The Black Swan Theory - Nassim Nicholas Taleb.

1. It is a surprise. - The discovery that dragons are good is made after seven generations.

2. It has a major impact. - Dragons and humans band together and eventually co-exist.

3. People contend that they expected the event to take place (in hindsight).

- People grow overconfident about what dragons are capable of ::: again.

And possibly to the point of their eminent demise.

I. The Lightening Torrents…

Mountains rose like spires around a quiet, seemingly empty island. The stone floors were cold and bare of any growth or vegetation. Open pits of black liquid unsafe to drink lined the ground in an irregular circle while wind swept fragments of dirt and furling pieces of dead scales around. At the edge of one of these particular projectiles was a black creature.

She pulled herself from the shadows of a higher rocky rise and slithered over on her belly towards a thick, off-white egg that she hadn't remembered seeing the other day. With her prominent front body and long, cactus-shaped legs, the young female dragon easily stood as a hulking presence over the ovate object. She lowered her small nostrils to it's side and inhaled deeply to take in it's scent. Her jade eyes dilated and she released a big, loud purr.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

With one crooked talon, the dragon reached over to touch the motionless egg when all of a sudden it gave a little jolt. This made her reel back as her un-hatched offspring began to wheel its way around sporadically. The egg moved in dizzying patterns that she saw were familiar formations of her own kind. She followed it with intent awe as it began pulsating a rich blue color and kept propelling itself around her like it was trying to escape; but the nearness that it moved towards the rock spire's edge made her gasp and whip her tail out.

The dragon made a whining noise and felt tension peak in her brawny chest as the rolling egg hit her svelte appendage like a speed freak. Yet although the speed of her little roller did not decrease, it made a safe turnabout and began scaling up her protrusion - free back.

She let out a relieved murmur and shifted the feather-light weight of the egg by shrugging her shoulders one at a time. As it rolled harmlessly to the rocked floor, the odd blue glow residing within it began resonating with a firm, deliberate rhythm. Beat… Beat… B-e-a-t! This caused the would - be mother to back away. With a few more piercing throbs of life beating forcefully inside it, a pair of azure eyes snapped open. The dragon hovered closeby as the egg started to rock and shake with more ferocity until big cracks formed around it's surface.

She released a worried whine.

"Ah!" the sound came in a loud, complaining squawk from the egg..

With the blue light misting against the inside like the release of an animal's wintry breath, a small black foot suddenly kicked up near the top. This caused the dragon to move away once more in shock - she hadn't been more then a hatchling when she had seen this happening...

The side of the upturned egg was given another forceful kick and a second foot poked it's way out. A low, grunting coo admitted from the shelled creature as it relaxed and allowed it's outer wall to fall carelessly to the ground. The mother-to-be started to near it; curious.

"Uh?" She questioned gently.

"UUUhhh!" the child hollered as a great mass of blue built at the top of the egg's insides and caused it to turn upright. With deep, throat-contained radiance, the baby dragon was able to release a burst of bright blue energy up at the egg's top and send it spinning overhead.

This caused the mother dragon to gasp happily.

Before she could see her baby, however, the top came right back down and landed on the child's head. Giving a more assured murmur, she stepped over to the infant dragon and let her paw instinctively push up on the yolk-drenched top to catch a first glimpse. The eyes of the dragon were sealed shut as it's tiny slit nostrils opened and closed quickly to take it's first few breaths. She waited patiently as the youngster's breathing evened out just right. When this happened, she carefully lowered her claw point and picked at it's glued eyelids.

"Mm!"

"Mm." The dragon mimicked and then gave a rumbling chuckle.

"Mm…" it squeaked precociously this time as a pair of green eyes popped open.

She tried to move the child towards her but it ducked under her touch. Surprised and a tad alarmed, the dragon tried again to reach out this time with her other paw. It deftly avoided her again and this time developed a crisscrossing pattern to it's steps so as to sidestep her every time she would make a movement over to it. Frustrated, the dragon kept attempting to get to her child until she was finally forced to try pouncing on it - proving to be a futile mistake. The dragon hung her head in defeat and started away when she heard squawking.

"Ah!"

He looked at her with wide, jade eyes as she turned to face him.

"Ah?" her baby squawked unsurely.

"Ah." She smiled a large, gummed smile from ear flap to ear flap.

The infant dragon smiled back and a single, front tooth popped down from his upper jaw. This made him squeal in delight and he hurried over to join his mother. She, on the other hand, shouldered around so that her back was to him. He blinked in confusion and tried to wobble over to the front of his mother. Again, she turned away and slipped a smug-faced look down at him. His slit nostrils flickered in a flare and he started to growl in agitation.

A pressure of blue energy started to build in his throat, causing his mother to abandon her charade and scoop him up in her arms. He sniffed a few times, shook his round little head and then hiccupped. His mother pulled her own head back in surprise and then brought it forward again only to be startled back by the infant dragon's abrupt second hiccup which caused him to bounce out of her hold. She gasped but then stared with amazement as her son hiccupped frequently enough to keep him from falling. "Hic. Hic. Hic." He spouted.

Plumes of blue popped out of his mouth until finally he ran out.

"Mm?" His mother asked as he landed back in her paws.

"Mm!" He said happily and flashed a smile - his teeth switched out automatically.

She smiled back - hers switching out as well.

They looked at one another lovingly and started to nuzzle. The mother dragon sat her son on her tail and lifted one of her enormous wings to look at. He watched as she fanned out the big leathery appendage, her face appeared as a light shadow across it. Where it paused was where a small rip in the wing started. She gently raised him up to where her big green eye could peer through at him. The little dragon grinned and ducked his head as she let an upper tooth slide through the hole. His fascination showed as she stripped a piece of dead grass from between a crevice in the ground and wound it around the tooth right over him.

