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          The night was cold and dry as three large, winged figures sat in a small circle just outside the dragon horde's cave, their respective scales—brown, green and blue—shining under the moon's gentle light. They had been specifically chosen from among the horde's members to attend a secret meeting, one of great importance so they were told, and were now quietly waiting for the one who organized it to arrive. What was to be discussed was anyone's guess, but a single name made it clear as to whom it would be about: their leader, Tynder.

          They did not wait long, however, as the sound of shuffling rocks was soon heard nearby and a larger member of the horde emerged from the mouth of the cave. This one's scales shone blood red under the moonlight, its underbelly glowing a shade of off-white, and a pair of jet black horns protruded from the back of its head, slowly curving around towards its long neck. Taking its place among the other three, it sat quietly while the others studied it in silence. When it seemed as if no greetings were planned on being spoken, a small smile spread across the red dragon's muzzle.

          "A quiet bunch, I see." He said in a low, raspy, and masculine voice. "And here I thought you three would be more engaging than a pile of raw meat." He chuckled in amusement at his bad joke.

          "I don't think anything about us could ever be more interesting than food, Ash," scoffed the green dragon. "It's the main thing on our minds since we have little else to worry about."

          "Hah. You have a point there, Brine," Ash replied with a grin. "Being at the top of the food chain does have its perks." He then turned to look over at the other two who were sitting quietly with smirks on their faces. "I see you decided to join us, Cobalt." He gestured a nod with his head towards the blue dragon. "Didn't think you would, being the runt of the horde that you are." Cobalt's face grew serious while the others snickered at the red dragon's comment.

          "I-I thought it w-was time...I d-did something for a ch-change." The snickers continued as Cobalt stuttered his reply. It wasn't easy being the smallest of the horde—if forty feet in height could even be considered small—as the blue dragon was viewed as inferior. To make matters worse, he was the most recent addition to the group of dragons, which automatically set him at the bottom of the hierarchy. Why Ash had told him to attend the meeting he didn't know, but he planned to make the most of it in order to prove himself.

          "Well, that's good to hear, though I don't expect much from you. You, on the other hand, Clay...." Ash looked in the direction of the brown dragon and his tone quickly lost its condescending nature. "I already know what you can do. Your ability to stalk and blend in with your surroundings has helped the horde plenty of times when searching for food—and I plan to put that to good use."

          Clay grinned widely at the compliment, but said nothing in response. For him, actions spoke louder than words, though he wasn't much of the talkative type to begin with. He remembered Tynder had found that part about him to be quite amusing, saying that it fit the brown dragon all too well. He couldn't deny it, though—it really did fit him all too well.

          "So Ash, do enlighten us," Brine spoke up. "What exactly are we here to discuss about Tynder? Are you going to pout about what happened at the Keep?" He smirked when Ash shot him a disgusted look.

          "Shut up, Brine," the red dragon snarled. "At least I didn't have my muzzle gripped shut for taunting him." An obvious lie, given previous circumstances, but Ash wasn't going to admit that.

          Brine's smile was quickly replaced with a frown and he visibly shuddered at the memory. The scaly, black hands gripping tight around his mouth, and the searing, yellow eyes staring him down as he was held in place—definitely not something he wished to experience again.

          "B-But Brine does have a p-point, though," Cobalt chimed in. "D-Did something happen w-with Tynder?" He recoiled slightly when Ash looked at him, a seething anger burning in his eyes.

          "Yes. Something did happen with Tynder, runt." Ash paused momentarily until all three pairs of eyes were focused on him. "Our leader, who has ruled us with an iron claw, has apparently taken a liking to a young human - the same human that he had chosen to eat at the Keep."

          The other three dragons' jaws dropped in shock, their faces contorted into incredulous expressions. Tynder took a liking...to a human?

          "I-Is that really true, Ash? Did Tynder really--mmph!" A red, scaly paw immediately clamped Cobalt's muzzle shut, abruptly silencing the rest of his words.

          "Shh! Keep your voice down," Ash snarled. "I don't want Tynder to know that his secret is out."

          The blue dragon was surprised at the abruptness of the move, but he nodded his understanding quickly. Slowly removing his hand from the runt's mouth, Ash then continued addressing the group, his tone sterner than before.

