[ TT ] There are many types of dragons , from mountain dwellers to residents of the deep sea . But there is only one type of dragon that lives in the Cities , only one type of dragon that lives among the humans ... and still , they are considered myths .

There are infinite types of dragons, my old professor used to tell me. Dr. Martin Whitesmark, who taught Draconology at the University of Hallowoak. I flunked his class. 
 
 Anyways, the dragons. A million species, and we've come to know and love them. The dragons have a particular cycle, though. They wake in the day, as the sun rises. The mountain dragons bask in the light of the sunrise, and slowly rise, their massive bulk competing for dominance with the snow-capped peaks. The ocean dragons float upwards with the ocean currents, and the warm water starts their movement again. 
 
 Whitesmark would tell you about how the ocean dragon has wings that slowly turned into fins as they adapted to the ocean. But that's about all I remember from the advanced classes. Any kid will tell you: Dragons hoard gold, and dragons wake up in the day. 
 
 Old Whitesmark was a radical one, though, and believed in the city dragons. The ones who kept up with humankind, who did n't need the reptilian cycles of day and night, for whatever reason. This was a controversial view, given that most people who believed in the city dragons also believed in a draconic conspiracy to control wealth. They'controlled our society from within', with'draconian laws'. God, that pun was bad. 
 
 Well, eat your heart out, Whitesmark. After I got passing grades in the final exams, leaving Hallowoak with little renown besides that time I chugged eighteen magical tonics, I went to work at my father's firm. Stock market things, predicting the demand of newt's hearts depending on which swamp was conquered by whom. 
 
 That was when I met him, the city dragon. Golden scales shimmered under the LED lights, as he reclined on stacks of bonds and bills. He offered me a deal, and I could do little but accept. 
 
 `` Mr. Bejhon?'' I called out. He groaned lazily in reply. I flicked on the space heater and the heating lamps, and dumped a stack of manila folders on the desk. I was his personal assistant, and it was a rather nice job. 
 
 See, city dragons are just normal dragons with human ingenuity and smaller size. Mind you, they still took up a room, but they could be more inconspicuous. Their ability to use tools let them circumvent a classical dragon's weaknesses, with mechanical heaters. They could do some real damage, but they also had the classical dragon's desires. Bejhon wanted nothing more than to stockpile money and sit on it. 
 
 This did n't mean he was averse to luxury, no. One of his favourite meals, his Italian chef explained to me, was Phoenix Foie Gras. A warm, tantalising dish, that literally melted in your mouth. The supreme side of decadence, as you had to raise a phoenix for years, feeding it well, then cut out the liver while it was still alive. Cruel, perhaps, but dragons did n't have that same view of morality we did. 
 
 That's who controls our city. Dragons smart enough to play the stock market. They do n't want you to know they exist, all the better to earn cash with. 
 
 But we ca n't live without them. Bejhon, as he settled down for bed, would stuff his head into a tube, and breathe fire into it, expending all the heat of the day. This ignites the steam engines that run the city. 
 
 I'm not one to make judgements, not one to say whether this makes sense or not. But the ruling elite is dragons all the way down. 
 
 -- - 
 
 YOU WERE EXPECTING SOME OF MY HAPPY DRAGON STORIES, WERE N'T YOU, WYRM?! NO! NO MORE! 
 
 ( The rest of them are probably going to be happy. This is anomalous. And I'm not too happy with it. )
