First chapter! Vote and comment if you enjoy! And kudos to you if you find this familiar to something else I have written.

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The Abyss was a thick darkness. It was a presence that swirled around everything inside like a choking fog. It was infinite and timeless, constant and inescapable. Only able to be witnessed in blindness and experienced in despair. Intangible, yet a heavy blanket that seemed to press down on one's very soul. But for the creature within, it was home.

The creature had no idea how long it had been within The Abyss. It had no memory prior, nor did it know what lay beyond. All that it knew was the darkness. One that seemed to wrap around every aspect of its existence. Never truly gone, even in the sparse moments of light that broke through. The creature liked those moments. They hurt, but it made it feel as though there was something... beyond the darkness. Something that could find it.

For now, however, all that it was left to do was wait, and listen. The Abyss wasn't the only thing that surrounded the creature. There were noises as well. Sometimes dim and distant. Sometimes close and painfully loud. Sometimes they were sad noises, ones that caused the creature's body to shudder and its heart to tremble. Sometimes they were happy, noises that made the creature feel soft and comfortable. Some had meaning, others only emotion.

Occasionally there were massive creaks and groans. The cold ground beneath the creature would rumble and shake, and The Abyss itself would tremble, like the entire world was moving around the creature. In these moments the creature would leap to its feet in hope. Wondering, daring to hope, that the Abyss itself would break apart and reveal... something. Or disappear altogether. But it never happened, leaving the creature to lay back down on the damp ground, and let itself be overwhelmed by the darkness again.

There it would wait. Patient and brooding. It didn't know for how long it waited. It only knew to wait for a very distinct sound, one that caused its head to perk up and its body to tremor with anxious excitement. At the very top of the Abyss, the sound of squealing could be heard, like a door with rusted hinges. A light began to take shape. Starting in the shape of a crescent and opening itself into a full glowing circle. The creature winced at the light, backing up a little as it crescendoed into the Abyss.

The Abyss seemed scared of the light. Whenever it came through it would flee to the very corners of its hold, becoming a mere shadow of its former self. The creature could suddenly see. It could see the hard, scratched walls that towered up in a dome toward the light. It could see the sinew and scrap of the morsels of food and waste lining its home. The scraped and warn ground that it slept upon, and the puddle of dirty water that lay in an enclave at the other side of the ground.

"Feeding time, dragon!" a voice yelled from the hole where the light poured out.

The creature couldn't help but rumble in excitement. Feeding time. Food. The light was covered for a moment as several objects were dropped through the hole, landing in a sopping heap in the middle of the creature's home. The smell immediately hit the creature. Rotting meat and a bloody tang, resembling that of a long-dead corpse. But to the creature, the scent was like a home-cooked meal after a long day at work. The creature dove into the meal, scooping up the slops and flesh in hungry growls and rumbles.

There was a happy noise from above. One with no distinct meaning or derision, but one that made the creature feel light again. As it rose its head to smile at the noise, the hole of light began to close once more. The creature let out a sad huff as the creaking sound began again. The hole turned into a crescent, and the crescent disappeared, leaving the Abyss to leap out from the shadows once again and envelop the creature in its smothering darkness.

The creature shuddered at the feeling. It wondered why the light had to disappear so often, why it had to disappear into nothing over and over again. It wondered why the mysterious source of the happy noise felt so happy when the light disappeared.

The thoughts quickly disappeared as it once again dug into its food. Its teeth dug into the sourceless meal. Most of it was soft, and tough, requiring tearing and chewing. There were crunchy areas, that sometimes hurt the creature's teeth. There were hard areas, that required gnawing and effort. The food cracked and squelched. The damp areas did little to quench the creature's thirst, but the food still managed to fill a majority of the creature's stomach.

Still, it was careful not to eat it all. It left just a small amount, neatly piled up in the centre. From there the creature stepped away from the last remaining morsels. It moved to where the small puddle of water was, taking two quick laps at its muddy surface. It had to be careful with the water. If it all disappeared it would have to wait a long time before any more came. The water running out was the creature's greatest fear. Last time its throat had become so dry that it could barely move.

