Acoustic Waves, Battery, Fukushima, Nuclear Energy, Frequency Monitoring, Story 1, Story 2, Story 3, Carly's Story, Jesus, Dragon,

Dragon - Copyright Richard Collins 2011, All Rights Reserved

He was hungry, or he would not have left his comfortable, warm nest.  He could see, after a fashion, in the darkeness.  No light reached his place, but some inner sense told him which way to go.  Where was his mother?  Had she abandoned him?  Was she hurt?  Why had she left him here on his own?  She should have been back to feed him some time ago, but she had not returned.  Where was she?

Andron made his way to the main cave.  This was where most of the jewels were stored.  He could not sense them.  There were a few, but the not the masses he was used to.  More importantly, now, he found several dead cattle.  His mother had left him with food after all.  He fell to, and started to devour the meat she must have left.

The cave was dug into the side of a tall hill.  There was an entrance near the valley floor, which could be gotten to by following a narrow tunnel from the upper caves to a small lower cave and then out into the valley.  This is the way that Andron usually went.  There was an opening from the upper cave to the valley, but it opened a couple of hundred feet above the valley floor.  Most of the upper cave had been smoothed and enlarged by his mother.  Her claws and magic could eat through the rocky material as though it were soft soil.  She dug several chambers in the upper part for herself, and that is where Hadron's cave was, the farthest back away from the entrance.  His entrance tunnel was just big enough for his mother to enter.  His cave was just big enough for her and him to fit in comfortably.

Andron was twelve years old.  He was about twenty feet long and nearly eight feet tall when on all fours.  None of his scales had hardened yet, though some around his face were stiff and strong.  In the strong sunlight his scales were deep red, almost black.  In the dark of the cave, he looked much like he would when he was older - black and shiny.

Andron finished one cow and then laid down near the upper entrance to sleep.  He chose a place in the sunlight.  He was warm and full, so he slept for several hours.  He woke only when he heard something near the lower entrance.  Was it his mother?  She never came that way.  It sounded too small anyway.  When he crept to the ledge, he could look down to the lower entrance and see a man standing there.  What did he want?  Humans mostly feared dragons, they did not come to visit!  As Andron watched, the man raised a staff and hit the rock wall.  He was shouting something too, in the human tongue.  Andron could not understand him, partly because of the human tongue, but also because the sound was echoing off the rock.

Andron turned and entered the tunnel for the lower entrance.  In a few quick steps he was there.  He stuck his head out into the sunlight and blinked against the strong glare.   The man stepped back away but not so far as to indicate his fear.  The man bowed to Andron, stepped forward, and spoke.  "My name is Steven.  Your mother asked me to look in on you while she is gone.  She had to fly north to take care of some business and asked me to come see how you are doing, and to perhaps teach you a few things.  She wants you to learn human speech a little better, and she wants you to learn how to take care of yourself better."  he said.

"She did not say anything to me about leaving."  Andron said.

"She received an urgent message and left immediately.   She came to see me when she heard, and asked me to come check on you.  Do you have enough to eat?  She said she left some food for you, but she is not sure how long she will be gone.  She wanted me to take you hunting, and she wanted me to teach you how to fly."  Steven said.

"Yes, I have food to eat.  What do you know about flying?  You are not a dragon.  My mother was teaching me these things.  I can already hunt a little.  Shouldn't my mother teach me to fly?  Humans do not fly.  How can you teach me?"  Andron said.

"I am a magician.  I have met and I know many dragons.  Since flying is a magical ability, I can help you to learn it.  Also your mother wants you to learn to armor yourself and to find new sources of jewels.  I am familiar with all these things, and can help you."  Steven explained.

"Did my mother take all the jewels?  I could sense only a few of them."  Andron asked.

"Yes, she said she needed them.  She left you a few. We can go search for more."  Steven said.