Little Wing

There weren't always dragons in the valley.

Though much had changed since the valley lost its green, and since Tobius had come of age. He was the third son of Hyrel, although considered illegitimate he was the last living. The first of whom lost shortly after birth. The other was lost to the lustful hunger of a dragon.

Tobius now was almost in his teens, and able to help the family in their labors. Labors that led them to this place they now stood.

“The valley used ta be so green back den.” Tobius’ father would always say, usually as he spat toward the now charred, patchy grounds occupied by the dragons.

There they stood now, in a similar charred hellscape but in line of lost souls. Hundreds of people as far as the eye could see. The cattle line is what most people called it.

It had recently rained, so the line of people wallowed through muck a few paces at a time. As time passed the sun came peeking through the clouds, the crowd sighed in some relief. The relief gave way as the air stank with a fog of decay, and body odor. Much to which the flies buzzed and rejoiced in.

Hyrel patted his son's head, trying to lighten the somber mood of their predicament. Everyone knew what awaited at the end of the line, but there they were regardless.

In Tobius’ younger years he would listen while his father told stories from the times before, when dragons and man worked in unison. When dragon knights would ride upon their gallant beast patrolling the realm; making it safe for common folk.

That was before the betrayal.

Everyone cowered as several dragons glided hundreds of feet above their heads. Tobius did not, out of the blur of people he was the one who stood unwavering. Despite the fear he now had for them he still found them a marvel to behold.

Eventually down the line came the dragon lords. They walked with the purpose that comes with power. They carried large buckets as they sprayed something on the human-cattle line.

People cursed them, though few dared to actually levy an attack against them, for an attack on them was an attack against the dragon.

They came by Tobius and Hyrel to spray them down. As they soaked them Hyrel spit and cursed them, the salty liquid fowled his mouth. Tobius’ eyes burned with the mysterious spray.

“Curse ya, ya bloody bastards!” Hyrel coughed, as he rubbed his now aggravated eyes. “Hope ya rest easy beneath the claws of a dragon eh? Hope ya rest real easy! Eventually, you will be right there with us, in the belly!”

Tobius’ stomach free falled as one of the dragon lords turned their attention to them. No, father just be quiet.

His iron armor reflected the now glaring sunshine, his face was not of a man but the mask of what was supposed to be a dragon. Its mouth wide with faux teeth, partially exposing the man's mouth within it. He spoke with a deep voice that echoed from his mask. “Wasn't ye guilty of the same stone ye cast Hyrel of the East Marsh? We are but the same, we just wear the cloak of the dragon.” Grotesque jagged teeth smiled within his mask.

Hyrel’s lips pursed as he felt the glares of the people move over him.

A portly man behind them muttered to Hyrel, “you're one of them? You were a man farmer?”

Hyrel stammered for any words, shite, chicken is out of the egg now.

The crowd around them echoed with threats, and anger. Hyrel found his own angry words now, “what matter is it now? Here we sit in this pile of shit to be eatin' like the rest of you.”

A thick hand went to Hyrel’s shoulder, “Aye, but you will be a little more tenderized for the dragons when its your turn.” Hyrel spun the man's hand off his shoulder and snapped the man's head back with a fist of burly knuckles to the face, and in response a surge of people surrounded them.

A wave of arms swung the same motion. Desperate, tired hands flung at a target, that was only known by the fists; and unseen by the eyes in the pit of people.

Tobius cried out for his father, “No! Pa, stop! Stop!” He tried with no avail to pull one of the men out of the way, “get off him!” A man turned an angry pox covered face to Tobius, and pushed him onto his back. His fall was met by a deep squish of muck.

At one point Tobius may have been pleased by the beating of his father. It took some time for his father and him to mend their relationship once Tobius figured out what happened to the people once they left their farm.

His heart and mind rebelled until eventually he grew into a reluctant acceptance of their role of servitude in this new world. Still, Tobius resented his father, as well as himself

Tobius used to get lost in the dancing flames and embers while his father told the stories of before.

“See it was hard to figure what really happened, though yarns had been spread to so and so, and other yarns to so and so, but the story had spread whetha’ through fire or spoken word, that a man er maybe a women plagued by dark magic and an equally fowl dragon married together in a sort of unholy unity not seen before. Preta it called itself.

Through his transformation he gained an insatiable hunger for power, and of man; And I reckon that's where he got his name, aye Preta the insatiable.”

