The moon is up. Stars are shining. Clouds can be seen here and there. It is a calm night. The wind gently brushes the leaves. It seems like it's gonna be another of those nights again. Another silent night for me. Another sleepless night. Where I can hear the wind quietly whisper about the places it saw, the places it has been and where it plans to go. Where I can see the moon shining down upon the ground, lazily moving across the sky, staring at the world below it.

I like these types of nights. They calm me. They make me think. They let me revel in my feelings. Not to mention the fresh air. And the sound of silence is heaven to my ears, making it more enjoyable. Still, they make me feel restless too. Like I should be doing something. Something like walking around, jogging or laying on this hill, looking at the black and blue image Mother Nature created.

Since I live alone, I usually just lay on the hill. It feels more natural. The other two would be perfect if I had someone. If I had someone who loved me, and didn't resent me for what I am or what I done. So I lay on the hill.

I hate these nights too. They make me think. They make me sick of myself.

These types of nights also make my prey hear me sneak up on them, which would alert them and make them run away. Sometimes I kill them, sometimes I don't. Other times I get hurt if they decide to fight back and other times I'm perfectly fine.

You see, I usually eat what I can catch, but other times, I just like scaring the crap out of my little meals. Seeing them scream and writhe under me is amusing. Especially rabbits, they sure can make a big act out of 'eating' them. They scream, they struggle, the fear in their eyes... it is just so perfect to see them in this position. In fact, it might be... erotic at points.

Especially if their male.

And no, that does not mean I'm gay. I just like the fact that I can show who's the boss and the fact that it does seem sort of exciting. More exciting than a female, if you ask me. Not to mention the smell of fear from a bear, a dear, a rabbit... Anything I can scare and catch, really. If they're male, wow. Their scent would be amazing. The smell of musk, fear, blood... It just seems so perfect.

Despite that, I wouldn't rape them; that's for the sex craved and less classy creatures. Like imps, orcs, werewolves... Well, I shouldn't really generalize it like that... Just those that see rape as a sport, as their only means to get off or just because they are incredibly horny. They should at LEAST fight another male to see who gets to fuck the female. If they can do that, this place would be better.

What I'm saying is this: I like these nights because the scream of my prey is loud and clear. I like these nights because I can finally think and imagine somebody to be at least stop by and say hi to me or something like that without me forcing them to do what I want. I like these nights because I can relax.

Yet, I hate them because I feel like I need to do something. WITH someone. I feel lonely. Well... not THAT lonely, but you know what I mean. I just want to relax with somebody and talk with them. To feel like I'm... well, appreciated for my company with them. I want to know that I'm not alive just for me to terrorize this mountain range. They also get me sentimental. Which sucks and is corny.

Though, the only comfort I had for a while was a small gryphon. He was cute, I have to admit. He was a great company too for a bit. Too bad the kid had to go and get himself killed. I know it was, ah, you know… Hard to swallow, but he DID provoke that hunter; the least I could do for my friend was to eat that bastard and destroy a village.

How we met though, was unusual. Why? Well, he said he came from further up north, where it was colder and really snowy. Sadly, he never told me why he left the place; he seemed to be fond of the place. Then he apologized for going into my territory and I forgave him with a snort. I have never seen such a submissive male before, especially of his kind.

Anyways, he had found my cave and went inside for protection from a small human and ran into me. I was pissed at him, but the human posed a bigger threat. The little bugger coulda gotten a mob and try to drive me out of MY mountain and forest. So, I ate the human and told the squirt to get outta my cave (and territory) if he wants to live.

Apparently, he was a curious critter (much like those annoying pests known as humans) and asked why I wouldn’t kill him. I snorted and shook my head. ‘I must be in a good mood, so don’t take advantage of it,’ was my reply to him. He then said that I should keep him in my cave for a bit longer, as he was being chased by other humans.

That’s one of the many reasons why I hate those fuckers.

I just sighed and hung my head. Of course I wanted to eat the lil gryphon, but I was full from other victims of my teeth and claws. I decided I should at least do that, even though he had disturbed me. At least he was kind enough to bring a snack.

I grumbled a ‘yes’ and just fell to my stomach, tired from hunting and fighting. He seemed to be okay with my answer and laid down next to me.

Now, I’m not going to lie here, but the kid was tiny compared to me. He was about half my size. Because of this, I, uh, found it surprisingly brave of him to ask me, a big bad dragon, to stay in my den for a while. So I let the feathered ‘bandit’ stay.

