Lone Star Dragon

Cresting the Moon: 01

If I am to start anywhere, I feel it critical that I should first dispel all rumors concerning the size of the North American Dragon. For many wrongly imagine them equal to those of the European breeds, the largest of the winged dragons...

However, the average length of a North American Drake (male) is about nine feet, or three meters and not much heavier than a large man. While your average American Draka (female) approaches thirteen feet or 4 meters...

The source for this belief that the two breeds are equal in size is the creation of what has been named the "New American Dragon". A cross between the European and American breeds, but their European lineage came from dragons who were young or of the smallest breeds.

- Excerpt from, Academia Draconnica: The North American Dragon

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Cresting the Moon : Part 01

Gun-smoke and dragon-fire darkened the sky outside Vicksburg, blinding the moon and concealing the– no, stop. That's an unworthy start and men will have no grasp of the moon's meaning. I have it now.

Smoke and shadow enveloped the meadow, reducing the two dragons to shapeless silhouettes as they circled above like vultures eager to begin .... That's no improvement. It's all imagery without purpose. Skip ahead and we'll rethink introductions later. Once more.

Leaf-on-Wind's spiraling descent lived up to his name, though he'd chosen it for less innocent reasons. Reaching the ground, his glide became a wing-assisted hop across until they failed to support him, forcing him to finish his trek up the small hill on clawed limbs alone. At the summit, the drake was too distraught to truly appreciate the agony flaring across his spine as he forced his strained wings to fold upon his back. His attention captive as he confirmed their hopes, rather than their fears.

The vague and scattered blotches upon the trampled grass were indeed corpses.

Leaf-on-Wind was familiar with battle and bloodshed, and it was now a rare treat to rest without fresh wounds across his hide or the blood of a disrespectful drake upon his claws. But the measure of devastation and quantity of dead exceeded all personal experience. Only inherited memories from battles long before his hatching compared to this carnage. The fact that he would have given his wings for this outcome, did not stop a shudder from rippling down his armored neck and unscaled body as his completed his tally.

A blue stone, three red, and two black. Seventy-eight slain. What could have been a small colony's entire population was slain on the surrounding slopes. How many more waited beyond the reach of his senses, further within the smoke and haze? But these were not dragons who lay cooling about him, but men. The bulk, at least. The rest were horses and he'd instinctively separated their number from the imagined pile of stones, unwilling to disguise them as foes in his account.

He briefly considered alternative labels, food or prizes perhaps. Unlike most drakes, Leaf found this to be an intriguing puzzle, though not presently approachable. So they remained horses... for now as his consideration returned to the final tally. He carefully surveyed the area once more to be sure, but none of the dead appeared to be dragons.

Their allies had certainly begun the battle well enough, but from the rumble of distant gunfire it was unlikely the conclusion would remain so unbalanced. Even so, this should have been an inspiring start in place of what many had expected to be a self-inflicted doom. It should have brought confidence to his queen and authority to her faction.

But they'd stolen it.

As I've stated, Leaf was like most drakes. He had the typical hungers and the same capacity to dream, odd as those dreams could be. He had no mind for politics, but he would have wagered his bones that this unplanned assault was more intent than accident. His mother had certainly scented some scheme and on her advice that they'd flown at a reckless pace, arriving much earlier than intially intended, but still too late to be of any benefit.

It was a dismissal, a demonstration that though this force had assembled in response to his queen's vision, they were not under her command. And a declaration that even here, among those who claimed to be her supporters, she was an advisor only, to be summoned when useful. Offensive as it was, politics were beyond his responsibilities, so he continued his inspection. His only duty and concern at the present.

For Leaf was his queen's only Scion. He had sworn several oaths to earn that trust, and the promise to guard her at any effort and cost had been but the first. Weary as he was, he would not soon have the strength to return to the sky. And despite being satisfactory in all respects, Star-fall was likely no better off. So any retreat would quickly become a desperate scramble through unknown territory. Should he uncover a waiting threat before she touched ground however, she could provide him aid and guidance from aloft, or, at very least, escape his fate.

With teeth, Leaf pulled a protruding bayonet from the dirt and flung it into nearest burning remains of some human creation, only to notice a warm body previously concealed beside the flames. He shook off the urge to start his count fresh and simply added another black stone to his tally as he studied the faintly stirring creature.

The drake knew most would have dismissed the wounded man, for even his queen had accused him of being 'too well intentioned' in his role. But Leaf could not bring himself to do it. He had known his odds of becoming a Scion and accepted his lot as so far beneath the notice of draka as to be a defining example of a drake who would die where he'd hatched. Being struck down by an actual falling star had been a far more likely fate for him. Yet, he had been chosen.

It was baffling. Beyond numbers. Beyond logic. Well, beyond male logic at any rate. As if the world had surrendered reason simply to suit him, whether he'd desired it then or not. So he would not show his gratitude by merely being an adequate servant. Yes, the man was likely harmless. Unlike his queen, he did not trust men, even the dying ones. For it would only take one assassin to correct the impossibility he presently enjoyed.

So he approached the wounded man. Pausing two tail lengths away, Leaf quickly sampled the surrounding scents, then sprang forward, claws withheld, but jaws ready in case of a ruse. The soldier did nothing more than wheeze as Leaf's weight struck him, yet the drake was disinclined to permit another.

Regrettably for me, Leaf was not a coward. But he was frugal in almost every manner and loathed permitting a situation to fester when he could resolve it cheaply presently. To worsen the situation, his belly was stripped bare by their long flight and the smells of blood and charring flesh saturated the air, inflaming his hunger to taste more than its scent. But she would see or would sense his guilt at the very least. Leaf hissed as he abandoned the man and turned his attention skyward, to his queen, and grudging projected his approval.

Her response was immediate. She pulled in her wings and dropped, but when her dive did not diminish and her speed only increased, so did Leaf's anxiety. Given their first respite in hours, her wings seemed unwilling to return to their labors. One would extend briefly, only to founder as she struggled with the other. In those moments, Star-fall briefly lived up to her name as well, but though she finally forced her wings into obedience, she could not so hastily correct her accumulated haste. Reaching the ground, she attempted the transition despite the risk, but momentum alone kept her aloft, plucking her back up before her talons found purchase. She then swept her tail along the ground, but the brush was trampled flat, and the spaded tip slid rather than snag in the long stems as she'd intended.

Leaf cursed himself. He should have seen how reckless her pace had been, should have advised caution rather than enduring silently to impress, and should have predicted this. She had a draka's abundance of scales to burden her, not a drake's sparse armor. And despite being more adventurous than most royals, neither of them had ever traveled so far so quickly.

Leaf didn't squander another heartbeat. He hurried across the meadow and into her path, becoming an obstruction too large to fail. It was not a perfect plan, not even a good one, but he saw no better options. He braced himself.