More Than I Asked For

     At last.  I have found a plot of untainted land.  The air is thin and fresh.  

     Grass dances in the breeze beneath my feet.  The wind feels warm.  Too warm.

     "What's going on?" my Molly asks.

     "Nothing good, Dearest," I say.  The gale changes direction on a dime.  It cools.

     "Lucius?"  My Molly is quivering.

     I pluck a rifle from by back and load, although it can't be much help.  I'm shaking too hard to aim.

     "I think we should go back to the air-rider, Lucius."

     I take her hand in mine.  "Just a moment more.  I've waited my whole life to see a wild place.  I cannot leave so soon."

     "What else is there to see?"

     "A beast, a bird, something.  Not a zoo experiment.  A true animal."

     "A true animal?"  This time it isn't my Molly's voice.  It's a grumble, shaking the ground, searing the earth like an oven.  My Molly falls into my arms.  I nearly collapse myself.

     "How about the greatest of them all?  The arch-lizard, fire-raptor, scorcher of man."

     Tears fill my eyes.  "A dragon?" I manage in a quiet mumble. 

     A booming rumble takes my hearing for a second.  My eyebrows melt away.  "I am the dragon.  A pity you can't see me before you die.  I prefer my prey roasted."