Surprisingly, after the retreat, no more humans came.
The caretakers of the children came though and hovered around the doors to collect them when they rushed away from me.
They all had on the same white aprons over thier normal clothing. It seemed to be thier own brand to identify.
It hurt to have them abandon me so easily, but there was nothing I could do about it. Calling out to them only made the smallest stop and turn around to look to me.
She was an adorable little thing too. Her curly maroon hair looked far too big for her head and hung from it in two massive balls of tangle.
Her skin was dark like chocolate but stained with even darker sprinkles along her nose and down her arms.
Her eyes were dark brown too and reminded me of river pebbles. They were wide but not filled with fear when she looked at me. They were full of curiosity that pulled her gap toothed smile wide.
It wasn't cold enough for the red jacket she wore inside. By the wear on it, it was a favourite of hers; just like the dark orange tights she had on with them.
I didn't know her name. To me, in that moment, she was standing there like a little chick hovering near its mother hen. Her red jacket was plumage and her orange tights were tiny legs. She was a baby chick.
"Little Chick" I smiled at the name.
I liked it. By the way she giggled at my noise, she did too.
"Why are you just standing there?" I pondered and extended a single claw to nudge her back in the direction of her waiting carers who hadn't moved from the doors "you have to join the others for breakfast."
She didn't move. I noticed the shattered glass still scattered across the ground and then saw that Little Chick had no shoes on to protect her tiny toes.
I carefully pinched the back of her jacket in my teeth and lifted her from the danger.
She squealed out which caused panic to jolt through me instantly.
Had I grabbed her skin too? Maybe my teeth was yanking her hair?
I moved quickly as she continued to squeal out and throw her arms up as the glass cracked and broke under my feet.
When I placed her at the door, I saw she was still smiling. She squealed again and threw her arms up gleefully.
Oh.
I hadn't been hurting her after all. She thought it was fun.
The carer went to push her through the door before I stopped them with a single claw on Little Chick's shoulder.
They looked up to me when I lowered my head to her tiny body and snuffled the back of her jacket.
I wanted to commit her scent to my memory. If anything dangerous happened again, I needed to know where Little Chick was.
She held her hands over her mouth to hide her giggles when I worked over her back to her tangle of hair.
The scent on her was unusual. I could smell sweet, juicy cherries stained on her clothing and along her neck. It wasn't her usual aroma but one that had been added.
Her hair was like the warmth of the sunshine outside with the faint scent of earthy, sharp rosemary leaves. And her skin had the same sharp scent with something that smelled like dry fur I often caught in the breeze on my morning flights.
She was enticing and unforgettable. I would know wherever Little Chick moved around the halls now.
The carers ushered her away so they could spill into the room with brooms and brushes. I backed from them to head out onto the balcony as they fanned out to cover more ground.
While they were cleaning, I could help with breakfast.
Surely, they wouldn't have enough to feed every mouth in the dining hall. I would relieve that struggle and win the affection of the other hesitant children in the process.
Somehow, my plan didn't go as well as I had envisioned it.
I had gone further out of my hunting grounds to avoid the livestock in the nearby properties I was forbidden to touch. Doing so years ago had only bought anger down on me from the humans that owned them.
Thier forbidden patched skin and dopey, dripping faces hid some delicious meat within it that did nothing but bellow and graze grass.
But, the silly human wanted to keep them for himself, even when I tried to make a trade of a glistening boulder for one. To this day, I was sure that black and gold glittering rock was still in that field where I had left it.
But this time, I was prepared.
I had already secured my trade in my jaw for whatever beast I was going to take the life of. This one was a fruit tree that had been growing wild by the riverside further out. Most of its fruit was rotten and pungent, but some of it was still ripening for eating.
A whole herd of beasts caught my attention in a radiant field of dried golden grass sweeping thier legs.
Hooves thundered the ground when they were startled by my shadow and bolted.
I glided above them, scanning for the best pick to bring back.
The little ones I ignored entirely. They were far too small to offer anything just yet. They needed the herd to fatten up and grow into the wonderful beasts powering below.
The one at the head was strong but also not my pick. I couldn't just destroy a heirachy like this for a single meal. The rest still needed order and were sure to waste thier lives if that was taken from them.
The ones in the middle were suitable. They clustered together as they bolted blindly ahead, shoving the younger ones around them.
I would have to time this just right to not wipe out more than I needed.
I dove down so that I was only a few meters from the panicking herd. My wings cast them in shadow as they tried to outrun me easily keeping up with them.
Now that death was breathing down thier backs, they spread. Calls from the main river of bodies tried to reel them back in unsuccessfully, and I finally had my target.
The creature was mature and fat enough for a feast and far enough from the others to not kill them unnessesarily.
I steadied my trade ahead of it before dropping the trunk right in its path.
It went down instantly, tumbling and screaming in pain. The others powered on, unable to help the single creature who quickly met the fate of my teeth on its slender throat.
Another successful trade.
The herd would have food for one of thier own, and I would have my own fed in return.
I took to the safety of the skies again with the body still clamped in my teeth, radiating pride from the success of the quick hunt, as I headed back to the balcony with breakfast.
The carers had prepared a beautiful, clean floor for me to dump the body on. None of them were still there anymore; having moved to other rooms in the house where my babies would be.
Out of them all, I could only track Little Chick wondering somewhere in a room further ahead.
Perhaps she was searching for food?
I would have to remember the scent of the others too when they weren't so afraid of me. I could do that when I gathered them here again.
I lifted my head to let out a dipping call that echoed through the room. It sounded almost like barking; a noise that signalled a feast from a parent dragon to thier own to come and feast.
My own mother and father had made the same call when they had cared for me and my seven siblings in our nest tucked away in an old barn.
