Dragons are people too

There weren't always dragons in the Valley. That is before HR 22-34 passed. Now the segregation has ended, and human and dragon live side by side.

Forced integration is always rife with conflict, and hyperbole, and rumor, and other complicated words. Two species who had been at odds for a millennia, were now expected to live together in harmony, and expected to do so successfully: a rather fool hearty idea. Worst of all, the dragons had to leave their homes and join the human settlements. The reason for this was never revealed, although at the same time another law was passed. HR 22-35, code named “Now we know what we’re going to do with all of our garbage.”

Of course not all dragons were interested in joining society. Some were perfectly happy staying on their mountain tops. Their only companion being the furry, green, grumpling who abhors Solstice holidays and has a relaxing and remitting micro-vascular issue. Others take to the caves, far under the mountain, alongside the bug eyed imp with an eating disorder and obsession with jewelry.

For those who did join, the journey was not an easy one. Fitting in was particularly difficult, as the dragons simply did not fit. Most of the homes were not built with dragon dimensions in mind, and at the prices in the valley, every square foot mattered.. A spacious foyer means something quite different to a sixty foot lizard with wings. Not to mention the dirty looks from the locals, and the cries of “There goes the neighborhood” To be fair, for most of history, destroying neighborhoods was sort of a dragon’s “Thing”.

It was also quite difficult to fit in with the local tradesmen. Many dragons found their way to the arts, helping people put on plays and thrilling audiences. Recounting tales of brave knights and fair maidens was made all the more realistic. After all, nothing simulates dragon’s fire quite like dragon’s fire. Others joined the Fire prevention team, a profession they were uniquely suited for considering the previous leading cause of fire was in fact, dragons.

The most important job for dragons however, was militarily. A single dragon could replace a battalion of archers, and several hundred cooking spits. The presence of a dragon would also cause the enemy to waste time digging latrines, as seeing a dragon had the added effect of quickly removing the contents of one’s bowels. Employing dragons on the battlefield was the most effective tactic since General Spearhead figured out the pointy end of the stick enters the body much easier than the dull end.

Of course some humans had a very difficult adjustment as well. They didn’t trust their new neighbors, hearkening back to old wives tales of dragons hoarding their wealth, and terrorizing villages. This of course was absurd as the old wives were simply bitter in divorce, losing their husbands to younger, sexier, dragons. The hoarding of wealth is also overblown as not all that glitters is gold; for example glitter. A closer examination would have revealed the pile of wealth was in fact just glitter, and the dragons simply had terrible taste.

None-the-less the prejudice endured. Living next to a giant hurricane of teeth and scales would put most people on edge. Old bigots even more. So the Valley became an arena, a pitch, a ring, Madison Square Garden. Old ideas vs new as man and dragon learned to coexist. It was a match for the ages: God’s most fearsome creatures in the history of the earth, versus dragons.

This is a story about the most unlikely friendship; a boy, a dragon, and a thousand years of history there to tear them apart.