Sheriff Sanders is troubled. A few months ago dogs started disappearing. At first one or two a month, then one a week. Recently it happens almost every night.

Some townsfolk now keep their dogs indoors at night, while others stubbornly believe that this kind of shit only happens to other people. This difference in how people think about the world has always amazed him. It makes some people take unnecessary risks. They speed, use their cellphones while driving, and do other reckless things daily. Firmly believing that they are exempt from the randomness of life, somehow protected in their bubble of ignorance. The sheriff googled it, and the closest thing he can find that describes this condition is called optimism bias. The sheriff loves to look things up on the internet. He googled this need to lookup stuff also, and apparently he is just curious. Curiosity is a good characteristic for a cop.

***

This trouble with the disappearing dogs became his number one problem when the mayor’s prized Staffordshire terrier was taken from her house.

The mayor is not someone to trifle with, especially in an election year. She has lots of influence with the towns people, making the dissapearing dogs priority number one for the entire Bischoff police force. Not counting their dispatcher Maude, deputy Jones and himself now have just one task, find and stop the perpetrator.

It appears that something entered through the dog door, and forcefully took the Stafford in broad daylight while the mayor was away. The dog put up a hell of a fight. Blankets and pillows were scattered around, the couch was knocked askew, and a side table was upended scattering its content all over the floor. There was blood on the couch, the living room floor, and more leading back to the door indicating that whatever took the dog dragged it outside by force.

A real foul smelling, sticky black substance was found among the carnage. The dog probably injured its attacker. Samples of this was sent to the city for analysis. The lab in the city is understaffed and severely backlogged. Only god knows when that sample will be looked at, and he is not saying. This mystery will require good old detective work.

***

Sheriff Sanders sat in his comfortable office chair considering the latest incident. The adduction at the mayor’s house was the only one that offered any clues. All the other events happened at night, and outside. Examination of the house and surrounding area yielded no additional information. Something that bleeds black, sticky, and pungent blood approached the house without leaving any sign, entered the house and grabbed the dog. Violence ensued causing injuries to both parties. The dog was dragged outside and three feet away from the door the trail ended abruptly.

The abductor could not have flown away. That porch is covered with a wooden pergola, and anything that could fly with a dog that size has to have a massive wingspan. It did not cross the porch in any direction, there were no drops of blood anywhere else to indicate that. It had to go up, that is the only plausible explanation.

’Jonesy!’, the sheriff shouts towards his office door. He heard Jones’s chair scraping across the floor, and had no problem imagining deputy Jones navigating his huge belly from behind his cluttered desk. Deputy Jimmy Jones is morbidly obese, and he is getting bigger. He is still employed only because the mayor is his aunt.

Jones darkens the doorway. He actually does. He is six foot five and probably three foot wide. ‘Yes chief!’, he manages to say breathlessly. Just the short shuffle from his desk took his breath away. ‘How is this man still alive? One of these days he is going to die on the toilet, just like Elvis’, the sheriff thinks to himself, not for the first time. He should just call Jones on the phone, but he enjoys to punish the fat fuck. If he can’t fire him he is going to make his life miserable. Who knows, maybe he quits and dies somewhere else.

‘Bring the car around, we need to go back to your aunt’s place. Something bugs me and I need to check it out.’ Jones nods while he takes a step backwards, enabling him to turn sideways. He shuffles away, his huge bulk a dark shadow on the frosted glass that divides the office from the commons. The sheriff watches him pass by like someone would watch a passing train at a crossing, not particularly interested in the train, but it’s something to do while you wait. He’ll wait ten minutes before he goes outside, giving Jones the time he needs to shuffle to the car and squeeze himself in behind the wheel.

***

The sheriff’s suspicion is confirmed. When he used the ladder that he sent Jones to fetch, he found what he was looking for. Spots of black stuff and blood leading to the roof, and the roof shingles covered with larger stains. He studies the area while he waits on Jones to fetch the camera from the car. It appears that the thing that took the dog was able to reach the pergola from the porch, an almost eight foot reach. Then managed to pull itself up with the added weight of the dog, and climb up through the lattice work to cross to the roof.

This was not an animal. Animals are efficient creatures and would have crossed the porch and lawn directly to the woods. It was not a person. People do not fit through dog doors, do not bleed black, and will not be able to overpower a Stafford without a gun.

Eventually the camera shows up and the sheriff takes his pictures. He likes to study crime scenes at night while contemplating the facts of whatever case he is on. Many times new clues present itself during these sessions.

‘Just what kind of creature are you?’, sheriff Sanders asks himself. ‘Jonesy!’, he bellows. It was time for Jones to put up the ladder. They are done here.

