Zoltar rushed home towards the Shadow Lands. The wind from his wings
churning the ocean as he soared low over the dark waters. A mountain loomed in
front of him, its peak a blazing fury of scarlet and gold fire. Black clouds of
chest burning ash spewed from the volcano's gaping mouth.
Small tears ran down Zoltar’s snout as he neared home. His heart felt
like teeth where tearing at it from the inside, while his stomach felt like a
boiling pool of sulfur. He didn’t know whether to be angry or sad. The two
emotions seemed to be waging their own war inside of him, each battling
for dominance. All he knew was that the attack had not been an accident. That creature had been following orders and had chased them into an ambush. The Wisp Talons were to blame for Scorpus and Mowzan’s deaths. The more
he focused on the attack, the more angrier Zoltar felt. Why had the Wisp Talons attacked
them? They hadn’t been doing anything wrong.
As if in agreement, the volcano rumbled and belched out more streams of
molten rock. The rivers of glowing crimson lava twisted over the bleak
landscape like snakes on their way to the sea. Caves potted the matted black
hills of rock. Ash and sulfur clouded the scorching air. The foul gasses raked
Zoltar's chest with toxic claws, causing him to cough and gasp.
Zoltar carefully landed on a slab of solid rock next to one of the
numerous caverns carved out of the landscape. There was not another Shadow Talon in sight as the evening's long fingers crept over the desolate plain.
It was never a good idea to stay out at night on these magma strewn rocks. Packs of ravenous Flytang raptors hunted by the light of the lava flows and would take down anything they could find; big or small.
Zoltar flinched as a grey mouse ran
over one of his claws. His stomach growled with hunger, but the thought
of blood made his stomach churn like a raging sea. Sighing, he ducked
inside the cave, relieved to be out of the intense heat.
Glowing fire rocks lit up the tunnel, their red light flickering in the
murky darkness. Stale air clouded the passages. The floor felt rough under
Zoltar’s scaly paws unlike the soft, green grass he longed for. He wished that
the Shadow Talons could move back up onto the surface, but the air up there was
just too blisteringly hot and could kill a dragon in hours. In these endless
caverns the air was unpleasantly warm, but not fatal.
As Zoltar voyaged deeper underground, he passed many dark passageways
that snaked off in many different directions. All was quiet in the corridor
apart from the clacking of his claws on the rock. Three years ago the volcano
had killed over half the tribe in an eruption, so lots of the tunnels and
rooms Zoltar passed were empty. The air around him felt hauntingly still like the souls
of those who were lost were still wandering the tunnels as silent ghosts. The
tribe had moved as far away from the volcano as possible to reduce the risk of
another disaster, though there was still the looming possibility that the
volcano would belch out another massive eruption and take the rest of the Shadow
Talons lives with it.
A shiver ran down Zoltar's spine as he remembered that dreadful day
three years ago when the mountain had opened and spewed flaming death down on
the Shadow Talon city below. They hadn't stood a chance against rivers of lava
once they’d crashed into their houses and the ones who'd managed to get into
the air had been knocked out of the sky by the burning boulders flying through
the air. If it hadn't been for Scorpus demanding that he join the soldiers on
their trip to gather food, he would have been killed just like the rest of his
village. The thought caused a new wave of tears to fall from Zoltar’s eyes.
Scorpus had always been there for him, comforting him when the other dragonets
made fun of him or training him to become a soldier. Now he was gone forever,
lost to the winds of time. Taken by the Wisp Talons.
Zoltar sniffed, wiping away his tears. The chief wanted soldiers to ignore personal grief and focus on completing the mission. Entering the throne room with tears streaking down your snout was the exact
opposite of what he should do. Scorpus would want him to be strong and deliver
the information like a proper soldier.
He passed another cavern, but unlike the others, this one had a Shadow Talon inside. She was curled up around a pile of mouse fur and clumps of fresh dirt. There was a single black egg nestled in the nest. It looked almost ready to hatch.
Zoltar realized with a stab of worry that there was no father in sight. This probably meant he'd been killed on one of the expeditions for new land.
The female guarding the nest was in a sorry state herself and was heavily emaciated. Zoltar felt a wave of guilt pass over him. He'd been able to get a decent amount of food since he'd become a soldier and was able to venture out of the Shadow Lands on missions.
He looked back at the egg by it's mothers side. There was little chance of the dragonet inside surviving with it's mother in such poor condition. It had become a sad, but familiar sight since the eruption.
Sighing, Zoltar moved on.
Finally he reached the end of the tunnel, which finished in a large room lit
by many scarlet fire stones. In the middle of the room was a beautiful gold
throne with a hefty, black Shadow Talon the size of a bull elephant seated
on it. His violet, curved horns glinted like polished glass and his poisonous
barbed tail rested like a waiting snake next to his throne. He narrowed his cat
like eyes as Zoltar walked into the room. Zoltar spread his wings elegantly and
bowed, waiting for the dragon's commands, just as Scorpus had taught him.
"What news do you bring of the island?" the chief asked in a
deep rumbling voice, staring at Zoltar with his glowing eyes.
"Scorpus was killed,” Zoltar blurted, just the mention of Scorpus’s
death causing his chest to tighten. A tide of emotions was throwing its self
against his heart and it took every ounce of his will power to control his
feelings.
After a few seconds to recompose himself, Zoltar continued, “So was
Mowzan.” This time there was a touch of steel on the edge of his voice. No
emotions cascading against his chest. There was nothing. In his heart of hearts
Zoltar knew why. He was glad Mowzan was gone. That dragon had been the bane of
his life since he’d be a hatchling. But a part of him felt bad for Mowzans death. He probably had a family some were in the Shadow Lands. They would suffer now that he wasn't there to provide for them.
