Disclaimer: I OWN nothing & CLAIM nothing!
Summery: I was flipping btw the movies The Lion King & Dragonheart the other day & I got an idea to do a story combining the two, this is the result. This story (among others) has been sitting in the hard drive of my other computer for some time, I just now got around to transfering them.
Aurum the golden dragon, the magnificent & majestic ruler of the West stood on the ledge just outside of his cave, overlooking his vast domain; the lesser animals, from the smallest mouse to the mighty mammoth stood, waiting. A hush came over them as a white, luminescent figure descended from the heavens to land gracefully in front of Aurum. "Argos, great white ruler of the four winds I' am very honored that you could be here." He said as they hugged. "My dear boy, I would not miss it for the world, the other rulers were doubtful that you ever would take your responsibilities seriously." He said with a tooth-ridden smile as Aurum led him to the mouth of the cave. "So this is the young one." Argos said as he gently picked up the newly hatched dragon chick, he gently cradled the tiny body in his massive front talon & held him up for all to see. The animals below erupted into cheers that could be heard for miles.
A small mouse cautiously exits its hole into the bright sunlight, after smelling the air momentarily, suddenly, a huge, gangly talon scoops him up before he has a chance to react. "Life is not fair for either of us, little mouse. You see, I shall never be ruler of this land, while you shall never see the light of another day." The dragon the talon belonged to said, suddenly a loud, screeching noise made him start & drop his mouse. A small, rainbow-patterned dragon about the size of a parrot with feathered wings landed in front of the first, proportionately huge dragon. "Look what you've done, Ronan, you've caused me to lose my lunch." The dragon said expressionlessly as he rested his head on his crossed front legs. "You are going to lose more then your lunch, Antigonos. His Majesty is on his way to find out why you missed the induction ceremony today." Ronan said triumphantly. "I' am quivering with fear!" He said, a sinister smile spreading across his long, gaunt face, Ronan tried to fly away, but Antigonos snatched him up in his jaws. Suddenly, a deep, rustic voice rang out around the cave. "Antigonos! Drop him!" Antigonos begrudgingly spit Ronan back out. "I wasn't going to swallow him, his kind are too sweet for my tastes." He said. Antigonos was nothing like his older brother, Aurum, who was strong, handsome & honorable. Antigonos was homely, gaunt & immoral, even his grey, mottled hide reflected his personality. "Aquila & I didn't see you at the induction of Aeolus this morning." He said with forced patience. "It must have slipped my mind." Antigonos said as he turned to take flight. "Do not turn your back to me!" "It is you that should not turn your back on me." Antigonos replied stiffly as he spread his ragged wings & took flight.
A few months later, Aurum & Aquila's peaceful slumber was interrupted by an incessant calling of their names. "You're son is awake." Aquila said without opening her eyes. "Before the sun wakes, he is your son." Aurum replied sleepily as Aeolus began to jump all over him in an effort to rouse him. "Father, you promised!" He said angrily. "All right, all right." Aurum said as he slowly rose to his feet, scooped his son into his massive talon & took flight to the top of their mountain. "Everywhere the sun reaches is our kingdom, one day my time as ruler will be over & it will be up to you to maintain this land & all of the creatures that inhabit it." Aurum said as Aeolus scanned the horizon. "What about that dark place?" He asked. "That is a miserable & forbidden place, you must never go there." He said seriously. " Uncle Antigonos, father just showed me the entire kingdom, the one I will one day rule!" Aeolus said excitedly, Antigonos said nothing as he rolled his eyes. "He didn't show you what was valley of the southern border?" Antigonos said. "He said that I should never venture there." Aeolus said disappointedly. He is right, a mammoth graveyard is no place for a young prince… oh dear, I believe that I have now said too much! Please, don't ever go there!" "I won't." Aeolus said as he scampered off, Antigonos smiled sinisterly after him, knowing that he would do just the opposite. "Come on, I just heard about this really neat place!" Aeolus said as he met his friend, Callistus from the neighboring dragon clan. "It's around the…" "Around the what?" His mother's voice interrupted him. "Er… around Crystal Lake." He said when a wide, benign smile. "You may go… as long as Ronan goes with you."
