Chapter 1: Escape from Death
WHEN XXXX opened his eyes, his body felt as heavy as stone, likely to actually die and become as lifeless as stone if he didn’t get his bearings straight. But he was still alive.
He found himself on a bedding of dried foliage large enough for dozens of people to sleep on. This open-air bed looked like the sort of thing a wild animal would use, if you ignored how incredibly massive it was.
The sky was bright, and a gentle breeze brushed the land.
XXXX was so weak that even just thinking was a strain, but he frantically tried to assess the situation. He didn’t have to think long though. The mind-boggling truth was right in front of his eyes.
It was curled up next to him, its body tens of times larger than any human’s. It was both elegant and powerfully muscular, coated in glossy red scales that blended together to form a thick armor. Its long neck and tail were like supple whips, almost sensual in a way. A jaw that looked so powerful, the head was like a guillotine. Its brown eyes, with vertical slit pupils, burned with the intensity of the sun, and its noble, white horns were so sharp they looked like they could pierce the heavens themselves. Huge, leathery wings were folded on its back.
A dragon!
It was so regal that XXXX could hardly breathe out of sheer terror and awe.
Then, it dawned on him. He was in a dragon’s nest. On the peak of Mount Kugus. Where a dragon lived. Where humans shouldn’t go.
That’s where he was when he nearly died, and, well, there was only one logical conclusion.
Am I…going to be eaten?
There were rumors that the dragon of Mount Kugus had laid an egg. A weakened, nearly dead human…well that would make a decent first meal for a newborn dragon hatchling.
The dragon noticed XXXX had opened his eyes and extended its long neck to move its head closer to him. And then, it sniffed him.
The moment XXXX saw the dragon’s teeth, each one as thick as a grown man’s arm, inch closer towards him, he accepted his fate; he was going to be eaten.
But the dragon’s teeth didn’t tear into him. Instead, the dragon picked up something large using its mouth and dropped it beside XXXX with a thud.
It was a huge bear monster with ashen fur, but the fatal wound on the creature’s stomach made it clear to XXXX that it was dead. There was no questioning it, this was the dragon’s work.
The dragon placed the carcass in front of XXXX and nudged it with its nose.
“Grooor… Rar…”
A sound came from the dragon’s throat, like breath tumbling over itself. It wasn’t a threatening sound—a human might even liken it to a purr.
XXXX was left speechless. He just sat there dumbfounded, staring at the mass of dead flesh, while the dragon cocked its head back and forth in confusion before biting into the beast’s underbelly.
Its large fangs slid effortlessly through the beast’s hide, fur so thick it could repel any but the best shots from a bow and arrow. The dragon tore in as it held the body steady with its sturdy foreleg.
It exposed the meat, dripping with blood, but it didn’t bite into the carcass. Instead, the dragon just thrust it towards XXXX.
Wh-What? Why is it…?
The first thing that crossed XXXX’s mind was that maybe the dragon was planning to eat him after fattening him up. Though, it could just eat the bear monster instead of bothering with something as roundabout as that. But, either way, XXXX knew that if he didn’t eat something, he would soon join the carcass in front of him.
He’d lost too much blood. There was barely any energy left in his body. He was so hungry he thought his stomach might burst. Eating something, anything, so he could recover was of the utmost importance. Even if that something was raw meat of an unknown nature.
He raised his head slightly, pulled himself towards the bear, and bit into its flesh.
The heavy, iron flavor of blood filled his mouth.
And that was all the energy he had. The meat was too tough. With how weak human jaws were, there was no way someone could eat this creature raw. That was even more true now given his weakened state. He couldn’t eat it.
“Nnnnng… Unnnn…” The dragon let out a sad cry above XXXX as he laid back face down.
Next, it bit into the monster’s flesh. It tore off a chunk, pulled it into its mouth and chewed several times, then spat it out without swallowing. It piled the now minced meat in front of XXXX.
Well, with that, he should be able to eat it. He did wonder why the dragon was going to such lengths to get him to eat the meat, but that was the least of his concerns. If he didn’t eat while he was still clinging to consciousness, he’d die.
He took the minced meat in his mouth and tried to swallow it down, but it came right back up.
“Blergh! Urrrgh, gah!”
He threw up the meat as he tried to swallow it, along with the contents of his stomach, stained dark with blood. Human bodies weren’t meant to consume raw, bloody meat, after all.
“A-Ah…gah…”
He just stayed on the ground, face down, his breathing faint. He couldn’t move. It was as if he’d vomited out what little remaining energy he had.
“Nn? Nnn? Nn?” The dragon made an odd sound and poked the prone XXXX with its nose. Then it tried chewing up the pile of meat more and shifted around as if at a loss for what to do. “Graaah!”
A burst of hot air brushed across XXXX’s cheek and hair. The dragon spat fire at the monster’s carcass seemingly out of annoyance and took out its frustration on the nearest object. The blood-soaked twigs of the nest smoked, and the sad lump of meat, well, started to let off the pleasant aroma of roasting fat.
That’s…?
The scent of life was wafting into his nostrils.
He mustered the last of his strength to move. The minced meat was at best cooked rare from the dragon’s fiery breath, but it was cooked nonetheless. Evident by the juices on its surface sizzling.
XXXX reached towards the meat and shoved it in his mouth.
There was the stench of raw flesh, but it wasn’t as strong as before. That was enough to make it palatable to a human.
“Nn?” The dragon made a quiet sound in its throat then carefully observed XXXX.