Hunting wasn’t nearly as easy as I’d expected.
The paths down the mountainside were made of scrabbly, rough earth that sent pebbles and balls of dirt skittering before me with every step. No matter how slowly and carefully I placed my feet, I couldn’t stop those vicious little stones from flying ahead like spies racing to warn everyone that I was coming. By the time I’d been out for two full hours, I was ready to set the whole mountainside on fire … and my stomach was growling louder than I was.
Again and again I heard birds calling, just begging to be eaten. Once I even smelt delicious warm-blooded animals slinking down the path barely fifty feet away. So close! But when I broke into a run to try to catch them off guard, the stream of pebbles turned into a flood beneath my feet, sending me slipping and sliding out of control into a cluster of scratchy pine trees … and by the time I finally reached the spot where my prey had been gathering, they were long gone.
It was so unfair I couldn’t bear it. I threw back my neck and shook with frustration. But I couldn’t even let out a roar, in case my family heard me.
They would all be awake by now, inside the mountain. Of course they wouldn’t think to look for me straight away. I’d often gone exploring in the tunnels before. But if I didn’t come back soon, they’d start to wonder … and if they found me before I’d managed to catch a single piece of food, I’d never be allowed out of our cavern again.
I couldn’t go back empty-clawed, no matter what it took!
And that was when I heard a small male voice singing below me.
It had to be a human.
My nostrils flared. All my senses flamed into life as I picked out the scent of a warm, delicious mammal. Better yet, it was mixed with the smell of burning pine.
He’d lit a fire. He was sitting in one place.
And he was singing.
He would never hear me coming!
My muscles tensed in readiness, my haunches lowering into a preparatory crouch. But I didn’t leap forward. Even I wasn’t that reckless.
I might not love human books like Jasper did, but I’d still heard every one of Grandfather’s stories.
What if this human had a musket? Or a sword?
Humans were a dragon’s most dangerous prey. Even Mother didn’t often hunt them by herself. Grandfather had taught us all to stay away from them whenever we were alone, to choose the safer, smarter meals … and Grandfather had scales so strong they could deflect any blade or bullet.
I looked down at the tears in my aching wings and let out a low, unhappy rumble. Common sense felt like a boulder in my belly.
But then …
Oh. My scales tingled as I suddenly imagined it: the look in Jasper’s eyes as I carried a human into our cavern. Me. Myself. On my own!
Even Mother would have to admit I was ready to take care of myself in the outside world. There wasn’t any better way to prove myself. I had to do it!
I sucked in a deep breath and lowered myself to the ground. Dirt and rocks rubbed against my belly as I crept forward. The human’s voice never halted in his song, and as I grew closer and closer I started to make out the words, in a language that I recognised.
‘… And the winding road, oh the winding road, it never, ever stops …’
Ha! There were no roads in the world that didn’t stop somewhere.
I’d told Jasper humans had pebbles for brains!
Finally, my prey came into sight. He’d found a sheltered hollow in the mountainside, surrounded on three sides by boulders and scrubby pine trees. In the centre he’d built a fire, and he was crouched over it now, with his back to me. As I peered through the trees I held my breath, clamping my mouth shut so that the hot smoke of my excitement couldn’t escape and warn him.
He wasn’t holding a sword or a musket. Thank goodness. And he wasn’t one of those rare, dangerous humans who wielded magic – the worst kind of human trickery – because those ones wore fancy black coverings that made them look as if they had no legs. Grandfather had drawn a picture of one of them for me and Jasper, and he’d made us promise never to go anywhere near them until our protective scales were at least a hundred years hardened. This human, though, was dressed in perfectly safe layers of ragged purple and pink cloth that showed his skinny limbs quite clearly.
Still, if this was going to work, I had to be fast. Too fast for him to yank out a sword or a bow and arrow from that big bag that sat beside him … or an axe, or …
I’m bigger than him and fiercer than him, I told myself sternly. I’m the scariest creature on this mountain.
Then he started to turn in my direction.
Now! I opened my mouth in a silent roar and leaped.
‘Aaargh!’ The human screamed and dropped whatever he’d been holding into the pot. He lurched backwards, tripped on a rock and fell on to his backside as I bounded triumphantly towards him.
Then I screamed, too, as my injured wings scraped against the half circle of pine trees on the way. ‘Aaargh!’
I fell short, lunging away from the pain, and landed hard just next to the fire, clutching my wings to my side. ‘Ow, ow, ow!’
Oops. As the human’s eyes widened, I realised I’d said that out loud.
‘Raaar!’ I drew myself up and bared all fifty teeth. That’s better. The human blinked hard, sweat popping up across his face. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
Towering over him, I prepared to lunge.
And that was when I smelt it.
Luscious, sweet, exotic flavour. Rich and blooming and steaming just beneath my nose.
I snaked my long neck towards the fire with lethal speed. ‘What is that?’
‘Wh-wh-what?’ The human pushed himself another foot backwards, staring at me.
