Chapter two in my story, Tarnished Reflection. Just as a re-cap, One-Ear-Black, a Red dragon, and Niddhoggr Blackavar, a Black dragoness, are about to duel using only their claws, teeth, and skill. Nearby, they are being watched by an unseen dragon.
[The outskirts of Kull]
Cerulean crouched lower... her prey was within sight. A herd of the city's best cattle was lumbering out of their corral, milling about and bumping into one another, not sure where to go. They had scented the young Blue dragoness... she had no real hunting skills, and knew nothing of stalking prey, and that it helps to be downwind. Still, the cattle were more afraid of the lashes and dogs that were used to drive them from the city.
The half-grown, five foot tall Blue tensed, selecting a fat bullock near the edge of the herd. She'd have to be careful, since the herders were probably armed and fully capable of protecting their herd. Her only hope was that they were geared to ward off human theifs, not marauding dragons.
[Sixty miles away]
Niddhoggr pivoted on her haunch, watching the tall Red pace in front of her. One-Ear-Black had perfected the art of discerning weaknesses... all he had to do was keep her moving, and eventually the huge Black would show some sign of tiring or weakness. He reversed his direction and circled back around her the other way.
With a furious snort, Niddhoggr pivoted to the left, and her poorly healed flank dipped a bit... One-Ear-Black smiled. The scars must go all the way to the bone, must have cut through all that muscle and flesh. She can't turn left as well as she does the right... I've got her. One-Ear-Black reversed direction again, and faced her. Stretching his malformed wings, he began to spring lightly and continuously on his toes, clicking his claws together. Niddhoggr took the initiative to attack first, and bellowing at the top of her lungs, she charged for his throat.
The experienced Red pretended to reel backwards from the attack, but instead of letting her throw her considerable weight into him, he spun to the left and closed his jaws on her hind leg. Ignoring the fact that her teeth were slashing his hindquarters, he held on.
Niddhoggr roared and fumed, and snarled and slashed at One-Ear-Black, but he had effectively rendered her immobile. She didn't know why... he wasn't hurting her very much, and he had no way to attack because to hold her still, he had to hold relatively still as well. Besides, she was doing considerable dammage to his rear end, which was conveniently within her reach. It wasn't untill the bone diamond at the end of the older Dragon's tail clubbed her in the head that she knew. The world exploded and turned white in Niddhoggr's eye before everything went black.
[The outskirts of Kull]
"DRAGON!!!" The warning shouts of the humans rang in Cerulean's ears as she grappled the bullock, trying to kill it. To his credit, the bullock was puting up a good fight. The rest of the herd had scattered, dissappearing into the thick, tall grass. The shouts of the humans had distracted the young Blue, and with one last powerful kick, the bullock threw her from his back.
Cerulean dusted herself off and glanced over her shoulder... the humans were coming after her, adn they were armed with bows and crossbows. Before she could take flight, three arrows whisked past her, narrowly missing. Once in the air, she soared as high as possible, too high to be hit, and gazed longingly at the fleeing bullock.
The small Blue frowned at the scattering cattle, and swooped towards one that was fleeing a bit faster than the others. It was an old cow, wise and experienced, and moving very quickly. Cerulean took a deep breath and felt the soft, pleasant tingling of lightning in her mouth. With a snort, she blasted the old cow with an electric bolt. Tucking her thickly feathered wings, she dropped onto the striken, twicthing cow. It only took a minute or so of twisting and pulling to wrench off one of the cow's haunches. Cerulean extended her wings, ready to fly away with her meal, but the humans on horses had used that extra minute to catch up to her.
The fresh meat forgotten, Cerulean fled on foot, a thick crossbow dart embedded in her wing.
[Fifty miles away]
One-Ear-Black doubled back, trying to catch the scent of the unseen dragon. He'd caught a few wafts of the dragon a short time ago, and twice he'd heard the soft rustle of something moving through the grass. Even more suspicious was the presence of fresh tracks, wandering in an erratic circle around the unconscious Black, always kept at a distance but closer than One-Ear-Black was confortable with. What really bothered him was that the tracks themselves held no scent. They smelled vaguely like cinnamon and herbs, and of flowers, but not dragonish.
A soft lapping sound made One-Ear-Black whirl around, scanning the tiny creek for any sign of dragons. Odd... those ripples. The wind died down a while ago... it's as if... someone... was just... drinking? Without another thought, he snarled and invoked a spell by saying it's name, "Dispell Magic!"
One-Ear-Black found himself gazing up at the suddenly visible dragon. The older, bigger, more powerful dragon who had paused to get a mouthful of water.
[One hour later]
It was wonderfully warm. Niddhoggr was snuggled against another dragon, probably her mate, and he was licking her ears, caressing her back with his feathery wings. Feathery?! The Black's eyes snapped open in shock, and she jerked away from the huge dragon next to her. Such sudden movement made her head swim... a steady pounding accompanied by a throbbing pain ensued. Her memory jogged, and she winced in more than one kind of pain. It wouldn't be my love, Swift-Wing. He's been dead since I was exiled. Hmmm... that Red I fought must have hit me pretty hard. I...Niddhoggr snarled and began to twist her head around, searching for One-Ear-Black. He was nowhere in sight.
In confusion, she turned back to the massive dragon she'd woken up to. What she saw shocked her.