From the water it began to walk around the very edges of its home, dragging itself as it went. Despite the efforts of the Abyss, the creature knew exactly where to walk. It knew every nook and cranny of its home. Every scuff mark in the ground, every dint and dent. The exact amount of steps and the exact length they needed to be to get from one side of the Abyss to the other. It didn't need the light to know.

The creature walked on four legs, its long tail feeling around behind it as it walked. Its side brushed up against the large wall, currently hidden by the Abyss. The wall was always warm, different to the iciness of the ground. Sometimes the creature huddled against the side for comfort. There was something... comforting about having the slightly curved wall pressed up against it. It was almost like something other than the Abyss was there to look after it.

As the creature walked it began to gather the other morsels of food and waste within the Abyss, carefully piling as much as it could into the centre. The creature made sure to move slowly and meticulously. It had been a while since it had last managed to gather so much fuel in one place. It wanted to make the process worth it. It wanted to make sure it had everything it needed.

Eventually, after the creature had scoured the ground until it was assured it had everything, it sat down on its haunches beside the pile. Its tail curled around beside it in excitement. The creature took a deep breath and began to tense the muscles in its neck.

Almost immediately, another light began to gleam throughout the Abyss. Not as bright as the one from above, but one that brought comfort and warmth. The creature could feel the heat in the back of its neck. An almost tingling sensation that wormed its way through the creature's entire body. Even the light itself felt warm, changing the darkness to a dim fiery glow.

The creature let the warmth run up its neck, helping the glow burn brighter and brighter. The tingling sensation reached the back of the creature's head, where it held for a moment. The heat built up for several more long moments. It felt nice to keep it there. But the creature knew that if it kept it there for an extended period of time, the nice warmth would start to turn into and not so nice painful burning.

So, the creature breathed the heat out onto the pile it had made. The heat washed through the creature's mouth, charring and burning the remaining pieces of food that were stuck in its teeth. It had to wince as the heat took form in a blurring stream of swirling light. The heat scared away the Abyss in a much quicker manner than even the light from above. As it caught on the pile of food and waste before it, this new light quickly grew stronger, burning bright and brighter as it engulfed its source.

The creature snapped its muzzle shut with a smile as the light began to smother the pile. Its wavy, flickering light curling higher and higher. The Abyss once again found itself hugging the very corners of the creature's home, stuck where the wall contacted the ground, and in small enclaves up above where there was an indent in the roof. An indent where the creature thought the other light showed up occasionally.

The heat of this new light blasted over the creature, like a blanket on a cold night. It made the ground below feel warm, and the water at the corner of the chamber flicked and glinted with the light's reflection. This light, this self-generated light, felt much more impactful than the other. It was one that the creature itself could generate. It would last a while, at least far longer than the other light. It warmed the creature. It comforted the creature... and most importantly it talked to the creature.

Almost hungrily, the creature gazed into the flickering glow. Watching as it danced back and forth in its almost hypnotic way. Then, shapes began to appear. Shapes that moved and swayed with far more purpose than the dancing light. The first shape was something with two legs and two long arms. Strange, layered skin, and a flat face. The figure was walking, the glow pulsing with every step making it sound as though it were walking on hollow ground. The flames moved around the figure, making a path for it to walk upon.

The path eventually ended as the fire curled its up in a solid rectangular obstacle to the figure. The figure reached out, opening the rectangle into another path, where it took several steps forward, before stopping. Another figure appeared in the flames. This one was similar to the other but was sitting down on another object that wasn't entirely visible in the light. Before it was another rectangular object, but this was horizontal before the sitting figure, with several other non-descript objects placed atop it.

"Hello, Mr Lee," the sitting figure's voice was projected through the glow.

"Mr Ruvil," the standing figure bowed its head slightly toward the other.

"Thank you for coming, please take a seat. I have been eager to see you," the one named Mr Ruvil said.

Immediately the light swirled, creating another object on which Mr Lee was able to settle himself down.

