Page 1 of Serving my Dragon
Prologue
Ah, the sweet heat of magma roasting my shell. I squirmed inside my egg, knowing my hatching neared. I’d waited long enough. I couldn’t measure time while nestled in my cocoon, but having dreamed for so long, I would wager many years had passed since my maternal progenitor dropped me in a volcano.
It was the fate of all unhatched to be at the mercy of the erratic cycle of volcanoes. Some erupted with regularity, others without warning, some never. At least mine finally proved fruitful. Soon I would burst into the world and claim my territory.
My shell began to thin and cracks appeared. In my excitement I flailed, pushing at the weak spots, bursting free from my egg. I emerged in a river of lava. So warm and cozy. I could have floated in it forever, but my tummy rumbled, demanding I feed.
Despite just hatching and having rather weak limbs, I swam to the edge of the magma river flowing downward and clambered out. A shake of my body dispelled the molten rock before it could harden. My inherited memories let me know this would have been unpleasant.
The air smelled of sulfur and smoke and I inhaled deeply. My first breaths. How marvelous. While the area around the volcano had a distinct lack of anything edible—only charred stumps, for the most part—in the distance, I spotted greenery. Trees! Where there was foliage there would be life. The crunchy, yummy, belly-filling kind.
I waddled as fast as my short legs would go—the only choice being walking, as my kind didn’t hatch with wings—and tired quickly as my newly-hatched muscles protested. It would take time and food to build my strength. The latter being the simplest thing to accomplish quickly.
The jungle canopy filtered some of the smoke and ash from the air. Pity, as I quite enjoyed the aroma. I trudged through the foliage, listening for movement, sniffing and looking for a sign of something edible nearby.
None of the animal traces were recent, leaving me to grab what fruit I could find lying on the ground and flourishing in bushes. Nutritious, but lacking the muscle-building benefit of meat.
I hunted, moving further into the jungle, and my senses became more attuned as I digested my first meal. When my hearing sharpened, I realized something was following me.
Who would dare hunt a dragon?
Probably something looking to destroy me before I became too strong. It was ever a weakness of our kind to be hatched so small and ineffectual.
A glance at a tree showed a branch suitable for watching. I clambered upwards, my claws short but still enough to give me purchase. Perched upon a limb, I waited.
Crack. Murmur. Not an animal tracking me, but humans; the question being, were they the kind that worshipped dragons or those that sought to murder us?
A cluster of people paused under my tree. Two females and five males wearing strange garments. What country had I landed in that women wore trousers? My memories had females usually dressed in gowns of some sort.
The women, their heads encased in strange hats and veils, chattered. The males huddled in a group to converse. The language they used resembled nothing from my inherited collective. That would make giving them orders difficult. Hard to make a servant obey if they didn’t understand.
Then again, these most likely weren’t the serving type. I noticed one of the males had a metallic cage strapped to his back while the others held strange devices in their hands.
A thickset male pulled out a finger-sized white stick and put a flame to the end. This caused the smaller woman to go into a harangue. The male sucked on the white tube and blew smoke in her face. The petite one grew even more irate. She gesticulated and became quite strident. Surprisingly, the men didn’t slap her or make her stop, and of more interest, the one smoking extinguished his white stick. Fascinating. Had I hatched near a matriarchal society? Not very common, but encouraging, given my sex.
The curvier female took a turn speaking and pointing in the direction from which they’d arrived. That led to much head shaking. A male grabbed his groin and thrust his hips, which in turn resulted in the woman huffing and turning her back on him.
The comedy of it had me snickering.
And they heard.
The petite female glanced upward and spotted me despite the veil she wore over her face and eyes. She pointed and yelled in that unfamiliar language leading everyone to stare at me, but did they gape in admiration? Nope. I quickly discovered the strange objects the males held could fire missiles! Not very well, as it turned out, since the small, tufted arrows missed me. Still, I did not wait to see if they would get better. I leapt to another limb and raced across it, jumping again at its tip to grab at the next branch on another tree.
The humans followed.
Perhaps if I’d not been newly hatched, or had properly fed, I’d have had the stamina to outpace them. Alas, I tired too quickly. I encountered even more ill luck as the line of trees ended. As did the ground. I scampered down the trunk and raced to the edge of the cliff and peered down.
So far down.
A river ran below, dotted with rocks. The sheer face of the bluff showed few handholds, the rock not permeable enough for me to grip with my small claws.
The noise of my enemy crashing through brush alerted me to their imminent arrival. A glance showed them emerging from the jungle, spread out in a line.
Two of them held out the tiny arrow launchers while another unstrapped the cage. The tallest of the males crouched and walked towards me, crooning, as if I’d suddenly meekly allow myself to be captured.
The curvy female inserted herself in front of him, her hand waving, her tone angry.
He yelled back and took a menacing step towards her.
