Icepipe


		May 28, 1997

  It was a party to remember, folded into the silent depths of the animal's 
wooded home. Rousing conversation filled the green air, floating among 
the dandelion thistles.  Eyes met and broke, trading subtle clues.
  Those guests of the predatory stripe gave gracious ground to the 
inheritors of the earth.  Eyeteeth hid behind eager lips to preserve the 
calm.  Tufted ears lay at ease, ignoring the bleats that punctuated the 
murmur.
  Small trembling bodies moved with shy steps.  Wet eyes darted from one 
smooth flank to another.  The gathering was a difficult one for the meek.  
Their lives were their own this day alone, and the next could not be 
ignored.
  There was one not among them.  He had never been asked to attend, nor 
had he shown the desire.  His influence would have destroyed the truce of 
a year's work.  None looked to see him there.  All were shocked when he 
arrived.
  Icepipe settled with a flutter of leather wings.  The dappled sunlight 
rainbowed off his scaled form.  His great head swiveled in a graceful arc, 
taking in the sight.  His lungs pushed a furnace-breath from flaring 
nostrils.  He inhaled, tasting those present with relish.
  "Gaea's Own," he rumbled.  "You honor her with your truce.  You 
celebrate her gifts.  You show your respect."  Sarcasm lingered on his 
forked tongue, flicking his contempt at them.
  Bear stood, greatest of the land's beasts.  Rising to his formidable height, 
he looked up at the serpent's chin.  "This is not your place.  Why are you 
here?"
  Reptilian eyes raked the bruin with thinly veiled mockery.  "May I not 
pay homage to your creator?  Am I not indebted to her for the bounty she 
provides me?"
  A quiver rippled through the smallest of the crowd.  They were bounty 
for all, but to him the most.
  Cougar edged into the space given to the monster.  She sat with her usual 
grace, staring at the dark pawn with cold eyes.  "You only pay homage to 
your true master, Chaos.  Go back to him."
  Icepipe fixed her with his black-eyed gaze.  "Why do you speak so?  You 
have nothing to fear from me."
  Eagle stretched her wings and shrieked from her perch in the spreading 
elm.  "You mean us harm!  You kill us!  You devour us!"  Her kind cared 
little for soft words.
  Jaws spread wide as his shuddering roar ripped the air.  The very earth 
groaned at the force of it.  The pale lances that rimmed his mouth snapped 
together in derision.  "Your truce means nothing to me and yet I stand here 
among you with not a drop of blood shed!  You dishonor me!"
  An uncertain silence covered the animals.  None, including Bear, wanted 
to earn the dragon's wrath.  It was Wolf who stepped forward next.
  We mean no dishonor to one so powerful," he said with cautious respect.  
"But you have not yet answered the question.  Why are you here?"
  Icepipe smiled, a frightening visage for all who saw.  With a voice as soft 
as distant thunder he said, "I bring a gift."
  "What is this gift?" asked Cougar warily.
  The winged serpent closed his soulless eyes as his throat worked.  His 
mouth split wide, his tongue recoiled.  His gullet pushed forth a misshapen 
collection of naked skin and thin limbs.  It lay at Icepipe's clawed feet, 
moving weakly.  He shook his head and said to the animals, "New prey."
  Those gathered moved closer in spite of the dragon's presence.  The new 
prey gave a thin cry as it looked at it's audience.
  "It has no claws, blunt teeth.  It's hide tears easily.  It is blind in the 
darkness.  It moves with clumsy steps and has no real strength.  It 
succumbs to heat and cold, it weakens in days without sustenance.  It 
cannot hear nor smell as you can.  Your poison's can kill it easily.  It is the 
perfect prey.  I give it to you, from my master."
  Icepipe rose up to take flight.  Before he sprang, Wolf asked one more 
question.
  "What is it called?"
  Icepipe smiled again.  "It is called 'man.'"



This text is (c) 1998, Wirewolf
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