When we got there, a dragon was waiting for us. Its bejeweled eyes glowered maliciously at us, azure scales glimmering in the dim light.
"Opikuth!" K'pek shouted, embracing the dragon. It immediately softened, nuzzling against its rider. "Everyone, this is Opikuth, my dragon."
Our tour group stared with wide eyes at Opikuth. This was the first time many had encountered a dragon this close. The dragon was majestic, great wings resting softly at its back. Around me, cameras were clicking frantically.
"Now, Opikuth is a blue dragon." K'pek announced, "Blue dragons are the smallest of the male dragons. Being smaller, they're more easily maneuverable than the larger browns and bronzes." He patted his dragon's head lovingly. "Over there," he pointed to a green dragon bumping its rider with its head, "is a green dragon. Green dragons are the lowest on the dragon hierarchy, but they're also the only females other than golds. Green dragons have less stamina than other dragons, and as such, when fighting Thread they must rotate every couple hours."
"After blue dragons are the brown dragons. Brown dragons are the middle-sized male dragons.
They usually hold the title of Wingsecond, which is pretty much the second-in-command, after Bronzes. Bronze dragons are the largest male dragons, the most common mates to the Queen, a gold dragon."
As he talked, he pointed towards the multicolored dragons that were lounging about the cave.
"The Queen is arguably the most important dragon of all. She never chews firestone, because the chemicals that allow dragons to incinerate Thread render a female dragon infertile. And the Queen is our only source of dragon eggs."
He led us to a board that outlined the different dragon sizes. "You may notice that there are two gold dragons. The larger Gold is Ramoth, who existed during the 9th Pass. She was abnormally large, birthing 41 eggs in her first clutch. The Queen before her only gave 12 eggs per clutch."
He paused a moment to allow us to absorb this fact. "The white dragon you see at the lower left is a rarity. White dragons are unable to break out of shells on their own, and must be assisted. Before now, it was an unspoken rule to never aid dragons in hatching, but now that we can, the population of white dragons are slowly rising."
As the sound of clicking cameras began to die down, K'pek clasped his hands. "Now," he asked, "who's hungry?"
"Opikuth!" K'pek shouted, embracing the dragon. It immediately softened, nuzzling against its rider. "Everyone, this is Opikuth, my dragon."Our tour group stared with wide eyes at Opikuth. This was the first time many had encountered a dragon this close. The dragon was majestic, great wings resting softly at its back. Around me, cameras were clicking frantically.
"After blue dragons are the brown dragons. Brown dragons are the middle-sized male dragons. They usually hold the title of Wingsecond, which is pretty much the second-in-command, after Bronzes. Bronze dragons are the largest male dragons, the most common mates to the Queen, a gold dragon."
As he talked, he pointed towards the multicolored dragons that were lounging about the cave.
"The Queen is arguably the most important dragon of all. She never chews firestone, because the chemicals that allow dragons to incinerate Thread render a female dragon infertile. And the Queen is our only source of dragon eggs."
He led us to a board that outlined the different dragon sizes. "You may notice that there are two gold dragons. The larger Gold is Ramoth, who existed during the 9th Pass. She was abnormally large, birthing 41 eggs in her first clutch. The Queen before her only gave 12 eggs per clutch."
As the sound of clicking cameras began to die down, K'pek clasped his hands. "Now," he asked, "who's hungry?"
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