“Tiniest” Dragon

Dragons.
Mighty creatures of great powers and wisdom.
But as any living organism, they also have a weakness.
Their greed.
Be it material wealth or knowledge, be it talented individuals or concepts, the dragons always loved to hoard what they’ve found or won.
Contrary to popular belief, dragons rarely stole, for their pride was equal to their greed, and they couldn’t lower themselves to take from those lesser.
But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t retaliate, and oh, how cataclysmic the retaliations were…
Sadly, dragons weren’t to be monogamous, and they frolicked with many races.
This dispersed their bloodlines far and wide indeed, but compared to pure blooded dragons, the hybrids were stronger than the average, but lacked the strength and wisdom of a true dragon.
But their feral instincts were strengthened.
And due to this, dragon descendants dealt a lot of damage to the other races.
Thus the races banded together to wipe out the dragons, pure-blooded or not.
Was it only because the damages caused by the hybrids?
We can’t say, because the wealth of the dragon clan was too attractive.
And now, the dragon race it’s on its last leg, with one single dragon surviving.
The “tiniest” dragon.
It was the last dragon, and its treasury held only one piece of “gold”.
It’s been centuries, maybe millennia since its status as the last dragon was acknowledged by the entire world.
And ever since the days we can’t even remember, it was also the “tiniest” of their race.
And now, people who are bored, who want fame, who want to have the legendary title of “Dragon Slayer”, started a crusade against the lonesome being.
The dragon’s lair was peculiar.
First, it was because it was the smallest of the dragon kind.
With the size of a bigger cat, it was nothing fearsome, some even thought of it as “cute”.
Secondly, since it’s treasury consists of a single piece of “gold”, it carries it within one of its scales, so he doesn’t need a big space.
Thus this dragon’s lair is a big tree, more exactly, a hollow in this said tree.
But this tree is anything but ordinary.
It rests upon the highest peak of the realm, and is constantly struck by lightning.
This was the biggest deterrent against the people who wanted to attack the little dragon.
But now, for a reason, no lightning, or cloud has been sighted for over a month.
People from all over the realm gathered to slay the last dragon.
Humans, elves, dwarves, orcs, gnomes, goblins, dryads, nymphs and many more races have sent their elites to this crusade.
Is it worth to establish such a force against the “tiniest” dragon?
No.
Not at all.
But dragons are attuned to the realm’s energies.
No dragon will sleep in mud, without the mud actually being an earth shaking, heaven shattering treasure.
Thus, these elites are contending for the tree, and the mountain peak the dragon is on, not for the dragon itself.
But sadly, first the dragon shall be slain, before the real contest begins.
Or at least, that’s what the people of the realm thought.
Unfortunately for them, they haven’t thought it through…
Why would a tiny dragon, the size of a bigger cat be able to stay alive for so long?
And why would it be able to hold a magical place, such as the countless years old tree that’s always struck by lightning, as its home?
Sadly, nobody asked the right questions…and now their fate is up in the wind…
The day the crusade started, the foot of the mountain was shaking.
The sheer amount of people caused the earth to tremble, especially when they were contending with their auras.
But, before they could even step on the mountain, they heard a squeal.
“Yi?
You came to play with me?”
A squeaky voice asked.
The people tensed up, and brought out their weapons.
Some, whom trained in ocular arts, pointed towards the peak of the mountain.
There, a head poked out of the hollow of the ancient tree.
It was the head of the dragon, it was small, with three golden horns with red runes on it.
While the head itself was covered in royal blue scales.
And it’s eyes…were bottomless, of the brightest red.
“Surrender, you foul beast!
You ruled over such a blessed land for too long!”
Some of the people started to shout.
The little dragon tilted its head, and scratched it.
“I don’t understand, but you want to fight, right?”
It said, with its cute voice.
The people at the foot of the mountain just snorted.
“What could such a small lizard do, to be able to even withstand one slash?”
Some asked.
But some of the more sharp ones, started to tremble.
They were thousands of kilometers from the peak.
How could the dragon hear and see them perfectly?
And how could its voice sound like it was right next to them?
Alas, the arrogant ones started to jump and scale the mountain, quickly ascending.
“I will play with you all.”
The dragon said, exiting the tree.
Right then, it started to grow.
1 m, 10 m, 100 m, 1000m, 1000km soon, it’s body was impossible to seen.
Some legends say that its tail, was already in the same area as its head, after surrounding the world once…or even twice after some sightings.
It’s head, now bigger than the mountain itself was glaring at the people underneath it.
“So, you still wanna fight?”
It asked with mirth, and with the same, squeaky voice.
“H-h-h-how!?!
Your strength is related to your wealth!
And you have but one golden coin!”
Someone shouted.
“Golden coin?”
The dragon asked puzzled, taking out from its scales a golden orb.
It was humongous, half the size of the dragon’s claw.
And it pulsated, just like a heart.
“This is the heart of this realm, left behind by father after he created the world.
I need to protect it, and protect mom’s earthen body…”
The dragon said, as he looked lovingly at the tree.”
But this was heard only by the strongest individuals…
After all, most of the “elites” already fainted under the mere draconic aura it.
“Leave little kids, and don’t bother the dragons anymore.”
It said, shrinking, and going back to its lair.
“Hah, there are no dragons anymore!”
One of the goblins shouted.
The little dragon giggled, and the earth shook.
Countless volcanoes erupted, and the oceans raged, drowning countless kingdoms that were near the waters.
“My brothers and sisters are too cheeky.
They feigned their death just to get some peace.
A dragon created this world, and the dragons were, are and will be always here.
Don’t forget that.”
The little dragon said, as the skies darkened, and lightning rained down upon the tree once more.
This day became a lesson for all.
Never underestimate a foe.
Especially when that foe is a dragon.