“I swear it’s like you want to be captured and locked away,” Iolana grumbled, not for the first time. She’d harangued me after the male left and again while she prepared for the evening repast, a ritual that involved bathing and blowing hot air at her hair until dried. I’d enjoyed playing with that device—the heated wind very pleasant on my flesh—while she dressed in a pair of pants without holes and a shirt that hadn’t yet reached the rag stage of her usual attire.
“As if the humans could build a prison capable of holding me,” I scoffed as she carried me outside.
“I have one in my bedroom, or have you forgotten the fact you couldn’t escape the terrarium?” she rudely pointed out as she placed me inside her car, a metal box on wheels that could move without horses or oxen. The experience a first for me, and not something that existed in my maternal progenitor’s time.
“Once I have my wings?—”
“You don’t,” she interrupted to point out. “And even once you do, they can be clipped.”
“What does this mean, clipped?”
“It’s when they cut the tendons that allow your wings to flap. They do it to keep birds from being able to fly away.”
“What kind of cruel torture is that?” I exclaimed.
“The kind people do to rare creatures.”
Abominable. “I shall eat anyone who tries.”
“In which case, they’ll shoot you.”
A reminder of the guns that existed. Weapons capable of firing great distances and causing catastrophic damage.
“They’d better not.”
“As if you’ll have a choice. If people think you’re a menace, they will eliminate you.”
“Who is this ‘they’ you keep referring to?”
“The government, for a starter. Local law enforcement. Vigilantes. Take your pick. People don’t need much of an excuse to kill, especially if they feel threatened.”
“I won’t have to threaten so long as they accept me as their leader.”
“While I am sure some will kiss the ground you walk on, there’s probably more that will decide to fight your plan to rule the world.”
“Then they will suffer the consequences.”
For some reason, that statement made her laugh. “You do realize you’re just one dragon against billions.”
Daunting odds. “Then what do you suggest? That I become a hermit in a cave on a mountain?”
“At least you’d stay alive.”
Her lack of faith in me stung. I’d show her. I’d show everyone. Eventually. The lack of size, wings, and my ability did hinder my plans. “I will find a way out of this untenable situation.”
“Look at you using big words. I can’t believe how fast you picked up the English language.” She changed the subject. Likely for the best, as I did not like her conclusions as to my odds at ruling over humanity.
“Not really surprising. Dragons are a superior race.”
“Who all died.” Iolana did so enjoy pointing that out.
“You don’t know for sure I am the only one left of my kind. A clutch has many eggs. Surely others have hatched.” A good and bad thing. Good in the sense that several dragons could more easily subdue the humans. The bad being they would then become my competitors as we strove for domination of the world.
“If other dragons did hatch, then they likely died because, otherwise, they’d have gone viral.”
“It wouldn’t be unheard of for my kind to choose seclusion for a period of time while they grow their bodies and hoards.”
“If you say so,” she snorted.
