• As I stared at the twisted scar on my shoulder, I heard something small scrabbling over the rocks. I raised my head and looked over the edge of the steep cliff and saw a small figure climbing up the face. I reached out and bit into his leather jerkin, and pulled him up to the top with me and set him down in front of me.
    “Thank you, lord Astrik.” He said meekly.
    I couldn’t help but smile at the title they had given me. I was no lord, by any means at all. And still, they called me Lord Astrik. All I had done was driven a young drake from their lands and settled here myself, and a few weeks later, the town had come to the cave waving torches and crude farming instruments. A simple huff of fire and a glimpse of my size had sent them all screaming and cowering back to their village. Another month had passed when this young man, then a boy, had crawled up to my cave, sporting injuries from a beating. He had been amazed when I had asked what was wrong and why he was injured. He had stuttered about older kids beating him for not doing work they had been ordered to do. We had conversed for a few hours when the other kids had come to the cave, and I told him to confront them, but say nothing about me. I had just snuck down I side tunnel that looped back to outside, just over the main entrance, when they saw him. It pained me to leave him like that, even briefly, but as a silver dragon, I couldn’t let this continue. I jumped into the sky, twisting to land heavily at the entrance, and roared, then thundered into the main cavern, smiling as I found all of them but the boy huddled into a recession in a wall. “Im sorry for invading you home sir.” The boy said meekly, looking at his feet. “By rights I should burn you and crush you.” I replied indifferently to him, eyeing the other males against the wall. “Do what you wish with them, but I ask your forgiveness and plead that you allow me to leave here alive.” He answered, dropping to a knee in a respectful gesture. “I shall allow you to exit, but I will not be so lenient should I catch you again. Now stand by that wall.” I said gesturing to a well smoothed area I had a preference for sleeping on. “As for you foul scum, what shall I do with you?” I asked, savagely baring my teeth and letting heat from my fire press against their frail skin. They only whimpered in fear and cowered more. “You have the nerve to beat him yet you cannot even speak to a dragon?” I asked, pulling my head back in a feigned alarmed expression. “We haven’t touched him! We were just sent to see where he was because others in the village were looking for him.” One of them replied, trying to defend them. I roared in anger, “Then why does he smell of you and why do you reek of his blood? Be gone from my sight, it’s not worth the energy to crush you.” I curled my tail around and forced them towards the mouth of the cave. Once they were between me and the exit, they needed no encouragement to leave. I watched them go and finally turned back to the boy. “What do you call yourself?” I asked simply. “Demitrie.” He replied, looking up so he could see me. I put my head down beside him and replied, “Well then Demitrie, I bid you farewell for today, but should they bother you again, you know where to find me.” And with that I walked to the cave mouth and turned to look at him. “You are always welcome here but don’t try to betray me or steal. It’ll be the last thing you do.” And with that, I jumped into the sky, spreading my wings out to catch the wind as I plummeted down the side of the mountain.
    * * * * * * * * * * *
    “Lord Astrik? Is something wrong?” Demitrie, asked, looking up at me. “Oh I’m fine Demitrie. Just remembering a few things.” I replied, snapping out of my thoughts. “Well let’s hope one of those thoughts was the party the village is hosting for you.” He said, watching expectantly. It was a good thing he had said that because I had completely forgotten…again. I sighed and asked, “What time are they expecting me to arrive?” Demetrie hesitated a moment and his reply startled me. “So soon? But there’s no way you would be able to get back without…” My voice trailed off at his expression. “You knew. And still you did this.” I glared down at him, but he refused to meet my eyes. He just stared down at his feet, as any knowingly guilty human would. He knew that he was seriously pressing his luck, and I was in no mood to allow him such a leisure, and I doubted I would ever let any human ride me. I refused to become just another beast of burden for humans to claim that they had broken me and dominated me.
    “Keep pressing your luck and someday you will press it too far, even for me.” I stated coldly. Before he had any chance to reply or try to defend himself I grabbed him rather awkwardly in my claws and plummeted off the edge of the cliff, throwing my wings out to slow and stop my fall. I heard nothing except the howling wind as my wings caught the air. It was always a glorious feeling to fly free of any boundaries or limitations of any sort. It was an easy flight through the massive valley, a carpet of evergreens spread out across the sides of the river, a waterfall leaving no questions as to which way the flow traveled. Thankfully it was warm today so it was an easy enough flight over to the village but I was still irritated with Demitri so I set him down just outside the town while being careful of the nearby houses. It is said that any village, town, or city that lies within a metallic dragon’s domain is virtually guaranteed safety from mercenaries, pirates, thieves, or any such people of such sinister trades. Well seeing as no one dared attack the only town in my territory I guess it has some truth to it. Regardless of what rumors the people spread, they were not always safe. The jeweled dragons got their names for the fact that they hoarded and ate jewels of a preference, turning their hide and scales the color of the gems they ate. No one knew how they could tell what gem was what by a simple taste, but they never guessed wrong. It would be useful in many ways if they could ever stop pillaging and raiding, flying back off to their lairs. Strangely enough, they seemed to like staying in places where their colors fit in with their surroundings. Ruby dragons, often called Blood dragons for their lust for blood, were often found in sweltering caverns inside volcanoes. Sapphire dragons, preferred seaside caves, and they were excellent swimmers. Emerald dragons preferred the foliage of forests, and they were also the smallest of dragons. There were many of them and my head needed to prepare for the so called celebrations they were holding in honor of me protecting them. I didn’t even know what they wanted from me but I guess I would have to pay attention or suffer for my lax attention span. Maybe I could just bore them with stories of little green dragons tricking rather clueless mercenaries to their deaths, or maybe tell tales of the Ruby dragon who was trapped in a volcano while searching for his gems, only to realize too late that he had already eaten them all. I made my way around the meager city wall and found the house of the town leader. He would probably lecture me about forgetting things but I didn’t bother to try and remember humans and their ways. They never stuck with anything, and always changed things, even things that were proven to work. I suppose it was their breeding like rats that overcame many problems, but dragons took mates for life, and never betrayed their partners. Human males just fertilized as many females as they could lay their hands on, and consumed their drinks until they returned home to abuse their wives and rape their daughters. Id caught many men doing it and killed them without hesitation. Any man that didn’t like how I did things here could either leave, or accept that I would not tolerate such things. Tearing roofs off was easier than one would think, though the fact that many of them were only shoulder high at best might have explained it.
    I found myself wandering circles around the place and wondered what they were planning. I could smell a plethora of smells varying from wild animals, cattle, and fish to cultured crops, wild berries, and a large variety of baked goods and breads. The sun was already beginning to set on the horizon but nothing appeared to be happening outside, yet I could smell quite a large feast…