Hi everyone.
As I have said in my other works I am not good with grammar and punctuation. But I hope you like this. The idea came to me in a dream strangely enough and it woke me. I felt like I should write it down. I wrote the prologue just so I remembered the idea but it started to develop into chapter one. So I thought I would post both and see if it was liked. All comments and tips welcome. Again I wasn’t sure were to put it so I put it in other fiction.
All the best
Dragon Market Prologue
Chapter twohttp://www.youngwriterssociety.com/topic54231.html
Hello my name is Zimic, I am a silver dragon of the Malicor breed. All of the “big” dragons died out a long time ago now there are only two sub-breeds remaining Malicor and Arakat, both breeds walk on all fours and at shoulder height come up to about a fully grown humans elbow, also we are incapable of breathing fire. Malicor dragons tend to be slightly more intellectual than Arakat’s, and Malicor’s have lighter scale colour. Arakat’s are more physical, usually just taller and have a darker scale colour. You might think it is all fun and games being a dragon since we don’t work in offices we work in more physical and intellectual jobs that appeal to us as individuals. But it isn’t. Being a dragon can be very dangerous. Dragons are aloud to be kept as pets but only if the dragon and human wish it and are kind and respecting to each other. It’s a lot like being roommates rather than being a pet, one of my friends told me. An inspector checks up on dragon and its “Owner” monthly to make sure everything is going smoothly. Again you might think it’s all well and good. But it isn’t. There is a huge black market for dragons as pets, dragon pelts, dragon body parts like claws teeth and horns then finally dragon eggs. The eggs are usually ether hatched to fuel the pet trade, made into pets by an “owner” or killed by freezing them, polishing them and then using them as ornaments. The market was thriving this is a list of how well the trade is doing in order from best to worst:
Pelts are an all time high.
Live dragons increased by 5%.
Body parts had a 1.5% increase.
Eggs had a 0.5% rise.
You might ask how I know this and you might be thinking I am a member of the black market trade but I can tell you I am not. How I know all this is from first hand experience. Yes I was a commodity. Its hurts to talk about some of the things I have seen but without that experience I wouldn’t have done two things. The first was meeting the love of my life Seeka a slender white Arakat dragoness, and the second help in the shutting down of that evil trade.
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Dragon Market Chapter one: Stolen
The bright warm mid summer sun blazed high in the sea blue cloudless sky it had just gone noon. Its rays beat heavily down on my silver scaled body and face it felt wonderful. I was walking home I only did half a days work at the library today. I stopped, closed my eyes and looked up at the sun. The rays were soothing and I couldn’t help but let a smile spread across my face. I opened my wings fully so they could share in the golden light, they thanked me as they soaked it up the feeling was wonderful. I looked away and continued walking along the concrete slab pavement. The street I was on was small but cheerful. Old people mainly lived here. I knew some of them. They usually said hello so did the ones that didn’t know me they were all very friendly. The houses were small and made of orange brick that light illuminated the brickwork so much it looked like the light was clinging to it not wanting to leave. I couldn’t see in the windows to my right because the light just rebounded off them and hurt my eyes however the houses on my left I could see into but I didn’t look.
“The inside of a house is for privacy,” I thought happily to myself as I strolled along leisurely. I felt like I was trying to go as slow as possible so I could enjoy the sun for that little bit longer.
“Ok when I get home I think I will skip lunch and go and lie in my back garden” I thought. My tail swished about from side to side a bit faster I had pleased myself with that thought.
The gardens at the front of the houses were full of fragrant flours. I passed number 66 and couldn’t help but take in a big breath of air through my nostrils Mrs Dane lived there. I knew her well she enjoyed gardening and I enjoyed smelling her garden it was just so refreshing. I smelt some daffodils camomile and so may others it was impossible to tell the wonderful fragrances apart. I was just about to turn a corner to my right when a van pulled up next to me. I stopped. The van was a typical commercial vehicle of a self-employed person it was white and the windscreen sloped backwards and there was a ladder attached to the roof of the van. Both windows were down. A chubby bald man sat at the wheel he wore blue paint stained genes and a short sleeved white paint stained top, he had a long scar running down his right cheek and was holding a map. The van stank of DIY materials such as wood, paint and varnish but I swore I could smell a hit of dragon
“Properly his pet…most likely a Arakat” I thought.
