Queen of Dragons

EPILOGUE

Smoke and war. Fire and betrayal. We've been rent into tatters, so much less now than what we once were.

I suppose you might say this is only what we've earned. That if we dissolve as a species into whirlwinds of dust, it is only what the civilized world requires.

Yet we do not trouble your lives without provocation. We dance at your edges, we drift and observe and lead our own silent lives. What right had you to come and hunt us?

Brothers and sisters gone. Our children taken. You've pierced our souls, and if we retaliate in kind, do not be so foolish as to think we'll grant mercy.

We are dragons. If we eat you whole, that will be your mercy.

And when we cry diamond tears for our young ones, when we weep for our broken hearts, you will never see.

Be ready. We're nearer than you imagine.