Change was something to be scared of when it came to humans. Ever since I moved to my new lair, they continuously rattled me with their new methods for torment, the most recent one being possibly the cruelest one.

They stopped poking me with their sharp sticks. They stopped making loud noises with their hands and mouths. They even stopped barging into my lair. And after that, I had the best winter sleep of this year.

For three days.

I opened my eyes for the first time after the young human left my lair. At first I thought the winter was over, that I woke up to the birth of spring. Unfortunately, that was too much to hope for. My senses told me that it was still the onset of winter and I was merely asleep for a few days. Frustration built up in my chest, breaking out with a growl.

I didn't know what had awakened me. My cave was vacant and dark as it should be. I lifted my head to smell the air and focused on the miniscule sounds around.

There it was.

The sound of rustling, mixed with some hushed voices. Combined with the smell the breeze carried from the opening of the cave, there were humans outside, undoubtedly. According to the noise they made, they had come as a group like always, and their cruel ways had followed them.

Don't misunderstand me, the distraction they made this time wasn't anything major. It didn't make me jump in my sleep, shaking me into awareness. No. This new method was subtle, it didn't wake you immediately, instead, it pulled you from the depths of warm winter sleep to the surface of sobriety in an imperceptible way. It made you question yourself, wondering why you were awakening, mixed with a feeling of uneasiness. And when you found out the reason, it was already too late, they had accomplished their goal. Whatever that goal may be, it simply ended with them waking me up, every single time.

I wished they returned to their old methods.

I waited for them to come inside—I thought they would, eventually—so that I wouldn't be interrupted again. I waited till sunset. They didn't come in, and kept staying near my cave entrance outside, new voices joining in and some familiar voices leaving occasionally. But they never really left, not completely…

I thought it wasn't so bad at first. I could've resumed my winter sleep. Their constant murmurs weren't much of a bother —right?— and I could probably get used to their smell, too. As long as they didn't come into the cave, how hard could it be?

It was truly hard, I discovered after several days of struggle. It was easy to nap or doze off. The hard part was having a deep sleep, like a normal, proper dragon.

What would become of me without a winter sleep? I hadn't missed a single one till now, nor have I met any other dragon who had. What was wrong with me?

No. What was wrong with these humans? What had I done to them to rage them, to deserve their revenge?

Or maybe my new lair was cursed with something ancient, with something hateful and evil.

I felt confused and lost. My tail was swaying anxiously, even my scales were itching with restlessness as the lack of sleep built up. My patience was slowly draining, crumbling, thinning, and all once over. Oh, how foolish I was to consider myself patient before meeting humans.

Out.

I wanted to be out. Take a deep breath of the cool air, maybe stretch my wings a bit. Even if leaving my lair in the middle of winter went against all my instincts, I was suddenly feeling cramped up in my cave.

So I got on my feet and crept outside. The sun wasn't in sight, the sky was gray and foggy, the smell of rain covered the forest around the bare land of my cave's front, the ground was damp with past rain.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

The last time I had seen this land—when it was the end of fall—it had looked different. The leaves were still yellow then and the sky shone with the lukewarm sun. The forest was truly alive.

But for a moment I almost didn't recognize the view in front of me now, another sign of the wrongness that was being awake when the world outside was in such a state.

I hoped to get back my drowsiness with some tiring activities, perhaps soaring around the mountain for a few hours, or maybe a quick flight towards the… sea?

My heart throbbed at the idea, my tail curling with excitement. I had to remind myself that it was just an idea, not a plan. It was a big maybe, I said, as I unraveled my wings from my sides and let them reach their full lengths. They were not made use of these past few weeks, and it felt good to stretch them as far as they could go.

And the sound of rustling in the bushes rose up.

I knew the humans were behind those bushes the moment I stepped out of the cave. If they thought they were being discreet, they were very mistaken. Even if I couldn't have smelled them, I would've recognized their hushed squeals anywhere. I hoped they weren't starving during the cold of winter, unable to catch any prey, since they were not that good at being predators.

Not that it was my problem.

I climbed the rocks that made my cave's entrance and went farther up. From the peak, I could see the gloomy and immense forest under, covering the hills around the hive of humans.

I took a whiff of air. It was cool and refreshing, and tainted with… something. It smelt like burning wood, but I couldn't see a fire in the forest that could be the source. I knew I hadn't started it, and I haven't heard any other dragons lurking around my lair either.

It didn't matter. The goal of this outing was to get rid of any disturbance that got in my sleep’s way, pestering thoughts included. Moving around freely had already lifted up my spirits and I was eager to fly.

Just for a little while, I assured myself, then I would surely come back to have my winter sleep.

I spread my wings and checked the currents in the air. Soon after, I felt a powerful one fill under my wings and push me up, and I shoved the rocks beneath my legs. With three powerful flaps I was high in the air, soaring through the mist. Brown-green blur of the forest slided beneath me, wind whistled around my wings, and I realized I had missed this feeling. It hadn't been long, but it was long enough when time's passing was witnessed consciously, when you were wide awake and counting breaths.

I let out a delighted roar to announce the skies that I had returned.

I circled over the forest, rising up occasionally to be covered in thick clouds, my mind leaving behind the nasty memories of the past days. I hadn't pondered on anything as much as I did on humans before—with one exception, perhaps.

But then, I hadn't met any creature as confusing as humans before either. With the passing time, I hoped they would leave my lair and my mind alone.

I realized the smell of burning wood was strengthened in the air. The clouds were slightly darkened with smoke, and I saw the human hive under where I flew. From this high, their hive looked small and full of thin tendrils of smoke coming out of it. So, this was where that burnt smell was coming from… the human hive—the village. The forest wasn't on fire after all.

I was interested enough to glide down and take a better look at this village thing. It stretched from the border of the forest to the hills of the shore, where the sea started. They had their own little lairs made out of wood, at least I guessed they were living inside those. Well, certainly not at the moment.

Right now, they were running around between those tiny wooden caves, some of them really loud, some of them pulling others with them towards the woods, and some with their sharp sticks in their hands looking up at the sky. I congratulated myself as I saw that my previous guess was right, they were living their daily lives with the same speed of their sleep.

Other than that, the village was nothing remarkable and I had seen enough of it, so I turned my head to fly where I really wanted to be. I could already smell the salt from the breeze, a welcomed but an unfamiliar smell. Although I had been there once before, back when I hadn't moved to my cave yet, its smell was still extraordinary for my nose. The memory of those glittering waves made my insides crawl with delight whenever I had thought of them.

Pheew. Calm down, calm down, I told myself. You are not even there yet.

My eyes searched the lights I had seen that day while I flew towards the shore. The rocky hills made the border between the land and the sea, the land being higher than the water beneath. There were some lonely columns of rocks rising out of the water as well. All of this was the same as before.

But something was different. Something was missing.

Where?

Where were the lights? The dancing shimmer on the surface—that shine where I hadn't seen on any other treasure before…

I had lost it. I had lost my treasure.

How?