Mother and the Thief

In the darkness of night, the black sky turns as bright as day for a split second. Winds howling, waves rolling, salty mist thrown into the air as if spewed from geysers. In all of this restlessness, Timea braves the storm. Powering through the surf, almost being suffocated repeatedly. Paddling through the water, her rudder-like tail helps to propel her forward.

It’s not the first time she’s made the journey from Toro Batubilah to Toro Hepa. Though the distance between the two islands might be longer than she liked to admit, she wasn’t going to succumb to the storm that easily.

Even though her kind were affectionately nicknamed “saltwater crocodiles” she resented being called anything of the sort. Having descended from nobility herself, she’s a remnant, the last of the dragons.

***

When morning came, she awoke beneath the shade of foliage. Grumbling, she picked herself up, and moved lethargically towards the sunshine. Digging her claws into the sand, she buried herself a bit to warm up quicker. Meditating, she laid there for hours till the warmth of the day soaked in beneath her scales.

Rising up, shaking the sand off of herself like a dog would, she stuck out her forked tongue, sniffing the air. “Something smells delightfully rotten around here. Hopefully it’s nearby.” Rearing her head up she flicked her tongue around again, “I can sense the smell of livestock nearby. Hopefully they have a goat or two. I like goats.”

Following the stench of rotten flesh, she lumbered down the beach, swinging one foot in front of the other. Moving with a swagger of being the largest land carnivore around for miles, she feared no other animal on land. Traversing from the sands to across the rocks, she stopped at a small tidal pool area. Surely there would be a lot of small crabs and even smaller fish within them, but they darted away so quickly and their size was so small that her time and energy would be best spent elsewhere.

She wasn’t here for the small fry. The scent that had allured her here was that of a large albacore tuna, rotting away. Striding up to it, she flicked her tongue a few more times, carefully examining the carcass. Looking at the gashing wound in its underbelly, she saw that most of the guts were still there except for one, the liver.

“Those damned white-eyed black fish,” she thought. Timea was never fond of orcas. Although she was queen upon the land, the water was a different story altogether. Years ago while swimming alongside two male dragons, a retinue of three orcas began pestering them. One orca had tossed her hunting buddy, Mathis, into the air with its tail. He broke a few ribs landing with a splash. Another orca had grabbed the tail of the newcomer, Gregias, drowning him. It then proceeded to eat Gregias’ liver. Meanwhile the largest orca kept poking Timea’s belly no matter how loud she hissed. The harassment only ended once they reached land.

Not one to turn her nose up to a free meal, Timea started tearing into the albacore. Bones, scales, flesh and all were ripped and crunched. Hearing the water behind her, she decided to drag her meal further up the beach; lest the ocean sneak up on her, washing them both away.

After eating till her belly was near to bursting, her throat was parched from the salt. “I thirst.” Tasting the air, she followed the scent of freshwater.

Lumbering her way through the undergrowth she kept her eyes widely peeled. Though the blackfish may be incapable of strolling on land, the hairless apes may cause her more grief than she liked to admit. Hoping for a river, but willing to drink from a murky puddle, Timea spotted a large vernal pool in the center of a clearing.

Peering into it, staring at her reflection, she saw a few small things swimming in the murk, but they did not matter to her. Lowering her neck, she drank in big heavy gulps. Even filthy fresh water was better than the poisonous saltwater.

“Who are you?”

A voice spoke out to her. Raising her head up she looked around quickly for any sight of danger. Though dragons only feared other dragons while on land, hairless apes were another problem altogether. Their curiosity creeped her out. Always staring and watching. Trying to analyze anything that their senses couldn’t perceive. Timea always considered them to be an inferior species. Why else would things so pathetic with no claws, fur, scales, or fangs have such big heads?

Still finding no sight of her peeper, she heard a rustling from above. Scurrying down the tree was a snakelike furry creature that wore two colors on its face. “You’re from Komodo aren’t you? My fleshy calls you ‘Komodo dragons’.”

Looking at the small thing, she asked him, “Why do you care where I come from? You’ve never seen a dragon before?”

“I’ve seen plenty of your kind before, but most times it’s behind black rods in pens where fleshies toss you meat.”

“What in the dragon’s bite is a fleshy?”

“The beings that walk on two legs and cover their hairlessness with other’s hides.”

“Oh, you mean the hairless apes. Ugh, and you mean to tell me that you own one of those things? Why haven’t you tried to eat it yet?”

“Well, for one fleshies are bigger than me. Plus, my fleshy feeds me really well. I can eat what I find in the entire land, and then my fleshy will still give me something to eat.”

