The workings of a different mind

In a tone that could be best described as similar but much more frightening than an onrushing avalanche the Great Wyrm Red Dragon Quarter Ma spoke. "Now I want to try and be reasonable -- but what made you think that it was possible to harm me in any way?" These words directed to a supine and obviously in extensive agony human. Pinned helplessly to the ground all that was visible was part of one of its legs protruding from between the Dragons mighty claws.

"We"… This response was abruptly cut off when Quarter Ma momentarily distracted by the rude and interrupting human, shifted his footing slightly in irritation. This had the adverse effect of causing extra pressure and snapping another one of the bones of the man, or woman. He could never tell the difference and didn’t really care to find out. The popping noise did however bring Quarter Ma, back to the present and he muttered to no one in particular "Oh Dear". Quarter Ma tried to remind himself that humans and everything else on what he considered his own world Centerfuge were not as resilient to injury as he was. If he wanted this to last, he would have to remember that fact.

"You must understand" he began again relatively calmly, "I was in the throes of deepest anger and rage when I found out that my beloved mate of several centuries had been mercilessly slain by one of your kin!" As these words were coming out his eyes grew more and more molten in colour and before he realized what had happened he had broken another portion of the body of the human. If the quite loud snapping sound had anything to do with it, it was a sizeable bone. Trying to calm himself down he realized he had gotten to this point many times before in dealing with humans before his anger consumed him and he went off on a tangent. He did so hate it when he did that; it never accomplished anything in his mind. He focused again on why he was angry and remembered it had to do with that wench of a mate he had been forced to endure the company of for more time than he could remember. If it wasn’t for having his own lair and therefore some modicum of separation he probably would have killed her centuries ago.

His mind wandered back to the human on the floor and again focused on the always pleasant emotion of anger. Oh yes -- beloved Calamity! He conjured up image after image of her. Strangely though with the passage of time, more and more of them were of happy occasions, and not the abject battles that usually ensued when she constantly arrived unannounced and looking for trouble. With that memory fully in his head, he saw red for more than a minute and, when he finally composed himself, he realized he had run out of interrogation time, as he looked down at the sizeable smear on his claw. His head bowed down slightly in defeat at not being able to keep this one alive either. Then trying to cheer himself up he spoke to no one in particular. "Ah well there will always be more of them" as he shrugged in an offhanded way.

The only problem was that he knew this was very much the truth of the matter, as he looked back at the preceding few years he again shrugged his shoulders. Quarter Ma had always been a second story, an after thought around the civilized realms.