His father would gulp down numerous sips of black ale, while he told these stories, it was almost a requirement. “Aye from this came a long war with Preta coming out on top, Preta and his dark followers, men who did whatever the dragons wished, no matter how vile.”

Those were the dragon lords who were now beat people into submission in the line

The hierarchy went dragons, dragon lords, and then there were those who farmed out their fellow men to save themselves; and earn some coin to setup shipments to the dragon lords.

That unfortunately was the family of Tobius and his father. Tobius tried to not think about what they did, and only of the work that they had on the farm. Though at the end of the day they held and captured humans for slaughter. Tobius hadn't found out until two solars ago.

He had thought many times about their fights standing in that line.

“How can we do this? Its murder?” He had screamed at his father, tears welling in his eyes.

His father was drunk off ale that night he confronted him, “Well what'd you think we done with em? We just fatted em up and sent em on their way?”

“I thought they lived! I thought that we were good, and honorable!” Tobius hated how high pitched his quavering voice was, but it didn’t matter, the only thing that mattered was the rage he felt.

“Dah my boy what difference does honor make tween an honorable dead man and a dishonorable dead man? We treated them folk fair nuff, an if we didn't farm them, someone else would, and we’d been farmed erselves!” The flames bounced back and forth in the hearth, as if being billowed by dragon's breath.

Ironically it was another farmer who betrayed them. They spilled some sort of lies which lead to what Hyrel foretold being true.

Tobius slipped in the muck trying to come to his feet.

The ground shook with a tremor. The fighting people struggled to keep their balance on one another, and then they turned to look for what the sudden shock was. Tobius saw first the man who shoved him, and his reaction. His eyes wide with shock, and then right in front of where Tobius sat in the mud, a steady yellow stream flowed down the man's leg. Tobius looked away in shame for the man, but stood up among the trees of people to see what stopped them from murdering his father.

A deep growl seemed to shake everyone, Tobius felt the growl from within himself even. People crawled over each other to get away as best they could.

Tobius looked upon the dragon with both shock, terror, and awe. Its blood red scales were almost as big as a small man each. Spikes strode up the beast's neck to its huge head, a single slit in its gold eye imposed its will on all.

It lowered its head exposing a rider in a dark cloak upon it. He had a dragon lord's mask on as well. He decreed with venom in his words. “IT is not for you to decide who lives and dies here! All you are to be eaten alive, unless decided otherwise.”

Tobius was sure he could smell more than one person pissing themselves now. The dragon raised its head, and the lord turned his as well toward a commotion. Someone in the crowd was attempting to run.

The dragon leapt up into the air flapping its wings as it went. They reminded Tobius of ship sails, he had only seen one ship in his life that had a sail comparable to this. The ship was much smaller, he thought.

Some in the crowd fell from their feet from the gust of the wings, others cowered in place as the dragon gave chase to the running person. The shadow of the dragon blotted out the sun.

Hyrel stood from the circle of fell people, dusting himself off and cursing them. He spoke to no one in particular. “Where the bloody hell does he think he's getting off too?” He made his way to embrace his son. They smacked together with a wet thud.

Beneath his fathers hug, Tobius gasped with the others in the group as the dragon now flew above them, clutched in its claws was the screaming, writhing body of a person.

The screams were so high pitched Hyrel couldn't tell if it was a man or woman, he could just tell that they were trying to break out of the grasp of the dragon. I would choose that death over being’ eatin’ too.

The dragon squeezed enough that it seemed to break most of the bones in the person's body, with a sickening series of pops. Hyrel winced as if it were him who had the life squeezed from him, and with a fatherly instinct he covered his son's ears with his rough hands. It rained yet again, but this time it was from the blood that leaked out of the airborne captive.

Hyrell shook his head bitterly in despair. “Well that will get ya to the head of the line.”

Some hours passed in the line, Hyrel and his son moved closer and closer to the butchers as they were called. Tobius awoke to the bitter voice of someone near them. “They're just fattening us up for the slaughter.” He didn't remember being carried in his fathers large arms, his patchy gray beard poked the top of his head.

“There, there, boy.” He gave him a fatherly pat.

Tobius breathed in as he woke, remembering their dire circumstances. He looked to see they were much closer to the end of the line. His father passed him a large turkey leg that apparently had been given to the crowd.

He spoke in between rabid bites.“We should run for it.”

“Ah boy we would get gobbled up to the front of the line to be eaten just like the others.”

Tobius pulled his head back from his fathers chest, his scent a mix of body odor, and cedarwood from before they were taken. They met each other's eyes, “father if we stay in this line we definitely die, wouldn't you at least die fighting, or running?”

