just missing him. Strike dove into the canyon with another idea. He headed straight towards a rock jutting of the cliff wall into the canyon. The beast was close behind him. Strike was just about to hit the rock when he dove under it. The beast, because of its size, couldn’t move in time. It flew right into the rock and shattered it. The beast roared in pain. Strike was already out of the canyon and was taking the long way home. He had a lot to tell the tribe

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