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I roared, lifting my head to scorch the air with excess fire, and with a scalding, tearing sensation, I spread my wings to take flight. Caught in my claws was a smallish dragon, gray-brown with flecks of blush red, and he snarled and twisted, biting at my scaled grip, but his fangs were weak and his body was light.
It took my wings a few tries, my rhythm unsteady, but soon, we were rising. I barked a sound, a cry of joy. This was my flight. My body.
My dragon.
The dragon in my hold snapped its jaws hard around my front left leg, finally catching a tender spot of my hide, and I roared and loosed my claws, dropping him free. He screeched and turned midair, wings beating frantically to escape me.
Not so fast, little rat, my dragon purred, and together we swooped down to catch the beast in the clamp of our jaws, dragging him out toward the sea.
Squash this pest first, then rescue my mate, I thought, and I soared through the air, chest full of pride and fire.