Linnain and Aonan observe dragons mating.

The metabolised hydrogen not only fills the bones, but also an evolved pocket of the upper lung, which is highly elastic. This acts partly as extra buoyancy, but the animal can expel the contents of this pocket at will. A gland in the upper lip can exude a substance which ignites on contact with air, causing the hydrogen emission to burn fiercely. This fire-breathing cannot be done often, as the gas pocket takes a considerable time to refill.

The dragons are not fully warm-blooded. They depend to a considerable extent on warmth from the environment, and their wings are highly adapted to maintain a suitable body temperature. Two mechanisms are involved. One, a variable pigment, turns the wing skin black when the temperature is cold, allowing maximum heat absorbtion. At the same time, blood vessels in the wing are opened, allowing blood to circulate freely through the wing membrane, carrying heat back to the body. As the temperature rises, the pigment fades, and the blood vessels close down, leaving the wings a semi transparent whitish colour. As the temperature continues to rise, the blood vessels open up again, turning the wings red, and allowing the animal to radiate heat back to the environment.

Quite a lot of heat is required for the animals to fly. During the winter, they are mainly ground living, and some hibernate in caves. Even in summer, they do not fly much before mid morning, and a common sight in the early part of the day is a dragon on a high ridge, with wings outspread, sunning itself. Like most heavy flying animals, dragons defecate on take off, and frequently when in flight. Up to 20 kg of excrement may be released at once. It is dense, soft, malodourous, and occasionally flammable.

Dragons are strictly carnivorous. They prey primarily on mountain sheep and goats. They will, however, take anything they can lift from flat land, usually smaller animals such as sheep, small calves and very young foals (remember, if they get down on flat land they can't take off again). Consequently, they are a nuisance to pastoralists near to the mountains.

However, they are a serious menace to people traveling across the mountains. While even the biggest dragons is incapable of lifting a horse, they will attack parties, seizing people and deliberately driving horses over precipices. Consequently, travel across the mountains is effectively impossible after the middle of the morning in spring and autumn. In summer, travel is only possible during the hours of darkness.

Many parts of the carcass of a dragon are valuable. The long, immensely strong and light wing and leg bones have a number of engineering uses. Wing membrane is a preferred glazing material, as it remains light sensitive for many years after the animals death, darkening at night and becoming transparent during the day. Dragon meat has scarcity value, and commands a high price in the City; however, the dragon hunters, who have most access to it, do not eat it unless desperate.

Linnain butchers a Dragon carcase.

Dragon hunters operate in small groups or alone. There are two modes of operation; one is to lay bait (freshly killed animals) in a location where the dragon will not be able to fly out again. The grounded dragon is then hunted down on foot before it can climb back to a ridge from which it could take off. Long lances are used, and heavy clothing soaked in water, but this is nevertheless a very dangerous activity. The other is to seek emerging hibernaters in spring. This is also dangerous, because although the dragons are torpid, the high valleys where they hibernate are then in avalanche condition and unsafe to travel.

give me feedback on this page // show previous feedback on this page