Hellfire - A Dragon's Lifestory (Prologue)

Chap. 16 - "Just Passing Through"

"Garg, why don't we have a contest? You look for food that way, and I'll look for food this way. Whoever brings back the biggest catch wins."

Garg: "Deal! Be back soon!"

That was how me and Garg split up in search for food. I found some delicious looking prey... but they were too small to win the contest, so I killed and ate them on the spot. I smell water and hear loud splashing... is there a body of water nearby? I might be able to find something huge swimming under there. I follow the scent.

When I arrived... I saw three short humans trying to grab something down the river. Are they baby humans like me? The ground they were standing on slowly started breaking apart. Hang on... if this keeps up, aren't they gonna fall? The water running on that river looks really fast.

The ground continues to crack and it's getting wider. Are they serious? They can't even notice that they're slowly submerging? When the small girl grabbed something, the ground finally broke apart and two of them fell. The other one grabbed them both, but he fell along with them.

The moment the ground broke apart, I sprung at their direction. The three started falling on the water, but I caught them in time. They're kind of heavy. I need to let go of them soon, or I'll fall with them too. I slowly carry them to land and dropped them abruptly. I also landed down to rest my wings.

The three children slowly get up. The blonde-haired girl was the first to notice me. She kept staring at me. When the other two boys saw me, they stepped back. Are they scared of me? It's not like I'm planning on ea-, wait a minute...

No, nevermind. I'll lose the contest if I bring in these small children to Garg. I need something bigger. But, I can't help thinking about it. I already took a bite out of human flesh from that Arron guy's leg in the cave. The taste of human was new to me that time and it was so good. Should I eat these three as a snack instead? Come to think of it, why did I even save them in the first place? While I was lost in thought, the girl walked towards me.

I've seen this before... she's going to attack me! That Arron guy also walked casually towards me before he tried to kill me. Is this how humans kill? Well, I'm not going to fall for that same trick again. Revealing my claws and spreading my wings, I jump at the girl and pin her down.

Alice: "Ki ~ya~a!"

Esnov: "Alice!"

Zachary: "...!"

The spiky haired boy ran towards me.

Zachary: "Get away from her!"

Hearing him say that... I let go of the girl and stepped back. That boy went beside the girl.

Zachary: "You okay, Alice?"

Alice: "Y-yeah..."

She kept staring at me. She didn't take her eyes off me once.

Esnov: "G-guys... we should probably run."

Zachary: "............"

The other human boy behind them is trembling, the spiky haired kid is watching me carefully, and the blonde-haired girl doesn't stop staring me. They don't seem strong. Is it because they're children? But, I'm strong even when I was a hatchling. Is it different for humans? Do they only get strong when they're old enough? I need to ask Garg about all this stuff.

The only reason why I backed down was because I can relate to them somehow. Just like me, that spiky-haired human cares for his friends so much that he'd charge straight at a dangerous monster to save them. I guess you could say that I saw a bit of myself inside this guy. But, wait... if I start sympathizing for other creatures, then what'll I do if I'm hungry and I end up only encountering prey that relates me to them? No, no, no. I need to be more merciless. We live in a cruel world, after all. But, it's not like I have anything against these human children, so I guess I'll just take my leave.

I open my wings and get ready to fly back to the other side of the river. The spiky-haired also readied himself, thinking I'm about to attack them. I don't need to tell them myself that I'm not gonna do anything to them. I fly up and head towards the other side of the river.

Passing over the river... wait a second... didn't I come to the river to catch a large monster and win the contest? I just happened to stumble across those children along the way. Let's see... a big monster... a big monster... There! I see a large shadow swimming in the water! It's definitely a large fish monster.

I fold my wings and dive down the river cloaked in black flames. Upon impact, the water evaporated and I caused a huge splash of water. I flew back up to the sky. A lot of stuff that were underwater got blasted skyward. But, I don't see the giant shadow from before. Instead a bunch of fish fell from the sky.

No, don't tell me... that large shadow... was actually just a school of fish?!! I catch some of the fish in my mouth and chew them in frustration before I leave the area. I can't believe I got fooled by some shadow...

The three children took cover from the large splash of water and watch on as I disappear from their sight.