Dragon Unborn

[Darth Valravus]

Location: Mountain Range, Arkania
Time: Mid-afternoon
Participants: @Logan @Darasuum
Theme: Gripir ❅ Danheim

Zan was not surprised by Bob's dissapearance. The man had struggled with normal activities but hiking up a mountain was something unto itself. To add to it he had been warned of a possible fight with a reptillian beast upon arriving at the top. The Deucalian woman though, had been fine leaving the man behind. Their guide had already led them to the prime location of where these winged beasts resided. The local had of course departed shortly there after, not wanting to risk his own early death.

Trudging up the side of the mountain it was cold and a constant wind blew across the steep mountain side. The actual domain of the dragons was not far and not actually at the top of the mountains. A large cave somewhere nearby most likely. If there was one awake and in the cave this would be difficult. Though maybe Zan would get lucky and be able to sneak in and steal the egg without an issue.

Taking in a deep breath of fresh mountain air she felt oddly at home. The wilderness, the danger, the possible reward. It was a simple and good way to live in her opinion. Setting her sentiment aside her mind focused on the task ahead and continued to scale up the mountainside. He cloaked body covered in thick furs to protect against the coldness of the altitude.

 

[The Storyteller]

With a god-like grace a massive winged creature dove and soared through the Arkaninan sky. Her name was Breya, though no other creature in the world besides another dragon would ever know or understand that name.

To the other inferior creature she would simply be called dragon or monster or scaly beast. It didn't matter, though. Breya couldn't talk and didn't understand how to be offended. But if she could, boy would she be offended by the lesser creatures not knowing her name.

Breya was on a mission; currently out hunting in an attempt to bulk up for an extended time where she'd be unable to go and come on a whim. She had recently birthed a clutch of eggs and they were tightly tucked away inside of her cavernous home.

But when they hatched, she'd need to look after them and most importantly amply feed them. That meant she might go without if the hunting bounty was slim. So for now, she'd seen fit to stuff her gut with as much meat as possible. It would help her keep energy during the hungry times ahead.

As she flew - not daring to venture too far from her lair, not wanting to leave her clutch undefended for a long time - Breya suddenly caught a scent that was unfamiliar to her. That concerned her, as she'd lived in this area for many years and had seen all of its creatures and sniffed all of its scents. The worry of motherhood took over her dragon brain, and she decided that there was much daylight left for hunting and checking on her clutch would be the better option right now.

Banking hard to her left, Breyna pulled a u-turn and rocketed off back towards her lair. It would still take her several minutes to get there even while flying at full speed. If there was something near her home that didn't belong, it would soon meet a painful and... crispy end.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The only sound that reached Zan ears was the cold wind that wiped through her braided locks. A gloved hand held her small backpack tight. It was getting colder, the air was getting noticeably thinner but it was not too great of a trial. Dragons were large beasts and so from a distance she could see the opening where one resided. But it was still a ways off and would take a few moments to reach.

Every once in awhile she would glance towards the sky to see if there was any obvious reptilian beast flying through the air. At first, as she trudged over the rock and snow, Zan thought there was nothing but a bird. But then she realized that the animal was far more distant and in turn, larger than it appeared. It was clear it was heading towards her, or rather the cave's location.

Still, a ways off she would take the time to preform the ritual the nightsisters had taught her. A cloud of greenish mist would form and the Crusader would step through, turning relatively invisible. Afterwards she would slowly make her way up to the mouth of the cave. Taking great care, the woman would walk on solid rock, or stable ice to not form tracks. Zan only hoped her smell was not so great that the dragon would be able to pick her own easily despite her attempts at remaining covert.

@Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

Breya came to land a dozen meters or so outside the mouth of her home, reptilian eyes scanning the world around. Nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary and things were quiet, but the mother-dragon couldn't help but still feel a touch of unease. It was instinctual and she didn't really understand why she felt this way, but something still... smelled off about what was going on.

