VESTARIA - THE WAKING DRAGON
In a cave high in the Black Stone Mountains of northern Vestaria, the dragon Diamonsteneez stirred and opened a green eye for the first time in a thousand years.
​ He was stiff after being asleep for so long, and the gray-green scales covering his body felt stuck. He lifted his head and tightened the muscles along his back and shoulders, then loosened his wings. The muscles in his legs ached when he pressed against the floor of the cavern to stand. He stretched his wings out to their twelve-foot span and slowly waved them, causing the blood to rush through his veins. New energy followed, bringing him to full awareness. With his wings folded against his sides, he flexed his muscles, working the slumber from his body. As he arched his back, his long, sharp claws curled into the soft dirt and then opened, tossing small streams of pebbles across the cavern floor. Smoke puffed from his mouth, followed by a small burst of flame that seared the cave ceiling, causing the great dragon to sneeze. He shook his massive head, snorting and rubbing his snout with a foreclaw. His lips pulled back, revealing long dagger-like teeth as his tongue slid out to moisten his dry mouth. He blinked, clearing tears from his sneeze. “Ah, awake again,” reverberated off the stone walls.
​ Hunger for food and power gnawed at him. My sleep time has ended. What has changed? He wondered. Could there be food nearby? I am so hungry I could eat a herd.
​ At the far end of the cavern, dim light from outside provided enough illumination for his keen eyes to penetrate the darkness of the cave. The chamber stretched three hundred feet from front to back and was two hundred feet wide. Sheer rock walls curved up to an arched ceiling covered with stalactites pointing down like threatening spears. Diamonsteneez eyed the small opening shining at the far end and thought back to the time he entered so many years ago. He had been a ruler then, controlling a kingdom in a faraway land. His benevolence had been his undoing. He thought if his subjects were treated kindly, they would be happy, but the opposite proved true. His kindness allowed his subjects to pursue an agenda of revolution, and they gained control of an array of weapons. One day, the people of his kingdom surprised him as he slept, unaware of the treachery unfolding within his castle. They overwhelmed him with their numbers and drove him from their land.
​ Beaten and downhearted, he sought refuge in a cave high in the mountains where he had slept until now. Memory slowly returned that the opening was the way out to the world beyond. The way to food and a kingdom waiting for his power to command, control, and possess it. And this time, he would not be so kind.
​ He stepped to the exit, flapped his wings, and curled them tight to his body. Yes, it’s good to be awake. He stepped through to the great outdoors and new adventures.
​ Gazing from the high ledge, he could see the bare cliffs of sheer rock where ice and snow covered them year-round. Frigid air kept the snow and ice from melting, but the warm rays of the sun gave a soothing feel to the mountain tops. The warmth of summer was in full bloom, and bright sunshine glistened on the snow-covered rocks. He filled his lungs with fresh air. New energy surged through him as he spread his wings and lifted into the sky. The warm rays of the sun felt good against his back and the top of his wings as he circled up over the mountains that ran east to the Indaria desert. To the north, they rose higher and faded into a gray haze, while to the south, the foothills dropped into a forest that spread to the plains and ended at the deep blue Citrine Sea. Eastward below the mountains lay a broad river separating the forest from grassy plains, and on a hill overlooking a small town, he saw a castle with flags flying from tall turrets. Farmlands and pastures bordered the kingdom, and cattle grazed in the morning sunlight.
Oh, what a tidy kingdom. I hope they will put up a good fight. Valiant subjects are harder to rule, but more satisfying to conquer.
​ He turned east slightly above the treetops and soon began to see roads cutting through the woods, wisps of smoke from cabins, then fields of crops, and pastures where the cattle grazed. Hunger gnawed at his belly, but he had to be careful, so before enjoying a satisfying meal, he circled to get a view of the kingdom.
​ Oh, yes, a fine home it will make. But first, a tasty meal.
​ He dropped toward the pasture where cattle grazed, not caring if the lone herdsman saw him, for he would soon be part of the first meal. It did not take long to satisfy his hunger, and after he devoured four cows and the herdsman, he rose into the air and headed west for the forest, where he could rest and plan how to possess his kingdom.