***

Two days later a pig and a half disappeared from a local pig farmer.

The bottom half of a pregnant sow was gone. She was kept by herself in an enclosed pen. Whatever grabbed her could not pull her shoulders through the gate and ripped her body in half. A smaller sow in another pen was taken whole.

The stinky, sticky black residue was found on the heavy metal gates of both pens.

’What do you reckon could have done such a thing?’, the farmer asked around a wad of chewing tobacco. ‘A creature of some kind I think’, Sanders answered, ‘but not any creature I can think of can do this to a pig.’

Sanders walked the aisle between the pens while he waits on Jones to bring the camera. The fucking retard does not have the sense to just bring the camera when they first arrive. There is no sign of any sort on the dirt floor. No footprints or drag marks. The creature must be big and powerful so it stands to reason that it must leave evidence of its passing. Not a thing!

Sanders returns to the mutelated pig. He studies the roof of the pig house. It has an open attic with rows of plywood nailed across the rafters that is used for storage. ‘You have ladder I may use John? My deputy can fetch it if you point the way.’

Sometime later sheriff Sanders ascends the ladder with the camera hanging around his neck. The plywood above the pen is covered in blood. The trail leads to the end of the row, to the open gable of the building. Sanders climbs onto the line of plywood and test it with his weight. It is three quarter inch thick, good strong stuff. It can easily hold his two hundred pound frame. He follows the trail, taking pictures of the black drops mixed in with pig blood. At the open gable he turns and shouts for Jones to bring the ladder. The farmer brings it over.

Outside the building, below the open gable, the ground is undisturbed. ‘Fucker must be able to fly’, farmer John observes, then spits a stream of tobacco juice to the side. ‘Yup, sure looks like that’ Sanders responds under his breath, mostly to himself, alarm bells sounding in his police brain.

‘We have a flying creature that is big and strong enough to make off with hundreds of pounds of pig. Not dragging its prey away but fly off!’. Sanders turns to his deputy. ‘Jonesy, we need to get back to town and talk to your aunt. It is just a matter of time before we loose people to this thing. She needs to get the word out, and set up a council meeting so I can brief them on the danger.’ Deputy Jones still shuffles on his way to the car, but it is a hurried shuffle. He too can appreciate the seriousness of the situation.

***

The town of Bischoff makes do with two police officers, but needed five administrators, including the mayor. It takes more staff to levy and collect fees and taxes than it does to keep the peace. Sheriff Sanders accurately anticipated the first question. ‘How much will it cost to catch this animal?’, one of the bean counters asks. Sanders prepared an answer already, ‘It will cause expense, but not as much expense as the city being sued for wrongful death when this creature kills a person. Seems to me we need to do what we can and spare no expense in our efforts to catch or eliminate this thing.’

Sanders got as comfortable as he could on the hard wooden chair facing the town council. They are sold on acting immediately, the threat of costly litigation did the trick, and the rest of the meeting will be used to discuss options and argue alternatives. Sanders already has a plan and a list of names that include a zoologist and a professor in biology from the city. The other four names on the list are his hunting buddies. He has a feeling there might be more shooting than science with this creature.

At some point there was a slowdown in debate, and Sanders proposed his list. Since he only asked for expenses to be covered his proposal was unanimously approved. On his way back to the office it occurred to Sanders that the only thing worse than a small town city council were home owners associations.

***

The town hall was packed with the families of missing dogs, local business owners hoping they can benefit from this crisis, and the nosy and loudmouth blowhards that attend all the town meetings. Sanders spoke for ten minutes, sticking to the known facts. He warned that this creature has not yet been seen, and that it might be large and powerful. He reminded everyone that it is best to not shoot at anything that they cannot identify, and to pen their animals and keep their pets inside. The school will remain open, and bus routes will continue to operate, but parents are advised to wait at the bus stops with their children, and to collect their kids from there in the afternoons.

He introduced the professor and the zoologist and let them field the questions about what this thing might be.

Everything considered the meeting felt productive and almost festive.

***

The mood changed the next day when a jogger discovered a severed leg on his morning run around the small lake in the city park. The jogger lives elsewhere, and often drives to Bischoff to use the trails in the park. The leg was still wearing a lace up boot. It did not take very long for everyone to call and check on everybody. No one was missing. The leg must also be from out of town they thought.

Sheriff Sanders put his reelection at risk by closing the park. The park is well known and enjoyed by many from nearby towns, and this closure will be felt by local business. Local television stations learned of the recovered leg and sent their field reporters to cover the event. Someone who lost a dog mentioned that there is some dangerous animal on the loose, taking dogs. This person gave details on the mayor’s loss, and since everyone in this small town knows about the business of others, also told the story of the pig and a half.