“So, who are you? Why do you look like a cat bred with a legless lizard,” Timea asked him.

“I’m Chester. Fleshies call my kind ferrets. I heard that the only reason your kind are called dragons is because the fleshies named you.”

“Those things? Pathetic. Whatever makes you believe that?”

“‘Cause of a story I was told a long time ago. You may be a dragon, but dragons way back then used to be four times your size. You may be fully grown, but you’re the runt of the litter when it comes to the ancient dragons.”

“Preposterous,” Timea scoffed, “it’s simply nonsense that those balding apes made up. Never in my life have I seen a dragon larger than myself.”

“I have. Well, not an actual living ancient dragon, but I saw its bones.”

“Whatever, I’ve seen those filthy apes make things you wouldn’t believe. Walls will erect out of the ground faster than trees can grow. It wouldn’t surprise me if they made bones too, especially with those clawless paws they’ve got.”

“Okay,” Chester said, “you may be right there, but who are you and why are you here?”

“My name is Timea. Something in my scales told me to come here. I don’t know what, but I know that whatever it is, it’ll come in due time. Why pester me with questions for one so small that I can easily eat?”

“I’m curious,” Chester started.

“Just like those damn apes.”

“And I like to eat too. Since I’m smaller and faster than you, I can lead you to find large meals.”

This interested Timea. Yet, she didn’t trust Chester. She didn’t like his two-colored face, which led her to believe that he was two-faced. Kind upfront with a smile, but with a smile full of wickedly sharp teeth.

“Why should I help you instead of eating you?”

“Because,” Chester started, “I can get you into places where the food is at. You won’t be able to eat with brute strength alone. The fleshies have tricks that I’m sure you’ve seen before.”

“Their stinging stick walls have prevented me from eating a few cattle and sheep before.”

“See? I know how to get you in and out of those things.”

“Still,” Timea wanted to find out Chester’s true nature, “why would you want to help me?”

“I’m a meat eater just like you. Just because I lack a bit in the size department doesn’t mean I don’t love a good meal.”

Tiring of this conversation, Timea began walking away. She wasn’t in the mood to make new friends.

“Wait!” Chester didn’t want to lose this opportunity. “I can lead you to a goat farm.”

Stopping, she looked over her shoulder at him, “I could smell them from on the beach. I already knew that goats were here.”

“Yes, but I can get you to them. The fleshies like their goats. They’re never going to allow you near them.”

“I already ate,” she started to walk off again.

“You ate one meal. Work up an appetite for another. I promise you that if you stick with me, we’ll be eating meals whenever we like.”

Timea liked the idea of that. Knowing that her tuna meal was all but eaten, her leftovers wouldn’t last long. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time she hunted on a full stomach.

“Okay,” she grumbled, “lead the way.”

***

Having journeyed through the jungle, Timea carefully eyed Chester’s movements. He barely strayed onto the path, only quickly crossing so he could climb another tree.

“He’s smart for making sure to stay out of my reach. If I were his size, I would too.”

As the smell of prey drew closer, a clearing came into view from the forest’s path. Looking past the entrance, Timea could see that there were goats behind gray sticks and wires. Seeing them glint in the sun, she figured that these were stinging wires too. She may be well armored, but she still disliked pain no matter how slight.

“Wait here,” Chester said. “If they see you coming too soon, they’ll likely run away.”

Doing as he bid, she sat still patiently. Watching him bound his way up the path into the sunshine, she kept her focus on his and his actions.

“Hopefully these hairless apes won’t mind me leaving them with one less goat. Who to go for? Decisions, decisions…”

Drifting off into thought, she was shocked as she heard the creaking of the metal gate opening. Chester was smiling on the other side as he pushed the door wide open.

“Well, I’ll be a triple tongued dragon, that furry snake didn’t lie at all.”

Bounding down her way again, he approached her saying, “Ready now? Let’s get to work so we can eat!”

“Okay,” she muttered, “but on one condition.”

“That you get the most food and to eat first? Deal.” His eagerness sickened her. She knew that forked tongues could only sniff out real things, but she could’ve sworn that she tasted his greed.

“That you stay in front of me and away from the gate until I’m outside of it again.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” He was perplexed by her request.

“I don’t want you near the gate at all. I want you keeping a watchful eye from the center of the field, the entire time. I can’t have you trapping me in there now. The goats may not harm me, but those hairless apes are another story.”

“Why would I do such a thing?”

