Morna & the Baitby

Morna stretched her wings, shifting as the morning’s light refracted off her cognac scales. Auburn light scattered over her like raindrops, a fractured sunrise cascading across dark stone walls as she rose, shaking the sleep from her limbs. She yawned. Stretching wide like a cat, she arched her back, curling her tail over itself before finally settling. The day was new and full of possibilities. She emerged from her cave, talons clacking against the stone as she took her time, settling by the cliff to gaze at the tawny landscape below.

The sounds of the lowlands had changed so much in recent weeks. She could still remember the clash and scrape of the two-legs’ metal creations, the whirl of their magical hovering chariots that slid over rails to faraway lands and cities. Once, their grand ivory towers had been so loud, so full of life and movement. They’d reminded her of an oversized ant hill, all the two-legs racing back and forth between their delicately strung pathways and bridges, running in and out of their shining spires, always with something terribly important to do. When she was a hatchling, their urgency had unsettled her. Now she understood that if her life was as short as theirs, she might take to flying a bit faster too.

She spread her wings. Taking to the skies, she circled once over the abandoned spires and silent bridges of Ureson before turning west to the flatlands. Since the appearance of the great beasts, nearly all animals had changed their paths. Herds no longer sought safety in numbers, wandering instead in small scattered groups. No more did the colossal horned oarsten meander the grasslands in peace, their lazy oversized confidence like unbothered mountains of thick brown fur. Even the land’s proudest hunters no longer stalked the wilds alone. Dragons too had been affected by these new beasts, though many of them yet denied it.

She lifted her shoulders, tilting into the wind as she dove. The cluster of elk didn’t spot her until she was already upon them. They bayed in fear, bolting as she snatched the largest by the back of its neck, snapping its spine with her teeth. She crouched over her catch like a cat with a toy, sinking her claws into its flank as she tore at the meat. She ate quickly, her nostrils flaring, ears and eyes alert to the clearing as she eagerly consumed her meal.

When the final bites had disappeared, she rested on her side, licking the gore from her claws and savoring every last morsel. However, a strange noise interrupted her peace. A high-pitched wail sounded from the tall grass, startling her out of her reverie. Morna’s haunches tensed, her nostrils flaring as she lifted her snout to the air. The familiar scent startled her. She rose, head tilting as she listened again to the strange wailing cries. She hadn’t seen hide nor hair of their kind in weeks, yet the piercing cries of the two-legs’ young were unmistakable.

She crept toward the sound, carefully pushing aside the grass with her talon to reveal just what she expected. The small pink infant hiccuped, gazing up at her with its wide bright eyes. It lifted a chubby hand to rub its face, sniffling as it stared at her. She raised her head, searching the horizon, but there was no sign or trace of the other two-legs. She frowned.

When the two-legs fled their cities, they’d done so rather quickly. Had this little one been left behind? She sniffed the child’s hair, careful not to touch the fragile creature. The two-legs were awfully breakable, their young even more so, and she had no desire to injure it. The dragons had long since learned that hunting an elk resulted in a full belly and a good sleep, but hunting a two-leg resulted in an army of them at your cave. Besides, they were among the more intelligent creatures. Their allegiance was worth far more than the meager meat on their bones.

She looked at the infant again. She supposed it was possible that in their race to escape the beasts, this one had been left behind. She snorted. There were no other humans here, of that, she was certain. She lowered her snout to the child, considering her options, yet already knowing what her decision would be.

There weren’t many two-legs left since the great exodus. Their noise and constant activity used to annoy her, but now the silence of their abandoned cities was like a stone in her heart. Finally, she rose, carefully digging her claws into the earth beneath the infant. She would take it back to her cave. Though it was unlikely she’d find its parents, she wasn’t willing to leave it as it was.

The infant reached out its hands, grabbing the air and giggling at her as she lifted it. The moment she raised it from the earth, a deep rumble shook the clearing. Morna froze, scales rippling. Her eyes darted about the clearing, searching the tall grass and the edge of the trees, yet seeing nothing out of place. She clutched the infant to her underbelly, tensing her shoulders for flight. Something was wrong. She sniffed the air again. Something was very wrong, but what-

All around, the grass shifted beneath her feet, the earth rising from either end of the clearing. The child giggled, clapping its hands as massive, boulder sized teeth ripped through the earth at the edges of the field. Terror rushed through Morna’s veins. It was one of the beasts. Like a massive flesh-eating plant, it had been lying in wait all this time. The entire clearing was the inside of its mouth, and now that a proper meal had appeared, it was closing its teeth on everything inside.

Morna leapt into the air, thrusting her wings up and down with all her strength as she tried to outpace the creature’s jaws. Rows of teeth rose up all around the clearing, the earth falling down toward the center as the sides of its mouth rose ever higher, revealing the colossal open maw below. She pushed harder, flying straight up even as the sky closed to her, swallowed by the beast’s jagged teeth. Her eyes widened, her heart beating as rapidly as the elk she herself had hunted mere moments ago. A beast this size could swallow her whole and still be hungry for more.

Morna roared, breathing a jet of flame at the beast’s gums. She was not prey! She was a dragon! She was magic itself, a child of the sky, borne of flame! She would be no creature’s meal. The beast grumbled below her, its mouth opening slightly as her flame seared the inside of its mouth. She surged forward, the sky opening to her as she slipped between its teeth, a rush of wind pushing her higher as it jaws snapped shut mere inches behind her tail. With a mighty crash, the displaced trees were crushed to splinters in its mouth.

She didn’t look back as she soared above the clouds, though even at such a distance, she could hear the ground shifting far below, the great abomination slithering back beneath the earth to lie in wait for its next unsuspecting meal. She flew for several leagues, listening to the silence of the wind, feeling the safety of the sky gradually slow her racing heart.

Morna breathed deeply. Only a true beast would use a baby as bait. She looked down. To her surprise, the child in her talons appeared unharmed, and not only that, it was sleeping soundly, entirely unbothered by anything around it. She sighed, her muscles finally relaxing as she turned her wings east for home. Perhaps there was something to be said for these two-legs if what frightened even a dragon could rock one of their infants to sleep.

- xo