Prologue: Eaten by a Dragon

  I can already see this on one of those damn crime stories channels thumbnails: “Famous researcher EATEN by a dragon!!”. Damn those clickbaits!

  It’s not that they would be completely incorrect about the story, which by the layman’s terms sounds about right. And maybe the famous part is stretching it a little, but surely, they will milk it as much as they can for profit, the bastards.

  Even more important, by now someone could wonder just how, in our technological not the least bit fantastical world, could someone be eaten by a dragon? I said before that there is a lot of sensationalism there, didn't I?

  The fact is that the soon to be eaten researcher is me, and the reptile who is about to feast in my almost meatless body is commonly called Komodo Dragon.

  So yeah, one could say I was eaten by a dragon.

  My name is Dr. Edgar Sarti and I’m a 1,70m tall, almost sickly thin man with short dark hair and deep brown eyes hidden beneath a pair of round glasses. I’m currently 29 years old but the story that drove my current predicament started long ago, when I was just a child.

  As a kid I was always fascinated by wildlife. I stood for hours glued to documentaries about different fauna, habitats and, of course, the occasional one about dinosaurs and prehistoric animals. But unfortunately, I was born with a mild constitution and an overprotective mother. As you can infer, both of those elements combined made it impossible for me to play outside like a regular kid, let alone have some camping adventures or joining the scouts.

  You may have also deduced, with no great effort, that the scrawny nerd kid with scientific interest was severely bullied in school, and you would again be right. But despite the constant harassment, knowledge about all sorts of animals thriving in the most dangerous and inhospitable environments gave me strength to pull through the long years of school.

  When I took classes on Darwinism and genetics, I was sure that biology was the path for me. I was flabbergasted by the ways that different animals evolved with the best characteristics to adapt in their habitat. Be it big animals forced to shrink to deal with space and food shortages or small animals building natural defense to cope with a multitude of threats.

  From then on it took long years of hard studying to finally get my doctorate degree in evolutionism and be capable of funding my own research, while beginning to make a name for myself in the scientific community.

  Fortunately, I found quick success when, during one of my studies, I achieved some promising results leading to a possible discovery of regenerative abilities on dinosaurs, similar to those of common lizards. If proven true, this would be a breakthrough on this type of evolution on an endothermic species and could possibly be used to look for those same genes on mammals.

  But I bet anyone would still find curious how a fragile nerdy lab rat doctor was instead amidst predatory reptiles in an Indonesian tropical island. Well, for the simplest of reasons of course. I wanted to impress a girl!

  My demise came in the form of a dreamy brunette paleontologist named Victoria. Her father, Liam, was one of the most accomplished and recognized paleontologist of our time and a great friend and tutor of mine. He was also the one who provided me with unique pre-historian animal samples for my ongoing study. That is, until he suddenly passed away a few months ago.

  Along with the pain of losing a true partner and mentor, I had to deal with huge setbacks that would make my research slow down to a crawl. I was beginning to despair when she unexpectedly came by.

  Immediately when I saw her, I was captivated. Everything was pleasing, be it her tall stature with an athletic and almost feline figure, her dark hair tied up in a ponytail or her deep green eyes. I knew that Liam had a daughter and that she had followed in his footsteps in paleontology but for him to be hiding this stunner all along. He never showed me even a picture in all those years, the sly old man!

  We did our introductions (maybe I stuttered a little) and I gave her my sincere condolences. She told me how her father cared a lot for me and was always bragging that I would someday be at the forefront of biogenetics research. But the main reason for her visit was to reassure me that she would be assuming her father’s responsibilities providing all the research materials and would like us to maintain the same partnership.

  Needless to say, I had to stop myself from doing twenty backflips (not that I could do it, but I sure wanted to die trying). After some few seconds of delayed mind processing due to heightened amounts of shock and joy, I answered that I would be delighted to accept.

  For my answer she gave me the most gorgeous smile and an energetic handshake that made me blush in all conceivable shades of red. We then had some pleasant talk exchanging funny stories about the old man and I heard lots about her field adventures that made me even more enamored.

  Finally, we traded our contacts and parted with a promise of spending some time together again soon.

  And so it happened, for a brief time we went out a lot together and some dinners later we were officially dating. But unfortunately, she had to travel a lot for her work while I, completely opposite, led an indoor academic life.

  A month passed since then and we kept in constant touch, but only through the phone since Victoria was leading an expedition on the Indonesian Isles. Her goal was to find some evidence of an ancient descendant of the largest living known monitor lizard, the Komodo Dragon, to find more about its evolutionary traits.

  I was already becoming frustrated since she constantly sent me fantastic pictures from the beautiful local scenery while I was stuck in my small laboratory with the majestic view from my microscope lens. And when she called me explaining she would have to stay there for at least two more weeks because of new findings, I decided to give myself some vacation time and travel there to meet her as a surprise.

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  Despite knowing that due to my weak constitution I would not be able to go for any long hikes or try other adventurous things, certainly nothing could go wrong with me sticking around on the expedition sites and maybe seeing some romantic sunsets on a paradisiac island.

  So, I grabbed my stuff and hastily departed to meet her in Indonesia.

  I took a long flight to its capital Jakarta and from there I had to hop on a smaller plane to reach the Island of Flores. After landing it took me some directions gathering to finally find transport that would take me to the Komodo National Park where the expedition was staying.

  Even though I felt completely exhausted from the seemingly endless trip, the thrill of meeting her again made it an almost insignificant burden. And I could not count the times that I pictured her surprised face followed by that same delightful smile when she saw me.

