The Homestead

There weren't always dragons in the valley. It was once filled with sunlight and a variety of wildlife that would have put Noah's Ark to shame; everything from owls to elk to field mice, the valley was home to all animals and humankind alike. It has since been abandoned by most, but not overnight.

The fall of society, though often depicted in stories in the form of a sudden virus or abrupt attack, actually took several decades and progressed slowly. Creeping into humanity like ivy on a tree, subtle but invasive, it began over fifty years ago. Generations before us were trying to battle an illness that swept through communities like a bloodthirsty clan of barbarians, but instead of coming together as a community, they divided into factions. Many believed that the plague was brought on by a witch that cursed a gang of pillagers after they raped a Northern village, leaving them unable to sustain their independence, while others believed it was nothing but a hoax. A rumor meant to manipulate and control us. This destroyed communities. Years of infighting about the sickness lead to more aggressive and impatient reactions on both sides of the argument. Eventually no one was listening. Everyone was just looking for someone to blame.

Now, I am not saying the dragons are to blame. They were as innocent as we all were at the beginning. However, they were seen as a token to barter with and, over time, used as a weapon. The dragons always kept to themselves, up in the mountains. You could see them fly over head every once in a while, like a shooting star, but otherwise you would never know they were up there. Today, we watched for them like vampires watch for sunlight. In close quarters and when detained, dragons are known to be aggressive and volatile. It was the reason we always left them be. Unfortunately, greed of power and money always seem to shine through the treetops, in the end burning the vampires.

I had a great alcove, away from the madness. At least, enough that I could enjoy my porch and even the rogue ray of sunshine from time to time. A group of us started a small but sustainable homestead on the outskirts of town, keeping to ourselves while occasionally making an appearance in battle or to find necessities in what was our town, Grand Taloosa. We were doing pretty well for a while, but recently we have noticed discrepancies. Clothes missing and food shortages, guards tightening borders during our usual trips into the main square to trade. Someone in our home was leaking information along with our community; that's what today's council meeting was about.

The council consisted of six people, the same six who started the homestead not that long ago. There was Elijah, or Eli, our carpenter. Give him a tree and he could build you anything, including the very table at which we were sitting. To his left at the table sat Forest, who was an Horticulturist and was in charge of pretty much everything we ate here, along with Freja. She was our best marksman and knew her way around a deer, elk, or grouse hide. Charlie and Frankie were in the business industry in another life and helped maintain order and ensured that the community was operating in a efficient and sustainable matter, and then there was me, Cassidy. I knew Charlie and Forest before everything went to shit, and they brought me along to help out. I started out as a gopher, fetching anything they needed and running errands, but now I helped out in more significant roles. With my background with the foster care system as a Community Services Worker, they put me in charge of making sure the people of our little town were looked after and happy. I did everything from recruit employees to planning potlucks to helping ration food. With a team, of course. It was a pretty great little place and everyone seemed happy to contribute to our haven but clearly, there was someone we were overlooking. Normally everyone's faces would be joyous, at the least pleasantly content at these meetings, but today everyone looked stressed and concerned. There was a leak and we needed to know who it was. The vigilantes who seized Grand Taloosa did not approve of anyone living in a way they did not deem fit. There were very strict rules and we were in violation of most them. Now we just needed to find out who was violating ours.