"I am just glad to have finally found the time," Mr Lee's voice was much softer than Ruvil's.

"Yes, you have been doing remarkable work indeed. The work you've done with dragons these past several years is unmatched. I do hope we may find a way to pacify them yet."

"I do hope the same. They are such interesting creatures. It is only a shame they are so hostile toward our efforts. Have you had any luck hunting down those poaches?"

Mr Ruvil shook his head with a sigh, "None whatsoever I'm afraid. Satellite imaging is coming in helpful in tracking the dragon packs close to New Dawn, but the poaches seem to not be targeting the large groups. That and the further we try to look out past New Dawn the less we are able to pick up. Go a couple hundred kilometres and we can't pick up anything at all."

The creature tilted its head as it listened with interest. It couldn't understand everything that was being said. But it was beginning to recognise some of the words.

Mr Lee sighed, "That's... unfortunate."

"Yes... it's actually why I called you in here. I have an idea, but it is quite dependent on whether or not you have managed to domesticate and train some of our scaled friends."

Lee grunted, "If that is what you are relying on... I will be sorry to disappoint you. I have learnt a lot in my time here about dragons, but I am as far from managing to tame one as we are from taming this planet."

"I heard some reports that your daughter has had some luck with them."

There was a hesitation from Lee, "Mia... is doing far better than anyone else if that is what you mean. She seems to have an understanding with the beasts. Though I believe that it is more up to them when she approaches than it is up to her. And even she is not able to get close with all of them."

"I see... well... perhaps that doesn't matter as much as we believe it does," Mr Ruvil said, sitting straight in his chair, as though excited.

"What did you have in mind?"

"We put a tracker on one of the dragons, one that can be more easily tracked on with the resources we have here than by satellite. From there we can perhaps use it as bait to lure the poaches out."

"Oh."

Even to the creature, Lee did not seem so eager.

"Is there something wrong with that plan?"

"No, sir," Mr Lee sighed, sitting back, "It is only... these creatures sir. They have shown far more intelligence than any animal back on Earth. A startling degree. There may be more to them than we have discovered, and I am not sure I would feel comfortable with using one as... bait."

"It may be the only way we can track down the poaches Mr Lee. Regardless of what you think, surely risking one is a high enough price to save hundreds of others, possibly thousands."

"You have a point, sir."

"I am very aware. Do you think it possible?"

Lee gave a silent nod.

"Then I shall leave it for you to decide. You and I both want those poaches off this planet. Perhaps, when we have done so, we will be able to finally have some leeway with the dragon's aggression."

"That may be true sir," Lee said as he began to rise from his position.

"Good, let me know what you have decided as soon as you can. Have a good afternoon Mr Lee."

"You too, Mr Ruvil."

Mr Lee left back through the rectangular object and once again began to walk back through the path created by the light. The creature watched as he walked, but the light was beginning to grow dim, and the Abyss was beginning to push back into its territory. But the creature stay transfixed at the moving light, lowering its head as the flames began to dwindle.

The creature had seen Mr Lee in the light before. It liked Mr Lee. But Mr Lee could only appear when the light was strong and hot. Once the glow disappeared Mr Lee, and the other figures, disappeared until the creature was able to gather enough materials to make the light burn again.

As the light faded, a sudden well of inspiration struck the creature. It breathed out, letting itself gather the noises in its throat before it opened its mouth.

"H...have good afternoon... Mr L...Lee," it whispered, feeling the sounds battle to get out of its broken voice.

The sounds felt harsh, and unnatural to its throat. But the creature made them regardless. For the first time in its life, a sense of accomplishment washed over it. It had made the noises that the light had made. It opened its mouth, repeating the phrase like it was an inspirational accomplishment.

"Good afternoon... Mr Lee," it said confidently this time, watching as the figure of Mr Lee disappeared into the light, and the Abyss swallowed it back up.

"Hello... and good afternoon... Mr Lee," the creature rumbled one last time, as it once again found itself surrounded by darkness.