Broken Wings

Mutual Curiosity

"Well then, this is the story my mother told me about how the world came to be the way it is now." Anea closed her eyes for a moment to focus, then began. "A very long time ago, dragons arose in a world full of other dangerous but mindless beasts. These first dragons were little more than beasts themselves; they were wild and aggressive and cared only for themselves and their next meal. But they were great hunters and fierce fighters, and it wasn't long before every other creature in the world fled at the sight of a dragon on wing. Then the only thing that dared to challenge a dragon was another dragon. And they did. For countless millennia, dragons fought each other for territory, treasures, and glory. Over time, the dragons who won most often tended to be those who could out-think their opponents to gain the advantage. And it was those dragons who gave rise to my ancestors, and the ancestors of all dragons who live today.

"Long after those times, after dragons had learned to act on thought as well as instinct, wield the magic within themselves, and live in peace with each other, the two-legged races began to rise. They rose and fell, and each one was stronger and more cunning than the last. Eventually, one race began to dominate the others and change the very surface of the earth to suit its needs. This race was prolific and especially creative, but also suspicious and violent. Its members trusted no one from another race and often viewed anyone outside of family as enemies. This was the race that came to call itself humanity."

The dragon paused until I looked her in the eye. "Your race spread like no other two-legged race before. Humans drove into the wild lands with abandon to conquer them and created terrible weapons to use on the other races and on each other. Not even dragons were safe from the humans' advance. They saw dragons as nothing more than horrific beasts that had no place in the world and therefore deserved to be slaughtered. But this was hardly an attitude they reserved for dragons.

"Humans seemed like they wouldn't be satisfied until every creature that did not serve them was utterly destroyed. So, another two-legged race, one which was older than humanity and had learned to use magic, found a way to give your race what it wanted, a world with no one else in it." The dragon blinked, and I gave a quiet gasp as the images of fire, war, and terror that had been pouring through my mind suddenly ceased. "They created the Veil, a colossal work of magic which hid from humanity any creature that restrained itself from interacting with humans. They used it first on themselves, then began to include other races that asked for refuge. Dragons were among the last to accept the Veil.

"We were the oldest race and we believed the world belonged to us by right, if it could truly belong to anyone at all. We were determined to resist, and for a time, the wild places of the world remained ours. But we couldn't match humanity's numbers forever, and we were gradually overwhelmed. My great grandparents fled from their ancient homelands across the great sea to the east and were able to live here for a time. But humans eventually followed, and even the dragons here were forced to accept the Veil. And so, we were able to linger on, hidden from humans who suddenly found themselves unchallenged in their quest to conquer the earth. And conquer it they did. There is almost nowhere left where humans haven't spread. But we are still here, and we'll be here as long as we can stay hidden." Anea finished her story and waited a few moments to let it sink in, then asked, "Now do you understand why I had to bring you here? Why I have to know the reason you can see me?"

I nodded, still reeling from the surprisingly intense, horrific visions of ancient humanity Anea's story had inspired. It felt like she'd shared a lot more than just her words, like she'd somehow showed me glimpses of the events she'd described. "Yeah, I get it. I know my ancestors weren't the most tolerant types. Considering the kinds of things I know they did to each other, I've got no problem believing that they treated dragons like monsters. You think the same thing will happen again if I'm not the only human who can see dragons, or if I tell others. But that doesn't mean I've got an answer for you. Honestly, after hearing that story, I've got a lot more questions. What was that other humanoid race? Did the old dragons ever try to talk to humans like you're talking to me? And how does magic work?" I could have asked a hundred more questions, but the dragon stopped me with a raised paw.