  I say this so you may understand the shock I had when arriving there I came across her, all smiles, talking to a very tall muscular dude who kept sending her flirtatious signs. When they finally noticed my presence (much too long for my taste), there were a few too many seconds of shock before she broke into a smile.

  I’ll be fair and acknowledge in her defense that she did immediately come running and tied me in a loving embrace, but by then the damage was already done. A hateful glare sent by the ogre-like man did not help with the situation either.

  I decided to let the case rest for a little bit, while she described her utmost surprise at seeing me there and how happy she was. I was also introduced to “The Ogre” whose name was Indra and who worked as a local biologist and guide for the expedition. My antagonistic sentiment only grew worse when the bastard, with a scornful smile on his ugly face, gave me a crushing handshake.

  It took all my willpower to hide the pain and maintain an indifferent face. There and then I made myself a promise to make this guy suffer. I may not be able to take you on in direct physical combat but that’s why men invented tools, you Neanderthal bastard!

  As if reading the mood, Victoria promptly invited me for a stroll, and we got to see that romantic sunset making me almost forget that previous scene. And then because of my tiredness and her need to go out to work at first light we immediately went to sleep.

  For a few days I got to tag along the expedition learning a lot about the inner works of paleontology. The quality time spent with her was the most fun I ever had in my entire life. I even got to see plenty of wildlife such as deer, wild buffalos and even some of the unique dragons. Additionally, I admit having lots of pleasure correcting some of the errors from the work of the not so smart Indra. It was satisfying to know that at least I got the intellectual edge.

  But when excavation sites were moved further inland, I started having trouble keeping up with the crew. Victoria always matched my pace and helped me through the long walks, but I knew I was slowing down her work. Obviously, Indra used every possible chance to tease me with remarks on how those distances were less than his usual morning jogs or that his grandma kept a faster pace.

  More than once, Victoria stepped up to defend me, but it only worsened my already bad mood, until a few days later I snapped. I lashed out at her and there and then decided to withdraw from the expedition party. I should know better than to get irritated by that fuckin troglodyte’s harassment, but the memories of that scene coupled with lifelong insecurities about my physical shortages made me blind in rage.

  Of course, once the anger settled, I felt guilty from venting my frustrations unreasonably on Victoria. But even after my sincere apology, which she happily brushed off as our first couple’s quarrel, I still felt sort of inadequate.

  So, I made a resolution to train myself to be at least able to accompany Victoria on this and any future trip we should ever take. And I still believe it was a good idea, despite the fact that it led to my present demise. Smart as I supposed to be, maybe I did forget to factor some of the dangers of going out alone on an island filled with predatory lizards.

  Actually, I was not that stupid to stride on the hazardous areas and I mainly stood on the fence protected roads but sometimes fortune is just not on your side.

  For five days I kept a regular schedule of swimming and going for long walks with intermittent runs to build up cardio and I never strayed too far from our camping site. But on the sixth one already feeling a little bit better I wanted to extend my route a little bit further.

  It had been a particularly hot day, and the added exercise took its toll on my stamina, but I decided to keep going for a little bit longer. Upon reaching what I considered to be my physical limit and accounting for the trip back, I stopped and began my slow return to camp. But for all the possible times and places I just had to take a leak at that god forsaken bush.

  Even now I find it curious how such a small bush could conceal a two meters long lizard. When I did become aware of its presence it was already too late. They say that this species reacts to sudden movements and if confronted you’re advised to slowly walk backwards not to entice it.

  But I challenge you to remember all of it when faced with one right in front of you.

  Needless to say, I tried to run, but the animal lunged at me and grabbed my leg before I even took two steps back. His strong mandibles immediately crushed one of my legs while I desperately kicked his face with the other. In a lucky strike I might have hit one of his eyes because the beast jerked back in pain and released me for a moment.

  I immediately tried to get up, but my injured leg could not withstand my weight, and I fell one more time. The lizard appeared more cautious after our last exchange, but I doubt it would take too long before he attacked again.

  Finding it impossible to stand I started dragging myself along the road while shouting for help, but the dragon kept following me with his forked tongue coming in and out of his mouth as if it was having a pleasant taste of my blood.

  Grabbing the dirt around me I found a long stick that I could use as a makeshift lance and immediately pointed it to the lizard. By some miracle it appeared to work as the dragon stayed put at a respectable distance. Feeling some kind of control, I resumed dragging myself away but gazing directly at the beast to be prepared for any advances.

  And then, once more I was victimized by an epic misfortune, as I was blindly moving backwards, I failed to see a slope just behind me. The slope was probably not very deep, but I must have hit my head while rolling down and got knocked out a little because when I regained consciousness the dragon was all over me again and this time lacerating my left arm.

  I desperately tried to find the stick or some stone I could use to repel the beast but apparently nothing was within my grasp. I tried some punches again aiming for its eyes, but it only made it jerk its head with more strength, sending unbearable waves of pain to my bitten arm.

  Now a few minutes later when it finally released my arm, I know that I am done for. My body is a whole mess of blood and pain which the damned lizard is happily feasting upon. All I got left is these stupid recollections of how I ended up here and the heartbreaking longing to see once more the face of my beloved Victoria to at least apologize for my stupidity. Also to tell her to never ever date Indra or I’ll be haunting them for the rest of their lives.

  Suddenly I notice that it's night already and there seems to be some flickering lights up the slope coming this way, but I reckon that by now it should be already too late for any form of rescue.

  The last thing I see is the Dragon opening its deadly jaw again and lunging directly at my exposed neck.

  The End.

  ...

  …

  Or is it?