Poetry and Short Stories

Dragon Tail - Stryker's tale

Stryker grunted and shifted his position on a lumpy pile of coins. His cave had been roomy enough...many years before...but now it was starting to feel a little cramped.

The pile slid suddenly, leaving him uncomfortable again. "Why do these things shift so much? Who's bright idea was it that dragons should sleep on this stuff, anyway?"

He grunted again, heaved his three thousand year old frame to its feet and wandered to the front of his cave. "I'm bored," he thought, staring out into the dawn breaking over the wilderness below his mountain. "I need something to do."

His gaze wandered over the trees below, glowing in the rays of the early morning sun, and he yawned then stared. A wisp of smoke was rising from the furthermost part.

Stryker snapped his jaw shut and licked his lips. "Well, well, well. I wonder if that's what I think it is." He glanced up at the sky. "No clouds. Can't have been lighting. Must be humans...unless the wolves have learned how to start fires."

He leaned up against one side of the cave mouth and scratched an itch on his backside while studying the smoke.

"I think I'll go have a look-see. Been a long time since I actually saw a human. Been almost...six hundred years. I thought they'd all become extinct."

He launched himself out of the cave and soared high above the forest. Trees flashed past below and within a few seconds, a large glade came into view. In the center stood a tent and a few feet from the tent, the coals of a small campfire glowed brightly. A horse was tethered nearby but of the human, there was no sign.

"Wonder where it is?" Stryker sailed over the glade, banked and climbed into the sky and circled around.

Passing overhead, he studied the camp and noticed a small target, with several arrows sticking out of it, standing some feet from the tent.

"Ah...perhaps it's a hunter?" He climbed up into the sky and banked for another flyover. "I wonder where it is?"

He dived as the glade came into view once more and landed on the edge, up-wind from the horse. It eyed him suspiciously.

"Hello, dinner." He grinned at the horse, showing a large set of pointed teeth. The horse put it's ears back and snorted. Stryker chuckled to himself. "This could be fun." He sat up on his back legs and swung his massive head from side to side, listening to the sounds of the glade and testing the scents in the air.

"Odd noise." He swung his head back to look at the tent. "I wonder what is going on..."

He folded his wings, dropped to all fours and waddled toward the tent. The noise got louder. He stood next to the tent for a moment, listening then stuck his head between the flaps.

The tent was cluttered with bags and paraphernalia. A pile of blankets lay in the center and from the pile emanated a loud, rasping noise.

Stryker blinked and stretched his neck in for a closer look. The pile stirred and a man sat up. Catching sight of the dragon he let out a piercing scream. Stryker screamed and jerked his head back. The horns on the back of his neck caught the canvass and the tent ripped lose from the ground, settling down over his face.

The man scrambled to his feet.

Stryker roared in frustration and shook his head violently.

The blankets tangled around the man's legs and he fell, scrabbling frantically to get away.

Stryker ripped the tent off his face and dropped it on top of the man, and sneezed, blowing smoke in the direction of the horse. It neighed in terror and reared. Its tether pulled loose and it fled into the trees.

Stryker snickered and puffed more smoke after it then turned his attention back to the man. "Well," he thought, watching the frantic movements going on under the canvass. "At least I'm not bored any more." He reached a claw down and pulled the tent away.

"Boo," Stryker said as the man resurfaced.

"YAAAAAAAAAA!" the man screamed and wet his pants. He scrambled to his feet, tripped and landed sprawling on his face in the dirt.

Stryker chuckled and dropped the tent on top of a thick bush. The man rolled over on his back and eyed the dragon as he slowly regained his feet and backed away. Stryker puffed a bit of smoke out one nostril in his direction. The man whirled and ran for the target and hid behind it.

Stryker cocked his head to the side and waited.

A hand snaked around to the front of the target, grabbed an arrow and yanked it loose. A moment later the man stepped out from behind the target, armed with a bow. He fitted the arrow to the bow string and loosed it in Stryker's direction.

The dragon puffed a tiny bit of flame out one nostril, catching the arrow in mid flight and reducing it to ash.

The man turned white, stared at the dragon and backed toward the trees.

Stryker snickered, jumped into the air and spread his wings. Soaring into the sky, he banked and looked back down on the glade. "We'll meet again," he thought. "Perhaps." He circled over the glade and headed for home.

Below in the glade, the bowman watched him silently. "We'll meet again," he thought. "And next time, I'll win."