He was born of ash.

They thought that a phoenix would be born

A savior of the people

But No.

A dragon with skin darker than the ash was born instead.

A sign of death

And it was.

It killed and moved

Killed and moved

Only stopping to piss or sleep.

It's rampage went on for years.

Never stopping.

The island it was born on was evacuated

No one was allowed near it

But people were sent there

For punishment.

Dozens of people were sent there

Hundreds even

None returned just as expected.

One day a child was sent to the island.

His crime

Being different than all the rest.

He arrived

Blindfolded

Cold

And hungry.

His first night was spent

Crying

Too afraid that if he moved the blindfold

The dragon would be there.

He didn't sleep

Listening to the forest around him

Every chirp of a bird or cricket

Every scurrying sound of the small animals

Sticks breaking, leaves falling

His eyes grew tighter

The only sound that was missing

The dragon breathing into his ear

Right before he was a gonner

It wasn't that the dragon was missing

But merely confused.

Watching from his spot in a tree

Normally people who could fight back were sent to him

But a child?

Not even one who tried to run

Like all the other people.

When the day broke

The child finally pulled the blindfold from his head

He look around

Trees in every direction with no trails for him to follow.

The child decided that he was bound to die

So running was no good

He'd sit and wait

Fate would catch up to him eventually.

The dragon hated that

So he made himself known

His inky black scales shining in the sun

His demeanor not aggressive, as if it would matter.

The child sat unmoving

Too scared to even try.

He ducked his head

So that when the time came he couldn't see it coming.

He sat and waited but nothing came

He slowly looked up

To find the dragon looking at him

Slow deep breaths were what moved the dragon's body

But otherwise a statue.

The Child's stomach growled at the dragon

He tried to cover the noise with his hands

But alas the dragon heard him

The dragon turned and ran into the forest

The child wondered where the dragon went off to

He drew himself back

Why did he care were the dragon went to.