Steem Monsters Rare Card Fantasy Story Contest!

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This is my entry for Steem Monsters Rare Card Fantasy Story Contest! // Week 6 // 10 Booster Pack Prize!, hosted by @steemmonsters.

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The Life of a Dragon by @simgirl

It may come as a surprise, but most people who know me, have little clue I’m a dragon. It’s not like I go around bragging about my bloodline. In most cases I’d rather not explain myself to those who don’t have the intelligence to understand me. Let’s face it, humans are inferior and lack vision beyond their own thoughts and desires. Always thinking of themselves, but never doing much in the ways of expanding their own minds. I don’t say this lightly, still I dress in their skin and parade myself as a human. Frankly, it is exhausting. But this wasn’t always the way.

When I was hatched along the shores of Hatchery Bay, I knew nothing of the humans. I knew only dragons. In fact, for miles and miles along the coast dragons ruled the land with savage force and protected it with their lives. The land was plentiful in ways of animals, but to us they were simply food. In the mornings I would rise with my family and we would go out together to hunt. Our diets consisted of mostly deer and small cattle, but on special occasions, my father would take me out to the ocean for sabre steak, my favorite.

Throughout my youth I learned the life of a dragon. We huddled in our lair and slept peacefully until the sunrise. Sometimes I could sleep through the days without a single disturbance, as the elders took care of protecting me and my siblings. But as I aged, I was given more energy and with my wings stronger, I learned to fly. I traveled more of the land and was given the job of sunset surveillance. I circled the valley as the sun made way to the moons and watched over the young dragons who would sleep peacefully in their caves below.

My friend Airy and I flew together and would stop for breaks during the night near the outskirts of the region. We would breath fire through the forest and catch the tops of the trees ablaze. After a while the trees were gone, and we could see more of the majestic land that we loved. Other dragons would complain, but my father agreed that letting out some fire was healthy for a dragon, and no one was getting bothered that far away from the dragons’ lairs. One morning when Airy and I return from our surveillance we were directed to the meeting chamber of the west cave. It was then we heard the disturbing news.

“Fellow dragons it has come to our attention that those we believed were migrating east, have not been heard from again. We have been sending scouts to the far east to search but have yet to see or hear from any of them. We are afraid the dragon population is diminishing. We plan to send out a bigger group to scout further east then previous times. We need volunteers.”

I looked at the commanding dragon, Sulpherite, and then to my good friend Airy. “This is our chance to see more of the world.” I exclaimed.

Airy’s eyes widened at the thought and then he smiled a crooked, devious smile. “This is our chance to make the world our own!” He replied.

Without hesitation, Airy and I both raised our claws in unison and volunteered for the position. Along with many other youthful dragons we made our way to the east, past the point of safety and assurance to the lush forests of the land beyond the dragons. We searched every region for any sign of dragon habitat. We found a few nesting lairs, but no hatchlings or dragons remained.

It was if the migrating dragons had just disappeared.

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With hope and determination, we continued together to the east until we reached the meeting of the oceans. Flying high above the land we peered below us and spotted something very odd. The burning scent in the air stung our nostrils and black smoke clouds bellowed throughout the regions. In the distance we could see what looked like a messy and isolated nest, but of what creatures we didn’t know. None of the animals we had encountered stood upright the way they did, and they imitated the ants of the land by scurrying back and forth carrying their lumber and stacking it in piles along the borders.

The sour scent of the creatures was overwhelming and gave my stomach a good turn. Our leader Paraness motioned us to take perch on the mountain side. It was there that we rested and talked about the new species we encountered.

“They seem harmless.” Airy said.

I agreed, but Paraness seemed worried. “We can’t know that for sure Airy.” He said. “We need to scout the area before we can proceed. These creatures may be small, but they work as if they have no fear of their surroundings. I think it is best if you and Neb take a fly by to see what these creatures are planning. We need to know their strengths and their weaknesses. We cannot face them unprepared.”

“We’ll do our best.” I said. Then Airy and I took flight and quietly spied on the mysterious individuals building their homes from the wood of the trees.

The first fly over was very high in the air. We could not risk that these creatures would see us. We did not see anything unusual, besides the creatures and the shelters they constructed along the coast. The nest grew heading further into the woods where the young and the female of the creatures resided. The young of the beings were not strong and relied on their mothers for food. This was a good sign. We flew closer to the ground, trying to understand the life these creatures lived.

It was then we witnessed the most appalling spectacle.

With haste we ascended to the mountainside to tell the others the horror of what we discovered among the creatures.

“The creatures have been killing the dragons and using their body parts for food, and clothing. We saw them piercing the dragons with long spears and draining their blood. Some of the creatures ripped off the scales of the dead dragons. They are wearing the scales on their backs for protection as if they were armor. Once the scales were removed, they cut the dragon into pieces, cooked it over a fire and then fed it to the other creatures.” I told the others.

“It was a horrifying sight.” Airy added, shaking his head in disgust.

