05-31-2011, 09:53 PM
Ressan rested his enormous head on a warm, flat rock, enjoying the midday sunrays beating down on his shimmering scales. His black eyes were reduced to slits, thin cracks in the perfect golden hide sending little sparks of light to dance on the mountainside. The tip of his long tail flopped around lazily, huge spikes scraping up the soft sandstone where ever it landed. His belly was pleasantly full; food had been quite abundant recently. For some strange reason, idiots from the human town far below kept sending people up to his cave. This confused the dragon, but he wasn’t complaining. Free meals were always welcome in his happy home.
The large fire lizard yawned widely and began picking his pearly teeth with one claw, removing several annoying bits of metal before he was satisfied. These humans obviously weren’t very smart if they were going to keep making their own take the treacherous journey up the mountain like this. Though it was mid-spring and the weather was pleasant, there were still rock falls and wild cats to look out for, and the trail was not at all reliable. It was simply too easy to trip and get hurt, and, up this far, it was practically impossible for the poor land dwellers to get back home.
Ressan could think of no possible explanation for this sudden flood of visitors; he had been eating more sheep and cattle recently, but that was no reason to send visitors. He would be civil, of course, if they didn’t try to stab him when they arrived… He supposed that they were angry about the livestock, but it wasn’t as if there weren’t still plenty to go around. He had considered going down to the town in disguise a few times, though it never really appealed to him; the human condition was one he preferred to stay away from; but now it seemed like a much better idea. His gums were sore from chewing through metal and nasty clothes, and his digestive system was paying the price of all this sweet meat.
So, with this train of thought, the old dragon came to the conclusion that making his way down to the human town was indeed the right way to go. After letting his most recent meal settle a bit more he hauled himself to his feet, reluctantly giving up a lovely afternoon of napping. A pair of gigantic silver wings burst from his shoulders, lifting Ressan’s considerable bulk with several powerful downstrokes. Once airborne, he shook himself, ridding his eyes of the last bit of tiredness remaining from his sunny hill. Now was the time for vigilance, even if these humans were puny, insignificant little things.
Ressan flew for several minutes before the mountain below him changed from rolling foothills to smooth, windblown plains. Here he touched down, sighing heavily before changing form in a whirl of molten light. He stretched his human body towards the sky, frowning at the limited mobility. Two legs were such a nuisance…one can move much faster on four. A few more minutes crept by as the former dragon continued to get used to his new form. Lean muscles rippled under bare, tanned skin, as Ressan began to walk to his destination, already regretting this decision; the gnats alone were enough to turn him off of life off the mountain.
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