The Dragon waited. He had been waiting for what seemed like eons. If some adventurous group of humans did not approach his lair soon he would be forced to stretch his wings and fly in search of prey. Finally, when his hunger could be denied no longer, and he had just decided to leave his lair, he heard sounds like that of approaching humans, possibly on horseback. Judging by the sound of their approach, they would be passing his lair within a day. So that he would be in complete readiness when they arrived, he started rearranging the boulders near the entrance of his gigantic cave. The boulders would hide him from the sight of the humans. He did this not for his protection, he knew he was nearly invulnerable, but so that he would not scare his meal away.
A Dragon's ear will tune in on any sound within several miles that has any relevance to that dragon's situation. This does not mean that the dragon will understand everything that he hears. Such was the case now. The Dragon could hear every word said by the approaching humans but he did not understand all of it. From what the Dragon could understand, these people had just won some type of battle. This was easily understood, as only the most formidable of warriors would approach his den. The manner of their victory, however was incomprehensible to him. They spoke of "machine guns", "cannons", and "rocket launchers". If these weapons were magical, the Dragon might be forced to use his flaming breath on the warriors. This would be regrettable, as burnt human was not nearly as palatable as live human. Where magic weapons were concerned, the Dragon just had to make sacrifices.
When the humans reached the ledge just below his lair they stopped. The Dragon waited in tense anticipation for the challenge of the warriors, but it never came. This was totally outside the Dragon's experience; the warriors were supposed to approach his lair, issue a challenge, then die. From the sounds they were making the warriors were setting up camp! The Dragon's slow brain percolated. Could these humans not be aware of his presence? But no, this could not be, for he had just heard the humans assigning one of their number as a guard. Who was there to guard against but himself, the oldest, toughest, and, though, he didn't know it, last dragon.
Enough was enough, he would leave his lair and char these ignorant humans into ash just to remind their race of his existence. He could always find another meal. As soon as he left the tunnel, he spread his wings and took flight. His age betrayed him, however, and he was past the humans before he had time to aim, so his flaming breath spread over the forested hillside, starting a large blaze. At this the Dragon did a double-take. He had never allowed even a blade of grass to grow within miles of his cave. Just how long had he been asleep to allow trees to grow on the hill outside his den?
Well! He couldn't let such questions bother him during combat, if you could call the coming slaughter a battle. He turned and readied for another pass at the humans. This time he wouldn't miss. He didn't. The humans had all dived for cover after his first pass, but when they saw him returning, they just sat there and stared at him in outright terror, until it was too late. The results of the Dragon's attack surprised even him. It seems that the strange cart, which the humans had called a "Jeep", was filled with oil or some other flammable substance, because it exploded forcefully enough to toss the Dragon through the air.
When the Dragon finally gained control of his flight and returned to the scene of the battle, he noticed the guard standing on a hill nearby. As the Dragon approached him, the guard finally recovered his wits and started preparing a strange spear for the Dragon's attack.
...This story is currenty being revised
Copyright 1997 by Andrew M. Salamon