A Bronze Rising: New Territory
#1 of A Bronze Rising
This story originally appeared on Writing.com. It is the tale of a bronze dragon entering a new territory and the challenges he faces in mastering his new environment to suit his needs.
After a weary climb over the heights of the last mountains, I glide down the chilly slopes, the bald rock giving way swiftly to tall evergreens that fill the sweeping valley ahead of me. My wings burned upon my back with the effort of crossing the mountains behind me and the desert before that. I alight in a clearing large enough for my bulk and rest, leaning against an ancient redwood. I closed my eyes and heaved a great sigh. I was exhausted and hungry, but memories tugged at me still, blood and fire.
No. Now was not the time for pointless reminiscence. The past was dead and gone, however my future was another matter entirely. I gazed long at the settlement, watching the tiny creatures scurry back and forth. Pointless, meaningless lives. In a sense it was like watching fish in a tiny pool. Those tiny beings down there, sheltered in the confines of their artificial home had no concept of the vast world around them.
The trees, the wind, the sky. All beckon to me so that it was a challenge to even remain still and concentrate. I took the thought into my mind that I could decimate the village, eat my fill of livestock and have an afternoon's worth of amusement as well. My head lowered and I lean more against the stout tree at my side, I could feel the roots straining under the ground as I press my formidable weight against the ancient tree. Burning the village too would be pointless, something that my brother would revel in as well. I resolved not to destroy the village, if only because it is something my hated sibling would enjoy.
But I was already tired of thinking of him. He was far away now and no longer a part of my life. My life... I had never been out completely on my own, I realized with a grim certainty. I'd been flying for my life for so long, survival had been the only goal. Now what? I turned my head back the way I had come and realize that the mountain at my back marked the end of the last dragon's territory whose domain I'd so recently passed through. He'd informed me that beyond his domain, the land was hostile, populated by tiny thieves who delighted in stealing dragon eggs, slaughtering infants and emerging from the ground like ants despite every attempt to exterminate them. In other areas, they were properly tamed, but not there, he had said. Not here.
"Not properly tamed..." I thought slowly, the idea building up in my mind like a rising tide. I knew I needed territory and seeing as not an inch of proper real-estate was left unclaimed in all the lands I'd visited in my years of traveling, perhaps I could be the one to begin domesticating these "wildlands." After all, I had no eggs nor young vulnerable to tiny thieves and assassins. The idea that an insect, even a multitude of insects no larger than the small claw on my hand could pose a threat to me was laughable.
Thus, I sat and turned my head back to the settlement tucking into a fertile valley between the towering mountains. It's wooden shacks and campfires took on new meaning in my eyes. Perhaps my territory could be rich indeed someday...