Chapter 1: Beginnings and Meetings
The land was hilly. There were rocks jutting out of the ground from place to place, and here and there, large boulders, some large enough to be considered mountains, protruded out of the ground. There were trees to the south, and the land only got more rocky and mountainous as it went north. This area was far distant from any real human civilization. There were just a few farmers, each one about six miles away from the other. They all raised cattle, sheep, and other popular livestock. They raised them naturally because they felt that using chemicals and genetic engineering was just plain wrong.
Shaloxeroligon (pronounced shal-OCKS-ah-ROHL-ih-gohn) and his family were very much glad that those humans did not use chemicals or genetic engineering. Animals like that don't taste very well. Besides, humans tend to tell each other about what they see, so if anyone found out about him and his family, either they would be hunted down and killed or England itself would be evacuated, and their food supply would be severely limited.
Shaloxeroligon (or Shal, his nickname) was very smart for his age and was adroit with his hands, but he was not as strong as other dragons. He also had difficulty thinking on his feet, which led his younger brothers and sisters to believe him to be slow in the head. Shal was the oldest of his siblings, at age eleven. He had five younger brothers, named Hyjoxar, Natgar, Cirothe, Athkore and Iregor (who were twins), and four younger sisters, named Iskshafaeredar (which means star on earth), Askoort, Miirikekessearenk (which means song to tomorrow), and Verselathearbensvelk (which means celestial power of good).
At first glance, Shal appeared just like any other copper dragon. Although not as physically strong as some, his muscular shoulders and thighs granted him extraordinary jumping ability. (From the Draconomicon, pg 44-45) "A copper dragon's head has a short face and no beak. Broad, smooth browplates jut over the eyes, and long, flat coppery horns extend back from the browplates in a series of segments. The dragon also has backswept cheek ridges and frills on the backs of the lower jaws that sweep forward slightly. Layers of Triangular blades point down from the chin, and as the dragon gets older more layers with larger blades develop. The dragon has a long tongue that come to a single point.
At birth, a copper dragon's scales have a ruddy brown color with a metallic tint. As the dragon gets older, the scales become finer and more coppery, assuming a soft, warm gloss by the young adult stage (age 51-100). A very old (age 601-800) dragon's scales pick up a green tint. A copper dragon's pupils fade with age, and the eyes of a great wyrm (age 1201+) resemble glowing turquoise orbs.
Copper dragons have a stony odor.
Copper dragons have mantalike wings that show green and red mottling along the trailing edges. The upper alar limb is exceedingly short, giving the leading edges of the wing a U-shaped profile when viewed from below. The wings run down the dragon's entire body, almost to the tip of the tail. The main portion of the wing is supported by three phalanges and a modified alar olecranon. Spines sweeping backward at an angle from the backbone support the remainder of the wing."
But there was something about him that made him seem different. That oddity was both very strange and very subtle, as if he were meant to do great things. He was different, and he knew it inside.
At long last the description is over. Shal was relaxing in the lair, enjoying the wonderful music of Led Zeppelin. His parents had bought him a bunch of CDs, and he was using those wondrous gifts to full effect. They were busy at the moment. For a split second Shal felt a strange presence above him, but he ignored it, drawing back into himself to enjoy the beauty of "Achilles Last Stand." Just around the middle of the song, Shal was assaulted. His youngest sister, Miirikekessearenk, jumped down from the wall of the cave and landed on his back, knocking him over and throwing the headset from his ears. She pinned him down (she was very, very strong for her age) so he couldn't move and glared into his turquoise eyes. They stared at each other for three full seconds, then Miir began to laugh, and she rolled onto the floor beside him.
"You should have seen the look on your face!" she laughed, "You didn't even see it coming!"
"Why couldn't you have waited till later to tackle me? I was in the middle of such a great song," Shal said. "Now I have to start all over again."
"Because," Miir replied, "Dad says that he was going out to get dinner and wanted you to come along."
"Cool! Dad never lets me come along with him," Shal said excitedly, "He always tells me that it's too dangerous for someone as young as me."
"It's not fair that you get to go hunting with Dad and all the rest of us don't," Miir whined. "It's just not fair."
"I'm the oldest, and Dad trusts me, so there," Shal said, rubbing it in her face. He had a second thought and said, "If it'll make you feel any better, you can listen to my music 'til we get back." Miir nodded.
