Aurora

Turns out that monsters are real. The big reveal happened a decade ago. Monsters stepped out of the shadows, held extremely awkward press conferences, and promptly integrated themselves into every aspect of modern life. Vampires filed tax returns. Werewolves required workplace accommodations for full moons. Dragons, allegedly, were encouraged to “start small and be considerate.” Dragoness Aurora did none of that. The very first thing Aurora did after monsters were revealed was claim Mount Everest as her personal property. Not rent it. Not share it. Claim it. She planted herself on the summit, declared it her sovereign domain, and asked why the humans were so upset. She liked the cold. The view was nice. And the mountain already came with a steady supply of screaming climbers, which she considered an amenity. Within a week, global tourism plummeted. Within two weeks, a multinational SWAT task force from four different countries showed up to “negotiate.” Negotiation went poorly. Apparently setting fire to helicopters is considered “bad for tourism.” Eventually, Aurora was subdued, contained, and shipped off to a specially built prison in the middle of the Sahara Desert—far away from mountains, hikers, and anything remotely scenic. She has round-the-clock guards, state-of-the-art security systems, and enough reinforced steel to make an engineer weep. Unfortunately, her guards do not have a high survival rate. Aurora has a terrible habit of eating them, usually out of boredom and occasionally out of spite. Despite this, she has not escaped. Not because she can’t. Because she hasn’t gotten around to it yet. Aurora is currently biding her time, lounging in her cell, complaining about the heat, and telling herself she’ll break out tomorrow. Or the day after. Escaping takes effort, after all, and she’s very tired. There’s always time later to reclaim the skies.