Dragon Shifter

Life Of A Runt

I flew at the back of the pack. I had lost the fight with FireFang and now I was the runt of the pack. I knew life would be harder now. A fireball landed on my back and knocked me out of my thoughts. I steadied myself and looked up to see a green Singetail glaring at me. "Move faster!" The Singetail growled. I looked ahead and realised the pack had almost left me behind. I sighed and picked up speed. The Singetail raced past me, knocking me with her wing as she did so. I wobbled about then regained my balance and flew after her. I was the runt now and that meant I was least important to the pack. So they could treat me however they wanted.

We reached the island the next day and immediately I raced to the woods. I found Kai sleeping under a tree and shifted into a human. I placed a hand on his shoulder and gently shook him as I whispered "Kai, wake up." Kai yawned and opened his eyes. "Destiny! Where in Thor's hammer have you been?" Kai almost yelled at me. "Keep your voice down!" I hissed at him. "And where is Fireball?" Kai asked. I let out a sigh and told him everything. "No, no, no! This is bad, very bad!" Kai exclaimed as he started pacing up and down. I watched him pace as he muttered the word 'bad' over and over again. I got up and grabbed his hand then pulled him over to me and sat him down. "Listen to me, I'm not giving up yet! I can still get him back for you, I just need more time" I told him. Kai looked up at me and asked "are you sure?" "Yes, I made you a promise Kai and I am going to keep it" I reassured him. Kai smiled.

I tried to get to the pile of fish laying in our cave, but the other Singetails kept pushing in front of me and kicking me away. I jumped on top of an orange Singetail and finally reached the pile of fish. I grabbed a fish and was about to eat it when I was pulled backwards by my tail. I was pulled away from the crowd around the fish and then let go. A green Singetail grabbed the fish from my mouth, gulped it down then ran back into the crowd. I was back to stage one. I got up and slowly made my way to the pile. Finally the crowd of Singetails walked away. I ran forwards happily and reached the pile, or what was left of it. Now there were only scraps and bones. I let out a sigh and started cawing on the leftovers. This was the life of any runt.

I lay asleep on the ground when suddenly a loud voice called "you five Singetails go and fetch me that Monstrous Nightmare and take the runt with you!" I sat up and saw FireFang glancing at me. "Come on runt!" One of the Singetails said as he lead the others out of the cave. I got up and followed the small group. We took off into the night sky and flew South from the island. "So what exactly are we doing?" I asked. Four Singetails glared at me, but the fifth one answered. "Gunnar was attacked by a Monstrous Nightmare, he's fine, but now FireFang wants it dead." I nodded and continued flapping my four wings. "He's up ahead! Everyone follow me" the lead Singetail said. We landed on a tree and awaited our orders. "Okay runt, you can go and lead the Nightmare to us. We'll be waiting by that cliff over there" the Singetail said. "But..." I objected. "No buts, do as you're told!" The Singetail hissed. I nodded and took off. I knew it was dangerous, not only because of the Nightmare, but also because that small group of Singetails did not care what happened to me.

I found the red Nightmare and shot a fireball on its back. The Nightmare turned around and growled "how dare you!" I fired another blasted which the Nightmare only just dodged. Then he lunged at me. I dived down towards the ground with the Nightmare at my tail. I plunged into a sea of trees and weaved my way through them. The Nightmare was still hot on my tracks. I broke out of the trees and headed towards the cliff where the other Singetails were waiting. I spotted the lead Singetail who yelled "in there!" I saw a small cave and dived into it with the Nightmare still behind me. I heard a blast and looked back to see the cave entrance was blocked. Now there was only one way out. I raced down the tunnel and finally saw some light up ahead. I spotted the other Singetails waiting outside. The Nightmare shot a line of fire at me, but it missed. I made it out of the cave and the other Singetails blasted the Nightmare with fireballs. Smoke poured out of the cave and finally I heard a loud thud. Once the smoke had cleared one of the Singetails brought out the dead Monstrous Nightmare. "Good job everyone!" A yellow Singetail cheered. I sat on the ground panting heavily and waited for my heartbeat to slow down. The five Singetails looked at me and all grinned at the same time. I suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable. "Hey runt, go get us some fish as a snack" an orange Singetail told me. I looked out at the sea where the fog was rolling in quickly. "But the fog..." I muttered. "Do you think I care about the fog? Go get me some food!" One Singetail yelled. "Either you catch us some fish to eat or we eat you" the lead Singetail told me. I waited from them to laugh and tell me it was a joke, but they didn't. I decided I would rather not be eaten so I got up and flew away.

As I circled the waves, scouting for fish, I looked up and realised the fog was rolling in all around me. The one thing Singetails hate is fog, it immediately spooks them. I started panicking and looked for a way out, but I was surrounded. "Guys! Help me! I'm stuck in this fog!" I called out to the group of Singetails. I heard them all laughing and one called back "that's the point! We're not hungry, we're just fed up with you!" "No, please!" I begged. I heard more laughing then wingbeats of them flying away. I was so panicked and overwhelmed I couldn't think straight. I couldn't even master up the energy to shift. Eventually I was so dizzy and confused that I gave up and just fell into the cold water.