"Step lightly, the sooner we get to the lake, the sooner we can turn around." Ronan said as he flew above them. "So, where are we really going?" Callistus whispered to Aeolus as the lake appeared over the last hill. "The mammoth graveyard, but first we have to ditch the featherbrain." He said as he gestured above him. "No problem, I have an idea." Callistus said as she sucked in a deep breath & with a vast amount of concentration, blew a week beam of ice at Ronan, it was enough to make him too heavy to fly & he had no choice but to crash-land on the lake's muddy banks. "That was almost too easy!" Aeolus said as he & Callistus began to run down the hill on the south end of the lake, they lost their fooding & tumbled, head over tail to the bottom. Aeolus looked up to find the massive skull of a mammoth looming in front of them. "A-Aeolus, I think that I want to go now." Callistus said as they began backing away. "We were hoping you would join us for dinner." A thick gravely voice said from behind them as three griffins surrounded them. "My name is Artemis; the stupid one is Chaos & the female is Charon. What's you're name?" The largest griffin said. "W-why do you want to know?" Aeolus said as they backed him & Callistus into a corner. "Because, we like to know the name of our dinner." Charon said, Aeolus stepped in front of Callistus & attempted to breathe fire, but all that would come out was a puff of smoke. "Is that all you've got?" Artemis said as they all laughed, Aeolus attempted to try again but a thick stream of blue flame cut between them & Aurum was on top of the three griffins in a second. "If you ever come near my son again…!" He said in a rage. "Oh never... you'll never have to worry about us!" Artemis said as the three of them split. "Thank you, father, I thought we were goners &…" Aeolus trailed off when he saw the fire leaking form his father's nostrils as they turned for home.
"Ronan!" Aurum called sharply. "Yes, your majesty?" he said hesitantly. "Please see Callistus home, I must speak to my son alone." "For what it's worth, I thought you were very brave." Callistus said as Ronan led her away. Aeolus cautiously approached his father. "What were you trying to prove, Aeolus? You could have been killed today & you didn't even think about putting Callistus in danger, did you? He said sharply. "I was just trying to be brave… like you!" Aeolus said, he was on the verge of tears. "Brave doesn't mean that you go searching for trouble, always remember that." Aurum said as they started home. "You don't even deserve this." Antigonos said as he tossed the leg of an elk down to the three griffins. "I practically gift-wrapped those young dragons for you & you couldn't even dispose of them." "Hey! Aurum showed up! What were we suppose to do, kill him?" Charon said, Antigonos' face drew up into a terrifying smile. "Get your clan together, I have a plan."
"What's such a big surprise that I have to wait down here in the ravine?" Aeolus said to his uncle. "It's more of a father-son thing. Now, you just wait here by this tree while I fetch him. Just between us, you might want to work on that fire breathing." Antigonos said in parting. On the grass plain above the ravine, a large herd of elk grazed lazily in the warm spring sun. "Let's go." She said as Antigonos appeared on the opposite side of the ravine. Aeolus was finally able to produce a small puff of yellow flame; suddenly, the ground began to shake quite violently, he looked to the north & his heart came to reside in his throat, thousands of elk were pouring down the path to the bottom of the ravine. Aeolus only had time to clamor into shrubby tree in the middle of the ravine. Suddenly, his father appeared, hovering at his side, without a word he scooped him up & delivered him to safety on a small ledge. Suddenly, one of the panicked elk leapt into the air & caught Aurum in the wing. "Father!" Aeolus cried as he disappeared with a roar into the mass of bodies, after what seemed like an eternity, Aurum launched himself out of the stampede almost made it onto the ledge where his brother stood, watching. "Please brother, help me!" He said, Antigonos suddenly lunged forward & grabbed his front legs, his talons digging in painfully. "Long live his majesty." He said coldly as let go. "Father!" Aeolus cried as he clamored down to the bottom of the ravine as soon as the way was clear, a lump rose in his throat as he saw his father lying unmoving under the tree he had plucked him from. "Father, get up, we have to go home." He said tearfully. "Aeolus, what have you done?!" His uncle's quiet voice said from behind him. "It was an accident! The elk…!" "Of course you didn't mean it, but what will your mother think!" "What… what am I going to do?" Aeolus said as he sniffled pitifully. "You must run, Aeolus, run away & never return." Antigonos said.