Shal anxiously left his room in search of his father. Their cave was very large, covering several thousand square feet of area, and composed almost entirely out of natural limestone, although his parents had to use some of their more powerful spells to shape it to their liking. Their treasure hoard, which was technically property of his father, Versvechverthicha, lay at the bottom room of the lair, and was well protected. A tunnel wound up to the large main cave, where the family spent most of their time. Off to one side was where the parents slept, and opposite to that was where the children slept. There was a tunnel that connected the main room to a smaller cave, which was where they stored their books. Finally, another tunnel connected to the book room led up to the outside world.
Shal found his father waiting for him in the book room. He had cracked open a volume while he waited, and was so intent on his reading that he didn't notice his son's presence until he came close.
"Ready to go?" he asked.
"Well why else would I be here?" Shal replied.
His father looked up at him disapprovingly. "Sarcasm is the lowest form of humor, Shal," his father said, "and I would prefer that you don't use it."
"I guess that's just one thing that I'll have to work on," Shal said, smiling.
"What's so funny?" his father asked.
"You don't read," Shal pointed out.
"True. I was just doing this to look busy," his father said.
And with that, they left in search of that night's dinner. The sky was dark when they exited the lair. The sun had almost completely set, and a few faint stars were visible. Versvechverthicha sealed the lair with a large boulder, to conceal it from passersby. He knew that they had to be careful, especially after what had happened last time.
Since Shal was too little to fly very fast, he rode on his father's back. Versvechverthicha made sure that Shal would not fall, found an area of level ground, and began to run in that direction. He picked up speed, spread his massive wings, and, with a tremendous leap, became airborne. He beat his wings to propel himself into the air. It was windy that night, and that made it easier to fly, since dragons use the updrafts to support their weight. He managed to grab one, and up they went. But he made sure not to go too high, so that they wouldn't be seen. One could either fly very low and fast, or fly really high up in the clouds, in order to avoid being seen.
They veered sharply to the left, in the direction of one of the nearby farms. Versvechverthicha knew that this farm had hundreds of cattle, so one or four wouldn't be missed. They swooped down and landed softly not fifty feet from the fences. The house was very far from here, so they were pretty sure they wouldn't be found. Shal jumped down and looked up at his father, ready to go.
"You have to be very, very quiet when you want to grab a live meal," his father whispered, "And be sure that it's difficult to see you. Now, I'm going to sneak up and grab one of those cows, making sure that it doesn't make a sound. When you're old enough, try using magic to silence the area, which I am going to do, so don't bother trying to talk to me. And finally, try not to scare the other cattle, because they will probably run away, out of the silenced area, and make a whole lot of noise."
Shal nodded in understanding. Versvechverthicha began to whisper in a strange, unknown tongue, and moved his hands in complex gestures. He did this for about two seconds, and stopped. It seemed like nothing had happened. He began to creep up to the fence. Shal followed. When they reached the fence, his father motioned for him to stay put. Shal agreed, and sat down to watch. It was then that Shal noticed the pressing silence around him. He breathed loudly to himself. No sound. He snapped a blade of grass at his feet. No sound. He yelled at the top of his lungs. No sound. Shal smiled to himself. His father had cast a spell.
Shal watched as his father snuck silently up to an unsuspecting bull. When he was just within ten feet of it, he leaped into the air and landed on its back, knocking it over. Versvechverthicha bit hard into the back of its neck, and the bull went limp. Shal didn't know whether or not it was dead or just knocked out. His father dragged the body toward the fence and left it there for Shal to guard.
Versvechverthicha repeated the process three more times. When the last cow was dead in a pile with the rest, he took a small piece of dark black cloth from out behind his left horn. He then began to unfold the cloth until it was six feet wide. He then laid the cloth on the ground. Shal crawled over the fence and looked more closely at the cloth. He touched and what he felt surprised him. He felt nothing. Where the cloth was, there was a void, an empty space. He then realized what this was: a portable hole. He could see down to the bottom, ten feet below, which was slightly brighter than the rest. His father then began to push the lifeless cows into the hole, which was not difficult considering his strength. After storing the last cow, he folded up the cloth back to its original size and tucked it back securely behind his left horn. Versvechverthicha motioned for Shal to come. He jumped on his back, and they were on their way back home.
