Extinction — chapter 1

I was named Extinction. At the time, every other dragon questioned my mother about it. Now, it just seemed ironic.

I was only a few years old when my whole flock was hunted. We were pushed to the edge of a cliff, what little of us were left. My mother held me close behind her. The sky was the colors of fire. And not just because of the sun setting in the sky, but because our kind was dying left and right. When my kind dies, we turn into comets, soar across the sky in reds, oranges, and yellows. My mother was a deep green dragon with amber eyes. None of my flock had ever met my father. I am a dark blue female dragon. I have the same amber eyes as my mother. As more and more dragons died in every direction, my mother looked at me in worry. She looked behind us and her eyes hardened. She looked away and pushed me down the cliff, yelling down to live before she turned away and rushed into the fight. I felt tremendous pain when I hit the ground and passed out from it.

When I woke up, it was quiet around. I noticed I had fallen into a thorn bush. The sun was rising. I tried to listen for any sign of my flock, but I couldn’t hear anything, smell anything, see anything. And then I heard it. Humans. I felt my heartbeat quicken as I looked around, trying to see where the humans were. I pulled myself out of the bush and wobbled into a nearby cave to hide. I made my way behind a rock and peeked out to see the humans looking around. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but they didn’t sound happy.

I waited a few days for my mother to get me, but when she never returned, I knew she never would. I made my way out of the cave, limping from my broken leg, and not able to fly because of my broken wing. I looked out from the entrance of the cave and didn’t see anything bad, so I made my way out to find some food and water. I would listen to my mother’s final request of me. To live.

I was able to find some standing water. I was taught not to drink that, but when I need to survive, it’s better than nothing. It didn’t taste good though. It tasted like dirt and iron and something else I couldn’t even place. I kept wandering. I found a dead mouse. It’s not much, and it was someone else’s kill, but I need to take the chance. I limped to the kill and looked around to see if I saw anyone. When I didn’t, I went to take a bite when I suddenly heard a sound.

“Hey! Get away from my kill!” yelled a little furry animal as it ran out of a nearby bush.

I stumbled back and lowered my head. “I’m sorry!” I stammered. I limped away slowly and sat down. I saw a dead rat. I grimaced as I looked at it, but my stomach growled and I knew I couldn’t refuse. I grabbed the rat and limped away. I found a little cave and laid down in it. I put down the rat and sighed. I ate it slowly, gagging every few bites but forcing it down anyways. The sun was starting to set so I decided to go to sleep for the night in the little cave.

When I woke up, I continued walking. Eventually, the trees and grass all died out and it looked like a wasteland. I figured no one would settle in these spots. I would find somewhere close to the forest and settle down for a temporary home. As I wandered around the wasteland, I saw something red and orange fly over me fast. I perked up and looked at it, wobbling after it as fast as possible. When I saw it land, I slowed down and peeked at it before realizing it wasn’t a dragon. It was some sort of bird. Then I realized what it was. A Phoenix! I started backing up slowly, getting ready to run as fast as I could when I suddenly backed into something hot. I slowly turned around to see an older Phoenix behind me, looking at me, more than annoyed.