Paraness sighed and looked concerned. “These creatures have more intelligence then we first thought. If they have made the dragons their food, we have little hope that the other dragons are still alive.”

“They are still alive.” A strange voice replied.

We all looked in unison at the tiny creature who stood behind us.

“Don’t be startled. My name is Walker Shepherd and I am here to help.”

“How can you help us?” Paraness asked the creature.

“By revealing to you a secret that has remained a mystery to those unfortunate dragons in the valley.

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Walker Shepherd was out gathering herbs when he witnessed us descending onto the mountainside. He told us that he had been studying dragons for a long time and was very disturbed by the way the creatures he called humans were treating them.

“I’ve been trying to speak out against the use of dragon scales, but the people simply won’t listen. Not because they are completely heartless, but because they are scared that the dragons will kill them. It started a few years back when one of the people encountered a dragon and was killed. It was that unfortunate incident that created the fear. Since then the people have been slaying the dragons for sport. Those that aren’t killed are kept in a camp north of the village.”

We sat silent and listened as Walker Shepherd told us of the brutal suffering the dragons had endured by the hands of the humans. My heart was heavy with grief as Walker mentioned the advancement of killing dragons for sport to breeding them for pets. To think his fellow dragon broods were being raised to be submissive to any creature was heartbreaking enough, but to know it was by the hands of such inferior creatures was nothing but insulting.

We glared at Walker Shepherd and the air was thick between us. Each sentence he spoke cut into our hearts like the spear they used in the valley below us.

“You haven’t yet told us how it is you can help.” I said before he explained more about the dragon genocide.

“It has come to my attention that the construction of the dragon’s bodies… your bodies, have a cellular structure that can be changed to match those of other creatures.”

We stared blankly at him, not quite understanding what he was trying to tell us.

“You have the ability to turn into humans.” Walker said, more excited than we seemed to be by his underwhelming revelation.

Throughout the evening and into the night we listened as Walker Shepherd explained the scientific reasoning behind the simple detail that we could morph into anything we wanted. It wasn’t until now that we could morph into a human, because that fact was, we had never seen one before. The longer we listened the more we believed his theory and was willing to try it ourselves.

I followed all of Walker’s instructions and began the first attempt of changing my dragon form into one of a human’s. Because Walker was the only human available for the experiment, I used his physical appearance and concentrated on what I believed would be his human form. But it wasn’t enough to change my dragon body.

“You have to believe you can do it, or you won’t change. Believe Neb.” He said, “Believe you can change your form.”

By this time most of the other dragons had lost interest in the transformation process and found themselves a comfy spot along the mountainside to sleep. But Airy and I were not ready to give up yet. I tried again but this time I believed with all my heart that I had the power inside myself to transform.

“Look it is working!” Airy shouted.

I was startled by the sensation of shrinking into such a small body, but once the transformation was underway, I embraced the power and created the form I wanted. When the transformation was complete, I was standing eye to eye with Walker Shepherd and he was smiling from ear to ear.

“I knew you could do it.” Walker said, excited to know he was right all along.

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The other dragons of the group began to rise and were astonished by my new human form. Throughout the night, and under the moons, we all transformed ourselves to a new and unflattering human form. Although we all looked a little like Walker Shepherd, we each had our own individual human form that separated us from each other.

“No one will ever know you are really dragons.” Walker said. “I’ll show you the camp in the north, and you can free the others. I only ask that the dragons try their best to keep peace with the humans after they are safe. With this new ability, dragons will be able to blend in with the humans. There will be no need to fear or attack them.”

We made a vow to Walker Shepherd and he kept his promise to lead us to the camp where the migrating dragons were being held against their will. In our human form we were able to make our way around the camp and could free the other dragons from the chains that bound them to the ground. Together we quietly gathered the hatchlings and unhatched eggs and removed them from the camp. The humans never suspected a thing, and by morning no dragons remained in their degrading encampment.

Once we made it back to the west, we advised the others of how we planned to trick the humans and explained to them how Walker Shepherd helped and was responsible for freeing the hostage dragons. We taught the others to use this new altering ability and before long dragons of all shapes and sizes were transforming themselves to appear human. With the migration of the humans traveling farther, the dragons decided it was time to live alone far above the ocean and the place they called home.

Most dragons still live together beyond the Hatchery Bay, but some like me have found a new life among the humans. Although small and insignificant, the humans can be quite entertaining at times, and it helps to know that if I am ever in danger I can transform back into a dragon and swallow the humans whole.

Along with my new-found ability to transform myself to a human, I have also found the ability to summon any monster I can imagine. At first, I only did this for fun, but as I became more involved in the human world, I discovered I could battle these monsters for fame and fortune.

And there’s nothing a dragon likes more than hoarding piles and piles of gold.

I have to say the life of a dragon is not always the best life. Each dragon must choose for themselves what they want to transform themselves into, even if it is a human.

The End

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