'Hmm...' The frozen tundra is growing. No, not only that. A growing amount of ice is forming at southern latitudes, freezing the water and the ground. It is one of the reasons why the female white dragon got lost in the tundra.
She should have left that place way before she turned crazy, seeing as she was now larger than the male dragon when he crossed the tundra. However, the tundra had grown more than three times since that day. The other reason is because of her strong sense of smell.
Out of all four dragons, her sense of smell is the strongest, more than ten times better than the second best, the male white dragon. Due to this, she is heavily reliant on her smell, causing her other senses to diminish. You know how when you get blind, your four other senses get better? Hers is the opposite. They are still many times more powerful than humans but weak compared to what I set them to be when creating them.
When she entered the vast tundra, her sense of smell became entirely useless for navigation due to the snow's smell masking any other scent, causing her to get lost. She actually walked in circles for about two days before finally smelling the scent of the dead animal's blood.
I could have actually helped her if I were sure she would die, but I could tell she would survive once the Gorgosaurus started chasing the animal in her general direction. I knew she would smell blood, so I let her be.
Good for her.
But that's beside the point. The temperature on my planet is slowly dropping, and the CO2 level in the atmosphere is also dropping. Now, it's 35.26%. That's an 18% drop...
Hmm...
Ahh! I see what is happening here. Due to the planet's tilt, less sunlight reaches the southern latitudes causing the temperature to drop and more water to freeze into ice.
As more water cools in the southern latitudes, it starts soaking up more CO2 from the atmosphere and emitting less because colder water is more CO2 soluble. If this continues, my planet which currently has a surface temperature of 303.75°C, will keep dropping until an ice age begins.
Ice age on a planet that once had a surface temperature of 375°C. Interesting. Truly interesting. I hope it doesn't get as cold as the winter apocalypses that once occurred yearly on this planet. That would wipe out most of the life on this planet. I doubt that would happen, but you never know. Things happen.
Let's wait a few years to see what happens.
And so, in the blink of an eye, a century passed. It was literally the blink of an eye for me. And it was as I thought. The CO2 level and temperature would keep dropping if I did not stop it...
No, let it be. No need to use CE on it. Let nature take its course.
I will let the ice age start.
That's beside the point.
It has been 100 years since the female white dragon left the frozen tundra and 140 years since the dragons were born into this world. The afternoon sunlight beams down on the northernmost part of the smallest continent on the old night side, the other half experiencing a freezing night due to the planet's tilt. White clouds littered the sky, with a cool breeze blowing through the continent.
A chalk cliff stands on the northern coast of this continent, facing the calm ocean. The cliff's face reaches 300 meters above its base and stretches for more than 30 km along the northern coastline, with the surface covered in wildflowers and grasses.
Dropping from the clouds was a male, white dragon. He circled around the cliff for a while before softly landing close to the cliff's edge, looking off into the ocean before him. During these years, he had only grown a small amount, becoming only 10 meters tall and 25 meters long.
His scales have gotten larger and denser, with the scales on his underside and under his bat-like wings turning ice-blue. His face has become narrower, his neck longer and thicker, while his eyelids have become thinner.
His little size growth is because all dragons' growth spurt happens during their young age categories, from when they turn six to when they become a century old. When they enter their adult age categories, which are from 101 years to 799 years, their physical growth slows, but their strength growth changes from linear growth and becomes a polynomial growth.
So although they are not that much larger than in their younger days, they are much more powerful.
After a while of staring longingly into the ocean, he sighed. "Is this all there is in the world?" He asked in a disappointed tone. "
During these years, he kept moving around the continent, or as he calls it, the world, exploring and observing the many animals that live here. He knows the nature of many animals and how they survive and behave. He learned about plants and the world itself. He studied the stars and learned navigation. He studied the marine life on the continent and some parts of the ocean around the continent.
In these 100 years, he learned a lot about the world. So much so that even I am a bit surprised.
Now, he wanted to find out more about the world. He tried multiple times to cross the ocean but always failed. One time, he nearly drowned. And now, he has concluded that this is all there is to the world.
"An endless expanse of water, wider than the land and seas combined." He murmured, staring into the horizon. "The Oceanus." He sighed once more, closing his eyes. "I guess Oceanus exists to keep us from getting to the end of the world where the sun sleeps."