There was no danger to steal the food from us. The call was the sign they needed to hear that they could come and enjoy it.
I had never made it before, since I hadn't had the need. But now that danger had been present not long ago, my overwhelming urge to step up as thier guardian and mother was undeniable.
Little Chick was the first to enter the room and beam up at me. Her little feet pattered on the ground when she sprinted over to the body I nudged for her.
Two more followed cautiously but remained by the door. They exclaimed in disgust at my offering and one called out to the carers.
"Horsey!" Little Chick chimed out as her hands slapped on it's limp neck then played with its mane "Horsey! Horsey! Horsey!"
The others weren't amused in the meal. They were much older than Little Chick was, and had obviously grown to like thier own preferences more.
The one who had called to the others was a teenage boy with short white hair cut into a mohawk-looking style along the top. His eyes were light silver which looked paler with his light skin.
His grey singlet hung off his skinny body like a flag, along with his purple crystal pillar necklace, while his small black shorts clung to every curve. He was the only one of the two adorned with many golden hoops along the top of one ear.
With his skinny, tall frame and his pale features dominating his looks, he reminded me of a soft mushroom.
The name suited him. He was my soft Mushroom.
The one beside him was a teenage girl. They bore no resemblance to each other, so the chances of them being related was low.
She had long black hair that hung over her shoulders, despite already being tied back in a ponytail. It was curled too, but nowhere near as unruly as Little Chick's was.
Her light brown skin only accentuated her natural beauty. And with warm golden eyes, she was mesmerizing.
Her bone-coloured cardigan was thin and long around her body. It covered most of it while her white top cut off a few centimeters below her breasts.
Her grey shorts looked to be the same length as Mushroom's, with hardly any difference in the tightness of them.
Unlike Mushroom though, her face and posture wasn't stern or confident. She looked meek and sweet; unable to hurt a fly with that small pointed-fang smile.
And she was so quiet. Almost as quiet as a...
"Mouse" I smiled at her and nudged the body again to get thier attention "come eat, you two."
Little Chick let out a tiny growl before she chomped down on the side of the horse. Her tiny teeth couldn't even pierce the skin that she snapped onto again and again.
Mouse yelled out and rushed over to snatch her from the meal. Little Chick struggled against Mouse who held her out at arms length.
"What are we going to do with her?!" she cried out to Mushroom who darted over to wipe her mouth.
"Look, there is nothing we can do" he said, taking her to hold her against him "it's the first thing she's even touched in days."
"We can't just let her eat a dead horse!" Mouse threw her hand out to it in disgust.
I looked to it and then back to them.
"Why not?"
All of them glanced up at me then resumed scowling at each other.
"No-one is going to know" Mushroom whispered now "it's in her nature to e..."
"In her nature" Mouse scoffed and grabbed Little Chick who was about to bite into Mushroom's constricting arms "you know what? Go for it."
She dropped Little Chick down who rushed back to the horse to chomp on the side again.
I could tell Mushroom and Mouse were irritated with the situation. Little Chick wasn't making it any better with her persistence.
They didn't have to fight. There was plenty here for everyone to have thier fill.
I leant over to tear off a chunk from the neck that spilled blood on the floor. Mouse and Mushroom moved away from it, coming to a stop when I dumped the chunk of meat at thier feet.
"Eat" I ordered.
Little Chick didn't need telling twice. She was already buried in the crevace I had created.
"The dragon isn't going to let us go until we do something" Mushroom gestured to me as I watched them "it's here to look after the symbols; so that's what it's doing. It's looking after us."
"So, eat the horse then" Mouse taunted him with a sly smirk that he shook his head at.
I huffed impatiently at the two then gobbled up the chunk myself. They watched me as I did, thier faces crinkling up with disgust.
I moved back to the pair to start my memorization of them before they could escape me again. Mouse was first.
She quickly sized up and closed her eyes when I snuffled around her. Her head turned from me as soon as I touched her skin.
"What is it doing now?" she whimpered.
"Tracking" Mushroom replied with awe while I flicked up Mouse's ponytail to inhale the metallic copper scent along her back "we won't be here long enough for you to do that though" he called to me.
I pulled from the scent of crisp leaves and sharp woodchips to glare at Mushroom, nudging Mouse out of the way to approach him.
"Seriously" he grumbled when I caught the scent of fresh water and smokey sage on his body "the only one you need to remember is Miss Horse Meat over there."
"She's the only one of us who was D. U. M. P. E. D. here" Mouse spelled out in a whisper.
"You'll have forever to know each other" Mushroom grumbled in agreeance when I moved to his peppery hair that stabbed at my nostrils and made me sneeze down his back.
Mouse laughed at him but her laughter was cut short when the doors opened and the carers froze in disbelief at the scene before them.
Horse blood pooled around the body Little Chick was trying to heave herself into. I stood beside a dripping Mushroom who looked at Mouse quickly.
Instantly, they were rushing inwards. Two scolded Little Chick and pulled her from the meal to quickly whisk her away from the room, screaming.
Another approached us with a broom raised, waving it high.
"Shoo!" she shouted and slammed it onto my curved tail "get out!"
The broom did nothing but irritate me. The woman was shouting at me like she was scolding a stray dog that had wondered onto the property; not thier guardian.
I huffed at her and moved anyway as she continued to beat my backside. Another moved in to sweep at my feet that only paused briefly for me to snap up the horse and drag it with me.
Instantly, the carers threw thier hands up in annoyance and screamed at me. I looped back through the room to spread the blood further out of spite while the brooms hammered by body in retaliation.
When I was satisfied with the chaos behind me, I leapt from the balcony with my meal and dumped it back in my dark room to enjoy in peace.
I would have to find another way to win them over.
Maybe I should cook it next time.
ns 15.158.61.8da2
