Corruption and Hope Chapter 2: A True Dragon

Dinner. She always hated dinner. It wasn't the food. Her family was wealthy enough to afford the best and top of the line delicacy. She hated the atmosphere and facing her parents. They were always just so smug, always judging her and discouraging her ideas. Over the years she learned to speak very little at the dinner table.

Lily slowly made her way to the dining room, her clawed feet scuffing the floor with as much enthusiasm as a man on Death Row. The young dragoness only cared about not hitting any of the human workers who were busy packing up for the day. For the most part they avoided being under the feet of any dragons, but once in a while they crossed paths. Lily had no wish to harm the humans. She actually thought they were kind of cute. But her mother, Ruth, thought of them as annoying rodents, only to be tolerated when needed to do what she thought of as lower work. Lily's father, Darnas, was a dragon who truly thought humans should still be hunted. He only tolerated the house workers because his wife insisted the work had to be done. The irony of it all was that everything about the way they lived was due to human influence.

As she entered the dining room, Lily took in the scene. First thing she noticed was her father's newspaper on the table. That was not good. It indicated that some article made him mad enough to complain all the way to dinner. That made him madder than usual.  Lily had a suspicion as to what it was. Her mother wore a tasteful nightgown and sat silently, sipping her soup. The sparse candle light gave the room a decedent and dusty look as the flickering light reflected off all the china silverware.

As she took her chair, her father checked his pocket watch and shook his head, then addressed the younger dragon. "You know very well, young lady, that you are to be to dinner on time a six o-clock sharp. Not six thirty!" His fist slammed the table with the last word, causing her to jump. "I know your seventeen now, but you must learn to be punctual! You're a disgrace to your dragon bloodlines!" At the end of his rant, smoke flew from his nostrils.

"Darnas!" Ruth warned.

The male dragon closed his eyes for a moment as he composed himself. "I'm sorry.. That new twisted school opening has put me in a rather bad mood.." He looks his daughter in the eyes. "You're 17 today, so despite your many faults, we have prepared a spacial meal for you."

Prepared, Lily thought. You didn't prepare anything. It was the servants. Her family employed many dragon servants for the sole purpose of preparing food. Despite her thoughts, the green dragoness stayed silent. It was better if they thought she was mute than to start arguments with her parents.

"It is a very special meal. You should be proud, Lily," said her mother.

The green dragon sighed. "I am..."

Her father huffed his disapproval of Lily's attitude, but stayed silent. With a nod from Ruth, the servants jumped into action as usual. Only this time Lily noticed a look of envy in their eyes. That was odd. Most of the time the servants had just as good food as the family. What had her parents 'prepared'?


The first course was a normal meal. Rich in spiced meats. The second course was a little unusual, but not unheard of. Plates loaded with almost rare meat. The juices and a little blood were let to flow as the meat was cut by the extra-sharp knifes. Lily didn't really know why, but meat always tasted better that way. The third course made Lily stare.

First the servants removed the silverware, then placed plates loaded with freshly killed livestock. Pigs, cows and sheep mostly. Lily glanced at her parents for guidance. They simply smiled and started gulping down the dead beasts whole. Lily was genuinely shocked, but timidly picked up a sheep by the leg and placed it in her mouth. The full flavor hit her like a train. Why don't we eat this all the time? she wondered. She quickly started digging into the food, forgetting to stand on ceremony like her parents had trained her.

The older dragons smiled as they watched their daughter's ravenous hunger rear its ugly head. As far as they were concerned, she was finally becoming a real dragon. Within a matter of minutes, Lily had devoured the plate. She started licking up the blood that was pooled in the bottom of the dish. The servants waited until she finished to remove the plate, not wanting to lose a finger. Lily leaned back and rubbed her belly. Never had being so full felt so good! Her parents both chuckled at her actions.

