Dragon Child by Kirkmenistan
Chapter 4 - Settling In by Kirkmenistan
Author's Notes:
Update Time!
A deal's a deal Dragen.
Your turn now!
Jet's fourth year on the earth was very much a different one compared to that of any other child. While a normal, or as normal as any wizard child may be, four year olds may be thinking about where their favourite stuffed hippogriff may be, or when they're going to be fed next. Jet focused on when he was going to be fed as well. His stunt with the young Thorn had caused quite the ruckus among the dragons of the large enclosure. He was quickly picked upon by the much older dragons for his size. He did notice another dragon that kept to the fringes of the society. As if he was embarrassed for his kin and their behaviour. Harry's flying feeding method was the only way to get food now.
Like with Thorn he had to time his sonic boom to arrive precisely when he swooped over the other dragons. That way he could grab the meat he needed for the day and fly away while they were left wincing from the sound. Eventually some of the smarter dragons would later wizen up and cover their ears when they heard the whistling of the black-noise-maker. Harry then channelling his magic into his flight muscles, boosting his speed even further and flew back to his nest. His new home was much like his old one; a well camouflaged high perch covered and walled with a space inside to land, then a long narrow tunnel in which he could crawl along to enter his main home. It was easy to defend, and simple to maintain. Recently he had made a new discovery while digging.
Running water.
He had accidentally come across a small underground waterfall on its way to an underground river. The small pool he created around this waterfall allowed for him to sate his thirst whenever he fancied before returning to gorging on his meat, or expanding his home further. It was a base urge of his species to expand his empire. Outside it would be impossible for him to express such a compulsion. Normal dragons couldn't build their own homes like this until they had enough excess magic to heat rock to a melting point; such was the draw on their magic. Instead they constantly competed for the few naturally occurring caves in the area. Jet, due to his small stature would have been swiftly defeated and left outside in the freezing cold to die in the winter. Dragons could take a lot, but even they had their limits. This was another habit that the dragon keepers capitalised upon. How else could wand makers come across dragon heartstrings? If there was a wand maker who was skilled enough in his craft to make reputable wands yet also had the balls to go against a dragon, the wizarding world did not know of them yet.
xxXxx
Jet had started to regress to his home in the keeper's eyes. He never came out to fight for one of the more attractive caves, and he only appeared from his own hovel, wherever it may be, to get food. The main keepers did not believe the young blood when they said that Jet could make his own home. He was too small and young to have that much power.
Jet was not regressing in the slightest, he was just too busy. He wanted his home to be as large as possible. He almost doubled in size the last winter he had laid to rest. He wanted his home to be large enough for the expansion this time. It would be unwise to be trapped within a stone coffin of his own making.
xxXxx
Over then next few months leading towards winter Jet had started to take more than his normal share of meat. The keepers assumed that this was to keep him fed during the winter. It was about time that the little thing went through a growth spurt. The rest of the dragons would live in their caves, only appearing to feed. They assumed that jet would live in his cave, barely moving. Concentrating his heat within himself to keep him alive during the freezing cold.
The truth was that Jet was building his muscles up further. He had slowly stopped channelling magic into his flight muscles, letting them develop on their own. Allowing them to function without magic to a great degree, carrying heavy loads became a normal occurrence for them now. Jet saw the other dragons' reliance upon the inner fire to fly as a great weakness; it made them dependant on something they had little to no control of.
Jet could trust his flesh, he could trust his bones, but he didn't trust the fire. He regarded his inner fire with suspicion. It had a bad habit of acting of it's own accord on the smallest of Jet's desires. An example of this was when he was having a nasty bit of trouble digesting a particularly tough bit of meat. The reserve had gone through budget cuts this year; meat in the required numbers was hard to come by on a small budget. This lump of gristle was somehow surviving within Jet for weeks. Until one day, it vanished. Jet sensed how his inner fire reached out and destroyed the annoying thing within him. It was dangerous. It could destroy things without being used in flame.
During the fourth winter Jet commenced to experiment with this inner fire. While his body was slowing down, slowing to the crawl where his heart hardly beat. His lungs harvested the oxygen they needed by allowing air to travel freely through his body. But his mind was working fast. He studied the fire as it studied him. He watched as it started to change things. How it started to alter his bone structure slightly, tweaking his wings, lengthening his claws, toughening his hide further. He started to use it for himself. Guiding it to change the things that he wanted changed. The back tooth that had always niggled him ever since he had a go at the old man's arm, the patch of scales about the centre of his back that always itched when he flew. He started to perfect himself further, he started to alter his very mind. Allowing him to think faster, achieve a deeper state of concentration when he hunted. To be able to use each eye independently. He also started to grow. Changing his muscles, making them denser, stronger. His bones commenced to strengthen along with them, yet remaining just as light.
He could trust his flesh.
He could trust his bones.
But his inner fire... maybe it had a use after all.
xxXxx
Spring arrived, and the reserve was filled with the sounds of dragons re-establishing themselves as the strongest. The dragon keepers followed a sound of distress. The greedy humans believed that there must have been a dragon in distress. They could 'put it out of its misery' and reap the benefits of a relatively untouched dragon corpse. What they found was an entrance to a new cave approximately half way up the cliff.
It was also billowing smoke and flames.
White-hot, rock melting flames.
Lava pored from the entrance as something on the inside melted its way out of its winter den.
They watched in awe as the dragon known as Jet burst his way out of his den and fell to the ground.
Boy had he grown.
Now 20 feet long, four foot high at the shoulder with a massive wingspan, approximately 46 feet wide. His wings now perfected to be the most aerodynamic in flight. He could now fly for months if he could feed on the wing. His jaws agape, two set's of teeth shaking wildly as he roared his jubilation to the world. He was free!
His eyes then fell upon the keepers. All four of them each getting their own, personal, evil dragon eye. One deep growl, that's all it took. They started screaming for their lives and running. It was good to be the best. He idly considered chasing the little fools.
He had barely taken his first step when a large shape slammed down to the ground in front of him. Harry instantly backed down into a defensive stance.
It was the outsider.
And then with a deep grumbling, akin to the sound of the glaciers that resided close to the enclosure, it spoke.
q73; Greetings… Young One D
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