I ignored his retreat. Time enough to catch him later. All I cared about right now was the pot he had set over the fire, the pot whose steam was reaching out and tickling my senses with something so amazing my mouth was already watering. I had to have it!
The pot was full of boring boiling water, but it swirled with brown tendrils as more and more of something dark and chunky dissolved into it.
‘What did you put in this pot?’ I demanded.
‘That?’ He stopped moving. ‘That’s chocolate.’
‘Chocolate?’ I’d never heard of chocolate before. Jasper had never mentioned it, and he’d read every work of human philosophy that he could get his claws on. How could his philosophers get so excited about eating plants when something this delicious was available?
I lowered my snout as close to the pot as I dared without knocking it over. Then I took a long, deep breath through my nose.
Oh, heaven.
A low growl of yearning rumbled through me, filling the clearing. ‘This is chocolate?’
Until now all I’d ever wanted was meat, whether it was scorched or raw or lightly toasted. I’d assumed that there couldn’t be anything better. But now …
Was this how Jasper felt about his philosophy?
I had to know how chocolate tasted. I couldn’t go another moment without that knowledge! I angled my neck just right, leaned forward, and …
‘Wait!’ The human jumped up.
I reared back in disbelief. ‘Did you just say wait to me?’ Outrage sent my injured wings flaring as I stared down at him. He was puny and insignificant, and he was trying to keep me from my chocolate?
‘I’m going to have to eat you first after all,’ I said sadly.
‘No!’ He darted in front of me, his hands held high. ‘I just meant the chocolate isn’t ready yet. It’s supposed to be hot chocolate. I haven’t finished mixing it all together. I haven’t even added any spices!’
I narrowed my eyes at him. ‘You mean it gets even better than this?’
‘You’ve never had hot chocolate before, have you?’ he said.
‘Well …’ I thought back to Grandfather’s warnings about tricksy humans. ‘I might have,’ I said slyly. ‘You never know.’
He hesitated a moment. Then he leaned down and scooped up a wooden spoon from the ground, his hand trembling. ‘Trust me,’ he said. ‘You should have the full experience.’
Before I could answer, he turned away from me and began to stir.
Watching him carefully, I settled on my haunches to wait.
As his face squeezed tight with concentration, he began to whisper to himself, almost chanting the words. Was he singing that stupid song again? The rhythms didn’t sound quite the same, but who needed to hear more human nonsense? Not me. I didn’t even try to make it out.
The moment he reached into his pocket, though, I grabbed his shoulder with one claw. ‘No swords!’
‘I – I …’ He stuttered to a halt. ‘It’s not a sword,’ he finally managed. ‘Look.’ He pulled out a bag from his pocket. ‘It’s just cinnamon.’
Cinnamon? I leaned down towards the bag suspiciously. If he was trying to poison me …
‘I’ll eat some myself,’ he said. ‘Look.’ He reached one shaking finger into the bag and scooped out a few orangey-brown specks. Then he swallowed them. ‘See?’
I smelt, which was even better. The open bag smelt amazing.
‘Put it in,’ I ordered. I wanted to smell that combination. I could already tell that the mixture of cinnamon and chocolate would be wonderful.
He shook in a few pinches, breathing hard.
Ohhhh, I had been right. These new smells were even better.
I was almost starting to wish that I didn’t have to take him home afterwards for my family to eat. It would be much more satisfying to keep this human as a pet, to make hot chocolate for me any time I wanted.
He would be a hard-working pet, too, I could tell. As he stirred the hot chocolate, he kept on whispering to himself the whole time in that funny rhythmic chant, his whole body taut with concentration. I suppose I could have listened harder, to try to pick out his words, but really, when had I ever cared about anything that humans said? Besides, I was far too busy enjoying the smells from his pot. If I could have, I would have wrapped myself up in those steamy tendrils of scent and rolled around in them for hours. Hot chocolate. Talk about a treasure fit for a dragon!
I’d have to look for more chocolate in his luggage when I finished here. I already knew I would have to have hot chocolate again. Lots of it.
Finally, he looked up and gave me a nervous, wavering smile. ‘It’s ready,’ he said. ‘Shall I pour it into a cup, or …’
I snorted, sending a ball of smoke flying past his face. ‘Do you really think I could drink from one of your tiny human cups?’
‘I suppose not,’ he said. ‘You’d better drink it from the pot then.’ He wrapped one soft, human hand in his outer covering for protection, and then lifted the pot by its long handle. ‘Look out, it’s hot.’
I gave him a contemptuous look as I reached out with one forefoot. ‘I’m a dragon.’
My claws curved around the little pot, cradling it like the most precious of gems. Carefully, I lifted it to my mouth. Closing my eyes, I tipped the luxuriant, hot liquid into my mouth.
Ohhhhh!
Bliss exploded through my senses. I reeled with pleasure.
Chocolate chocolate chocolate –
‘Ahhhh!’
And then everything exploded inside me, and the world went black.