A Fresh Brew

As the wind blew off the frozen wastelands it sunk its chilly fangs deep into Leon’s bones as it whipped around him, making him shake as if the growling wind was actually a beast. He leant closer to the large casket he was to trade, heat was emanating from the wooden barrel enough to melt the snow around the base; Dragon Flame, best brandy in the world.
Leon contemplated the differences between his home and the sweltering south as he almost straddled the barrel; down there it was a metal jungle, flumes and exhausts sprouting from the metal roofs as if piercing the sky with their bud like flames. Leon’s dark eyes peered at the Northern landscape from behind the leather parka he had wrapped around him; yes, up here it was a much different story.
The ice never melted, so half the cities were sculpted out of the cliff face, they had to be high or they’d get buried by the next avalanche; this meant that at night sometimes the temperature dipped below minus fifteen though; if it wasn’t for central heating the entire ice lands would have been abandoned. Trees as tall as houses stood slanted against the roaring winds and snow fell in readymade banks; roads were nonexistent and the air currents were so bad that not even the strongest shuttle could move through. A shadow engulfed Leon accompanied with a flurry of flakes, Leon tossed up his hands to protect against the gust. A yes, another reason people could live in this place, dragons.

When the massive winged lizards were first discovered it was at least to say a surprise, the fact they actually seemed friendly was something else. People were scared at first, of course they would be from all the myths and legends of fearsome fire breathing monsters, but dragons slowly became assimilated into everyday life. While nearer the south they just became part of everyday humdrum life, something that perched on the pipes and shook the rafters with their version of the dawn chorus, in the north they were the most important creatures that ever existed; they were the delivery service. The shadow swooped over Leon again, this time coupled with a roar of ear drum rattling proportions and a crunch of solid ice.
The scaled beast stood over Leon, a faint glow seeping from between the armour as if hinting of something that was more than natural; spiked ridges and leather like canvas covered the beast, great wings sprouting from its arched back as if they belonged to a giant demonic bat. No matter how many times Leon saw a dragon he’d always feel like a doll, a toy that could be picked up and shaken relentlessly at any moment, at a simple whim. He had to shake himself and repeat over and over that dragons were kind and have never killed a human without a justification.
“Right, I’ve got your payment here” Leon said nervously, trying to hide the stutter in his voice as he walked away from the casket of Dragon Flame and picked up a crowbar lying in a gutter. He gasped slightly from the feeling of cold metal through his gloves, taking the end to the barrel lid at once and taking the heavy wooden lid off. He dropped lid and crowbar quickly as with a slam his own package was dropped to the floor, two tun of ale for Leon’s own bar.

Dragon Flame was an amazing drink, almost lethal to humans unless mixed with three parts’ water, dragons were found to have quite an affinity with the drink; pure Dragon Flame could even incapacitate some young dragons. They took other payments as well as the drink but Leon was one of the few people who knew how to make Dragon Flame. The drink almost glowed as the dragon bowed its head, Leon shifting to its side and unhooking the massive barrel from the hinges around the dragon’s neck. He opened the slide into the basement of his bar, going back behind the ale barrel and rolling it down smoothly into the darkness. The doors slammed shut and by the time Leon turned back around the dragon was downing the drink in one go; drink and dribble splattered down around into the snow, steam hissing up from the holes in the frozen, smooth blanket of white.
The wooden case was dropped carelessly from the dragon’s jaws, landing heavily with a hollow thud and rolling slightly before coming to a standstill. The dragon was obviously a light weight, the way it was blinking and swaying where it stood told Leon that it had gulped the alcohol too quickly. It stamped its foot a few times and let out a rattling burp, blue fire flaring from the gaping mouth; Leon flinched back as snow from the roofs around hammered the ground, the dragon’s wings shooting out to flap wildly for a minute before it took off into the air again. Leon turned and watched as a dragon, masters of the north sky, drifted unsteadily off into the horizon. He sighed and shook his head as he turned back into his bar; they were living beings after all, dragons could be idiots as well.