This short story was initially published via Amazon KDP on June 1st, 2020.

In the land of Aka, there are four mountains of weathered glass, which rise proudly above the blackstone ravines. Upon each mountain perches a proud winged dragon. Krev, the kind green dragon sits upon the southernmost foothill of green glass. Artair, the less noble cousin of Krev, perches upon the easternmost mountain of white. Upon the mountain of azure sits Seker, a sly creature of dull scales. On the northernmost mount of sky lives Navir, a proud dragon of frills and feathers. There are, however, more than four dragons in the land of Aka, for the spiteful red dragon Neth, wingless and vengeful, prowls endlessly around the four mountains, repelled from them only by Zyrose, the noble dragon who dwells in the blackstone ravine betwixt the four mountains. Such is the land of Aka, that it has hung in this state for longer than mortals have known of it. There are rumors and stories amid the peoples who dwell around Aka, that should a mortal ever enter the realm, Neth will strike and bring down Zyrose, and the careful balance of the realm will be thrown into turmoil. So the mortals stay away from Aka, and Neth continues to prowl, past the green mountain, then the white, then the azure, then the sky. Green, white, azure, sky, green, white, azure, sky…

They say that Zyrose settled first in Aka, that the elegant creature drifted down from the clouds and settled like a wayward feather in the valley. Navir came next, surmounting the highest peak available so that even the mortals in other lands might behold the dragon’s beauty. Seker slithered from an unknown ravine onto the lowest of peaks, wishing power and a place close to Zyrose, but not enough that suspicion should be raised. Artair and Krev, drawn by the presence of other dragons, flew to Aka together. Artair claimed the highest peak available, ever wary of Navir, for the vain beast would always have the high ground. Krev claimed the green foothill for the kind dragon’s soul was reflected within it. So there were five dragons of Aka, but there was not peace. The four winged dragons squabbled, for they were all beasts of different breeds and different desires. Artair wished for Navir’s mountain, and the power that came with it. While Navir wanted Seker gone, for Seker was not pleasing to the eye. The sly dragon only desired to remain upon the lowest mountain, the place where one might behold the power of Zyrose. Krev wished only for silence. And Zyrose, the noble wingless being with had drifted down from the heavens…Zyrose only wanted peace, a balance of sorts.

From the realms to the west wandered Neth, a wingless dragon cast out of the land in which the beast of red scales had been born, and every land which Neth had settled in since had done the same.

Wingless dragons are strangely wise creatures, they know, unlike their winged kin, that the height of a perch does not always equal power. And so it was that Neth saw the strategic placement of that dragon of stars and clouds, of that ever wise and powerful Zyrose, which had settled between four mountains, knowing that winged dragons would take up a perch on each of them and fight all who crossed upon their territory. The red dragon saw as well that the winged creatures bore no actual loyalty to Zyrose, they were perhaps fascinated by the being, but these dragons would do little to defend that dragon of stars and clouds. Seeing this, spiteful Neth decided that he wanted that blackstone ravine.

Neth attacked Zyrose and found the one detail which had not been accounted for, while the four winged dragons did nothing to protect Zyrose, the dragon was a creature which had drifted down from the heavens, and as such, as Seker had always suspected, that dragon of stars and clouds was far more powerful than the red dragon could have predicted.

Zyrose had risen to the full height of the strange curved body it possessed, the same height as the mountain of white weathered glass upon which Artair sat. The wisened whiskered maw beneath the fierce golden eyes which had beheld the universe, eyes belonging to Zyrose, opened. An energy of enough power to repel any being poured from the maw, and Neth fled.

The spiteful red serpent still fears Zyrose, for any being of such power is to be feared as the gods are feared—perhaps the dragon of stars and clouds is a deity—but Neth knows that the dragon which drifted to Aka from above is easily distracted by mortals, for Zyrose has never wanted them in Aka, and if Zyrose is distracted for even a moment the serpent can attack, and use the venom of spite to prevail over Zyrose. So Neth circles the mountains, knowing that someday a chance might come.

