I lay on the rocky outcrop, finishing the last of the cow. The sun warmed me. I stretched my wings and arched my tail as the breeze wafted across me. The sky was blue and I could just smell the ocean. Perhaps I should take a nice dip. The water would be cool, but the salt always caked under my scales and made me itch terribly. If I went north I could bath in the lake that was fed by the glaciers. Fresh water wasn’t as itchy, but that was Dappleworm’s lake, and she was always very protective of her territory.

Smoke curled from my nostrils as I sighed.

I heard him before I saw him. Heavy hoof beats and the sound of metal on leather.

Drat. Can’t I even take a peaceful little stretch and sun without being interrupted?
He came along the old path that led up from the valley. His metal suit shined in the sunlight. Even his horse wore armor. He paused as he saw me.

“Accursed be ye, thou worm. This day shall be thy last!” and he charged.

Trouble always has a way of finding our kind. Pesky little monsters.