Lily didn't expect another plate to be set on the table. The lid was lifted to reveal her first live food. She gawked in shock over it. She never heard of people eating live food anymore! The plate was smaller than the last holding only five cows. Her stomach quickly forgot it was full and let out a loud rumble. She didn't look to her parents. This time, she picked one up and dropped it into her mouth. The cow let out alarmed moos as it went face first into the dragon's maw. It attempted to gain its footing and run in the cramped cavern, only to be defeated by Lily's agile tongue. The young dragon moaned as she took her time tasting her first live animal, before swallowing it whole, then quickly moved to the next doomed beast. Within a few moments, all five beasts were in her belly. She cooed a bit, feeling the livestock move around a little as they tried to find dry ground in the churning cavern of blood, food, and acid. However, it only lasted a few moments.

The green reptile looked up at her parents' smiling faces. Wait. Smiling? Why were they smiling? Her mother spoke. "How did it feel?"

Lily was at a lost for words at first, but then her mouth spoke before her brain could catch up. "Incredible...."

Ruth chuckled. "Then you're really going to love desert.."

The servants once again removed her plate and, in its place, set a bowl filled with gallons of ice cream of various flavors and covered in sweet chocolate sauce. But that is not what made Lily's jaw drop. For on top of the sweet sugary food was not a cherry, but a human girl, bound, gagged and very much alive and alert. "Eat up," commanded her father.

Lily's mind raced.

This was illegal. She was a person! How could see be expected to eat her like some monster? Lily looked at her parents. Both were digging in. Her Mother was delicately eating the ice cream around her 'cherry' first, while her father was busy covering his human in the cold ice cream, clearly enjoying torturing the poor soul. The young dragon's first instinct was protest out loud or leave the room. However, she knew that either action would doom the human on the platter before her. Yet, deep down in the darkest pit of her mind a thought came to her: I wonder what she tastes like.

The young dragon tentatively picked up her oversized spoon and scooped up some of the ice cream around the edges of the bowl, staying well away from the human. She used this as a stalling tactic in front of her parents as she thought of what to do. Then a scream. She looked up and saw her father's bowl empty, and his human now unbound dangling over his open maw. He let go of her and let the poor thing fall into his mouth. His jaw snapped shut and muffled the second scream. He then closed his eyes and savored the flavor. A look to Ruth's bowl indicated that the older dragoness was already finished. There was nothing the young dragon could do for them now. Both parents now watched their daughter prepare to consume her first human.

Lily continued to stall, scooping away the ice cream furthest away from the human, only moving closer when she didn't have a choice. Her mind was flying on what to do. How to save this life. The naked human girl was crying with eyes shut tight, not wanting to see her death coming. But then who would? All the creamy substance was nearly gone all too quick and she still didn't have any ideas. Finally, she could stall no longer.. she slowly moved the edge of the spoon under the girl and slowly lifted her up. Lily delayed for one more second and studied the girl's fragile body. If nothing else, she could memorize the girl, and in hopes, in some far-fetched scenario, she might be able to contact her loved ones, and place her fate at the hands of the humans. It was the noble thing to do.

Then the human opened her tear-stained eyes and met the predator's eyes. Lily was shocked. There was so much hope in that look. This one was a fighter. This one would become a legend. Lily didn't know how, or why. She just knew from that one look into the human's eyes. It's said that to look in the eyes of a person facing death is to look into their soul. The human then nodded, accepting her fate and giving Lily permission to do what she must do, what was only natural.

Lily slowly opened her mouth and placed the large spoon with the human inside, then slid out the metal utensil. The dragon's taste buds came alive like never before! This human was so sweet yet salty with sweat. She could almost taste the girl's fear. Somehow, right then and there she knew that dragons were always meant to feast on these creatures. A moan escaped her lips and she suddenly remembered that she was at the table with her parents. She cupped a clawed hand over her mouth in embarrassment and looked at each of them. Both had pleasant smiles as they watched. Thanks to the moment of humility, Lily remembered that it was a live soul in her mouth. Lily had a desperate idea and shifted the human around her mouth, now resisting the seductive taste, and did her best to cut the bindings with a razor sharp tooth. This, at least, would give the girl a small fighting chance inside the hell-hole of the dragon's belly. Then with a sigh, she tilted her head back and swallowed.

Her father clapped slowly. "Welcome to being a true dragon."