The presence of Neth brought peace to the bickering dragons, for they united against a common threat. Knowing that Neth could attack any one of them and prevail they made a pact that if Neth should set foot upon any mountain they will all attack the serpent, and use their combined might to drive the spiteful creature back.

So the red serpent continues to circle, watching Zyrose through the valleys between mountains, knowing that someday an opportunity will come in the form of an ignorant mortal, an opportunity to strike down the noble dragon and claim the ravine. Neth stalks casually, for the serpent waits, but sees no reason to do so idly.

The mortals of the lands bordering Aka stay well away from it, for they not only fear the wrath of godlike Zyrose, but they fear what will happen if such a spiteful dangerous beast as Neth were to nest so close to their civilizations. For Aka is a small land, and while the mortals stay away from it they use the available space they see as being a safe distance from Aka. They know not if Neth will be as content with the borders of Aka as Zyrose, and they fear conquest from such a powerful being as a dragon. They fear the jagged talons which could decimate in one swipe their mightiest of fortresses, they fear the venom which is told as being able to melt the flesh from the bone, but most of all they fear all that they do not know of Neth, for dragons of gold eyes are said to come from the heavens, and dragons of the heavens are said to possess untold powers. So out of fear, the mortals keep to their own countries, and dare not cross their borders.

In time, though, fear fades to tradition, tradition to unspoken yet understood rules, those unspoken rules to something akin to common sense, and then the mortals begin to wonder why they left this perfect circle of land untouched and wild, the tales of their ancestors now only spoken of by the most niche of theologists, forgotten by most everyone. So the mortals venture forth, unto this still wild land, and the spiteful red serpent whose name they have long since forgotten, but whose golden eyes make them cower in fear, dashes through the valley into the blackstone ravine, and strikes down that being of stars and clouds, of untold beauty and power, whose gaze holds the secrets of the universe. The dragons which sit upon the peaks are banished, the vain one of frills to the deepest of chasms, the cowardly green one to an unforgiving desert, the sly hideous one to the depths of the ocean, and the one with scales of night and eyes of fire fights, this dragon will not be banished, or so the mortals think, but in the end even that noble dragon of night flees to a place known by none, and the serpent reigns over the realm. Fissures tear at the black stone of the land, and acid froths from them, the air fills with smog, and the luster of the four mountains fades until they appear not but stone. This was the land before Zyrose, and this is the land after the noble being of stars and clouds has returned to the heavens.

In the eons after the mortals have fled Aka, knowing now why it was left untouched, the serpent calms, and Neth, no longer so spiteful, does something peculiar. The serpent of blood and gold crawls forth from the ravine and circles thrice about the four mountains, and climbs that highest mountain which was once of sky but which is now not but stone. Neth sits upon the mountain for days, beholding the sun and stars though golden eyes which no longer hold rage. In those days, Neth feels regret for what has been done, Neth regrets that there is now only one dragon in the land of Aka.

A dragon of black scales and red eyes flew down from the night and alighted on the peak which was once white. Artair studies the ruins of once beautiful Aka and spoke to Neth in the language of dragons. “You have had your fun and now you repent.”

The serpent dips the head which was once a visage of horror, at this sign Artair took off from the peak, which was once of the purest white, and Neth descends from the peak once of sky and curls at the base of the once green foothill.

Artair travels forth to the harshest of deserts, to the deepest of chasms, and to the depths of the ocean, and from each the dark beast brings forth a dragon. They return to Aka and alight on the peaks which they had once called home, they raise their wings to the stars in prayer and the air begins to clear, the acid recedes back into its fissures, and once more the mountains shine with the color and luster of weathered glass.

From the heavens there drifts down a being, with scales of stars and a mane of clouds, with golden eyes that hold the secrets of the universe, a being which settles in the ravine betwixt the four mountains like a wayward feather.