The Silver Dragon (Unpublished, unedited version)

Chapter 7: Life on the Farm

Silver turned at tight corner and swooped down low over the flat green ground. She let loose a low roar, using the sound to frighten her prey to the left, right where she wanted them to be. She flew above the cattle as she watched them trample as fast as they could into the next paddock. The farmer came in behind them and locked the gate, boxing them in. She landed behind him with a small thud.

"Well done," said Darren brushing off his hands.

Silver smiled and looked to the sky, "Is that all today?"

He nodded, "That is all. I have some computer work to do but I don't think you can help with that."

"Okay, See ya!" Silver too to the air with a grin, glad to be free for the day.

For the few weeks she had been their farming had proved to be far different then she realised. Most of it was just moving the cattle around to different paddocks. She was also used to spot out breaks in the electric fence where cattle had gotten through, or any dead beasts that had fallen to some ailment. Those she was allowed to eat if she wished.

The work had kept her quite busy. She often found herself falling to sleep early, tired after a days work. It wasn't extremely physically taxing but it was a continuous thing. It at least kept her fit, but every so often she wished she could have a break from the work. She didn't complain though, it gave her a relatively safe place to rest while she figured herself out.

Sighing she came to a landing near the shed and stretched her wings out. She had finished early that day and the sun was still high in the sky. It was probably around mid afternoon, which gave her a few hours to herself. She looked around, searching for something to do. She had wanted to start working on her powers again like her father had taught her to, but there was no way to train, no dragons to practice with. She sighed, looking over at the small forest area that stretched through the farm, and an idea came to her.

Smiling she took to the air. She could use the trees as obstacles and practice her flying. She was already quite good when it came to agility but one could never completely stop with the work. She just hoped she didn't accidently cut down any of the trees in the process. Once she was above the forest she folded them in and dove down towards the ground. As she passed through the trees she opened them and thrust them forward, and collided straight into a tree. With a groan she fell to the ground.

She lay there for a few moments, recovering from the shock, before getting to her feet again. The world swam for a moment and she closed her eyes, letting herself recover a little before taking a few more steps forward.

"That wasn't the best idea," she said to herself as she stumbled back to the shed, not trusting herself to fly.

As she reached her shed she collapsed into her straw nest. A headache had formed and she knew she would hurt for the next few days. Sighing she shifted in her nest, looking to the half finished metal bowl beside her. It was what she had made of her nest so far. While sleeping on straw was far better then sleeping on the ground, a metal nest was what she preferred to have.

Deciding she would rather do something then sit and worry about the headache she began to work on her nest again. It was slow work. Adding metal then shaving it away, and soon she was lost on her own world. She was so lost that she didn't notice the sudden appearance of Greg, the farmer's boy, walking up towards her.

"Hey," he said, startling her from her work.

She looked up at the boy and smiled, "Hey."

"Dad said you had finished early," he said, sitting down on the straw bed.