A New Opportunity

                  Deep within the caverns of Myrr, a dragon sits in a room alone, staring at strange carvings on the wall, mumbling to himself. Baallettayellia lived in the Valley caverns for many years, longer than most of the dragons in the underground city of Myrr. Like the other dragons, he had a long snaking body, short legs, thick tail, and wings used more like arms. Life in the valley took a toll on the poor little dragon. He had several scars along his body and one across his mouth. Life within the valley did not treat him kindly. He despised the valley. He despised the other dragons. None of the other dragons understood him.

                  Then he heard two other dragons talking outside his room. They spoke in ancient Drekki.

                  “We have found humans!”

                  “What? Alive?”

                  “Yes, they were in our valley!”

                  “How many?”

                  “Two older men. I found them in one of our altar rooms on the surface. Others helped me bring them here. We must test them, use them to further our cause?”

                  “Yes, yes, yes, test them. We will! Do they possess magic?”

                  “No. They seem to be warriors. Very dumb, no magic.”

                  “We will use them, we will. We will harness any power they have and use them to make us strong!”

                  “We will study them; we will find out much. We will practice our special magic on them. We will make them ours.” The two dragons talked about the ways they hoped to torture the found humans.

                  When Baallettayellia heard them talking of humans, he crawled closer to listen and learn what the others discovered. Humans in the valley could mean a new opportunity. Baallettayellia realized this could be his chance.

                  The dragons outside his room continued talking about the humans. “There have also been sightings of other young humans in the valley.”

                  “Young humans?”

                  “Yes!”

                  “Do they magic?”

                  “We don’t know. We will find out. We will capture them as well!”

                  The idea of younger humans excited the two dragons. Baallettayellia listened carefully, grasping onto every word spoken.

                  The dragons outside his room continued to discuss their plans. “I will report the news to the council, and we will capture them. Humans will feel our power.”

                  “Come with me. We will report, and we will capture them. We will test them. Our magic will be strong.”

                  Baallettayellia despised the other two dragons. He hated them; he avoided them as much as he could. They didn’t understand his plans. None of the other dragons understood his plans. Baallettayellia saw his chance. Destiny brought him humans. With humans, he could put his plan in motion. The others did not understand humans and what they were capable of. He needed humans if he wanted his plan to succeed. He needed their help.

                  Baallettayellia smiled as a plan formed in his mind. He wanted to find the humans first. He would be the one to meet the humans. The other dragons only wanted pain and torture. Baallettayellia wanted something different from the humans. He wanted to change the fate of the dragons of Myrr. He would be the one to make a difference. Mumbling more thoughts to himself, the dragon scratched wildly at the back of his head, then quickly crawled off into a nearby tunnel.