“You live with a fleshy that always feeds you. Why would you need a dragon to hunt for you if it’s going to eat up all of the best parts first? Hmmm?”

“No! You have it all wrong-,” Chester started to explain.

“Listen here, fur snake,” Timea hissed. “If you want to see me step foot in there, let alone get a bite of some tasty goat, you better be in the center of that field, standing guard.”

Acknowledging that this was her insurance policy, Chester went along with it. More than anything, he wanted a taste of goat. Plus, he was hungry, she wasn’t. So, really, she had all of the bargaining chips in her hand this time around.

“Alright, whatever you say. I’ll be the first to enter and the last to leave.”

“Good.”

Going along with the plan, Timea wandered into the pen after Chester. Slithering her way through the tall grass, she looked for an easy target. Poking her head out from the grass blades, she saw that Chester was standing up, face-to-face with a kid. A young billy goat was staring him down, preparing to headbutt him as a formal greeting.

Knowing that a young goat would fill her belly nicely, Timea let out a loud hiss that drawing its attention away from her accomplice. Staring at the grass, the young billy saw Timea’s head, but not the rest of her body as she had camouflaged herself rather well within the grass. Confused and scared at what it was seeing, the kid bleated out.

Hearing her kid being scared, the mother moved in closer. Fearing for the protection of her offspring, the nanny stood still when she saw the threat that had trespassed into their field. Taking advantage of the confusion, Chester bounded away in the direction the mother came in, keeping his promise with Timea and avoiding a headbutting.

Tensing up her muscles for a quick sprint, she knew that if she could time it just right, the little billy goat wouldn’t be able to get away. What she was really hoping for was that once she charged, he would fall over in fear. Seeing the nanny goat behind him, Timea decided to only go for the young goat, as the mother goat could have more children as time went on. Being that dragons only needed to eat one meal a month, Timea had time on her hands.

As the tension grew, it was suddenly broken by the clanging of a bell. Chester came running back up the hill in a mad dash trying to escape from one of the oldest billy goats that the ranch had at the time. Not fond of intruders, no matter the size, the old goat charged as fast as he could, slowly catching up to the little weasel.

Now caught off guard, with everybody’s attention being dragged towards the ruckus that Chester had brought along with him, fearing for his life, he ran right in front of Timea.

“Timea! Timea! Help! Scare him off!”

Patiently waiting, Timea stood still as Chester ran right underneath her. As the old billy drew near, she furiously swiped at him, knocking him down. Bleating out in pain, she ended it quickly with a bite to the neck.

Scared at what just happened, the kid bleated and ran away. Sorry that the old goat had bit the dust, the nanny bowed her head quickly as a sign of respect to both him and Timea. Timea took it as a sign of thanks for not killing the nanny’s kid. Dragging the goat’s body out of the pen and into the forest, Chester closed the gate behind her.

Waiting for his turn to eat, he asked, “Why’d you kill the old goat instead of the kid? Isn’t young meat fresher and less chewy?”

“Yes, but we’re opportunistic predators. We take what we can get.”

“You could’ve gotten the kid too if you wanted. That way we could be eating two goats instead of one.”

“I’m eating,” Timea sternly reminded him. “You’re scavenging.”

“Still, why go for the old billy? A nanny was there too.”

Ripping off a chunk hastily wolfing it down, she answered him in a huff, “The nanny will have more kids. The kids will grow up to have more kids. The old may know how to fight, but their youthful years are past them. In less than a year that kid will possibly be siring a group, himself.”

“Ohhh,” Chester was surprised by her long-term planning. “You’re the smartest predator I’ve met. Even fleshies love eating other animals’ babies. Yet, you’re more worried about having something to eat later.”

“I’m a dragon. If need be, I can survive on one meal a month. However, just because I can doesn’t mean I like to.”

“A whole month without food? Ugh, I don’t think I’d survive that.”

Tired of his chattering and still partially full from her tuna earlier, she tore off a chunk and tossed it to him, “Here, stuff your face.”

“Oh! Thank you!” He started eating away happily.

“Hopefully that’ll shut him up.”

Once they had filled their bellies, Chester had told her that he’d return within seven nights. Knowing that he’d need to return to his hairless ape, Timea asked him, “How will you find me again?”

To which he responded, “Easy, you’re the only dragon I’ve seen on the island. Plus, your scent’s unique.”

Bidding him farewell, she watched as the little ferret clambered away into the trees.