"Ah." He said in wonder as she sewed the rip closed with her long incisor.

She smiled as she lifted her wing down and watched as he discovered his own wings.

"Huh…?" He vocalized.

"Mm." His mother encouraged. With him still near the top of her tail and her latest work done to one of many rips along her wings, she trotted casually back over to the cliff side.

Her son glanced up at her curiously as she slipped him up in her wings and gently placed him on the ground beside her. Nervousness entered his wide eyes and he peered over the edge slowly. The adult dragon gave a warning noise and scooted him back away from it.

She then reprimanded him before showing him the different angles his wings and vanes had to been in. The vanes under his wings were like gear shifts that controlled his speed, the rudders on the back of his tail helped to control which direction he would take while his wings - she emphasized - should always be ready when the winds became too heavy. He gave her questioning look at that and experienced a harmless whack of her large tail…

That sent him right off the very cliff she had just told him not to go near.

The mother dragon crouched down onto the stoned floor until her soft underbelly touched it, arched her slendor back and snapped open her green eyes with a start. With a grand explosion of wings, she reared herself upward and dive bombed off of the cliff. The dragon child wailed in panic and reached for her as she steered directly towards him. As the two both aligned, she began to twirl slowly around him until he followed her very movement.

His eyes became enraptured on his mother's winged waltz, not even minding as her paws curled around him or as the thrust of wind jerked against her back. They were catapulted up into the air like a launched missile, gaining speed with each altitude the adult dragon reached. Her baby curled into her steel-tough chest and listened as her heart pounded at irregular beats. He began to whine as they were swallowed into a large swath of clouds.

"Mm!"

She held on tightly to him as she ducked her head, curled it down and then stretched her long black neck out. The infant dragon glimpsed up at his mother only to see a thin piece of black flesh - thinner and more transparent then her wings - slide over her piercing light green eye. His breath caught in his throat as a lavender glow emitted to life behind it and made her eye roll forward to concentrate solely on their ascent; he squawked out for her.

He whined for her and cried for her.

But she only continued to rise into the thickening clouds that began to turn an eerie gray.

"Mm…" She purred thoughtfully.

The dragon soared to a stop as her baby cuddled into her chest. All was still and calm for a moment as the two spun slowly in the air. The young mother kept her luminous gaze on the mists of gray and white above. She breathed in slow, halting breaths as she gradually picked up speed in her spinning. Going around and around, the sky began darkening to an ominous overcast. In perfect dips and turns the dragoness performed a fantastic, though increasingly fast set of aerobatics. She rose her baby above her head to let him take in the sheer thrill of the motion; and he in turn fought to enjoy this first experience. Now, even as the wind stewed the black clouds into a brooding brew and thunder pounded overhead.

Even as he could feel his mother's pulse racing in the paws that held him and even as he could feel his own eyes slipping over with the fleshy, see-through flap, the black dragon baby was happy. He threw up his tiny paws to the sky and allowed the elements to come to him as well. At this point the dragon was moving as fast as an erratic weathervane that was signaling the approach of a storm. Suddenly, though, she started to slow her twirling.

"Mm?" The child asked her.

When his mother looked down at him, their were tears moistening her refocused eyes. The two moved in a gentle motion as thunder tried to rock the tranquility of their private time. She smiled slightly as he tried pressing closer to her at the explosive sound. Releasing an almost resigned sigh, the dragon pried him from her chest and moved him up to where he could experience another clap of thunder. He squealed in fear and dove right back for her.

Outside figures with soft, orange bodies and muted white eyes watched them like lost souls in search of contact. The baby dragon tried to hide his face from them, but his mother gently coaxed her son towards one in particular. He rose a timid paw out as the form of a dragon appeared inside of the clouds. As the misty limb of the figure extended out to him, all the other forms seemed to congregate closer in a group. His green eyes stayed transfixed now with the figure's, but right before they made contact his mother's paw overlapped his. At this gesture the dragon figures of dim orange made low, threatening growls at her quick actions.

She met the eyes on the one in front of her and her son and whined a plea.

The figure blinked and accepted her paw instead.

Her baby squawked and protested loudly as she melded into the clouds surrounding them.

Even as he tried reaching for her now, his mother's now once again lit lilac eyes remained focused ahead of him. The dragon wailed louder then he ever had as an aura of light went to engulf him and he was shot unwillingly down like a blazing meteor through the torrents.

When he opened his eyes again - after the sparks of light purple had sizzled down and had all but sizzled out - he found that he was completely by himself. The baby dragon raised his inquiring eyes to the sky as thunder clashed and forced him to cover his tiny body just as a heavy rain began pouring down upon him. He trembled and tried clutching at himself to keep warm as the drenching onset changed into raging flood waters... and caused him to hiccup.

"Hic. Hic. Hic."

As another clap of loud, bombarding thunder made the shaking dragon curl up into a ball, he heard a sort of zip in the air and the smell that met his slit nostrils was enticing enough to him to cause him to raise his head in awe. Another zip came and a sudden, unnerving bolt of blue light caused him to toss a blue source of power of his own from his open gummed jaws.

And has this happened, the background behind the baby dragon that had been shrouded in darkness suddenly lit up at the flash of lightening. It reached the deepest crevices and let a great light reach the deadened gray rocks - lighting up piles of skeletons and empty shells.

…

To be continued.

LP