The Great Forest

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I woke up with a gasp as I found myself in darkness, entombed beneath loosely packed snow. For a moment I flailed around, my tiny heart hammering away as I struggled against the cold embrace of the elements around me before I remembered.

I froze, curling up as a rush of memories came flooding into me. My untimely rebirth into this new world, Mother’s betrayal, her insatiable hunger and the cries of my siblings, all of it came back along with far more.

Foreign memories start rushing in, my head aching as I remembered a thousand hunts and lives, off the great forest and the mountains and a shining city up in the sky. It was all too much, eating away at my mind and my very sense of self was slipping away. I could no longer take it.

“No! Stop!” I cried, screwing my eyes shut close as I pushed them away, burying them deep, until I I was left with nothing but blissful silence.

I stayed there motionless, feeling the cold air fill my lungs while my heart settled down. Opening my eyes once more, I found my snowy tomb once again. Shifting, my clawed feet felt hard ground beneath me. Oh how close I was to becoming a mere splatter upon the cold and unforgiving earth.

Still, despite the comfort I felt by being wrapped snugly in loose ice, my stomach would remind me that I had yet to eat. With it growling, I clawed my way out of my safe space, six limbs working in concert as I shot out from cover to be greeted by a snowy wonderland illuminated by the morning sun.

Like a scene straight out of a children's fantasy book, I was greeted by towering evergreen trees with branches weighed down by snow and icicles with great redwoods devoid of leaves interspaced between them. Birds chirped as they flew overhead, their songs filling the silent forest around me. With the gentle light of the sun shining through the sparse canopy, warmth and energy coursed through my veins.

Instinctively, my wings spread out, catching what little rays of sunlight shone through this wonderfully clear day. I felt it on my scales, bathing me with its warmth. It was peaceful, yet the cries of other animals soon alerted me of foxes and whatever other creatures that remained.

Beneath the gigantic trees, I realized I was either in a forest of giants or I was just that truly tiny. Looking down, small paws greeted me. Blue-white and almost translucent scales covering them. Fluttering atop me was another set of limbs, my own wings, and behind me coiled a long and lustrous tail covered by a short ridge.

Reaching up, I felt my snout and my tiny needle-like teeth already poking through. Up on my head small nubs of horns curved back as well what felt like the start of a tall mohawk like fin. It felt strange, touching the membrane, feeling more like hair than a flap of skin, but I didn’t question it too much.

There was a great big snap before a heavy thud landed just beside me. There, just a few paces away, was a large icicle that had just broken off, its reflective surface calling to me. Cautiously I approached it, now mindful of the spiky death from above, before grabbing hold of the object. Wiping it clear of snow, I beheld my own reflection staring back at me. It was not a man that starred back, but a small, lizard-like creature.

Standing there, I could scarcely believe it. I touched my face, exploring every inch of it in the mirror yet it did not change. It seemed that I had indeed become a dragon. Which should have been obvious enough, given how I haven’t frozen to death, in retrospect.

Snorting, I wandered off, my white wings tucked close to my body. I was a dragon, but what use would that be if my stomach was empty. The problem was, where would I find food?

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Hear the rodents beneath the ice, the fluttering hearts of squirrels in their homes, of rabbits scampering around, the bleating of goats. Food was plenty in the Great Forest, teeth sharp to kill and maul-!

I blinked as memories filtered through, this time far more restrained than last. Looking around, I could sense potential food already, their scents lingering despite the forest seeming devoid of life. There was much food to be had, one just had to find it.

With a smile on my face, I sauntered away, my head held high as I could see my meal now. I would be eating like a king today!

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With a roar (it was not a squeak damn it all!) I leapt up high in the air, before diving down on the snow. Guided by instinct and hunger, I buried deep into the bank, my snout sniffing for the tiny morsel hidden within and ears searching for their panicked squeaking, before I snapped my jaws hard. Feeling their struggles in my jaw, I pulled my prey out, a tiny vole, and shocked it; breaking its neck in my mouth.

Dropping it on the ground, I prodded it and cleaned it a bit before chomping down, tearing at its flesh and swallowing bits and pieces of it. I grimaced as a particularly furry piece slid down my throat, but none went to waste. It was admittedly not a good meal, or even a palatable one, but the blood provided it with much needed flavor and reminded me of sweetened meats; probably from its diet.

Blanching and eating some fresh snow to spit out the fur still left in my mouth, I sat back and before my stomach grumbled once more. It had been weeks since I had fallen down into the valley, yet I had yet to see the edge of the forest. In fact, I had yet to see any signs of life aside from the occasional rabbits and rodents along with some stray birds. I had yet to find any other monster, thankfully at that, but I couldn’t remain complacent. Not with Mother still around.

I was always on the move, choosing to hole up in trees, but that would soon be no longer an option as I had grown. From a tiny thing that was barely a treat to a rabbit to a fox sized being. “At Least I don’t have to deal with owls any more,” I muttered as I scratched my neck, annoyed at how tight my skin felt; I might be due for another shedding.

With this burst of growth, though, came the unfortunate effect of hunger as my protesting stomach could attest to. Holding my rumbling stomach, I looked up to the sky and shouted, “Come on you fuckers! Give me something big and juicy! I was promised food but I’ve only found voles!”

That would have been the end of it, my complaints to the powers that be unheard, yet this time around someone answered. I froze as a warm rush of air washed over my back, while the sounds of hooves pawed at the ground behind me. Slowly, I turned around and there stood the largest and meanest goat I’d ever set my eyes on. I shivered as its shaggy white coat made it look bigger while its great horn loomed overhead, its beady eyes glinting with malice as it stared back into my own.

“N-nice goaty, I-I’m not a threat, just a little wyrmling passing by,” I whispered as I slowly backed away, trying to appease the much bigger creature, but it was not to be. The goat bleated, standing on its hind limbs before slamming its head down right at me.

I screamed as I threw myself to the side and scrambled for purchase on the snow ground before shooting off with the randy old goat in hot pursuit, “Bad goat! Bad goat!!!” I shouted, jumping as the thing bit me on the tail, “I’m going to kill all of you if it’s the last thing I do!” I screamed, howling in pain, promising pain… if I could get away.