Off the mountain

Okay, I know the prompt is about someone finding an odd animal and keeping it as a pet and that element is in here, it's just very small. I hope it still counts.-Rune Rogue.

We lumbered through the forest, the trees brushing against our waists. My father carried his fifteen foot spear, the silver head gleaming in the grey sunlight streaming through the sullen clouds overhead. I carried my sword, it swung at my waist in it's scabbard. My father is eighteen feet tall, and I'm fifteen feet. This is nothing special. We are frost giants, living in the highest mountains and hunting for food.

I always accompanied my father on hunts, it was natural for a son to do so. Father often used me as the bait, especially for dragons. That was our goal for today, dragons. They were large enough for even the biggest frost giant to ride on and the provided meat for months. We had to climb to the mountain's highest peak to find dragons, ice dragons that is. Fire dragons lived in places like volcanoes and magma beds.

Someday I hoped to travel down the mountain and explore the world, but at sixteen, I am not permitted to.

"We have almost arrived, son." My father told me, shaking a bird from his hair that had decided it was a resting place. I nodded and flicked my sword from the scabbard, swinging it experimentally. "I'm ready."

Our oiled bear skin boots crashed into the three foot deep snow that coated the forest floor. The ground shook from our steps. When there was even half a dozen of us at a time, we sometimes caused avalanches. Snow tumbled from nearby trees as we swept past.

"Am I bait again?" I called as we walked against the frigid winds. Because we are frost giants, it was like heaven. My father turned so I could see his face and grinned. "You are. You're a natural at it." My lips twisted into a smile. "I know."

Our hunting was simple, I entered the cave as bait. Hoping I don't get eaten, I get the beast's attention and run out, it follows and dad spears it. Simple, and usually effective. I have more than one scar when the dragon got a little too close.

As we neared the lair, I spotted spears of ice. These dragons spit ice instead of fire and the result was sharp spikes of it everywhere. It gave the place an eerie feel, but we had done this before. Unperturbed by the mountains of ice and the slick snow under our feet, we continued, our weapons ready.

My ears picked up the scraping of claws against ice and stone and the rattle of scales against walls. There was at least one dragon in there. My father heard it too, and grinned at me. "We got at least one." He voiced my exact thoughts. I nodded and swung my sword again, anxious to get going. "Now?" I whispered. My father squinted at the mouth of the cave. Suddenly, he pulled me behind one of the nearby ice spears.

Distorted by the thick ice, I saw the purple, lithe form of the drakaina, the female. She was leaving. I heaved a mental sigh. Our prey was leaving. "Are we going after her?" I asked, starting forward. My father pushed me back against the ice, shaking his head. "She is going to be aware of her surroundings out here. She will know we are here before we even scratch a scale off." I growled quietly, making sure the drakaina didn't hear me. "It's okay," My father assured me. "There should still be the drake in there."

Instantly, my frustration melted. Drakes were bigger and tougher, but more delicious. I nodded. "Now?" My father nodded back.

I spun out from behind the ice mountain, the drakaina was gone. I placed my feet carefully, advancing on the gaping crack of the cave. I couldn't hear the drake and hoped he was in there. My family of nine would go hungry if he wasn't.

I neared the mouth of the cave, turned and pressed my back against the ice crusting the outside of it. My father was watching from the ice twenty meters away. He nodded, encouraging me to go. My heart beat fast, but I was confident. I had done this before and I could do it again.

I pushed off the wall and into the cave. The frigid air inside made even me cold, which is a feat. Most frost giants never get cold. A human would die after ten minutes in these temperatures.

I glanced around for the drake. It wasn't here. There were several holes in the walls, black as ink. I sighed. The drake would be in one of them and I had to follow. This was getting complicated.

My soft boots made virtually no sound against the ice-coated rock ground as I moved cautiously down the tunnel to my right.

I could smell the ice drake's sharp odor strongest down this hole, I ran my bare fingers along the wall as I slid on a slight incline. My sword was gripped in my left hand; to the average human male, it would be impossible to pick up considering the fact that it is longer than they are tall. I smiled slightly at the thought of tiny humans, but my thoughts snapped back to the present as something moved in the blackness ahead of me.

I continued forward cautiously, the tunnel slowly widened and brightened. It was a large room and right in the middle of it, was the drake. He was asleep. I groaned. I was going to have to wake him, that never ended well.

I approached the drake, having to look up to see the top of his bulk. even lying down he was massive. I grinned. This would provide food for a year or more. I extended my sword and poked the drake's side. He grumbled and shifted, but didn't move. I cursed and stepped closer, I lifted my booted foot and slammed it down on the tip of his tail.

In a rush, he snorted awake and roared, an icicle shot from his mouth, shattering on the roof over my head. I waved my sword to get his attention, as if I hadn't already, and ran.

I could hear him rise and thunder after me. His bulk shook the walls and brought icicles falling all around me. I laughed as the wind whipped against my speeding form. I blinked in the sudden light as I raced out of the cave mouth and towards where my father hid, waiting. I saw his face flash past, but I kept running. The drake wasn't supposed to know there was someone else with me. But I didn't know the drake was onto us. As he exited the cave, instead of rushing past my father and into a trap, he spread his wings and soared after me. My father shouted a warning, I couldn't stop now.

My legs pumped faster, trees cracked and crashed to the forest floor in my wake. My white-blond hair streaming behind me. The snow whipped into my face, stinging my ice-blue eyes. I squinted, realizing there was a dark line in front of me. The edge of the mountain. I halted, my feet skidding through the thick banks of snow. It was too late, I was too close. The drake's claws struck my back and sent me tumbling forward off the mountain.

