"Draco's Heir"
By Rebecca Bassich
Draco the dragon had passed and taken his rightful place amongst the stars in the sky. His legacy of the Old Code and the way of his kind lived on in the minds of many. The concept of humility, truth, courage, and virtue,
which had constituted Draco's very way of life, was honored by those he had known, and passed on from generation to generation. Bowen had only but to avert his gaze to the night sky to be reminded of his noble friend, the last of a majestic race of beings. The memory of Draco gave Bowen his strength to carry on, and he never took their comradeship for granted - not once.
It was by the decree of God and the Dragon spirits that the Earth would be graced once more with the presence of Dragon.There would be two, a male and female Dragon, both blessed by the spirit of Draco and all other Dragon spirits. They were the Dragon spirits' new hope….
In Draco's old, abandoned cave dwelling, new life stirred. A young male dragon took in his first breath of fresh air,struggling, as a result of instinct, to make his way from out of the resilient egg shell. His claws were not yet fully developed,so this was a difficult process for the dragon to achieve. Once he emerged from the shattered egg, his scales covered in the egg's gooey liquid, the dragon cried out from the blinding amount of light that met his unaccustomed eyes. The cry he made was loud and strenuous. The young dragon chick had never known so much change all at once in his short life.
He blinked in rapid succession, attempting to make the blinding light disappear,
and snarled in frustration at his failure to do so. Gradually, his keen pupils adjusted to the light accordingly, and his struggle ceased. When the dragon took in his new surroundings, he was afraid at first,but his fright dissipated into curiosity as soon as he realized that he was in no immediate danger. His acute ears picked up the sound of a rushing waterfall in the distance. He could see little pebbles, all lustrous and round, and he immediately wanted to have them,
to touch them. This was a newfound instinct for the young dragon - to hoard. Determined to get to the pebbles thatlay several feet ahead of him, he took advantage of his little body's strength and clambered up onto all fours. He was a bit wobbly at first, and even fell head first into the ground several times, but soon became stable. (Normally, dragon chicks were very strong as compared to most other animal babes. As a rule, in the past, dragon chicks were immediately active following birth. This one was no exception to that rule.) Amazed at his accomplishment, the dragon vocalized his delight raucously. He then spread open his fragile pinions, stretching them out for the first time, and then folded them back against his body. He stretched out his limbs, felt his muscles contracting and expanding with every movement, and then had a go at taking his first steps. This was frustrating for the dragon since he had no mother dragon to assist him in learning. No, no mother. This dragon was the first of a new generation of Dragon. This dragon chick had the responsibility to begin his life as a loner, and to survive his most critical years by himself. And this dragon never suspected that he was so important, that his existence would change the world in such a great manner…. and neither did the female dragon that was being born, on theother side of the country, also alone. The male dragon advanced in taking several small steps, and happily continued in his quest once he realized that the pebbles were now closer, within his reach. His eyes locked on with great precision, he opened his scaly jaws and leapt ahead, too impatient to walk. He emerged in triumph, the pebbles lodged in between his molars, and a gurgle of satisfaction emitted from his throat. He dropped the pebbles back on the cold, damp cave floor into a pile. Those few pebbles were the start of a hoard that would gradually grow into a massive collection of luminous trinkets and jewels over the dragon's lifetime. After appeasing his curiosity of the shiny objects, the dragon's attention turned to the cave opening. It was so bright and mysterious to him, and he was compelled to go into the strange unknown. But he wasn't going to journey for the light right then. Something else was on his mind at the moment. Hunger. This was yet another instinct that the dragon had just come across, and he did not like this hunger that throbbed in his stomach. He cried out in fear each time the odd sensation stirred within him, not knowing why what was happening to him or what the feeling meant. At that moment, the dragon could detect an enticing scent coming from the cave walls: platinum. The dragon was immediately inspired to get to the wall, he didn't know why. Neither did he wonder. The dragon now had to encounter his most difficult challenge yet: getting over to the wall. The dragon chick did not pause to formulate any sort of plan, and neither did he question the reason behind his motivation for these actions. Walking was, as before, difficult at first, but he steadily progressed forward, and without tripping or falling this time. As the wall drew closer, the dragon chick's stability in his walking grew. The fear of falling and feeling pain diminished from his mind as the onset of hunger pervaded his thoughts. At long last, when the young dragon had made it to the wall, the scent of platinum was as strong as ever. Instinct took over, and he began to lick the cave wall. He then tried to bite into the wall so that he might get some into his mouth, but this only caused pain. His lips drew up into an angry snarl, his incisors throbbing. In a desperate act,he raised his front right limb and began to tear away at the rock with his stubby claws. This eventually did work, and the dragon bolted down the crumbs of rock that lay on the ground. He ground it down in his back molars, and then he would swallow it. Several swallows later, the dragon had realized that eating the rock made the hunger stop. And also, even though the creature didn't know it, the platinum he consumed combined with other bodily chemicals to produce hydrogen. The hydrogen produced in his system would give him the ability to breath fire, thus being the most recognizable trait of Dragon. Once the dragon chick had had his fill, a strange feeling enveloped in his stomach. Before he could even begin to understand what was happening to him, the feeling traveled up his throat and out of his mouth. A loud belch expelled from his jaws, a small inferno of fire shooting through the air in an instant.
The dragon chick was stunned at the immediate experience, his eyes blinking violently, and he howled in surprise. The sudden heat that he had felt in his craw filled him with panic and caused him to collapse to the ground. He lay there, pinned to the ground in stark terror, his small body quivering.
Many minutes later, he still remain motionless on the ground, his limbs and pinions splayed out over the cold, hard ground. The fear had left him by now, and he just lie there, absent of any thought. A recognizable feeling began to take place in him now; a feeling that he had been accustomed to while living inside of the egg. It was a feeling he had learned not to fear, but to receive gladly. It was fatigue.
The dragon chick welcomed slumber like he never had before, for this had been his most tiring day of his life.