His cave is littered with skeletons and the charred remnants of shields and swords. He never wanted it to go down this way though. He’s so lonely. He just wants to be friends with the villagers. But they always attack him, he tries to hold back and inevitably he has to fight back.
People always die and the dragon lumbers back inside his cave and just sobs and sobs and sobs.
~~~
Azure moon shadows rippling water
ashen clouds sail on night tide winds.
Fishing boats drift on currents
hoping to steal away catches under nights veil.
Below the waves barbels twitch
eyes pick up fragmented moon beams.
Serpentine forms rise from slumber
rush to the surface shattering the plane
plumes of water fracture reveal august dragons
fishermen try to sail away.
Dragon fire flares blaze in darkness
flaming barges slam into shorelines
incinerated wrecks disintegrate
slip below the waterline.
Survivors dragged below and devoured
azure moon obscured by ashen clouds.
~~~
Cirrus clouds float on night tide currents, obscuring the azure moon.
On the water’s surface fishermen steal into the river. They all know this is the best place to fish. The trout here are the largest in all the land and to only catch a few represents a good catch.
The nets are cast and soon streams of rainbow scales are hauled aboard, thumping onto wooden decks. Over head the clouds begin to clear. A rookie becomes nervous and looks towards an elder fisherman. With his grey beard emerging from below a conical hat he nods and in that instant part of the flotilla breaks away, exiting the river. Some even toss half of their catch over board, as a peace-offering. Many fishers stay though, some through in experience, others driven by greed.
In the abyssal depths barbels begin to quiver. Moon beams usually uninterrupted land on the lake bed fragmented, picked up by searing eyes. Arising from slumber serpentine forms uncoil, charge forth and fracture the plane.
The fishermen recoil as plumes of water burst forth and dissipate, august dragons loom over boats. Scales waxen in the moonlight, manes dripping with water as barbels hang downwards. Fins flare out, eyes seething with rage.
The fishermen try to sail away but it’s too late. Mouths fill with flame, flicker in the dark. Dragon fire flares blaze in the blackness, dancing over the water before shattering fishing boats, explosions scorch the night air. Flaming barges drift across the river slamming into shore lines, incinerated wrecks splintering on the ripples, slipping below the water line. Survivors are dragged below to be devoured.
In the distance a village watches what appears to be a display of lanterns and fireworks. The bright lights illumine their night, filling them with happiness.
~~~
Some bits of the last pieces two pieces bother me, so feedback is welcomed. Also this is the only update cause this week I had my second crack at the poetry reading and this time I did it. Which is pretty good.
Golden Giraffes Riding Scarlet Flamingos Through The Desert of Forever 
I’m wondering if you reached 100 comments yet…I hope so…because I’d feel dopey being the 100th one.
I’m going to ask if this is a Chinese dragon or a more European dragon. For some reason I think there’s a difference.
Yeah, I reached 100. My friend essentially spammed the last two. It annoyed me greatly.
Honestly, I was using Gyarados (http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Gyarados) on Pokemon and thats were the idea came from. It resembles (well, basically is) an Eastern dragon, but with less benevolence. A lot less.
Oh that would bug me too.
I love that you use Pokemon as a inspiration. It doesn’t have any appendages though, so to me it looks like an irritated sea horse. What I’m not getting, and I blame this on Pokemon, but why does it live in water when it breathes fire. The physiology doesn’t make sense. And I just realized I was trying to rationalize a fire breathing dragon that lived underwater, it’s a mythical creature, it’s one of those things where I shouldn’t try and figure out the science, huh? I think for me, that’s thought keeps cropping up, so it kind of lingers in my head as I read.
Now this is just my immediate take on it, but for some reason I integrated the three stories, and it became one story with three perspectives. The first, of course, would be that of the dragon who is misunderstood and lonely. The second is one of outside observation and sets the scene. But if it’s to marry with the first prose (not that it was your intention) it may be nice if the destruction came across as more incidental, as if in his eagerness for human interaction the destruction occurred. And the last piece as if from the viewpoint of the survivors, those who lived to tell the tale, their version would be colored with the idea of the dragons blood lust or to explain what happened in their eyes. You know mythic lore, as they had angered the dragon with their greed. And the assumption would be that the bodies were eaten. If you take this route there is an opening to explain the dragons motivations further. Maybe he’s a vegetarian or he only eats fish if he lives in the water. Maybe some bodies just don’t float for whatever reason. Maybe he panics when he clumsily destroys the ship. He may even try to honor the lost sailors in his own way. I don’t know why, but all three stories seem to want to be woven together.
And lastly YAY!!!!!! for your poetry reading. I am so happy for you!!!!!!