Fear and anticipation increased like steam on a tea kettle as everyone gathered behind the start line. Some rocked on their toes or swung side to side. The automatons marched up and down enforcing order among the crowd. One young lady sneaked a high top laced leather boot across the line. A small electric jolt from an annihilator showed the error of her ways and the stink of burned flesh served as a reminder for the others. Cheating was not tolerated, which was ironic, considering cheating brought almost everyone to today’s hunt.

The other airships circled in a tight formation allowing the observers the best possible view of the activities below. In stark contrast to the contestants below, the spectators wore the softest silks and finest wool. Men’s suits and morning jackets were starched to create crisp clean lines that accentuated their pinstripes. Many wore velvet vests embroidered with flowering vines. The ladies wore either bustled dresses and tight-fitting corsets under cropped velvet jackets or slender fitting long skirts with leather boots and riding coats.

Sweat rolled down Elizabeth’s back. The cool morning air felt heavy from last night’s rain. Only four other women competed with this mangy group of men. The other women were not as prepared. In fact, even most of the male contestants did not seem as prepared.

When the Social Elite announced the inaugural We Absolve Your Debts Easter Egg Hunt, training began. For years, Elizabeth toiled at various jobs working off her dead father’s gambling debts making her strong and determined to undo the past. This hunt provided a way to get her family business, a small hotel and restaurant, back. It was once a pillar of the community, but now the Rockwell Family owned it as collateral for the chit and ran it like a school child playing politics.

No amount of training could really prepare any of them for the unique twist the Social Elite added a month ago. Instead of the usual chocolates and sweets, the only four hidden eggs held baby dragons. The lucky winners would present the dragon to the family and erase the debt. To make the hunt even more exciting, dragon hunters would release the mother dragons at the opposite side of the playing field.

Most of the hunters wore torn clothes covered in layers of dirt and grime. They were not fortunate enough to have a talented seamstress for a mother. Elizabeth’s clothes, a repurposed pair of men’s britches and soft leather corset, were intact and even specially designed for this competition. The added pockets and built in holsters held several weapons and useful trinkets. While the leather corset accentuated her feminine weapons.

A steam powered official added powder to the signal fire and the smoke changed from red to yellow announcing the hunt would start soon.

Elizabeth checked her holsters as well as the energy level on her small blaster. A small soft pouch hid inside her boot. A gift from her mother, it was the last resort but the best weapon. Touching the pouch erased all self-doubt.

A somewhat handsome man who at least had all his front teeth and took the time to shave stepped up next to her. “If you need help I’m sure we can work something out, miss.”

She cocked a half smile. “Oh, I’m sure. Once I’m done, I’ll come back and give you assistance.”

He tipped back his worn bowler hat and pushed up his goggles, exposing blue-gray eyes. “We’ll see who needs help.”

The automaton stood up to the signal fire. Silence fell over the contestants as everyone watched the fire change to green, signaling the start of the hunt. The second it changed the announcer began narrating the action over an ear trumpet making sure the volume was loud enough to reach the airships. The Social Elite, fueled by dragon-lust and desire for more prestige, began cheering various competitors.

Elizabeth took out a small dagger from a leg holster, turned to the man on her right and slashed into his femoral artery. Before anyone could react, the man on the other side fell too. Both men dropped their mouths in shocked disbelief as they bled out before even getting started. The easiest way to win was to eliminate the competition as much as possible.

Everyone ran like madmen. She pushed and kicked anyone within arm’s reach. The women all stayed away, unsure of whether to be amazed or afraid. In fact, many people seemed shocked by this crazy little woman attacking those close.

“Idiots,” Elizabeth said under her breath. “It’s easier to kill a man than a dragon.”

Bowler Man ran across the field to a small stream. A fast moving shadow blocked the sun and a sudden gust of wind almost threw him off balance. A large blue-green dragon flew low to the ground, stretched out her talons, and picked up the running man. The beast threw him across the ground then circled around to find another challenger. No help needed now.

Off to the side, Elizabeth saw a man on top of a young lady throwing quick strong punches not allowing for any kind of defense. One blaster shot knocked him on his back into the mud. The young lady quickly recovered, looked around, and exchanged a silent nod of gratitude and solidarity.

Loud cheers distracted her. A ladder from one of the airships dragged the ground as one player climbed to the top. It was easy to assume he’d found an egg and would soon erase his debt. Another roar forced everyone to freeze for a second. A red dragon breathed fire on the ladder and the scared man dropped his egg before the fire consumed him. The airship heeled to the ground. Screams of terrified passengers replaced the previous cheers. The red dragon swooped down to the ground and caught the fallen egg.

“How did anyone think this was a good idea?” Elizabeth asked herself.

A small cluster of trees provided a nice hiding spot to rest and refocus. Exhaustion forced her down against a tree. A slight breeze danced among the branches and twirled a pile of leaves off the ground. Sunlight reflected off of something uncovered once the leaves flew away.