Pain exploded in every part of my body as I hit the side of the mountain. Dimly, I could hear my father's anguished voice calling my name. My head cracked against something and darkness overtook me.

Blinding light. There were voices and dark shapes, I couldn't make anyone out. It was all men, each pointing something at me. I didn't care. Pain rippled through my body with every labored breath. My eyes fell shut again.

Lowered voices hummed around me. My eyes flicked open. Silhouetted against a roaring fire, was at least a dozen men. Humans. I stirred and hissed at the agony in my shoulder blades and chest. My head pounded and vision swam. A dark shape to my right moved, only a few feet away. It was tiny. "It's awake." The shape said. The other humans rose from the uncomfortably hot flames and formed a half-circle around me, all craning their necks to see my face. Their small voices drifted around me. "It's about to go out again." one of them commented. I growled and kicked towards the voice. Feeling solid contact, a slow grin fell across my face.

The human grunted and one of his comrades helped him to his feet. "Be careful with this one," He said. "We don't even know what it is yet."

I began to remember how I had arrived in this odd and hot place. I had been knocked down a mountain, my mountain. I must have somehow gotten to the bottom, it was much warmer and worst of all, there were humans.

They had decided I was their prisoner, they kept me chained to something they called a car. For some odd reason, they all wore the same thing. Green and grey mottled clothes and all their hair was shaved. They called each other weird names like sergeant and major. Their confusing behavior made no sense to me, but I was getting fed up with being here. I cooperated while I was healing, but when I was well enough, I would break free and go back to my father.

At least, that's what I planned to do. That is, until the humans began packing their gear. They mercifully put out their fire and loaded their things into the others cars. We weren't in the forest, I had noticed once I became aware of my surroundings, but in a field. Full of long, yellow grass. This wasn't home and I missed it dearly. Gone was the snow and ice, gone was the hunting. I only sat in the grass, my limbs cramping from disuse.

Occasionally, a soldier would tend to the gashes on my shoulder blades. They never said anything. They spoke of me, but always called me 'it'. I wanted to curse at them, tell them I wasn't an idiot, but decided it was wiser not to. It had been two days since the failed hunt and I had not uttered a single word. But now, the humans were putting their things away and climbing into their cars. Attached to one of them was something similar to their cars, but dull, black metal and it had no windows. They called it a trailer and they forced me inside of it.

They unchained me to put me inside, I considered fighting but I realized all of them were pointing weapons at me, guns, my father had told me. They were painful to be hit by. Father and mother had taught me about humans, but not everything.

Inside the dark trailer, I sat in a lump, my knees drawn up to my chest and my head bowed. Even in this position, my neck brushed the cold metal roof.

The trailer began to move and I crawled to the tiny bars on the far side of the trailer. In the distance, my mountain stood alone, white with snow, I longed to be with my family again. I hoped my father was all right, he had to deal with an angry drake.

Meanwhile, his father was fine. He had wept at the edge of the mountain, until the drake started sniffing him. He hadn't felt like fighting it anymore and just pushed it away. Unbeknownst to him, this drake was smarter than he thought and it saw his distress. When the distraught father left to tell his family the tragic news, the drake followed him and settled outside the door. No one paid him any mind.

"Don't move." a voice called out to me. I didn't move. The humans had drove overnight and it finally came to a stop when the broiling sun heated the black trailer to almost suffocating. I had removed my fur overcoat and held it clenched in my fist. My bare arms showed their scars and dirt, but I didn't care. I was hot. All the humans were wearing long pants and coats, their breath puffing in the air like clouds. Apparently, they were cold.

When the door was opened, a fresh breeze met me and I almost gasped for breath. I crawled to the opening upon one of the human's orders, he seemed to be the leader. He clamped thick chains around my wrists again and I growled at him. There was fear and awe in his eyes, but he still pulled me out of the trailer. When I stretched to my full height, all the men gaped. I gazed down on them, realizing how easy it would be to escape. My eyes fell on the leader's well muscled arm, his vise grip on the chain. I turned my head and could make out my massive mountain in the far distance. It would be a long trip, but I could make it. Turning away from my home, My eyes fell on the thick metal holding my wrists together. Then I noticed the leader's dark eyes on my own. I reached out and snatched him off the ground. His shout of surprise made me frown. Instantly, every single one of the humans whipped out their weapons, all of them pointed at me. "drop him!" One of them shouted. I froze. This wasn't going to work. I slowly set the human back down. When I picked him up, he had dropped the chain in his surprise. I was free. I turned and ran. I tore the metal apart as I ran, dropping it with a thud on the floor. I heard a click behind me and then a deafening boom. There was a sudden agony in my calf and I crashed to the hard, rock ground. I roared at the sudden pain in my leg and skinned hands. I heard the rush of boots and the rattle of guns. I growled deep in my chest. The humans had once again prevented my from reaching my family. I turned onto my back and came face to face with a dozen or more men. I hissed in anger and pain, but all sounds were quickly cut off by a swift and powerful blow to the back of my head and it was lights out again.

When I woke again, there were bright white light over my head. The room I lay in was a dull green color and blank, bare of anything. I sat up, wincing at the pain lancing through every part of my body. There was a door in the far side of the room, with a square of darkness where outside the door was visible. I became aware of a tingling in my back, someone was watching me. I turned and saw another window, this one larger, with two men seated behind it. My eyes locked onto the almost black eyes of the man on the right. He stood slowly, he was tall for a human. He wore dark clothing and a black cap sat atop his head. His equally dark eyes bored into my won "Hello, monster. Time to start talking."