Regret washed over him. He wished he hadn't learned all there was to learn about the world. He wished he hadn't been so curious. He wishes---
His thoughts were cut short when his danger sense kicked in, which shocked him. The last time he felt threatened was when he fought a massive bird monster, a monster he later named Roc, while exploring the mountains five years ago. And now he is much stronger than he was before, so feeling threatened came as a surprise.
Just as he turned to look at the source of this threat coming from behind him, sand, soil, stones, and some other substance were suddenly thrown into his eyes by this being, visually impairing him from seeing his attacker.
"Wha---" His words were cut short when his instinct kicked in, and he quickly jumped back, just as something passed by where his head once was with a crack.
Due to jumping back to dodge this attack, he almost fell off the cliff's edge, but he quickly opened his wings and took flight into the sky. He was planning on using the wind as he flew to remove the things from his eyes. However, he suddenly felt the hands of his attacker grab onto his tail. Before he could do anything, he was yanked down from the air and slammed onto the cliff with a loud boom that shook the earth.
"You!" He growled. The attack didn't hurt him, but suddenly getting attacked while looking longingly into the distance was annoying. And the scratchy, rough, and irritating feeling in his eyes wasn't making it any better.
He quickly got on his feet and swung his tail in the direction he felt his attacker was, but only managed to hit the air. Not wanting to fight an opponent he couldn't see, he quickly turned around and started running on all fours. Even with his size and weight, his footsteps were as light as a feather, as if he wasn't a massive titan.
While he ran, he continuously blinked while smelling the air, trying to discern the scent of his opponent. Maybe that would let him know more about this beast.
But they had no smell. As if no one was here.
'What beast is this?' He asked himself as he opened his wings and shot into the sky with a boom. The air rushing past his eyes as he flew straight up helped clear the sand from his eyes. Once he could see again, he quickly stopped flying and turned to look at the ground.
The top of the cliff had one massive crater, a result of when he got slammed onto the ground. Apart from that, there were no other signs of his attacker. It was silent, with only the sounds of ocean waves rhythmically crashing onto the cliff's bottom.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"!!!" He suddenly felt something powerful slam into the back of his head, causing him to tumble through the air, stars filling his eyes. Quickly regaining his balance, he quickly glanced around to find nothing before looking above him, momentarily catching sight of something moving through the clouds.
But a glimpse was enough.
"It has been a while." He said in a loud tone, his racing heart calming. There was no reply, and he continued. "So, this is how you greet me after our years apart."
Something suddenly parted the cloud as his attacker shot down from the sky, heading straight toward him. He didn't move and allowed the attack to crash into him, sending both of them plummeting to the ground. They wrestled and struggled as they fell, wanting to see who would be at the bottom when they hit the ground, but he was stronger.
He finally got his attacker to stay below him as they fell, smiling down at her. "It's great to see you again."
The female dragon didn't reply and just kept staring at him as they plummeted towards the cliff. Without saying anything, he opened his wings and flew off her, allowing her to catch herself before she crashed into the ground. She didn't seem to have grown much after more than 100 years, now 20 meters long and 8.5 meters tall. On the other hand, her wingspan had grown to 45 meters but was still smaller than the male dragon, whose wingspan now is 50 meters.
For reference, a Boeing 737 has a wingspan of 28m.
But it makes sense that their wings would grow faster than their bodies. Even though they don't grow much in size, their muscles, scales, bones, and overall mass and density keep increasing. Their wings need to be significantly larger and more powerful to lift their heavy and large bodies into the air, give them quick takeoff and landing speed, give them maneuverability while flying, and help them move at the speed they do.
The female dragon flew towards the ground and lightly landed, closing her wings, with the male dragon landing some meters in front of her. They stared silently at each other before the male dragon broke the silence.
"So, how has it been?" He asked, inspecting her. Dragons don't have any physical features to distinguish their gender. Even their voices had the same pitch if heard by a human. But they release hormones that only other dragons can smell that would distinguish the dragon's identity and gender, and right now, the male dragon couldn't smell them. Though he could still recognize her immediately without her smell, it felt strange.
"Well?" She replied in a questioning manner. "Yes. I guess I have been well. You?"
"Great." He replied as silence enveloped them again. It felt awkward talking to her again after all these years they have been apart. As a matter of fact, he had forgotten about her and only remembered when he caught her flying through the clouds. Deciding to push the conversation forward, he asked, "May I know why you attacked me? That caught me by surprise."
