Disagreement

The next seventy years after my incredible transformation passed by in an idyllic haze, my days spent slumbering or play-fighting with Andras. My appetite – which had previously been rather voracious – had finally mellowed, and just like Andras, I spent most of my days sleeping, awakening only to find food and stretch my wings for a while. During this time, my powers continued to grow, and soon enough, even the elder drake was no match for my strength anymore. Yet contests of speed were a favorite of his, such as when we raced through the treetops, and try as I might I was never once able to best him. It seemed that his moniker, Andras the Fleet, was not just for show.

Over time, I began to grow bored, curious as to what might lie beyond our domain. I knew, from the little I was able to jostle out of Andras about humans and their dragonslayers, that venturing too far beyond our secluded domain would only invite death to us both, but even so, I gradually began to journey further and further out with each hunt. After all, the forest seemed endless, and surely it would not hurt to explore a little bit?

Andras took notice, of course, and despite his hesitancy, actually humored me more than I expected. Perhaps it was a show of respect for my newfound strength, or perhaps he simply had a soft spot somewhere deep down beneath that scaled exterior? If so, this was the only way he ever showed it. Still, he insisted on joining me when I wanted to explore, and it was in this way that we stumbled upon a tiny, primitive village hidden amongst the foliage. It was nothing more than a few straw huts, but my sharp eyes were able to spot it immediately, and I veered towards it, circling overhead to investigate.

Below, a dozen tiny faces took notice of our arrival, craning their necks to gape at our underbellies in awe. They were humanoid, but small, their spindly limbs obviously devoid of any real strength, wearing simple clothing woven from grass. I had never seen anything like them before.

“Forest imps,” Andras rumbled, gliding beside me, “Perfect. I was just thinking I could use a little snack. Come, let us say hello!” With a deep laugh, he furled his wings and swooped down upon the tiny village, landing with a heavy thud. I followed suit, touching down lightly beside him, filled with both excitement and curiosity.

The creatures, the imps, seemed too stunned to do anything, and Andras took a menacing step forward, letting out a roar that shook the earth and rattled the trees. There were cries and screams as the imps fell to the ground, cowering in terror, the mighty form of the wyvern towering over them. As I watched the scene, some strange emotions began to rise within my heart, familiar and yet foreign. I watched mothers with crying babes cradled protectively in their arms, wide-eyed but too scared to run. The men, equally as terrified, somehow managing to find their feet and shakily raise their flimsy spears, standing guard in front of the children huddled behind them.

Andras let out a deep chuckle, and reared back in preparation to strike. But just before he could gobble them up, I bounced in front of him, my body moving on its own. Andras’ jaws snapped shut mid-strike, and he tilted his head at me, confusedly. “What is the meaning of this, Leolyn?”

I paused, eyeing the small, spindly beings I had jumped in to protect. What am I doing? I wondered, still trying to process the strange feelings in my chest. I could not say why, but somehow, attacking these poor creatures seemed wrong, somehow, and I told him so. “This feels…wrong, teacher. These creatures are small and weak. They are not worth preying upon.”

He regarded me with a critical eye, a low rumble of thought issuing from his gullet. “In this world, the strong prey upon the weak. And we are dragons, the strongest of the strong! The deer of the forest, the goats of the hills, or even these little imps; our prey is whatever we say it is! Now, stand aside.”

Suddenly, I realized that this was the first time I’d ever truly had a disagreement with the drake. I knew he was right, everything that he had taught me over the course of my entire life backed up his point of view. Even so, there was some deep-seated drive within me to stand my ground. I could not understand it, let alone attempt to explain it, but I did know that I had never before felt this strongly about anything in my entire life.

Meeting his gaze as an equal, I continued trying to persuade him, “Look at them, Andras. There’s barely even any meat to be had on their bones! Is it really worth the trouble?”

The entire village fell silent as we stared each other down, the tension hanging in the air like a string drawn taught. Then, the old drake sighed, a plume of white smoke bellowing from his nostrils, and turned away. “Fine,” he snapped irritably, “then let’s go find something to hunt.” With a snap of his wings, he launched into the air, not even waiting for a reply.

I let out the breath I had not realized I had been holding, looking around at the imps with one last, curious gaze. Their expressions had shifted from terror to confusion, as if they did not understand what had just transpired. Although, were I in their place, I would probably have been equally as bewildered as they were.

“You are safe, for now,” I told them, hoping that they could understand the words, and without any further ado, flew off to join Andras.