The dragon who stood before her was the biggest Blue dragon she'd ever seen. Niddhoggr was roughly nine feet tall... this dragon had to be ten feet at the very least. His fur was more black than blue; only his belly was a fairly bright color. The webbed spikes that ran down his spine were incredibly long, some over three feet. The fur at the end of his tail was also unbelieveably long. Niddhoggr could see that he was ancient... the skin and fur of his face and joint sagged with age, and there was a sense of power to him. The muscular Black found herself gazing into the most brilliantly blue eyes she had ever seen.
Niddhoggr folded her front legs, streching her right paw out, and laid her cheek on the ground, bowing to the giant Blue. When she spoke, her voice was soft and respectful. "I am Lady Blackavar, exiled from Clan Sulfur. I grovel in your prescence, master, sir... may I ask your name?"
The brilliant blue eyes were suddenly right in front of Niddhoggr's face, and she gasped in suprise. The Blue smiled, revealing worn yet sharp teeth. His voice sounded like claws scratching across bark. "You don't need to bow, Lady, I am no one, no one at all, or at least no one of import. Name? Certainly. You may ask me anything."
Niddhoggr stood, and waited for the Blue to continue. When he didn't, she tried again. "Sir, what is your name?"
"Nemesis, I am Nemesis... not 'sir,' just Nemesis." He spread his claws wide and smiled, an odd way of shrugging.
"Most call me Niddhoggr, I am well pleased to meet you, old one." Niddhoggr furrowed her brow. "Have you seen a tall Red somewhere around here? He has a black ear and very odd wings."
"I'm not sure," Nemesis replied, scratching his shoulder. "Do you mean that One-Ear-Black from Clan Pyro?"
"Yes! That's him," Niddhoggr looked around again, rearing back on her hind legs to look around. "Where has he gone?"
"You've been unconscious for a while now... he went off to hunt. Neither he nor I have eaten in a long time. Why don't you fly up a bit and see if he's returning yet?"
Niddhoggr opened her mouth to tell him that she couldn't her wing had been broken, then she realised it no longer hurt. She flexed the wing... someone had cast a healing spell on it, and it was as good as new. "I... I don't... It..."
Nemesis smiled. "One-Ear-Black told me to watch you, and I got bored. Hope you don't mind me taking the liberty of healing your wing."
"No, I... I don't..." Niddhoggr couldn't tell if the old dragon was being serious or not. "Thank you. I appreciate it very much. I don't mind..."
Niddhoggr frowned, not sure what to make of the ancient dragon.
[Ten miles due East]
Cerulean was running for her life. The hounds had been called out, and now the men who owned the cattle she had scattered, wounded and killed were howling for her blood. She had mannaged to wrench the dart out of her wing, but it still wouldn't support her in the air. Her legs, unused to all this work, were quickly wearing out. The men on horseback and their vicious hounds were gaining on her.
"Oh well," the young Blue said to herself, if I turn around, they'll kill me... but I can't run for long and I'd rather face them with at least some strength left. With as ferocious a snarl as she could muster, she whirled and charged her pursuers. Before they could get out of her way, she had overturned a horse, crushing the rider underneath the lean grey beast. Five hounds leapt into Cerulean's face, causing her to reel back. She let loose several lightning bolts, spooking the rider's horses and frying several of the dogs instantly. The blue fur of her sides turned dark red as one of the riders spurred his mount closer and raked her ribs with a spear. Cerulean was ready to give up, when she heard someone snarling as loudly as she was, no, louder. Someone behind her yelled, "Get down, Blue! Grrr... FLAME THROWER, FOURTH LEVEL!"
Cerulean flattened herself in the grass, and craned her neck to look behind her. The humans ceaced to attack her... instead, they were running, trying to get away. But from what? Still, whoever had yelled for her to get down was obviously trying to help, and she didn't dare move too much.
With a fuming, roaring sound, a huge fireball whizzed over Cerulean's prone form, slamming full into the side of one of the chargers the humans were riding. The noble horse was lifted off his feet, careening into several others. Within a second or so most of the riders and their horses were engulfed by flame. The few that had been missed kicked their horses in panic, fleeing back to the safety of the city.
Cerulean struggled to stand... untill a huge, red-furred paw pressed against her throat. "Your name and clan, Blue, or I will crush the life out of you."
"I... ack... I'm Ceru... Cerulean. Of... clan Sleet." She swallowed, or tried to, and winced. "Tha-ak... thank you... sir... fff... for y-" The Red's paw was suddenly gone. "-our help. I was in a bad spot." She rubbed her throat, not trying to get up, and frowned up at the tall Red. "Do you always greet dragons like that?"
One-Ear-Black lifted his lips, exposing his teeth. "You are, what, half my size? I am, what, three times as old, at least? You don't need to take that tone with me, youngling."
Without another word, One-Ear-Black grabbed a singed horse by the neck, dragging the entire carcass. Cerulean stood, rubbing dirt and grass into her wounds to try and stop the bleeding. "Hey, who are you? Aren't you even going to tell me your name? HEY!"
One-Ear-Black ignored the young Blue, who followed him, regardless. It made the lanky Red uneasy... so many strange dragons, in such a small area. Sooner or later, one or more would prove to be hostile... So far, he thought bitterly, I've been lucky.
Go to Chapter 3
