"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."

― Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution

Ven reclined, back to a mountain of pearlescent cores. Training had been a success. Jun and his sister had ravaged the countryside of this strange, sulfuric world. Now and then, a hoard of flies appeared, and Ven slapped them from the skies with his aura.

"Too bad I can't find any more golden bugs..."

The creature's powerful core was still digesting, a bundle of comfortable warmth in his gut. A few more and Ven could laze around for weeks while he sucked them back.

"We've brought another load, Master!" Jun staggered up, arms wrapped around a sack of cores. "These creatures are pretty weak!"

"And they pop like berries!!!" Huan plodded after her brother, another sack on the ground behind her. "Not as tasty though..."

"Well..." Ven scratched his head. "I wouldn't recommend eating them, they're essentially the bottom of the food chain around here." He held a rosy core. "This is what we're after, and I think we've got enough for now."

"Thank the Dragon God..." Jun sank to his knees. "How long have we been here?"

"Hmmm..." Ven tilted his head. "Maybe a week?"

"A week!!" Jun fell back, eyes lost to the back of his head. "We haven't eaten since we got here!"

"I've been eating every day," Huan chided. "Father says nutrition is important to a growing dragon!"

"Those bugs you wolf down aren't food, you're repulsive..."

"If you close your eyes, they're just like a sack of honeyed jelly." Huan licked her lips. "Even the adults are good, they taste like crab once you cook them!"

"Pass..." Jun blanched. "What have you been eating?" He turned his gaze to the lounging Ven.

"These," Ven popped a core into his mouth. "But mostly nothing." He shrugged. "Learn from your sister, be more like a dragon and less like a prince."

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"Yeah, learn from me," Huan thumped her chest. "I eat a hundred bugs a day!"

"But..."

"No buts!" Ven swiped a hand through the air. "You can't try eating a core until your body is stronger. Be a dragon, you'll get there just by eating."

Ven tossed the sallow-faced boy the remains of the golden fly.

"Here, eat this. It's still fresh because of my storage bag."

"Thanks..." Jun placed the metallic body onto the ground. "How am I supposed to eat this..."

"Like this!" Huan snatched up the corpse and held it above her head. "You drink it!"

She squeezed. A river of purple liquid streamed from a hole in its side, caught by her fanged mouth. Jun wobbled on his feet, his empty stomach turned rebel.

"Stay away from me, you little monster!"

"Bwahahaha!" Huan pranced toward Jun, fly held high. "Flee before the mighty tyrant, Queen of the Dragons and Wife to Shadows!"

Ven leaned back, eyes closed against the madness of youth. "Life is good." He popped a core into his mouth. "Soon, I can start hunting for the next door..."

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"Live it up, you bastard..." Rafe rubbed his chest as Ven lorded over his new pets. "Let's see how you deal with my little present."

The shadowed man's power was great, but Rafe had a good idea about Ven's limits. His body had gone beyond a Semi-Divine, but his cultivation was far behind. Raw power, without the speed or control to back it up.

"You won't die, but you'll suffer if you want to keep those kids safe."

Rafe's face blossomed in a smug grin as he retreated toward the first floor.

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Ven dozed, his eyelids low. The twins lay at his feet, sound asleep after a hard week's work. Once Huan had forced enough bug meat down Jun's throat, he'd fallen into a peaceful sleep. The boy twitched, off and on, arms wrapped defensively around his head.

Maybe I should've saved him...

Ven shrugged. That would have gone against his 'train your dragon' plan. A pet dragon needs to hunt for its food. A smile crept over Ven's face. The King would explode if he knew Ven planned on taming his children.

It's not my fault they don't have any real dragons...

A soft rumble interrupted his thoughts. A quake that grew more vigorous, until it woke the sleeping pair.

"What..." Huan rose, hands balled in her eyes. "I was having the best dream..." She glanced at Ven from the side of her eyes. "Husband was..."

"Later," Ven cut her short. "Get your brother up, we've got to move."

"O..ok..." Huan quieted at Ven's serious tone. She reached out and shook her brother awake. "Jun, something's happening..."

"Huan?" Jun recoiled. "No more meat, I promise, I'll hunt on my own!"

"That's great," Ven chopped the boy's head. "But now's the time for running, not eating." He pointed to the horizon. "See that?"

A vast cloud, choked with lightning, covered the skies to the west. They hung low, pressed tight to the earth like a blanket. The tremor in the ground grew as they closed toward them, a cavalry charge of dusty smoke.

"What is..."

"Don't know, let's go!" Ven scooped the twins into his arm like luggage and charged toward the gate. They'd strayed far in their hunt, too far to avoid the storm.

"Change of plan!" Ven pivoted. "We'll hunker down with the locals until the storm passes." He lept onto the closest pillar and tossed the dragon-kin into the shattered remnants of a hive. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Ven soared toward the oncoming clouds. This isn't a storm... It was a haze of dust, tossed into the air by some tremendous force. As Ven drew nearer, a shadow rose from the dirt. A titan of rock, shaped into a mighty worm. It's like the ones you can see above the clouds, feasting on the rings of a world... His jaw clenched.

This one was smaller, maybe a baby, but it stood higher than a true mountain. The pillars of stone fell to its hunger, devastated by the force of its passage.

We're screwed...