          "But yes, it is true. And I've seen the human with my own eyes, too. When I went to tell Tynder about your apology, Brine," Ash shot the green dragon a look of annoyance for being tasked as a messenger, "I found that he was away from his chambers. However, I picked up on the smell of a live human, and eventually found it hiding under Tynder's bedding. Thinking I would enjoy seconds, I was about to eat it when, lo and behold, Tynder appeared and rammed me out the way. He then threatened me to keep my mouth shut about the situation."

          "And who was it that boasted he didn't have his muzzle gripped," asked Brine sarcastically. "I'm pretty certain getting rammed by Tynder is worse th—"

          "And I'll ram you if you don't shut up," Ash snapped at him. "The point is that Tynder is treating a human...no... a meatsack with more respect than he treats us. And if you think that we should just let that slide, then you've got no pride as a dragon—a beast at the top of the food chain."

          "Then, what do you propose we do, Ash?" The low, rumbling voice caught the three of them off guard and they all turned their heads towards Clay. The brown dragon grinned in response, quite amused with the looks of confusion on their faces. For a moment, though, he saw Ash's muzzle curl into a smirk before his expression quickly shifted to a more serious one.

          "Well, if Tynder has grown fond over a human, I'd say he's no longer fit to rule this horde. I propose we dispose of both of them, Tynder and the human, and have someone else take the place of 'leader'."

          Brine and Clay looked at each other, curious as to what the other thought about the proposal. Cobalt, however, stared at Ash in disbelief. "D-Dispose of.... Ash, you can't be serious.... How is that a good reason to kill Tynder?"

          "It's a perfectly good reason," Ash snarled. "Why should I put up with having a human seen in a more positive light than a dragon? We eat humans! They are part of our diet! They are our prey!"

          "But—" Cobalt started to object, but the words caught in his throat when Ash glared at him.

          "Cobalt, you're a runt and the most recent member of our group, so I don't expect you to understand. However, those of us who have been with Tynder since the beginning would never let such a thing occur. It's just impossible."

          The severity of Ash's words stung the blue dragon, and his gaze immediately dropped to the ground. Ash shifted his attention towards the other two, leaving Cobalt to deal with his silence alone.

          "What about you two? I'm sure you have similar feelings about all this."

          Brine sighed. "I hate to admit it, but you have a point. We can't have Tynder looking down on us, even if he has led us all these years. However, I don't think killing him is the solution." He paused for a moment to think. "Why not just kill the human and exile Tynder?" Clay nodded his head in agreement.

          Ash clicked his tongue angrily. "Because we have to send a clear message to the others. Dragons are better than humans. Not the other way around. Therefore, no dragon who views humans over dragons should be allowed to live."

          "You're way more agitated about this than I expected. Do you really hate Tynder that much for doing this?"

          "I do. Especially after I saw the way he treated the human compared to me."

          "And whom do you plan on replacing Tynder with, Ash?" Clay chimed in once more.

          "I'll figure something out later. For now, we need to focus on the matter at hand."

          Clay and Brine looked at each other silently. After several moments, they nodded and turned back towards Ash. "Fine..." replied Brine. "We'll help out. I just hope we don't regret it later."

          "Good. Cobalt," Ash said, directing his attention to the blue runt still sulking in silence. "Are you with us or not?"

          Cobalt shifted his feet uncomfortably as he thought about his options. Should I do this even though Tynder welcomed me into the horde without a care about my size? Is he really as bad as they make him seem? He lifted his head and looked towards the group. No... there's no way. I wouldn't be here if he were. In that case....

          "F-Fine... I'll join," the blue dragon said quietly. I'll have to warn Tynder.

          "I'm glad to know that you have at least a sliver of backbone. Now," Ash began, keeping his anger in check as he spoke, "I have a plan in mind, of course, that I'm certain will work. Once I've gone over it, I'm going to see if I can scrounge up a few more dragons to join us so the odds are more in our favor. If either of you three know anyone else that would help us, bring them with you." The three other dragons nodded. Ash cleared his throat before continuing. "Now, about the plan..."