Hyrel considered the thought, he had sort of caught the general rotations of the dragon patrols, he observed carefully as two circled above as crows would.

“Aye me boy, you got a point there.” Hyrel whispered, “okay when this next two dragons fly away there will be one floating about that’ll switch out I'd be willin’ to say, and as he's about to fly away we’ll make a run for it to them trees there.” He gestured with his head to a ridgeline of trees not burnt by the dragons.

Tobius calculated the distance, imagining the long run required, a distance a dragon could cover in a couple flaps of its wings.

As if reading his mind, his father locked his brown eyes with him again, “ye will have to run faster than ye ever have aye? I use to cut lumber ‘round this area, and if me memory serves me right, there should be a ravine down the ridge there.” Hyrel cleared his throat, noticing some wandering eyes, he lowered his voice, which proved difficult for him. “There should be a ravine and if we get to it, then there will be a waterfall. I’ll need you to be brave son, we will have to jump.”

“Jump?? How high is it?”

“I don't know, boy, maybe 40-50 hands. But listen! Just beneath the falls be a cavern. We can hide there and move through it to at least be away from them. It's a fool's chance but a chance.”

Tobius was terrified of the thought of jumping from anything like that, he pictured piercing rocks beneath the falls. Even though he fantasized about riding a dragon and soaring through the clouds he was very much afraid of heights. He thought back to when his brother was alive, they once climbed a tree together, and his brother left him up in the branches far above the earth. He giggled like a maniac at the top of the tree, he thought it hilarious. Tobius did not.

He nodded, “A fool's chance it is pa.”

I just hope we have enough bloody time, Hyrel thought as the line continued to move while the two dragons soared above. Each shuffling of feet forward led to more and more dread.

Hyrel studied the two dragons as they twirled in the sky. A few paces in front oa crying woman and her family were fighting to get out of the grasp of the dragon lords. Hyrel winced at the sickening thud of mallet to skull, and watched as the now unconscious family was dragged into the dark tower.

One of the dragons landed on top of the tower suddenly, wrapping its transparent wings around it as if it were a embrace.

It glared into seemingly everyone with its black unblinking eyes, and spoke in a rour of the dark dialect of dragon tongue that maybe few in the line understood. Hyrel knew what it said.

“You are but meat, know this and your time here will be short.” Which shortly it translated into the common tongue.

After picking a few people out of the line as possible snacks, the dragons flew off. Hyrel scanned the skies not seeing a dragon in sight. He nudged his son, “look me boy, it's as clear as it can be. Get ready to go for it.”

Hyrel and Tobius made way through several people, “pardon, pardon us my boy has ta make water, pardon.”

Then at the edge of the line, both of them braced themselves.

“Now.”

Hyrel first pulled his son with him stride for stride as they pushed away from the muddy line, their feet smacked the ground as they went. After they made it several yards he released his son's hands from his grasp to run alongside him.

Tobius pumped his arms and legs harder than he had in his life, for that's what he was running for.

They could hear a murmur from the people in the line behind them.

Tobius didn't want to look behind them but he couldn't fight the urge. He turned his head slightly. No dragons yet.

Suddenly less than three hands away a bolt whistled to the right of Hyrel’s head.

“Fack!” He turned to see at least three dragon lords firing crossbows at them.

Another whizzed by Tobius, who let out a light whimper. “C'MON BOY RUN! Run to the left and right! Make it hard on em!”

A bolt pierced a tree as they closed distance to the ridgeline. Hyrel hadn't ran like this since he was a much younger lad, his chest was burning with fury.

Almost there dammit, just let us get to the river.

Just then he heard it. The screeching roar of a dragon. Both Hyrell and Tobius’ felt a cold fear despite the effort they exerted running.

Hyrel looked behind them and sure enough not one, but two dragons were closing distance on them by the second. Just a little further.

They jumped into the ridge line of the trees, sliding down a small divot at first. “Where's the river?”

Hyrel gasped his answer “eh should be to our right, go-”

The trees above them cracked and groaned in dismay as a dragon crashed through the canopy tearing down several trees in anger.

The two took cover, Hyrel smothered his son with his body as the debris fell upon them.

He waited for dragon fire to rain upon them. This is it..

Though the end ever came, he still could hear the dragons flying above the trees pulling them from the ground. Hyrel realized the dragons didn't want their meal to be cooked. “C'mon boy up.” He pulled up his son, brushing off the branches from them and they continued their run.

