From birth, our parents try to kill us. From the moment we hatch and break through that shell, there is no love, no family, no friends – those are constructs of another world. There is only survival.
My existence on Reptilia began the same way every reptile’s does – with a predator attempting to kill me. The first thing I saw was my father’s gaping maw, trying to swallow me whole.
I hadn’t learned to walk, to fight or to breathe, but in that moment, I was faced with an infantile decision.
Live or die.
You’d be wrong to think that in our world, most of the young perish. You’d think it unlikely that we’re able to overpower and survive those who try to kill us at birth. The fact is, that attempted murder makes us stronger. Our instincts are born within us and they either kick in, or they don’t.
In my case, I spat acid at my father – a jet of it that blinded him. I leapt at him with my wings and knocked him from our home base, hundreds of feet above the ground, to the floor below.
He was the first reptile I killed.
He was not the last.
Every day since then has been a battle to survive in the harshest of conditions. I had to learn to fly by leaping from that base, and hoping that in doing so, my wings would take to the sky and soar.
They did.
I had to sharpen my claws so that I could hunt and eat the lesser species on our planet and use them to survive combat with those who wished to eliminate me from the Reptile gene pool.
It takes a brave reptile to mate with intention of birthing a child, knowing that when the day comes for their breakthrough, they will likely either kill or be killed. I don’t hold it against my father – quite the opposite, in fact. I admire his courage.
As for me, I’ve been waiting for the day that my young put an end to my existence. I’ve been waiting for the day that I’m sacrificed for the next generation of reptile.
I’ve fathered hundreds of children and stood over hundreds of eggs. I’ve watched their breakthrough with bated breath and yet, despite the odds, despite the sheer quantity of young that I’ve produced, I’ve seen to each of their demises.
The dream is that one day, one of my young will take my place as the greatest warrior on Reptilia.
But to do that, they must first kill the greatest warrior on Reptilia. That’ll be simply the start of their journey.
Our planet is a kill or be killed world. There’s no family, no friends and no love. There’s only survival.