A harsh wind blew across the Siberian plains, sweeping up snow and whipping it around. Those who were unfortunately enough to be outside only huddled in closer, tightening the hoods of their winter jackets or pulling their gloves on tighter. The only ones who were so unfortunate were a group of miners who had braved the cold and the weather to earn a living. These miners were about to go from rather unfortunate to very fortunate in a few short hours.
Dirt and rock tumbled beneath the workers' tools, the cold making some of it difficult to work with. The miner's toiled away at the rock face, pushing through cold and snow to get to it. Various chunks and debris were broken off and carted away as the workers continued to look for their intended target. That was until something fell out of the ice-kissed rock. The worker called out in surprise, and others stopped what they were doing to go see.
What started as a few workers turned into a small group, which turned into a large group, which grew until all twenty five miners had stopped what they were doing to come see what had been found. There, in the churned up earth, was something of flesh and bone.
One worker began to gingerly push aside the dirt, revealing more of the body. One man was already on the phone with the local authorities, assuming it was a human body. A third was throwing up. Many of the group began to meander back to work, though at a much slower pace. ,any stayed to watch as the creature was slowly unearthed.
First to be revealed was a scaled backside, the emaciated haunches of a dog-sized creature poking out of the dirt. By the time the local authorities arrived, a tail had been unearthed. It was quickly deemed appropriate to call someone from a museum. Several calls were made and transferred from there, all the while the creature was slowly revealed to a world that had long forgotten about it.
By the time a paleontologist had been called, more than half of the creature had been unearthed. What could be seen now was a stubby tail like that of a young dog but with scales, two hind legs with taloned feet, and the very tips of wings protruding from the back. It was of the paleontologist's professional opinion that it was a pterosaur, and that he was terribly upset he could not be there at that moment.
They were also told to leave the area well enough alone until a team could be sent out to remove the pterosaur. The miners would have done so, had not one of them mentioned money. With the notion that it could be sold, because in some cases items found on a dig site had been sold, the miners dug with a new fervor. The surprise that was waiting for them only furthered their cause to sell the frozen mummy.
The creature they had found was most undeniably a dragon. Where the wings met the body, it also met another pair of legs. It had a long neck like a horse, and a reptilian head out of which protruded several stubby horns and spikes. The miners would not be deterred, this was most certainly a young dragon, dead and frozen from an unknown age. Despite this, one of them called the paleontologist again.
The workers crowded around to marvel at the beast, a couple poking it with the tip of a boot or tool. The one on the phone began to raise his voice, yelling into the phone while rapidly gesticulating to the body of the dragon. He even sent a picture. The paleontologist was not convinced, and promptly told the miners not to waste his or anyone's time with such a foolhardy prank. After a few more colorful words, the phone call had ended.
Many of the miners had stopped working by now and were discussing what to do next with the body if the beast. Some believed that it was in fact, a prank, and left after a few short moments. Others argued over whether to hand it over to a scientist or to sell it. The debate wore down into the late hours of the evening when their supervisor finally returned.
The first thing the supervisor did was complain that no one was working, and that the one day he had to leave was the one day a mess like this would happen. He had returned with a local official, who had informed him of the development on the dig site.
The second thing he did was complain about the ugly piece of mud they made up. No, he would not believe them. No, he would not take a second look at the creature. He was more than certain that it was an elaborate hoax at best, a good prank at the very least. When no one owned up to it, the supervisor charged the first people he would see with taking care of it. It was lucky for them that they had been the group in favor of selling the body.
When the three miners took the body away, they left it stashed out back of their cabin. The snow, they said, would keep it frozen. It wasn't long before they had posted bout it online. While their internet access was limited, the group managed to post an image of the creature's body and list it for sale. For three days it remained like this.
The price in the corpse was outrageous to most, believing the whole thing a fake. A wild dog had stopped by to gnaw on it, taking the tip of the dragon's tail before it was noticed and made to leave. The miners threw a tarp over it. It snowed. The world moved on. That was until the fourth day, when they received a call from an unknown man.
The man claimed to be a representative of some sort of scientific company. They had the funds to purchase the frozen mummy at the price they were asking for and then some. The group of miners were eager to meet him, and quickly set up a date to do so. They would bring the body of the dragon to the local inn on their day off, and the man would meet them there. It would be over and done in a matter of days, the three of them coming out much more fortunate than they were before.
The wild dog had returned at some point to exact its revenge, making out with more of the dragon's flesh this time before it was removed. When the three brought the frozen dragon mummy to the local town, their buyer was none too pleased to see the body had been chewed on.
The man was clearly of some Germanic or Northern stock, having striking blond hair and piercing blue eyes and being impossibly tall. He wore finely made winter clothing, clean and dark in color, His scowl was not one to be reckoned with. The three miners wisely and quickly apologized, accepting the new offer of purchase with little complaint.
Without so much as a 'thank you' or 'goodbye', the blond man left. The miners counted and split their money. Whoever had laid them, they had been wealthy enough to pay in cash. Without a second glance or a second thought the three left the town, and their job.
The dragon body would be brought all the way to Colorado, in America. It would be there that one paleontologist in particular would be allowed to not only see the mummy, but work on it. Adelaide Lyons would be the first human to dissect and analyze the body of a forty-thousand year old corpse of a dragon.