Free The Dawn of the Raven Omnibus 1: Episodes 1-5 by J.L. Blackthorne Page A

them, then continued.  “Oh yes, that’s right, you’re
from the east, your people wouldn’t have had to deal with the Drakken for quite
some time.  If you were from the west, you’d still know it.  You’d still know
it well.  Your friend there, she is Typhorian?  I’ve seen her crest.  She’d
know of it.  The Drakken is a great beast that lives in the far northwest, on
the very edge of this realm.  It awakens and feeds every two hundred years.  In
between, it lies dormant, like a giant tick, or a bear during the winter.  In
the forgotten ages, in the distant past, when it would awaken it would lay
waste to all, crushing through trees, palaces, anything that lay between it and
its prey.  It would wander the realm, eating man, woman, child, beast, anything
it could find until its huge appetite was quenched.  Then, finally, after its
great belly was full, it would go crawl back down to its cave, and sleep for
another two hundred years, until it was time to eat again.”
    Kiella wasn’t sure whether to believe Bob.  Perhaps he was
exaggerating, trying to make the story sound more impressive for the campfire? 
If that’s what he was doing, it was working.  The look in his eye as he spoke
of it conveyed so much fear and trepidation, it made her fear the Drakken as if
she were a child hearing ghost stories all over again.
    “But, you
said it’s still alive?  So it will be back?  Soon?  How come I don’t hear more
about it?”
    “Well”
continued Bob, as the fear began to fade from his eyes “actually, he won’t be
back for quite a long time.  Not in our lifetimes, at any rate.  He shouldn’t
be back for at least another hundred years.”
    “So, less
than one hundred years ago it went on one of its killing sprees, massacring all
who stood in its way?”  It seemed crazy to Kiella that she would not have heard
more about it if this were the case.
    “Oh no.  No,
it didn’t.  It woke to feed, yes, but there was no massacre.  No.  That’s
probably why you don’t hear much about him anymore on your side of the realm. 
No, it’s probably been close to a thousand years since the beast did much
damage to humans.  That’s because, once the elders figured out its eating
cycle, they learned to prepare.  See, no one can kill the beast, but if all the
kingdoms in the west and the north pitch in and prepare a proper feast for it
for when it awakens, it just eats and then returns back to its den in peace. 
For a good long time now that has been the case.”  He poked at the fire with a
nice long stick to get it back to a nice even blaze.  “It takes a large toll on
the denizens of that side of the realm.  Tons of livestock must be sacrificed,
bodies of the dead hoarded and lain out, the forests are over hunted for months
in preparation.  They’ve learned, of course, that it’s always better to leave
too large a feast for the Drakken than too small of one, but yes, they take it
quite seriously.  There are elders appointed to each of those kingdoms to keep
track of when the beast is likely to awaken next, and to ensure that the
preparations are made.  So, no, he’s not quite as scary as he used to be, that
one.  As long as they prepare for him, as long as they’re ready, he’s not much
different than a giant pet, just one with a huge appetite who sleeps a lot. 
Why, it’s really something to see, they say, when he comes up to feed.  A pity
that neither of us will ever get to.  Oh well . . .”
    Kiella was amazed at how fast Bob had gone from promoting the
creature as the worst threat imaginable, to acting so wistfully sad that he
wouldn’t get to see it in action.  She laughed at his story, now glad that she
didn’t have to worry about the Drakken, and finding the whole vision of the
people of the northwest all gathering to watch the giant beast eat every two
hundred years quite humorous.  Bob reached into his bag and produced two
chalices and a pouch of mead.  He poured a