With renewed energy and a racing heart, she crawled a couple feet away and found an egg. It was light despite being the size of a big family bible. The outside was smooth and cold. Inside a slow pulse of light glowed pink, red, and violet. She heard a low steady hum. The energy from the egg made the hair on her arms stand. She’d never seen anything so beautiful.

Guilt swarmed over her like heat from the sun. This living creature erased her debt, but only by creating another. This didn’t seem fair.

“I’ll take that,” a male voice from behind startled her. He reached in front of her and grabbed the egg from her hands.

She looked up to see one of the ugliest men from the line-up.

With his free arm he lifted her off the ground, kissed her hard, and said, “I’ll be back for you when I deliver this egg.”

Alcohol breath and the rotten smell of tooth decay filled the air with each word. She kicked him hard.

“Hey!” He dropped the egg and a sound like fine china hitting a wood floor echoed off the trees.

Elizabeth dropped back down and focused all her energy crawling to the fallen egg. She never noticed the midnight blue dragon crawling towards the egg as well. She felt hot steam-like air on outstretched arms. Unsure what to do, she put one hand on the ground and looked up to see the flared nostrils of a dragon.

She slowed her breathing to sync with the dragons to appear less scared.. “I really want to walk away from this mess. I’m going to let go of your egg nice a slow like” she slid a hand down to her boot, “and then walk away.”

The movement confused the dragon. Elizabeth knew there was not a lot of time. The bag in her boot felt warm and began to pulse. The bright colored bag drew the dragon’s attention and for just a fraction of a second, the mother looked away from her egg.

Elizabeth had spent hours not only physically training, but also reading everything available about dragons. A red stone, hidden in the bag, held the key to her success; a dragon’s eye used by dragon trainers since the beginning of time, allowing communication between dragons and humans.

With the dragon transfixed on the stone, Elizabeth sat up without creating any more stress.

“I know you feel threatened by me and all you want to do is protect your baby. I really do not want to hurt you or this egg, but I need something.”

A fuzzy feeling formed in her head. She began to see words forming in her mind. These words created questions. The dragon blew out a big hot puff of air as Elizabeth held her breath. Any miscommunication ended her life ended right here, right now. Her own breath trickled out while focusing on sharing her plan with the dragon. After reaching a strange agreement, she scooped up the egg and carried it out of the meadow towards the Rockwells’ airship.

There were only a few contestants running around at this point. A few rushed her to take the egg away, but blaster shots stopped them. The airship with the gaudy R flew overhead and lowered a rope ladder. The wind and use of only one arm made it hard to climb the ladder. Cheers from the Rockwells burned her ears.

At the top, a gloved hand grabbed for the egg in order to show it off to everyone else. Elizabeth was left to climb over the top herself. Fatigue replaced adrenaline-laced muscles and she sank to the floor. The plan relied on perfect timing, but no amount of planning accounted for what happened next. In all the planning, the egg hatching never came into play. The egg began to squirm. One of the Rockwell sons handed over the lien on the family business while another reached for the egg.

The airship bumped as if it hit a rock and the egg tumbled to the floor. Everyone gasped, mesmerized when the small crack from before grew and a tiny beak began pecking at the shell. A small baby dragon with slimy dark skin escaped the shell and began jumping around screeching at everyone it saw. Obviously hungry, it looked for its mother becoming angrier and angrier when found only humans. It stretched its wings increasing height each time it jumped to fly.

The airship lurched to one side causing several guests to loose their balance and fall. Several of the frail ladies fainted. One of the butler automatons spilled a tray of canapes over a couple seated at a table. Everyone scrambled to find a hand-hold. The mother dragon soared directly overhead now screeching at the enemies beneath her. With the plan changed drastically, Elizabeth knew this was the cue to get off the ship. With the lien in hand, she jumped overboard with regard to where or how she landed.

From the below, the few contestants left watched as fires burned on the ship. The Rockwells’ ship slammed into another one causing it to lean way too far over. The mother dragon bombed in several times knocking holes into the hull. Several jumped to the ground, but most panicked unsure of how to save themselves. In what seemed like hours, but was really only seconds, the baby dragon escaped and flew away with the mother while the ship crashed to the ground bow first.

Months later, people still talked about the epic disaster of an egg hunt. Many people died or were severely injured. There was also a lot of scuttle-butt about the first ever female owned hotel, The Dragon’s Lair. It was the talk of the town and anyone who was anyone among the Social Elite had dinner there. The owner went on to make a huge fortune for herself and her family. In fact, the most popular social event of the year was sponsored by the hotel- an Easter egg hunt where children searched for bright metallic colored eggs filled with chocolates and sweets in the shape of dragons.

**This was based of a writing prompt from Reedsy. The prompt was Write the Most Epic Easter Egg Hunt Ever. It was first published here**