Flames tucked his feet and wings, hitting the water without so much as a ripple. He dove down deep, ignoring the frightened dolphins. Little Waves was nowhere in sight.
Reluctantly he surfaced, and was greeted by a very happy baby kraken.
"Why did you leave?" he rumbled, as the baby curled around his neck.
Soon they were airborne, scanning the vast ocean for any sign of the huge sea monster which was Waves' mother.
Close to sunset, Flames saw a tall sailing ship being thrown around, heading ever closer to the center of a whirlpool. He circled low overhead, and saw that the sailors were frantically trying to keep the vessel upright.
"It's too big for me to lift. I don't think I can flip it to safety without tipping it over either," he thought, as he watched the men fight for their lives.
Flames landed in the turbulent water next to it, and tried to push the ship away from the whirlpool. He was promptly rewarded with a good dunking.
The crew began to shout, pointing at the huge dragon. One of them held a rope. Flames met his eyes.
The man ran and tied one end to the bow, then waited, holding a loop out as far as possible.
Flames launched himself out of the water, and circled the ship. Coming in close, he snatched the rope, using the loop as a handle.
After a mighty battle, he managed to drag the ship and its crew to safety.
With a deep sigh, he went on his way. "Almost dark again," he thought.
Then he saw it. Just like last time, the water reached high into the sky. But other than that, things were very different.
The kraken's tentacles were waving wildly in every direction, as she was being swung about by a creature more than ten times her size.
"A leviathan... I thought they were just a myth," breathed Flames.
Without thinking, he darted forward. Weaving amongst the flailing tentacles of the kraken, and impossibly thick neck of the leviathan, the dragon made his way to the creature's mouth.
He took a deep breath, and scorched the leviathan's tongue with his dragonfire.
It let go of the kraken, dropping her back into the water. Its roar of pain and fury knocked Flames and Waves clear.
They hit the water hard, many leagues away. Once again, Flames awoke to Waves holding his snout above the water. "I really need to stop doing that," he groaned, swallowing some saltwater in the process.
As if in reply, Waves swam excitedly around him.
Flames looked around, suddenly apprehensive. "What's going on? You've never been this active."
A second later, his feet were scrabbling on a slick surface. Yelping in surprise, he took to the air.
He looked down, and saw Waves nuzzling up to an island sized version of himself.
The mother kraken affectionately wrapped a cut, bleeding tentacle around him.
"I'm sorry I tried to take you. I'm really going to miss you," he said to Waves.
Waves gently waggled the tip of one tentacle, then climbed atop his mother for a better view.
"Thank you for saving my life, and bringing back my baby," gurgled a watery voice.
Flames almost forgot to flap his wings. "You can talk?!?!"
Bubbles rose to the surface, in an almost musical chuckle. "Yes, and my kind can do much, much more. I would be in your debt if you would let your fellow surface creatures know that they need not hunt us. We only hunt when we require food. If they agree to hunt us no longer, we will agree to the same."
Flames landed in the calm water, close to the huge kraken. "There are many different types of surface creatures. And even amongst those of the same type, there are different opinions. But I will do my best."
"That's all I can hope for," the kraken agreed.
The dragon and baby kraken nuzzled each other one final time, then Flames took to the air.
As Flames flew back, he thought about the two creatures who had been the center of his world for a short time.
"They're really not all that different from dragons and people..."
The end!
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery
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This has been a story from the fantasy world of Serfdom and Sorcery. To play the game, go to the Serfdom and Sorcery Official Game Discord
