The corpse was bellyside-up on the ground and its scales were grey like a dreary, cloud-filled sky. It also had long wings like a seagull that were flaccid on the ground.
Snakes slithered all over the dead StormWing, eating whatever flesh was still on its bones and hiding in its exposed organs, which they also ate. There was a dent in one side of the corpse's head, suggesting that someone bludgeoned this dragon to death with some sort of weapon. Whatever blood that had pooled around the head was already dried on the ground.
There was a forensic term that described this dragon's demise: "blunt force trauma".
A snake that slithered out of one of the corpse's kidneys noticed me and began making its way out to me as if I were its next meal.
I skirted around the corpse to avoid being bitten by any of these creatures and continued making my way through the jungle.
There were more bloodstains on the surrounding trees, as well as claw marks and scorched earth.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Something red was dropping onto my snout like rain.
I stopped walking and wiped my snout with my talons and noticed that it was blood that fell onto me.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I moved two steps back to avoid more blood dripping onto me, wiped my snout again with my claws, and looked up at the trees.
The corpses of StormWings were dangling from the trees, their bodies twisted into horrifying forms.
One of them had their mouth open, as if they were roaring for help or calling their god to help them.
Another one had their eyes scorched out as birds pecked at their dark grey scales, eating away its body.
A black dragon who was skewered on a branch had their wings shredded, nearly ripped off their body.
The blood that was dripping onto my snout came from a dragon that had more wounds than scales and was spread across several tree branches, making it look like a dragon Mother executed because they failed her and left it out to hang on a coral outcropping as a warning sign.
This happened recently.
Who were these dragons, and what warranted their deaths?
_____________
When night came, dragons died.
The sight caught me off guard, so I had to jump into nearby foliage away from the riverbank to avoid detection.
The VolcanoWings had found a small settlement where dragons from around the world had gathered here in the jungle.
Dragons fled from the camp into the dark trees as the black dragons set their tents on fire and killed anyone they could find. It didn't matter to them who you were; if you were not them, you were a traitor.
Some of the VolcanoWings were dragging dragons they caught into the air. I looked up, following their flight path with my eyes and saw them chaining their captives onto the lower half of a large, hollow, square-shaped metal contraption where other captured dragons dangled from. It was manned by VolcanoWings who had some sort of harness on their chests; thick chains connected the harness to the structure as they hovered in the air.
The captured dragons dangling from the metallic skeleton were bound by leather around their wings, bodies, legs, and snout, preventing them from flying, speaking, or attacking. These straps of leather had thick chains looped around them, connecting them to the makeshift prison.
YOU ARE READING
These Alien Dragons
Science Fiction(Note: This is the old version. It is preferable if you read the current/new version.) For all their life, J. Pappas has been a reader and a writer. They have written about many things - cats, owls, humans, and dragons; they've read stories about di...
