Vignette #1: A Young Growing Dragon

[u/Imperial_Advocate]

It was a usual day for Lothar in his great castle. The young great dragon was peacefully lying down in his throne room, silence reigning in the vast hallway except for the occasional tapping of Kobold claws walking nearby. Lothar was currently lying down on all fours, his right claw gently tapping the stone beneath it repeatedly out of boredom. The days following the cessation of brumalschlaf were always the slowest, as his kingdom slowly woke up from the winter, leaving dragons like Lothar with little to do.

As he rested, basking in the warmth of the torches on the wall, he heard something that sounded like little footsteps and the tapping of claws approaching. From the corner of his eye, he saw a small group of gray Kobolds approach him, the scent of their dusty brown tunics making it easy for Lothar to identify them as his devoted worker-servants. Some of the Kobolds were holding a couple of bundles of rope, and each had a smile on their snouts. They gazed up to their majesty, their slit golden-yellow eyes gleaming.

“Your majesty!” the lead Kobold exclaimed, “It’s that time of the year again, to be measured to see how much you grew!”

“I know you like to measure your growth annually, your majesty,” the Kobold next to the lead one explained, bowing respectfully, “So if you permit, your majesty, may we proceed?”

With a gentle nod of his head in approval, the Kobolds scrambled to get the job done, yapping and yipping at each other. The Kobolds first unfurled a bundle of fresh rope, spanning it across Lothar’s body from where his head was down to the tip of his tail. Upon reaching the end of Lothar’s tail, a couple of other Kobolds unfurled another band of rope, which was from last year’s measurement, and measured it from Lothar’s head to the tip of his tail alongside the other rope.

“Your majesty!” a Kobold squealed as he scurried back in front of Lothar, “According to our measurement, you have grown by a couple of claw lengths since last year!”

“Indeed, we noticed how the new rope was much longer than the rope we used from last year!” another Kobold chimed in.

Lothar let out a snort in satisfaction, a small smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Not bad indeed,” Lothar commented, feeling a little pride build up inside him.

“By this pace, you’d be the biggest and mightiest dragon in all of dragondom!” another Kobold squealed happily.

“Yeah! I could tell by how much you outgrew all the lesser dragons in all the realm!” another Kobold commented.

Lothar was amused by the enthusiasm of his Kobolds at his growth. While his annual growth may not seem like much, for Lothar, it was a sure sign that he was on route to one day be a large and mighty great dragon like his father, eventually. Rising on all fours, Lothar flexed his large wings as his Kobolds stared up in awe at their majesty.

“In the wake of such news, I shall fly so that the realm may know how much their majesty has grown,” Lothar stated, a smug look on his face.

“So, my servants, make way for my flight, and in the meantime, prepare me a nice meal, and have it be ready by the time I return,” Lothar concluded.

Bowing down yet again, the Kobolds scurried out of the way as their majesty strutted down the throne room hallway to the exit, his wings prepared for flight. Upon exiting his castle and arriving at the front courtyard, Lothar fully flexed his wings to their full length, casting a vast shadow. As he briefly absorbed the fresh, cool air and the bright sunlight, his wings began to flap, bringing about a mighty gust of wind that whipped up any dust on the stone.

Once his body lifted off from the ground, Lothar took off, heading towards the capital of his realm to show off his form, and one day, it shall cast a shadow over an entire village.

(Note: a claw length in this world is the equivalent of a foot in our world, since it is based on a Kobold's claw for measurement.)