This creature story grew wings and gained national attention, prompting many to head to Bischoff to help capture the beast. Business was booming and every hotel room was booked for weeks out. Some townsfolk rented their spare rooms to visitors, others set up tents and sold t-shirts and hotdogs. The city councilmen forgave the sheriff for closing the park, and resolved to reelect him when he eventually reopened the park to allow visitors to camp there.

***

Two days later video of the creature surfaced. By then Bischoff was riddled with GoPros and game cameras.

One group of rednecks camping in the park ran a ground wire from their tent to the lake with a large dog leashed to it as bait. The dog was free to run along the length of this wire, called a runner, and cameras were trained on its path. The video was taken at night in black and white using infrared. The dog was drinking from the lake when the water parted in front of it, and a snakelike head emerged and grabbed it by the neck. When the creature tried to return to the water the runner wire stopped it. It seemed to anchor itself and the water behind it revealed parts of its body as it strained against the unexpected obstacle. A set of wings extended from its body, unfolded and with a few powerful beats the creature’s body emerged from the water. The leash gave and the creature fell back into the water with its prey. The water settled and waves made a triangle as the powerful beast swam away, then became smooth again when the creature dove deeper.

This video is quickly turned into lots of cash, and the rednecks packed up and left with their fortune. The national broadcaster that bought it showed it non stop for days, and made all their money back from advertisers, and profited greatly from licensing the video and the image of the creature.

It looked like a sleek dragon. It was estimated to be ten foot long with a sixteen foot wingspan. Its had swept back horns growing from its eyebrows, its large luminous eyes shining brightly as it reflected the infrared light. It had two arms and a set of thick legs that tapered down to elongated feet with long claws. It was immediately named the Biscoff dragon. The name of the dog used as bait was never mentioned, at least its body was pixelated before the video went global.

***

The national guard showed up, and the park was evacuated and surrounded with tall fencing to keep people out. Universities, television stations, filmmakers, preachers and others who wanted to capitalize from this event crowded Bischoff and the surrounding towns. Business was booming.

Sheriff Sanders was bothered. Like everyone else he has seen the dragon video many times. He was bothered by the size of the animal. It’s been only days since the mayor’s dog was taken, and there was no way in hell this thing could enter through the dog door. Two possibilities occurred to him. This creature is growing at an alarming rate, or there are more than one. Both of these explanations bothered him a lot.

He tried to convey his concerns to the town council, but they were to busy making money and they dismissed his concerns without consideration. He attempted to talk to the officer in charge of the national guard, but the man was never available. The news people were also dismissive, every one of them watching the lake hoping to get their own dragon video.

Sanders gave up and went back to being a small town sheriff, thinking about ways he could make deputy Jones quit.

***

Nobody noticed when the pig farm was attacked. A large group of creatures dropped from the sky and killed and devoured the farmer and his family, and all the pigs and chickens.

These creatures were of similar size than the one blowing up YouTube. They stood six foot tall from feet to snout. Black fluid oozed from cracks in their leathery skin, and once they ate their fill these cracks filled in with fresh skin and new cracks formed. They were growing larger, the meat they consumed accelerating the process.

There were twelve of them, their skin color ranging from pitch black to shades of purple and blue. Their bodies are muscular, their limbs ending in fingers and toes equiped with long claws. Spikes protruded from the tips of most tails, with some sporting club like growths at the very tip of their tails. They moved like birds, bobbing their heads and taking quick glances in all directions. Their heads looked prehistoric, elongated with large jaws and rows of sharp teeth, their eyes golden and each crowned with a set of horns.

They basked in the sun, picked at the cracks in their skin, and scratched the itchy new skin that formed. A few extended their bat like wings and exposed the uncovered skin to the sun.

One of the creatures dropped its head until its chin touched its neck and made hacking noises. It’s companions moved away, giving it space, watching it intently. The creature’s head shot forward and it coughed up a large wad of slime that shot out of its mouth and ignited into a bright white ball of flame with a phosphorus glow. The other creatures beat their wings and honked approval.

The group lounged in the sun for the rest of the day. At sunset they take to the air and head to the Bischoff lake to liberate their brother, then the thirteen of them will meet their mother for the first time.

She went through lots of trouble to deposit her eggs all over the country side, as far away as two hundred miles, one egg per body of water to reduce the possibility of cannibalism. Having her off spring hatch and grow separately also increased the probability that some would make it to adulthood in case others were discovered and killed. All of her eggs hatched and all her babies survived.

She will have many more eggs for them to carry far and wide.

A new age of dragons started.