#251 in Short Stories
Every dragon has a story, but not every dragon has a voice. So, for historians; like myself, to tell a dragon's story we must look for their voice; essentially their Rider.
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This is told from the Rider's point of view...
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It's a sad story.
Read at the risk of hating dragons:
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Dragon Lord Flame, the second son of Lady Red
Dragon Island
Flame dove as Kati fell past. He suddenly felt afraid, and it wasn't just her fear he felt. It was his own. If she died, he'd never forgive himself. He didn't save her once, to watch her fall and die. Twelve years wasn't very long for either of them.
He did catch her. Just barely as his talons scrapped the ocean's swell.
Relief plunged through him and for a moment the pain in his wing arc disappeared. All of his thoughts were on Kati and getting her back to shore. If the muscle above his talon had to breathe to work efficiently, she'd have suffocated it already. The tight grip reminded him of why she was so scared.
Watching your family drown wasn't something anyone would come away from unscarred.
He tightened his grip to reassure her that she was safe.
But neither of them were out of the clear just yet.
Crystal's hulking form suddenly fell from the sky and landed on his back. Flame basically howled at the pain that ripped through him and his weak wing. The blue she-dragon grabbed hold of his neck and began tearing at the rough scales there.
Even as the pain began to consume his every thought and flap of his weight bared wings, Flame was still able to get one thing across his disappearing conscious: Kati. Would not. Die!
Flame pulled up short, jerk his body back. Crystal's gripped disappeared and so did her weight as she fell into the awaiting waves. He didn't pause, didn't check to see if Crystal was in pursuit, he just surged forward, straight toward the beach.
Just as he as cleared land, Crystal leapt from the waves and landed in all her fat glory on the bar, directly in front of him.
Flame didn't let rational thoughts stop what he did next. She was larger, yes, but that was something the Conqueror of Kingdoms used to defeat every realm he pulled under his reign. Although, it had been decades since he'd ever actually fought to the death, Flame was prepared to take this beast down. Even though Flame held Kati protectively in his embrace, no one, kin or not, ever stood between him and his human.
