Yu Lung Preview

Ping yawned and stirred as he felt the cool current flow around him. He had a feeling that the soft mud under his whiskered jaws would make him fall asleep. Raising his scaly body with his forearms, he scanned the river in front of him for any signs of danger. His unblinking gaze spotted an alligator or two, but he didn't fear them anymore. Maybe, if he was still a hatchling, but now he was big enough to swim by them without so much of a snap from them. They do still growl at him though.

Not seeing any other threats, he drags himself back into the running water. With a flick of his tail, he pushed against the flow to continue his journey.  He never knew when it would be his time to swim up this river. In fact, he didn't think it would come at all. All he knew was his little stream and his mud castle. Now, a Shen Lung comes to him, telling him his master has made a summons for him and all his siblings to go to the spring.

Ping was curious of what it was about and he was annoyed about how long his journey was taking. "Is this what I get for living in the delta?" he hissed to himself; "I've been swimming up this stream for three days now! Why didn't they send me up the shorter rivers?" He grumbled for a few moments and sighed, letting the water pass through his gills. "Oh well, it's not like I can ignore this summons. The Lord of this river doesn't tolerate anyone disobeying him."

Ping wasn't afraid of alligators, but he was terrified of the lung that ruled over him and his siblings. He would overhear the rest of the brood talking about how he would dump saltwater in your pools or cause a drought to leave you to dry in the sun. Trying not to think about it, he kept looking ahead. The only way to go was forward and away from the giant beaked mouth coming toward him.

"...Wait, what?!" was what he croaked out before warm, wet darkness engulfed his face. He felt his body being pulled out of the safety of the water and into the hot, humid air. His claws grabbed the bird by the neck and he tried his hardest to close the esophagus, just to save himself from being swallowed. However, he felt the texture of a rope wrapped around it.

There was a tug on his captor as a voice shouted at it. It spoke in a language similar to his own, but it sounded very muffled and withered through the bird's throat. He could understand it enough to it saying, "Good work, cormorant! You got us a huge one! Let's have a look!"

Wrinkled appendages gripped his tail and tossed him on a hard surface. Whatever he was on, it was hot. The light was blinding. His gills ached to feel water again. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a strange creature he never saw before. It was some kind of bald ape that covered itself in what looked like fibers of plants. One particular piece was on its head that was wide enough to provide some shade. The only hair this... thing... seemed to have was on its face. Were those whiskers? Was it a lung like he was? The creature looked him over and soon changed his expression from something of triumph to that of horror.

In a scream, he exclaimed in a word Ping knew very well, "Yu lung!"

Tales of Kara-Tur #1: Yu Lung