You look around on the plains of Kiosko, watching endless streams of Semites run by, hunting, and playing. "Make yourself feel comfortable here," Jekkal says to you. "Dione knows more than a few of us could use the peace and quiet." "Who's Dione, and what's with that comment?" You ask her. "Dione is just an expression, like you humans would use 'oh my god'. The commentary is simply just because the war is still fresh in many Semites' minds." "A war? Tell me about it." Jekkal slumps a bit. "About ten years ago, the English Dragons— The only dragon species that still exists— had found out where we were. They attacked without warning, and tried to force genocide onto us. Many of the islands had been ravaged, and most are still rebuilding." "Did you win?" You question softly. "Foolish child." she answers. "No one wins in war. Certainly not us. If you could call eliminating the threat winning, I suppose we did. At a high cost. There were three thousand Semites in the zone before the war; then there were only two hundred. The Dragons suffered a proprtionately greater loss, though." "We've rebuilt our numbers for some time.... we are at four hundred Semites now. We do not breed fast enough to make up for the numbers quickly, but we are trying. And perhaps, traveller...." Jekkal lets it hang for a few seconds. "You could help."
|