Deciding to check on her clutch, Breya took off from the ground so that she was about eight meters or so up and flew into the mouth of the cave. The entrance was tall and wide, but the cave itself tapered off in a gradual slope as you moved towards the back until it was maybe only a meter high. That's where her clutch was tucked, nestled in loose grasses and twigs so they'd stay put. All the eggs that she'd laid were still there, though it took Breya going nearly halfway into the cavern before she could adequately see them.

Perched on a piece of rock that jutted out from the wall, Breya surveyed the entrance to her home once more. She was hungry and would have much loved to return to the open air and to her previous hunt, but the tug of motherly intuition prevented her from leaving for now.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The huffing of the dragon did not go unnoticed. However, Zan was not well versed in how they were supposed to act. Was it an indication of some kind, a ritual for her? The Deucalian did not know.

The woman kept moving. Each step soft and measured. Well past the snow she did not need to worry about making tracks in the white powder anymore. But there were puddles, pebbles and dirt. Taking a gulp Zan even thought about her breathing and heart rate.

Steadily she got further and further towards the back. She could see the nest but not the eggs, not yet. The dragon turned and looked outwards, towards the entrance. Zan stopped for a moment. Her hand gripped moved towards the hilt of her lightsaber but did not pull it. She began unclipping her pelt topped cloak.

Before she completely released it, she focused on raising herself above the ground. It was hard, especially combined with invisibility. This was going to be a risk and probably make her very tired very quickly. Hovering just a centimeter off the ground she released her cloak.

It would no longer be protected by Zan's invisibility as it was no longer on her person. Chances were the dragoness would see it. Since it smelled of her perhaps it would satisfy its worried vigilance. Meanwhile, while it tried to investigate her disposed attire the Deucalian would cover ground, or rather air, towards the nest directly. Since she did not have to worry about stepping on the proper places anymore it was a direct B line for the nest.
@Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

In her state of hyper-vigilance Breya was in the mood to fight first and ask questions later. As soon as Zandrali's cloak would seemingly materialize out of nowhere, Breya's eyes snapped to its location and her mouth opened wide. Fire poured from her gullet, engulfing everything in front of her. The initial blast was centered on the cloak, but she would continue blowing fire near the ground closer to her clutch.

Jumping down from her perch, Breya blocked the exit of her cavern. She didn't know what, but there was something inside of her home that did not belong here. A mighty roar escaped her serpentine lips, though it wasn't accompanied by fire... this time. Whatever was inside of her cave would not make it out alive, and for sure would not be messing with her clutch. She was willing to die to protect them.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

Even as she got clear of the danger of the fire it was intense. Her hair would be frazzled and the stench of smoke would cling to her for days probably. Gritting her teeth she touched down just over the clutch of eggs. But she did not reach for them right away.

Keeping an eye towards the door way she stared at the dragoness. Her eyes looked back down at the eggs and back up at the beast that now seemed very aware that something was off. Zan did not have a lot of time. She could not maintain invisibility indefinitely. She was not sure how the dragon would react if she just grabbed one of the eggs and bolted.

With one hand she pulled out a concussion grenade and a fragmentation grenade in either hand. Her plan, throw both of them, towards the Breya's head. She doubted the explosion from either would do much. At least they would either disorient or cause the dragon to blink. That was when Zanplanned on snatching up one of the eggs with on hand and then draw her lullaby blaster pistol with the other. All the while she maintained her personal invisibility. If given enough time she would stow the egg in a net like sack around her waist. Zan wanted to have a hand free in case another blast of those flames came. Force Barrier would be required for that sort of thing.

The moment something left her person she knew the grenades would be visible. Dragons had sharp eyes and senses. Hopefully the sudden appearance of the small objects would not be enough for her to react to. With one being concussion the disorienting affect would be more than the fragmentation grenade and probably keep it busy for longer. The fragmentation grenade though would possibly actually cause some injury against the sensitive mouth or eyes. Whatever the case she had thrown two in the event that one got stopped by the dragonness.@Logan

 

[The Storyteller]

Breya's attention never left the area near her clutch. Her eyes were showing her nothing was there, but her brain and her instincts were telling her not to trust her vision alone. These instincts would prove to be finely honed and trustworthy as she saw the two small ball-like things seemingly manifest from thin air and begin flying towards her.