Now, I’m not sure if that was good or not, since he had died just a few months after he came to me and asked for help… I sorta took a… humbling respect for him and found his company quite enjoyable. And he was calm while he was with me. No signs of fear or anything, like he trusted me that I won’t eat him or maul him or anything that would harm him.

‘You seem rather nice for a dragon,’ he had said abruptly. I opened an eye and just looked at him for a bit.

‘Hmph,’ I huffed. ‘I’m tired and sleepy. That’s why I’m so ‘nice’ to you.’

The gryphon just smiled and closed his eyes. He seemed to relax almost immediately, like he was happy that he finally got to rest. That certain thought had passed through my head when it struck me: he was injured.

‘Are ya hurt?’ I asked as I sniffed the air for blood. I was right. There was a hint of blood in the air. But that might have been what I had eaten. Luckily, he had answered warily. Stated that he had taken an arrow to the hip. Broke it in half, but kept the arrow head in. That was smart of somebody who was unaware of his surroundings and got a human to hit him.

I guess I had warmed up to the small male. He was… well, handsome. Err, cute, really…

Anyways, we then started to randomly talk about things, like me being a loner, which I openly admitted that I was banished from my tribe for being ‘dangerous’ just because I liked the smell of blood and was ‘psychotic’. He took those things quite calmly, but I could tell that he was scared.

Said I was pretty tame compared to what my tribe had said about me. I coulda been a great guy… Heh.

Anyways, he said he was in a circus. I was obviously taken aback by this information and asked why he didn’t kill all the humans and made their babies into a tasty snack, the mothers being the main course.

He just shook his head in disgust and said he was born into it. Thought it was the perfect life until his ‘owner’ started to ‘train’ him. I obviously started to hate the humans more and more after learning they used us animals as ‘entertainment’ and for their own greedy needs.

Bastards.

Luckily, my anger didn’t cause me to harm my new found friend. I then asked him how the hell he had survived the wild if he was a ‘circus animal’. He just laughed and said that the little animal pen was a group of travelling nomads who liked to be sadistic creatures. Because of that, he was able to get out of the cage and wasn’t found until a few hours ago; he had escaped from there around morning.

I then started to feel hungry again asked if he wanted to eat something. The little guy said he just wanted some rabbits. I guess he wanted a snack.

I just agreed and said I’d be back. I then added that he should be at the back of the cave. It’s much more safe there. Griffith (that’s his name) followed my orders happily. I guess he loves taking orders.

Some rabbits and a happy dragon later, I found him at the back of my cave, preening himself. Griffith looked… sorta adorable and all. I coulda just rushed at him and ‘hugged’ him. Then proceed to tell him he should be paying attention. That could have prevented anything bad from happening.

Instead…

‘Got our food,’ I said plainly. He looked up and his face brightened.

‘Thank you!’ He trotted over and grabbed his rabbit. He was about to tear the rabbit apart, but then he done something entirely weird. He closed his eyes and bowed his head. He then started to whisper something about a ‘God’ and then proceeded to eat it.

‘What was that about?’ I asked, giving him a weird look while doing so.

He just smiled and said it was a ritual he learned from the humans. It was called ‘religion’ and said he felt like it was right for him to do so. I said it was stupid, but he took this ‘religion’ seriously and said I shouldn’t make fun of it.

‘Who knows if their might be a god out there? For me, I find it better to have faith in something greater than none at all.’

I just huffed again and walked to the side of the cave.

‘If you’re going to start to craft tools to slay me, I don’t see why you should do what those humans do. They just destroy things for pleasure and for their own good.’

He huffed and started to eat that rabbit. We were quite until started to become night. That was when he asked me if he can stay here a little longer. His hip is sore and it needs to be tended too. Said that if he were treat it himself, there would be no way he can do it. No experience what so ever.

I agreed. I could use the company. He was happy about it and thanked me for ‘keeping him’ and not eating him. I laughed at that.

‘Why would I eat something like you? Gryphons are too feathery. But they can be annoying.’

I guess I had touched his pride in his race since he said dragons are no better. We just laze away in our gold and eat maidens. I told him otherwise. The only reason why were portrayed like that was because of humans. A thief had stolen a kings gold and brought it to a dragons cave, where a knight saw the thief get eaten by one while ‘taking’ the gold.

Ever since that, dragons started to be labeled as, ‘scary, demonic creatures from hell who are greedy bastards who should be killed’ by humans when all we ever do is eat things that the humans sometimes leave behind and keep the numbers of our prey from over populating.

