The Eternal Guardian

Zuman was shocked to discover the culprit behind the stampede. It was a flying lizard. A huge flying lizard that is easily the size of a tanker (the truck, not the ship). Upon seeing it, the first thing that comes to his mind is the legendary dragon.

(Does it breathe flame? I mean, that would be cool if it does. Seriously, who knew that dragons really existed?)

The dragon had scales as was depicted in legends, with disturbingly intelligent eyes. Judging from the front paws' shape, the dragon would have no problem battling in a standing position or on all fours. The body shape is muscularly lean, like a relaxed tiger, just much bigger. Even the tail itself seems to be a weapon, judging from the agility with which the dragon is using it. As for its teeth, well, you don't want to be caught between them, that's for sure. The wings are deceptively batlike thin, but from how the dragon is hovering so effortlessly, those wings carry a lot power within them.

In the visual feed, the dragon was taking it's time. It's as if it is savoring the hunt, enjoying the sight of panicked animals fleeing from it. After some time, it seems that the dragon got bored, and so it went in for the kill. From a hovering position in the sky, it folded its wing and dived towards what seems to be a bull. It's as if it is a plane that is going in for a dive bombing run. At the last minute, it spread its wing, but not to slow down, no. It spread its wing to frighten off the rest of the pack, while it crashed into the bull. While this seems suicidal, bulls do have horns and strong kicks after all, it seems that this is the dragon's preferred method for quick kills. After a short tussle, the bull flopped onto the ground, dead from a broken neck. It seems that during the crash just now, the dragon with practiced ease grabbed the neck and borrowed the crash momentum to twist the bull's neck.

(Will it eat on the spot? Or will it bring it back to its lair?)

Zuman was really curious of the dragon's actions. This is after all a clue on its behavior.

The dragon firmly gripped the bull carcass within it's hind claws, before flying up and heading away. From the way it is flying, carrying the heavy bull carcass doesn't really affect it much in terms of flying, no doubt a testament to the strong capabilities of its wings and claws.

The rest of the animals still ran in panic, even after the dragon has obviously left the vicinity. After all, they did see the dragon killing a bull in the area, and such acts would leave an impression in their dim minds.

"AI, did you get a good scan of the dragon?"

It seems that Zuman is set on calling the giant flying lizard a dragon.

"Aye sir. The giant lizard in question have very strong scales, powerful wings and flight capabilities, and judging from the way it killed the bull just now, its legs, both front and hind are quite strong to able to withstand that impact. Also, the way it strikes is quite dangerous. The body mass it has would translate into a heavy impact on the target and this can result in either death or internal hemorrhage due to the trauma suffered. This is not counting the method it applied earlier whereby it borrowed the impact momentum to snap the bull's neck. At rough scan, the scales have the protection value of full plate mail armor. However sir, your rifle bullet should be able to penetrate the scale if you ever find yourself engaging a dragon. Though why you would engage against a dragon is beyond my processing capability sir."

"... Did I just get sassed…. Again????"

Zuman was speechless on hearing that last part. This AI is definitely gaining a personality. And Zuman doesn't have the knowledge to do filtering maintenance on it, nor does he have any inclination to do so. After all, a year of interacting with a cold machine would do wonders to how a person views interactions.

"Does it breathe flame?"

"Unable to conjecture. The being in question didn't exhibit any flamethrowing capability earlier, and rough scans are unable to make an outline of its biological systems."

"Damn that's no fun."

"Sir, what is so fun about a fire breathing dragon?"

"You don't understand. A dragon is, or was, a mythical being. If we can confirm that this particular one breathes fire, then that would mean that our myths has a basis in fact, which in turn would mean that other myths would also has some basis in fact. It is a romance for a person who likes to delve into the mythical world!"

"As you say sir."

While the line by the AI is perfectly correct, you distinctly get the impression that the AI is just following along, something along the line of (sure buddy, whatever you say).

-

As they watched, the stampede ultimately ran its course, with the animals dispersing after some time. Some of the animals went back in the direction they came from, while others continued running on in whatever direction they're heading.

-

Zuman continued with his routine, but this time he added a lot more caution into his daily activities, especially the ones involving forays out of the Habitat. He doesn't want to end up as dragon food after all.

-

Months go by, turning into years. As the years go by, the environment, with rain, storm and tempest, slowly changed the surroundings. Initially, the Habitat is quite obvious from afar as it looked like a big unnatural protrusion at the mountainside. However, with time and environmental change, it has started to look more natural. Of most important note is how there were landslides that has effectively buried the more visible features of the Habitat.

-

There were traces of more predation by the dragon as the years go by, however, Zuman is lucky in that the dragon has yet to intrude into the area around the Habitat. At the same time, he is getting increasingly curious of whether is the dragon a freak of nature or is there other mythical beings on this amazing world?

Only time will tell.

-

It has now been 20 years since he first arrived, give or take a few months. On this particular day, he makes another discovery in this world.

-

"Sir, scans detecting movement in 5km radius. The direction and trajectory suggest that the source of movement will come near the Habitat."

"What is it? I hope it's not a dragon."

"No sir. The source appears to be much smaller."

"Smaller? That's weird. A deer?"

"Unable to identify. This lifeform has not been encountered before, as such unable to make a baseline comparison."

"Huh. Fine. Just update me on whatever it is when it's close."

"Affirmative sir."

-

"Sir, bringing the lifeform on mainscreen view."

As the mainscreen comes to life, what comes into view is a young boy in rags of animal skin.

O_O "Is that a boy?"