Hyrel felt the air gush behind him odds are from dragon jaws snapping behind him.

It shouted at them. “RUN! YOU WILL JUST DIE TIRED.”

Hyrel paused after hundreds of paces. “Okay we are still alive,” and they caught their breath for a brief second.

Tobius had his hands on his knees, and slowly rose up. “You hear that?” The two froze, Hyrel heard it now too. The sweet cascade of water moving nearby. The two continued their run parallel to the river now. Finally as the two came up to a hill, the waterfall was right where Hyrel remembered it was.

He allowed himself to smile in some relief. “Alright son we must do it quickly now, it's best to not think, an just do.”

Tobius gulped, as he looked over the edge slightly, “Is there rocks at the bottom?”

“Well ‘course there's rocks but they are too deep down in the water see? They will miss ya.” He could tell that answer wasnt helping. Okay a little lie won't hurt. “Look at me, my Tob. He parted his son's filthy shaggy hair from his eyes. “Your pa made this jump many times, many years ago and I'm here now. Hey it's a little jump and water or bein’ eaten, so whaddya say?”

The sound of the dragon's shouts in the distance helped push Tobius’ decision. He nodded his head firmly. “Alright then, on three.” Hyrel outstretched his calloused hand, and Tobius’ hand fit perfectly into it. “One.” They both braced for the leap before the plunge.

“Two!”

Tobius took in a deep breath and exhaled, bracing for the plunge.

“Three!”

The pebbles scraped off the side of the peak as they leapt. One moment there was firm moist ground beneath Hyrel’s feet and suddenly there was nothing but air and the accelerating pull of gravity as they fell toward the water 20 feet down.

Hyrel gripped Tobius’ hand he thought he may break it. Hyrel was plunging in front of his son hurtling toward the white foam of the waters below at a much faster descent.

The water came closer and closer, it felt as if they were in the air for an eternity. Hyrel was focused on how he would land, and how he would let go of Tobius at the last moment to not collide when their bodies came crashing into the water.

He didn't see it but he felt it. An enormous whoosh, and then the immediate jerk of his inertia coming to halt but from the wrong angle. He gasped as the air was taken from his lungs. Confusion and raw pain surged through him. He felt a pop in his wrist and screamed both in pain and for Tobius as he flew from his tight grip.

“Tob!” He couldn't finish his sentence for it felt like all the air left his body, as his chest cavity collapsed.

He watched as Tobius twirled in the mid air, spinning like a leaf in Autumn falling from the trees.

Hyrel cried in horror struggling to watch from behind the huge claws that now gripped him. He made out Tobius splashing violently into the waters.

He pounded his fist on the foot that carried him effortlessly above the trees, the ridgeline, and now above the long line of people below. Hyrel went in and out of consciousness, he found that he was bleeding from his flank, likely from the claw that dug into his girthy body, and odds are he had broken a rib or two.

Hyrel was dragged by the dragon lords throughout an enormous keep, his feet lifelessly swishing across the floors.

He didn't remember landing. In a bout of being awake he caught sight of numerous people above him floating, as his eyes focused he realized they were on hooks, hanging dead. The hooks were pulling the bodies to some unknown part of the keep.

He then was plopped down to the floor, but somewhere different. There he lay, for a moment before kicking up dust with several labored coughs. He slowly lifted his head to look around the room. The keep was huge. It had to be able to hold both dragon and man alike. He first saw the eyes.

They were the burning red eyes of an all black dragon, who seemingly smiled at him. Then on the other side a red dragon, smaller but much more menacing, with scars and spikes along its spine.

Sitting in the middle he knew exactly who he was in the presence of. On a mangled throne he sat, Preta The Insatiable. It was hard to tell which he was, more dragon than man, or more man than dragon. He was black and red and unlike the other dragons he was bipedal more so. He sat casually, leaning back with clawed hands interlocked in front of his long snout. He even had what looked like human hair behind horns atop his head. Hyrel gulped down spit without a thought.

Hyrel coughed out, “well aren't you a ugly son-of-a-bitch, did ya really wanta be this fuckin’ ugly? I mean gods!”

Preta smiled fangs back at Hyrel. A voice came from somewhere. “Noo bold farmer, I assumed I may be this way, perhaps I am a reflection of you; after all you sold me some of these souls.”

Hyrel looked around the keep in confusion. Hyrel then looked back at Preta, his mouth didn't move but the words kept coming out. “Is this more appealing for you?” Pretas face shifted suddenly as if a shadow passed over it, and he was more man than dragon, jet black hair flowed beneath his shoulders, he still had horns but Hyrel was taken aback at the sheer beauty of the man-or maybe was a women who now sat across from him. Preta was still the size of a large cave troll, but mostly human no less.