Griffith then apologized for saying dragons weren’t better. Gryphons stay celibate till they find a girl and fight her until they can rape her. Or something like that. Other species ways are way to boring for me to even remember.

We fell back into silence and he looked at his leg. Then he shyly asked if I could help him with his predicament. Due to me being curious, I took that meaning way out of context. Obviously the kid was flustered (but I could tell he was thinking about it) and refused my advances.

I could have raped him, but I thought twice about that. It was either killing/hurting/chasing away my only company in years, or keeping him here long enough to feel better about life and all that. So, I chose the latter and was happy to help remedy him of the arrow.

The blood almost let me eat him, but luckily I was great at fighting my impulses (I had to be trained to fight these feelings back when I was younger). He thanked me afterwards and then asked if there was any way he can repay me for being so nice to him. I told him to quit calling me ‘nice’ and not to compliment me.

The small feathery just chuckled and said that I ‘had an ego problem’. I asked him what that was and my answer was that I had a problem with my pride. I refused to believe him, even though that was true.

I got up and said I needed fresh air. So I went out and flew to the bottom of my mountain near the stream. I composed myself and looked upwards. No sign of a cute little gryphon leaving. Good.

After quickly drinking from the bubbling stream, I left it and took to the sky, enjoying the cool air and contemplating how I should continue with this thing. There were among the lines of:

Why hadn’t I killed Griffith? Well, I was tired and sleepy. I was full. Then there were those failed attempts at mating… I guess I was starving for interaction with others? Maybe I thought that me and the lil’ critter would become a thing… Even after those other ‘accidents’ with females…

Now that’s not going to happen. Never.

Anyways, when I was done with that, I felt better and started heading back. I then decided I liked the male. He was cute. Then again, some antelopes are cute too. Including bears. Make that, anything that I find harmless to me. Scratch that, anybody or anyone I like.

I got back to the cave and found him staring at the ground, a small smile on his. He then looked up and saw me, which made him perk his little feathery tufts he calls ears. I liked how it made him look.

He gave me a silent acknowledgment and laid his head back down, his eyes still trained on me. He seemed to be sizing me up, which I found weird. We stayed like that for a minute and he finally asked if he could live around here.

I asked him why and he stated that he wanted to learn how to hunt and get used to being free. He also added that having ‘someone like me around would be great’ as I ‘seemed dependable’ to him. Those words lifted my spirits and made feel fuzzy, which was rare.

I obviously said yes after a moments worth of thinking and he seemed to be very happy about it. He thanked me and bowed to me. I guess I was happy too, because the next thing I knew was that I had sorta hugged him...

I was glad that he accepted the hug and said he didn’t mind, but he couldn’t help but tease me that I was a ‘softie’. I guess I didn’t mind that I was being called that because I didn’t insult him for the next few days.

Speaking of which, those three months were the most magical moments of my life. Griffith made me feel so alive, so loved. He knew I was crazy for him. I knew he loved me. Then he died and took my soul with him.

See? I get all icky and soft when a night like this happens upon me. I can’t help but feel so content, feel like I’m all alone, yet revel in emotions. I love him, I loved him.

God, if you’re out there, can you at least let me know if my Griffith is with you? If not, I wouldn’t mind going to Hell then if he’s there. Just so long as you send me to him, I’d be happy.

And thanks for sending me such a great friend.

I hope you hear this, Lord, because I just want him back…

I open my eyes and look around. Pale soft moon light illuminates the world. The still night seems so empty. I feel alone. I feel hurt. Yet, after what my little friend said, religion might be what would save me from my sadness.

I look back down, and stare at the dead bear. I slowly bring my face to it and nuzzle it. I know it’s weird, but it feels like I’m nuzzling Griffith. I stop and decide to the fucking corpse. So, I start to slowly peel away the fur, letting blood flow freely.

I then decide that this was too slow, so I start to rip the flesh from the bones. Fuck fur. I start to engross myself in feeling the warm blood caress my scales and the taste of the meat and blood that used to give me a rush.

I look forward, still eating my bear. My hip hurts from the scratches this bear dealt to me. Oh well. I can bear a few more scars.

Noticing that the light was getting dimmer, I looked up and saw the moon about to be blocked by clouds. I just huff.

It’s another night of thinking, dreaming, and remembering. I sure hope that I’d meet my mate someday.