Dungeons & Dragons - The Movie by Neal Barrett Jr

Author:Neal Barrett Jr.
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2011-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

She knew it was nearly time. She could feel the pulsing glow of the golden sphere that held her, bound her, keeping her safely warm.

Now, though, it was time to leave the safety, time to leave the warmth, time to claim her place among her kind. Once again she slashed at her bright sanctuary that was fast becoming a prison now—slashed, ripped, and tore in sudden rage and desperation at the strong and viscous globe that held her there.

She strained to break her great wings free, thrashed her scaly head about, screeched in fury as the poison in the shell, the acid in her veins, tried to kill her before she could rip herself free.

Now she could feel a deep, throbbing vibration in her belly, a strange oscillation that spread in a wave of awesome pain through her spine, through her breast to explode within her head. With no conscious thought at all, her shriek of desperation eased into a hum, the hum into a chant, the chant into a song, a song that spoke of mighty thunderheads, lightning on her wings, a song that spoke of hunger, spoke of needs, spoke of fearsome dragon deeds…

The deep, tremulous notes of the song began to throb in the creature’s corded throat, through muscle, heart and lungs. The golden shell itself began to shiver, tremble with the sound. Tiny cracks appeared, spidery fractures that raced across the bright surface like lightning come to ground.

First, a taloned claw broke free, then the tip of a leathery wing. Great sections of the shell began to shatter and fall away, releasing beams of luminescent gold.

The dragon stretched her scaly neck, rammed her snout against the shell, and broke her head free. As she had in a thousand lives before, she opened her jaws and roared at the world, lifted her mighty wings, and tore them free.

Now, the light burst forth like the molten sun itself, like a great exploding star. As she shook her armored hide and flexed her lucid wings, the dragon became aware of the man. A vision of other times, of other human things, filled its head with killing rage. Men thought themselves masters, lords of the world.

She held the pale creature with her amber eyes. The thing didn’t run, didn’t turn and take flight. Instead, it looked back at the dragon, looked and held its ground…

The dragon, newly birthed again, had hazy memories of its past and knew this was not the ordinary thing a man would do. How did it dare not show its fear? How did it dare stand and look her in the eye?

She knew, at once, what she must do. The answer was stamped in every cell of her being, as it was in every dragon that had trod this ancient world.

Kill the thing. Rip it in two with one sweep of its claw. Shake it in her teeth and fling the ragged gouts aside, a feast for lesser beings, crawlers and flyers of the carrion kind.

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