Hyrel sat up straighter and spat at the ground, “Lota’ bloody fuckin’ good that done me now did it?”

“Everyone must be eaten in this world, Hyrel you know that. If it wasn't me it would be someone else.”

Those words sounded familiar, it must be a coincidence.

“There's no such thing as coincidences, there is only fate.” Pretas deep voice echoed, off the walls or maybe it was the walls of Hyrels mind, he wasn't sure but he was scared shitless.

Hyrel thought in his head fuck you, though Preta didn’t react but to smirk.

“Now that son of yours, as you have chosen to call him, that is fate.” Hyrel tightened his face, no one not even his former wife knew of Tobius’ reality, he was thought of as a bastard from when Hyrel used to log, he did indeed used to enjoy the company of whores and tavern wenches, though he never fathered any bastards.

“Hmm not even your wife you say? Quite some time to keep a secret Hyrel that says a lot of you.” Hyrel cursed himself, forgetting that his thoughts were being used against him. “I'm sure you know it, but your… son is special, and of great importance to our order.”

“You'll never find him, ya slithery bastard!”

“Ah yes, yes we will Hyrel, the cave system by the waterfall, I am well aware.”

Hyrel hunched in defeat, “well whatdya fuckin’ waiting for den!?” Eat me up you evil shite, curse you and curse your existence, curse your dragons, and dragon lords, I hope I give you the wet shits on the way out.

Preta smiling again exposing jagged fangs and billowed out a terrible dark laugh to that thought.“Hyrel, you aren't even the main course! You are merely the desert, plus we have sooo much to talk about. Let us pass the time over dinner, while we wait for your son to join us.” Preta jerked his head toward one of the dragon lords standing guard behind Hyrel. “Luce, strip off your armor.”

Luce, stepped forward and hesitated a moment, and then slowly stripped down to his unders, “what is your command my lord?” He was a younger man, blonde locks swayed to his shoulders.

Preta smiled, his features now returning to the form more dragon than man, “be eaten.”

Luce’s eyes widened, though he slowly stepped forward, “as you wish my lord.”

Preta reared back his long neck and spewed a blue hewed flame onto Luce, singeing his skin to the bones almost instantly in the brief moment of fire.

Hyrel covered his eyes from the bright and winced away at the dying gasped screams of the man, before Preta devoured him.

Preta kept eye contact with Hyrel as he ate, he lifted his head, lips covered in blood. “Would you like some? I know you must be famished!”

In a cavern beneath the waterfall, Tobius cried and cried. He didn't care at this point if he was found or not, he lost everything, he didn't care if he was taken as long as he was taken back to his father. He looked around the cave and there were several different holes and tunnels he could venture into, he thought about if he got lost down here and died alone in the dark.

In that moment of despair, slowly a giant golden beaked dragon peaked its head through the waterfall less than 20 hands away from Tobius.

Tobius screamed, he grabbed the closest thing he could, throwing a rock with all his might at the dragon, it bounced off the side of its head. It reacted slowly, looking at Tobius and shaking its head. Tobius screamed, throwing another “Go away!”

The dragon again just sat as the rock broke upon its plated scales. Tobius started to go toward one of the cavern hollows, but the dragon spread its long wing over the hole smothering it out.

He was caught, he had failed and should have ran instead of crying like a weak little boy. I never could've been a dragon knight.

The dragon slowly bowed its head to Tobius’ level, “Tobiusss son of no one, you must leave with me if you wish to live, and you must leave now. Preta will have sent someone else.”

Tobius stumbled away startled at what the great beast said, “you are just going to eat me or feed me to some other dragons!”

“No, I do not serve the dark eater of the world, I serve those that wish to bring balance to this world again.”

Tobius considered what he was being told, and started to look to the other side of the hollow where another tunnel led.

The dragon moved its head in front of the tunnel, “My name is Zilnumtroux’ if you still wish to fly with the dragons as the knights of old did, you best come with me.”

Tobius’ mouth dropped to his chest, he had hardly told anyone about this wish, this dream of his.

Zilnumtroux' gave a wink to Tobius, or at least Tobius thought it was.

So slowly Tobius climbed on the back of the dragon grasping its back spikes, for it did not have a harness, and prepared for the ride of his life.

“Hold on tight my lord. I would hate to have to catch you.”