Mare Anguis (Serpent Sea)
#6 of Twenty-minute tales
A brief bit of imaginative musing on a realm dedicated to scaly superiority, inspired by the name of a Lunar Sea.
Didn't bother starting the clock. I might have gone slightly over the "twenty minute" title for this collection due to referencing the Wikipedia article a few times. Oh well.
Mare Anguis is a lunar moon. Its name derives from the Latin for Serpent Sea. It has an appearance resembling that of a dragon in flight, wings outstretched, and it is an impressive 150 kilometers in diameter. (All the preceding paraphrased from Wikipedia)
The thought of this, however, inspires various things in my mind. The old "here there be dragons" text in the oceans of historic maps. The thought of a place where dragons rule. They are civilized, at least to one another. Reptiles, birds, and amphibians are thought of as distant cousins. Insects and other more obscure species are treated with a degree of caution. But be warned: there is little love for mammals here. Humans are the most hated of all. To the creatures here, humans are little more than insects and would be exterminated for being undesirable as the plague
This is a place where scaly superiority reigns supreme. These creatures are ancient; some of them have lived for longer than your species has even dared to exist on this planet. They are wise beyond their innumerable years. They are stronger than even their size would suggest. They can back up any threat they wish to make with their vicious claws and teeth and breath. They are, quite simply, better than your entire species could ever hope to be over the course of its entire existence.
Those who recognize that their place is beneath these giants may find a place here. You'll always be beneath them, of course, but there are suitably subservient roles for lesser species to fill. Your days will be spent ensuring the dragons here will not need to concern themselves with more menial tasks and can focus on greater things than your mind may ever comprehend.
Knowing that you could never turn back, how would you proceed?
Would you dare to swim in the Serpent Sea?