Khan

It wasn’t so bad in the box. Khan wasn’t sure where his parents had gone, or why they were waiting here, but there was food, and interesting dragons to stare at as they passed by. He rolled with his brothers, and chewed his sisters’ feathers, and generally just had a jolly good time.

Then hands reached into the box and lifted one of his sisters up! Khan clicked and snapped angrily, fluffing up his feathers to show how scary he was. But the dragon that looked down at him was smiling as she held his sister close.

“It’s okay little one; I’m just taking her to her new clan. You’ll find a new home too, soon enough.”

A new home? That was interesting…

But there was fish to eat, and games to play, and so the little coatl didn’t spend too long wondering about it. As the sun began to set, and the market stalls around them lit their coloured lanterns, he snuggled up with his siblings and fell asleep.

When he woke he was alone. He mewed sadly, and shifted around; looking for the warmth of feathery bodies, but there was only a cold space where his siblings used to be. They had all gone, been chosen by new clans, and taken to their new homes.

Khan’s feathers drooped as he realised he had been left behind. He hooked his little claws on the edge of the box and stood, stubby wings flapping as he tried to get his balance, and peered out to the hustle and bustle of passing dragons.

Surely there was someone among them who would want him?