***

Over the next several months, Chester visited Timea weekly. Over that period of time, he’d help her get into chicken coops, sheep pens, cattle farms, and swine herds. Since they never visited the same farm twice within three months Timea wasn’t considered to be a threat. However, being on the endangered list as well came with its perks. Though, they were never aware of the laws of humans. As long as Timea avoided people as much as possible, she remained unharmed.

Yet, something else happened as well. With no males around and her biological clock ticking, the dragons’ nature had one important insurance policy against extinction.

Propelled by instinct, she laid a clutch of eggs. While trying to keep them secret, hiding them from the little fur snake, he caught her in the middle of constructing a nest.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a mud mound to store meat.”

“Why? Isn’t meat best when fresh?”

“Dragons eat all meat, Chester. Fresh, rotten, living, dead, you name it.”

“Okay, want to go on another hunt,” he pestered her.

Grumbling, wanting to end his curiosity immediately, she said, “It’s not really hunting if the prey’s already cornered.”

“Is that a no?”

Huffing in annoyance, she replied, “Oh, let’s get on with it. The sooner you eat the less you talk. Let’s go stuff our faces.”

“Great! I found a farm with really tall chickens. Like, they’re as tall as a fleshy.”

“Tall chickens? Do they run fast?”

“Maybe, but chickens can’t outrun a well placed bite.”

Following him, she hoped that his curiosity only remained on that mud mound. Not one to put all her eggs in one basket, Timea had made several decoy nests in the hopes of throwing Chester off.

***

While lounging on the spot overtop her nest, Timea hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Chester within three weeks.

“His ape must be feeding him well,” she thought. After having made the rounds on her decoy nest, making sure to properly scent them, she went to rest. Rolling over, she saw something in one of the trees. A single tuft of fur billowed in the wind, clinging to the bark. Walking over, she sniffed it.

An instantaneous wave of anger was sent boiling through her veins. Thinking back of how he could’ve found this spot, his words echoed back in her head, “Plus, your scent’s unique.”

Running over to her nest, she clawed at the earth, and took notice that three of her eggs were missing. Moving the rest around, she noticed that several of them had bites taken out of them, and they were placed back facing the earth. Thinking back to when she first met him, she knew that she should’ve never trusted him. Two colors, two-faced. Letting out a loud hiss, like the beasts of legend and from ancient pasts, Timea truly roared like a dragon.

***

“Oh boy,” Chester said, while in the barn of a ranch, “as much as I like eating meat, there’s just something about eggs that I can’t get enough of. Plus, what’s more special than eating a dragon?”

Having eaten much of the yolk from the eggs that resided in Timea’s nest, Chester had stolen three to eat at later dates. As the offspring had developed, so did the taste. It was like a nice primordial soup for him. However, for the unsuspecting offspring, it was torture. Some odd creature was picking them up everyday and inspecting them in the sunlight.

Just like how Timea would wait for the time to eat, Chester had learned the art of being patient. After thinking that the babies in the eggs had grown large enough, he took one, peeled it open, and started to drink the remaining fluids. Yet, just as he had started to drink, the hatchling inside began shaking. Their gestation had been reached to full term. These babies were ready to hatch.

Still, being a hatchling and less than a minute old in the hands of an experienced snake killer, Chester bit the back of its neck, ending the life of the newborn dragon. Being preoccupied with eating, he didn’t hear the other hatchlings break out of their eggs from his hiding spot.

Watching their sibling being eaten, the other two little dragons stared in horror and anger at the same time. Instinctively knowing that adult dragons would cannibalize them, a baby dragon’s first instinct is to climb. Yet, trapped in a barn with a smaller, nimbler predator, their chances seemed slim to none.

Angered that the furry snake was eating its sibling, the male hatchling knew that he and his sister would be next. Not wanting to die without a fight, he quietly snuck up behind Chester, before making a mad dash for the Ferret’s leg. Sinking his teeth in, the hatchling got Chester to yelp out in pain.

Turning around, furious and curious as to what could be attacking him, Chester couldn’t believe that something much smaller than him would even dare attacking him. Biting down on its neck, he shook the baby like a rag doll.

“I can’t believe this!” He huffed, “Well, that’s a dragon for ya’. Born stupid to die stupid.” With his meal rudely interrupted, he tried returning to eating. However, his leg started burning. His vision started to go blurry, his body started overheating, and his heartbeat became abnormal.

Falling over, the last thing he saw was the female hatchling approaching him. The venom had taken hold. This was his price. He betrayed a dragon, killed its offspring, feasted upon its children, and in turn would have one of them feast on him.

***

Be careful what you wish for and what you do, for it might just come back to bite you.