"Because I hate you." She bluntly replied, causing the male dragon's eyes to widen. "You see, I have been chasing your scent for countless suns. I first caught it in a forest more than thirty-three thousand suns ago, and since then, I have been following it." Her statement caused his eyes to grow wider as the female dragon continued, her voice getting louder as she spoke.
"You are always moving, never staying in one place long enough for me to catch up, and somehow, SOMEHOW!" By now, she was practically shouting. "You always manage to erase your scent, as if you disappeared from this world, just as I am about to catch up. When I did find your scent again, it was already faint, meaning you were, once again, long gone. Also, tell me why you keep traveling to these dangerous places. Why did you fly to that mountain filled with those... those..." she paused, thinking of the world around her. "Filled with those big birds!?" She shouted, giving up trying to find the right name. "
"Roc." The male dragon said, cutting off her rant.
"What?" she asked, squinting her eyes.
"Their names are Rocs." He repeated, "The colossal birds you were talking about. I named them that because the noise it makes sounds like 'rok.' Since I didn't want to call it exactly the noise it makes, I named it Roc." He explained, remembering the day he was almost killed by a Roc, only managing to escape after finding out that he could breathe ice, which he used to freeze the bird before flying away while bleeding profusely.
"..." The female dragon silently stared at him before letting out a menacing growl. "Out of everything I just said, that caught your attention?"
"No. I also find it strange, fascinating, and unsettling that you were tracking me for nine years." He said, narrowing his eyes at her. "How were you able to keep my track for that long? No. How were you able to keep doing it for that long despite never catching me?"
"I already started following your track, so I wanted to finish it--wait!" She shook her head and stopped from continuing before glaring at him. "Answer my question first. And what with these 'years'? You said it twice, and it bothers me that I don't know what you are referring to. Stop using made-up words."
"Years is how I categorize how many days have passed." He explained, his mind still trying to process how she managed to keep tracking him for these years and how he couldn't smell her. At all. As if she wasn't even there. Nevertheless, he continued without saying a word. "Seven thousand and three hundred suns are equal to 1 year. So since you have been tracking me for about thirty-three thousand suns, that would be around four and a half years."
"...Why exactly that number?" She asked, somewhat interested in what he was saying. This would make it easier to remember how many suns have passed, so she wanted to know more.
"Well, I observed when they became adults, which is when they become intelligent to fend for themselves, remember where to find food, know what path to avoid, and know how to survive in this world in general, and applied it to us." He said, reminiscing about the days he spent following multiple kinds of animals around and observing them, the days when he had something to do.
Sighing, he continued. "We reached this stage at around 7300 days, so I made that one year. If my calculation is right, we are about 12, 13, or 14 years old right now. In fact, we are older than all the animals I have ever observed by a large margin. Almost all of them never reached one year of age. The longest creature I have ever seen live was a few felinus who lived for seven years." He stopped, mumbling. "I think it is still alive right now, but I am not sure."
"Interesting." She mumbled, staring at her former companion. He was definitely different from before. He had already made her feel small when they were together, making her want to listen to him, but now, she felt like she HAD to listen to him. She noticed it while tracking his scent over the years, but now it is apparent. His smell had definitely changed.
He was like a whole new being.
"You haven't answered my question." She pointed out, staring at him. "What were you doing these past days..." She paused before saying. "Years, as you call them."
"As you might have noticed, I have been exploring the world. I discovered, learned, named, and created." He replied in a low rumble. "And it seems like I have finally explored the whole world." He said, his voice filled with regret as he stared into the ocean. After a while of silence, he turned back to her.
"What of you? What have you been doing beside... following me around?" He asked, still not knowing what to feel about that. Should he be amazed that she could keep tracking him or unsettled that she could keep tracking him for all these years?
"Well, I will show you." She said, sounding excited to share with him whatever this thing was. "I always wanted to show someone this. That's another reason I kept tracking you."
"Uh-huh." He mumbled, curious about what this thing was.
Ahem!
The female dragon cleared her throat before opening her mouth and letting out an ear-piercing screech that shocked the male dragon. He quickly covered his head with his massive wings, stopping the sound from turning him deaf.
After a few seconds, the sound stopped, and he folded back his wings, looking at the female dragon who was grinning while staring at the sky. He turned to look at what she was staring at, noticing something that sent a shiver through him.
