The Last Dragon

The dragon cut slowly through the cold air, wisps of clouds dissolving against its scaly flesh as it flew towards home.

The dragon was a magnificent beast. It had dark green scales, tinged with flecks of purple, that seemed to twinkle like ripples in a pond, suddenly touched by sunlight. Horns sat upon its great head like a crown, and the wings spread wide, dark pink skin, stretched like fabric on a framework of bones.

Usually, the dragon’s flight was graceful, its aim toward home as true as an arrow, but today, each flap of its huge wings sent a stab of pain through its body. Thin trails of blood marked its flesh like roads on a map, the whistling wind drying it even as it flowed.

The injuries had been caused by a knight.

Dragons had been considered enemies for many years; despite the fact they had inhabited the lands for centuries – far longer than man. But humanity had decided that they were vermin and needed to be destroyed.

It was true, dragons attacked the livestock of farmers, carrying away sheep and cows, but for years even those animals had roamed freely, satisfying the dragons hunger as and when required, but now, such actions were criminal.

Against the law.

As if a dragon would know or care about the laws of mankind.

Over time, through hunting, the dragons had been destroyed. This dragon, and this dragon alone, was the last to haunt the skies. She had been hunting. She had caught a sheep, stealing it from a hillside. The sheep, however, had been set there as a trap, and the knight had struck violently. Arrows at first, followed by spears, then swords.

The flash of teeth and steel had not lasted long. Ten minutes at most. And now, the knight lay dead, and the sheep was clasped in the dragon’s claws, hard won and precious. She had escaped, even as the shouts of disgruntled and angry villagers filled the air behind her.

Finally, she saw the mouth of a cave appear before her. Her cave.

Landing painfully, she stalked inside, seeking the protection of the shadows, the tip of her tail the last thing to disappear out of the sunlight. She grunted, stabs of agony travelling through her body. She went deep into the cave, as far as she could, to the very back. At last, she came to the nest. It held a single, large egg, as pure and white as a pearl, shining like a moon in the dark.

The egg had a great, jagged crack in it, with many others, small now, but getting gradually wider. Inside, the young dragon was preparing to enter the world. It would not be long now. Mere hours.

She coiled protectively around the egg, setting the sheep down in front of it. Her offspring’s first meal. A high-pitched growl emanated from the egg’s interior, the infant recognising the smell of food.

The new mother grumbled happily, eager to meet her child. Her injuries still pained. They were, perhaps, fatal, but the hope of new life pushed the pain away. Determination to live took over all else. She would live, if only to greet her child and teach it the skills to survive.

Or perhaps she would live longer, and then mother and child would go on to terrify the skies above for years to come.

Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t be the last dragon after all.