Not really knowing what they were, obviously, Breya did the first thing that came to her dragon mind. With a mighty buffet of her wings, Breya sent a powerful gust of air towards the projectiles, sending them flying back to where they came from. Both grenades would land a meter or so away from Zandrali and then explode, likely disorienting her as well as sending dangers frag shrapnel in all directions. Some of it even hit Breya, though the tiny pieces of metal did not do much against her thick dragon hide. The other grenade did disorient her vision a little bit, but Breya didn't really need great vision to do what she was going to do next anyway.

Rearing back, Breya send another plume of fire directly into the area that the weird ball things had come from. She did not worry about her clutch, they could stand up to the flames. Anything else in the vicinity, though, would likely get incinerated if it remained too long.

@Darasuum

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

Spanning what distance was available inside the cave the dragoness flapped her wings violently stopping the grenades and sending them back towards her. The gust of wind was so powerful Zan could feel the soles of her feet moving against the rock a few centimeters as well. She held up her forearms criss crossing one another too keep debris and to begin summoning the force barrier around her. The range of each of the grenades was too great and the devices too close for her to react in any other way.

The act of creating the barrier dropped her invisibility though. Whether that was calculated or just instinctual she could not say. Right now her adrenaline was beginning to pump. Fear and frustration both welled up inside her. But the motivation to slay the dragon before her also grew. Like all Deucalians she wanted to be famed and respected. To live a life that was worth living and if she faced off against a mighty reptilian beast and died then she at least made the attempt. But if she was victorious then she would be legendary.

After the grenades exploded she dropped the barrier. The shimmer of it faded before the jets of flame came. Instead letting down both arms, empty of any device she closed focused with all her might. She knew the scales of the dragon was impervious to flames. But having studdied them well enough before hand she knew that their internal organs were not meant for dealing with fire. A force barrier was not a complete defense against flames either nor cold.

For those reason, focusing all her attention on the jet of flames being projected towards her she halted it using her skill at the force fire technique and redirected back into the dragons mouth and down into its gullet as far as it would go. It would likely not kill the beast but at least weaken it severely. The already produced flames meant she had no need to conjure or intensify the devastating flames. Instead just redirect their current back towards Breya. Her brow was sweating all the while both from the heat and the her own exertion. Teeth clenched she had a resilient fury that burned inside just as intensely as the flames she was sending back towards the dragon open mouth, the one place it was not impervious to the flames.
@Logan

 

[Darth Valravus]

___________________

The dragon, still an animal was of a singular mind and did not try to adjust for the flames being turned back towards it and in turn going back down inside its vulnerable internal organs. Zan's face, contorted from the effort and struggle showed her teeth while both arms had veins popping despite the force being used. The internal temperature of the cave had risen rapidly and the effort she was putting out made her sweat.

A loud cough and gout of cinder filled smoke shot fromt he dragon's mouth from its damaged internal parts. It coughed, staggering from its flash burned insides. A reptilian weeze escaping its mouth. Zan took a step back, waiting for a follow up attack, thinking it might still have some fight left in it. But the Deucalian was surpised when the beast crashed to the ground, one eye open, its tongue lolling out as smoke continued to curl out of its mouth as its ashy insides came out.

Zan stood there, staring at the lifeless creature. Her body shaking from the intensity of what had just happened. Touching the egg she still had in her possession she walked over to the dragon. They were hardy beasts and the woman wanted to make sure that the creasture was dead and cut the throat. Nothing happened, not even a twitch from the act act.

The Crusader had not intended to kill the dragon, just take one of the eggs. But circumstances had led to this and now she could say she had slayed such a magnificent monster. Now that there was no dragon to worry about she would be able to signal her ship to come pick her up. To add to it, she would make sure to harvest the arkanian dragon's body. It would make a trophy to remember the trial as well as the hatchling to come.

❅ END THREAD ❅​