In the sky was a house-sized blob with no defined form that appeared to be a collection of bloated masses of flesh and fat. Two eyes continuously shifted around the creature's body, with multiple mouths scattered around it, all of them open. Two small bat wings flapped above it, carrying this thing through the air, completely disregarding the natural law of flight.
The male dragon was silent. He didn't know what to think. Of all his years of exploring, he had never seen anything like that... thing. He silently watched as that thing dropped from the sky, heading straight for them.
Just as it was about to hit the ground, its tiny wings slowed it down, allowing it to land with a 'plop' beside the female dragon.
The reek of rotten vegetation hung off its misshapen body, with tufts of hair, scales, feathers, and even more eyes and mouths occasionally poking through its surface. Streams of blood and bile constantly exuded from its body, polluting the ground.
And the sound the mouths around its body made. Oh, it was disturbing beyond words. Some moaned, some screamed their lungs out, while others whined and cried, but one thing was constant amid all the noise.
All of them sounded as if they were in pain.
"Yeah?" The female dragon asked in an excited tone, touching the abomination of a thing. "You like it? Isn't it beautiful? Isn't it magnificent?"
"...What..." He stepped back in disgust. "What is that thing?"
"It's an animal I created." She replied, turning to him with an eye that made him question if this was really the dragon he knew. "I used a method I named selective mating to create it. Yeah, you aren't the only one naming and making things. I did too." She said, proud of herself.
"Anyway, I selectively mated multiple different animals with high regeneration power, and after many suns--I mean, years of difficult work and many failures, I finally created this." She explained, patting the creature, making a disturbing noise whenever her palm made contact with the blob of flesh.
"Why?" He asked, unable to fathom a reason for creating this abomination. "Why did you do it?"
"For food." She replied, sticking her claws into the creature and ripping a huge chunk out of it. She looked at it, saying. "I know, I know. It might smell and look terrible, but it tastes great." After that, she threw the chunk down her throat and swallowed it.
The male dragon stepped back once more, staring at her. He didn't know what to say. He didn't understand what he just witnessed. He couldn't understand how a dragon that was unable to eat a reindeer back in the tundra could actually eat a piece from that creature.
It disturbed him more than anything had ever disturbed him.
Not wanting his thoughts to wander into unknown territory, he said, "It sounds like it's in pain."
"Oh, you are absolutely right." She nodded vigorously. "This thing is in pain. Seriously. It is suffering from excruciating pain just by being alive. It is in so much pain that the smell of pain coming from it is more than all the animals I have eaten alive in the past thousand suns." She paused, "Combined." She chuckled at this. "That how much pain its existence is to itself."
He just heard more things that he wished he never did, but he pushed them away and asked once more with squinted eyes. "Why did you create it?"
The female dragon tilted her head, confused. "Like I said. For food. It always follows me around and comes when I call it, so I can take food from it when I am in a place with no food." She said, and he noticed an unknown emotion flash through her eyes. "And besides, it can get energy from just about anything, be it animals and trees. It can even eat sand and stones. And the most impressive part, it can use the energy it gets from eating to regenerate the part it lost."
Just then, he noticed the chunk of the blob that she had torn off had regenerated, making it 'whole' once more. "It is an unlimited food source. I would rather hunt my own food, but it comes in handy when in a dire situation."
"...right..." He mumbled, wanting to leave. He wished he could return to the time when he had not seen such a grotesque creature. A part of him wanted to return to the time when he did not reunite with his old companion. But...
He was too curious. He was too curious about the grotesque beast and what had happened to his former companion. He wanted to watch them, study them, and learn about them. After exploring the world, he finally had something new and interesting to learn.
He was not about to miss this chance to learn more.
He won't miss it.
"How about we travel the world together?" He asked, smiling. "I will teach you about what I learned and the new words I made while we catch up on the eleven or so years we missed."
Hearing this, the female dragon's smile grew as she opened her wings to their full glory, the force slapping the creature and sending it flying. "Yes! Let's explore the world together!" She shouted, not caring about the thing.
He smiled at her reply, saying. "I recall when you were so sure there was nothing outside our lair, saying we shouldn't leave." He grinned. "I guess I proved you wrong."
"Shut up." She said with a smile, feeling better being reunited with him. She felt whole once more. "Let's go explore the world again!" She roared, and with a heavy flap of her wings, she shot into the sky.
The male dragon laughed as he followed her. He finally had something new to study.
The moans of the creature came from the ground as it defined the law of flight and took off with its small wings flapping vigorously.