The Slave Dragon

Drakon flew towards his cave, the smell of fresh blood from his kill filling his nostrils.  Drakon hummed in pleasure.  He landed in his cave and placed his kill on the floor. He began to yawn and stretch. As he stretched he looked over himself, his bat-like wings half extended, at full length they would be 30ft long, his body 27ft from nose to tail, and from claw to shoulder he was 6 1/2ft tall. Of course, as a reptilian, the females were about 1 foot larger. Drakon watched as the green-blue scales on his back flashed in the sunlight. The scales on dragons could shine in almost any color combination of the various shades of blacks, browns, reds, blues, greens and yellows.
Drakon’s back and the tops of his wings were covered with green-blue scales and a pale green underside. Underneath the wings at the leading edge, it was an almost golden yellow and flowed to a pale green at the trailing edge.
He finished stretching and looked at his bloody claws; about 2 1/2 in. long, and stared to lick his them clean. Unlike most creatures, his forelegs were prehensile, allowing a limited use of tools. Drakon’s tongue was almost to his claw when the world suddenly went black…and he opened his eyes.
Drakon quickly blinked the sleep from his eyes. He automatically started to stretch, and was caught short by the chains on fore and hind legs, his wings pulled at the leather ropes that held his wings to his back, the muzzle on his snout stopping him from yawning. He was in a cage, barely enough room to fit him inside. Drakon started to growl but caught himself before it became audible.
Definitely can’t let Them know I’ve got a will of my own Drakon thought miserably, Them being the human slave-drivers, they generally beat newly-acquired dragons into submission, but by pretending to be broken, he stopped getting beaten. At least I can imagine freedom; Drakon thought to himself, but by the Wings and Flame Granted Us I wish it wasn’t a dream!
Just then he heard a familiar sound, human footsteps. Drakon instinctively felt for his platinum sack and hydrogen sack, a dragon’s tools for his main weapon, fire. Hydrogen, which a dragon makes naturally in order to fly, can be mixed with platinum, which is generally found in most dragon dwellings, in order to produce fire. Unlike most enslaved dragons, captured ether too young or too weak to defend themselves, Drakon had a small amount of platinum left, mostly because of the way he had been captured.
It still infuriated Drakon how he was enslaved. He had found a cave right after his parents had been killed. After he entered the cave, he had curled up and wept. After grieving for several hours, Drakon had fallen into a mournful and exhausted sleep. Unfortunately, his grieving had attracted human dragon-hunters. By the time he had woken up, he was already tied up in rope and chains.
The human walked in front of Drakon's cage. The human then proceeded to unlock the cage, remove the muzzle, place some meat inside the cage, and lock the cage. The only good thing about being enslaved is that I don’t have to hunt. Drakon thought sourly as he started to eat his share. The human walked to the next cage over and repeated the ritual, only with visibly less meat. The slave dragons are fed by species, flying dragons, like Drakon, were fed the most so they could fly humans. Water dragon, longer, thinner, and better built for water, they’re fed just enough to fill their ballast sack and float. And forest dragons, like the dragon in the other cage, were built like water dragons but lived on land, and were fed the least.
The forest dragon finished his share quickly and began to whimper in hunger. Drakon sighed and tossed a chunk of meat between the bars. The forest dragon looked up in surprise. “Thank you,” he said in draconian, the dialect of dragons, and ate the meat. Drakon sighed again and finished eating.
The human came back quickly and re-muzzled Drakon’s snout. Drakon sorely wanted to slash the human with his claws. He remembered the first time he was fed; the same human was the feeder then too. He had put the meat on the floor of the cage just like today, and Drakon had begun to eat. Unfortunately, Drakon had eaten too slowly, and the feeder, being lazy, had re-muzzled him before he had finished.
The sound of rattling chains brought Drakon back to the present. A forest dragon was being dragged past Drakon’s cage. Drakon cringed as the forest dragon stumbled. The rule Drakon hated the most was that if a dragon fell unconscious the dragon would become what humans called “dragon chow”, where a dragon is chopped up and fed to other dragons. Drakon shivered and then sighed in relief as the forest dragon regained his footing.
The day went by like most days. Drakon was taken out of his cage, saddled, and harnessed several times to fly some humans to some destination. The result was that Drakon could make a mental map, knowing accurately where he was going. In addition to knowing where he was, he could listen to the humans’ conversations, for he understood human speech.
Drakon’s father had been an expert on human speech and, as with all parents and child; he had past the knowledge, along with some other thing he knew, on to Drakon. Drakon’s mother had disapproved of what her mate taught but didn’t stop him; instead she taught Drakon how to fight. Drakon’s mother had been an excellent fighter and Drakon had learned well from her, as well as his father.
Drakon always thought the same thing, if only there weren’t so many chains, I would tear this place apart. Of course this was only a fantasy for Drakon for he knew if he ever escaped he would quickly fly away before anyone had a chance to recapture him again. Amazingly, his fantasy to escape was going to come true because of a human.
The human was a Fight Master, a man who buys and trades dragons for fighting rings. The man walked by each cage slowly, inspecting each dragon carefully. The man then stepped in front Drakon’s cage, the feeder trailing behind him. The man studied Drakon for a moment, paused and began to examine him more closely. The man then turned around and told the feeder to unlock Drakon’s cage. The feeder quickly complied and the man stepped inside the cage.
The man then proceeded to poke and prod Drakon. Oh, how I wish I could sink my claws into you Drakon thought, annoyed. As the man felt Drakon’s foreleg he said, “The dragon’s muscles are well toned.” Your lucky I’m chained down or these ‘well toned muscles’ would be tearing you apart. Drakon was starting to imagine himself free and tearing the man limb from limb.
The man looked at Drakon’s muzzled snout. The man then suddenly spun to face the feeder,”Take the dragon’s muzzle off.” He commanded. The feeder sputtered for a second, “but sir…” “Yes, yes, I know,” the man interrupted, “Wild dragons can breathe flame, but I have never seen a tame dragon even breathe sparks, and I can take care of the biting. Now remove the muzzle!” The feeder reluctantly did as he was told and removed Drakon's muzzle.
The man then started to look at Drakon's teeth. Suddenly Drakon then made a snap decision and took his snout out off the man’s hands. The man grabbed for Drakon's snout but Drakon, to the man, and to the rest of the humans, he said, “I’m not a tame dragon!” and for the first time since he was captured, Drakon let his flames lose.