“Excuse me can you tell me how I can get to eighty one Oakbark Drive?” He asked staring at me.
“Yes sure pass me the map I will mark it on for you,” I said walking over to the door.
“Thanks mate” he said passing me the map. I lay it on the floor in front of me and was about to scratch a cross mark over Oakbark Drive when my head was jerked up and my moth held tightly shut. I jumped and managed to let out a yelp. Something stabbed into the base of my neck and all of a sudden I felt really weak. A hand held my jaw shut. Another was under the front of my chest and another pair holding my stomach and bottom of my ribcage. I squirmed about weakly but it did nothing. There was a mechanical click as the rear van doors opened. I was brought round to the back of the van and all I saw was one last glimpse of the sky as I was hurled into the van.
I hit the back wall and slumped to the floor the doors closed. The van rocked from side to side as two more people got into the front. The engine started up and the van began to move.
I began to panic cold sweat formed on my brown and paws my breathing came in quick short gasps. Something touched my neck. It scared the life out of me. I stood up spread my wings and snarled at what had just touched me. In the dim light of the van I saw a sleek, slim pearl white Arakat dragoness. Her feet were secured to the floor by single ring chains linked to hoops in the floor they were spread far apart and she was wearing a bridle. The bridle was made up of three leather straps round her muzzle, another longer piece of leather went from just behind her horns all the way round past her mouth round the other side and was linked at both ends to a metal collar at the top of her neck. Apart from the small buckles on the binding section, the linking of the main strap to the collar and the collar itself there was no other metal. She murmured an incoherent sentence past her gag but it was clear what she wanted. I raised a claw and cut her free from the bridle, then removed the metal collar. It had a simple securing mechanism, all I had to do was push down on part of it and it came free.
“Thank you they put that on far to tight.” she said happily. She looked into my eyes and smiled.
“What’s going on?” I demanded snarling in anger.
“Black market suppliers were commodities now.” she replied dropping her head all the happiness draining from her voice.
“There must be a way out…maybe if I rammed the door hard enough would that work?” I asked.
“No I tried that. It an electronically operated magnet lock. I tried but all it did was get me thrown into restraints.” She said leaning close to me and dropping her voice to a whisper. I growled these people weren’t rookies they had thought it through.
“We might as well get comfortable who knows how long till we can get out.” she said with a whimper. She lay down as best she could in her restraints and putting her head on the floor. I sat opposite her and stared at the door hoping for an idea to hit me.
“What your name?” she asked shaking me from my thoughts.
“Come again” I said.
“Your name…what is it?” she asked again.
“Zimic you?” I replied.
“Seeka…hopefully we will have a chance to escape when they let us out or we could be sold to some rich person as pets…or end up dead with our body parts for sale” she answered. She wasn’t scared about talking about dying I guessed she had come to accept it
“Why do you accept death?” I asked without thinking about it.
“Because we are all going to die some time and right now we might as well get it over with. I mean what’s the likely hood someone will buy us as pets?” she asked.
“Well we are both healthy, at least I know I am and you look well yourself so-” I began but was interrupted.
“And that is exactly why butchers will buy us, cut us up for our claws and other stuff then sell them. You can’t make money by buying a dragon as a pet” she interrupted.
“I hope your wrong,” I said sitting down next to her. I felt so isolated right now. Now I knew why houses on dragon estates were so beefed up with alarm and security systems. I am a smart dragon and yet I had been stolen by no more than a fat guy and two of his friends. A tear rolled down my cheek as I realised I might not see my friends ever again.
“Don’t cry,” She said wiping my tears away with her snout. I whined quietly the feeling of isolation and helplessness was almost too much to bear.