A sigh escaped Zoltar's throat before could continue, “We were investigating the island like you instructed,” Zoltar started,
trying to sound as formal as possible under the circumstances, “By sundown we’d
found nothing. I strongly suggested to the others that we should r-return.”
Zoltar’s voice started to waver and he had to force down the torrent
of emotions sweeping through his head. Taking a deep breath, he continued, “Despite
my warnings, Scorpus and Mowzan decided that it would be best if we carried on
a bit longer. The sun had just about set when we heard a roar come from the
east side of the island.”
Shivers ran down Zoltar’s spine, “Once again I told
them that we should turn back, but still they didn’t listen. Instead they
decided to follow the sound. We were ambushed by a panther like beast.
It was t-ten times our size and much faster. It d-d-drove us into an
a-a-ambush." Zoltar realized he was starting to stutter and tried to stomp down
the feelings building inside him.
“Mowzan and
S-S-Scorpus were killed… by W-Wisp Talons,” A growl escaped Zoltars throat as a thin tear ran down his snout. It was the Wisp Talons fault that Scorpus had been killed and he'd make them pay with their lives. He desperately tried to look like he wasn’t
upset, but the tears just wouldn’t stay down. Sniffing, he wiped his eyes.
“Wait,” the chief hissed, “Go back to the part about the panther.
Describe what it looked like again.”
Zoltar stood there for a second in bewilderment. Wasn’t Hisster going to
yell at him about what a shameful soldier he was? He shook his head in
amazement, but did as the chief asked, “Well…it was about five times larger
than you and had a very cat-like build. It was covered from head to talon in
these kind of diamond black scales all the way down to its spear-like tail,”
Zoltar swallowed the lump building his throat, the image of what he’d
encountered streaking vividly through his mind. Red glowing eyes staring
straight into your soul and sharp bat-like ears tracking every move he made. A
shiver ran down his spine. Nothing in this world could have be worse than that
encounter.
Zoltar looked back up at Hisster to find that the Shadow Talon had
started to tremble. A strange red light had come into his eyes and his tail was
lashing dangerously back and forth.
“Are you okay?” Zoltar asked in a whisper. The only time he’d see
Hisster like this had been after the volcano eruption had wiped out over half
the tribe, including his own family. It had been a tragic day for many Shadow
Talons. Ever dragon in the tribe had lost a loved one. Hisster had never
been the same since.
Hisster growled, whispering, “I thought it was a legend.
This means they are stronger than we thought
“What? What is it?” Zoltar asked anxiously.
“Follow me,” Hisster ordered, getting up from his throne. He strode past
Zoltar, his back spines bristling. Zoltar followed him up the tunnel, curiosity
willing him to go faster.
All the way Hisster growled and muttered angrily to
himself, “It can’t be. It’s not possible. It was supposed to be gone.”
Finally they turned down another tunnel into a huge library piled to the
ceiling with shelves and shelves of scrolls. The air was filled with the
pleasant smell of musty books. The books had always been kept underground to keep them safe from the rain that had once showered the plains. They were the one thing that had been spared during the eruption.
Hisster marched past Zoltar over to a section labelled: Myths and
Legends. He stood there scanning the rolls of brown paper until he pulled out
an old, dusty scroll. He blew on it softly, sending a cloud of fine dust
floating through the air. Hisster gently opened the document and proceeded to
skim over the contents. After a few minutes he inhaled sharply and let out a
small snarl.
“What is it?” Zoltar asked longingly. His insides felt like they were
being slowly eaten.
“What you happened to encounter was a creature called an Exltron. It’s said that the Wisp Talons have managed
to tame it and use it to keep dragons off their land,” Hisster began,
his voice laced with irritation as he took the scroll and placed it back on
the shelf, “I already knew of this before sending you to the island, but since
it was thought to be a folklore to keep dragons from landing on the island I
took no notice of it. Apparently that wasn’t the case.”
Zoltar gritted his teeth and his tail barb trembled. Hisster had sent
them to the island knowing that they might run into an ambush and didn’t even
have the decency to warn them about it. Even now he didn’t even have the grace
to look the least bit guilty about it.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm
his nerves. There was a touch of steel in his voice when he spoke again, “Sir, I really
think we need back up. We don’t have enough dragons to take over this island.”
Anger clinched his heart as he thought about the Wisp Talons and how Hisster could have warned Scorpus about what he and his group were getting into.
“True. We have been looking for an island for the last three years and I
know that during that time we’ve lost a lot of good soldiers. We'll go to the Forbidden Hills to see the Howler Dragons. They'll be able to get rid of that
Exltron and those Wisp Talons.” Hisster snarled, throwing back his head
defiantly.
A strange coldness swept over Zoltar at the mention of the Howler
Dragons, “But sir, bringing the Howler Dragons into it could just make things
worse. You know what happened to the Lightning Talons. I really don’t think this
is a good idea.”
“Zoltar, I know that you are just trying to help, but I know a lot more
than you. We are going to the Howler dragons and you’re coming with me, like it
or not. The other soldiers are still away scouting for new islands,” Hisster growled, striding out of the room
Raking his talons against the hard lava floor, Zoltar hissed under his
breath, “Fine, but when this all goes south, I am not pulling you out of the
muck.”
Let's begin...
Throw in some action from Zoltar (peering into the rooms, going down the halls, etc.) to divide it up better.
Points: 481
Reviews: 117
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