The rising of the sun was glaring,
yet the day seemed so dark. High on the top shelf of the cliffs, a
perch rarely touched, two beings stood. One massive, and one small,
one predator and one prey. Yet, they stood side by side, the same
worry in their eyes, a bond between them, and a purpose they shared,
even if both didn’t truly know it.
The morning rays gleamed over the
vibrant green scales of the dragon on the cliff, lighting him up like
a beacon, high above all else. A shimmering verdant be

The woodland was all but silent,
withdrawn into itself, all it’s less than sentient denizens were
hidden away in their homes, daring not to even look out. The lengthy
truce between the dragons and the woodland that shielded their home
was being called on, with danger approaching, each dragon could feel,
deep in their hearts that they had to protect their forest as much as
the nest. The forest was their tie to the world, where they hunted,
and returned the remains of their meals to the soil. Ov

The tension on the air had reached
its peak, finally piercing the shielding woodland to batter the
cliffs where the dragons lived, every adult dragon nudged their
children deeper into the caves, standing at the entrance to their
homes, looking out with worry, each knowing something was coming,
knowing their nest was no longer safe, and each had only one concern
on their minds, to keep the young dragons safe, and to not force
those young dragons to see their parents killed in front of them, as
so

The sun rose, spreading an empty
light over the land, its normal warmth seemed lacking, but maybe it
was simply not noticed. The world was holding its breath; even humans
could see the signs, feel the brewing turmoil in the very spirit of
the land. Though humans, by their very nature were blind to the ebb
and flow of things, the storm brewing was one not even they could
ignore.
The night past the local slayers had
been thrown a ray of hope, new leadership. As a carriage rolled in
they had found

The mood of the morning was somewhat
chaotic in the village. Mixed feelings were abound as the residents
woke and left their homes to see the broken husk that had been the
slayer fort. An overwhelming sense of fear spun the mood, for while
the slayers had been feared in their own right the fear of dragons
was greater. The tales of a lone dragon breaking through the walls
turned into a horde, with fangs dripping blood and fire in their eyes
by midday. Some felt pity for the slayers, some were ang

The morning brought a tentative
optimism to the village as the people woke and began the daily
routines. The slayers had receded somewhat, taking the tension with
them. They had given no more explanation to their sudden departure
than they had to the sudden force they had placed in the streets only
the day before. The villagers all were glad to not have slayers
poking around in such numbers. Though, not all were having such an
optimistic morning.
Umil shook his pounding head as he
looked blearil

The tension over the village had
risen sharply, the residents walked around, flinching as they saw
more and more of the local slayers in the streets. The slayers, clad
in armour, carrying weapons exuded an aura of danger. The average
villager had no way to stand against such people, and that scared
them, no matter their feelings towards the slayers. Knowledge of why
the slayers were out in force might have helped ease the populace,
not that they got answers if they asked. The reason for the slay

The morning was fresh and new, a
tension lifted. The little creeping fear that hung unseen in the back
of the mind of prey had lifted, and everyone there felt better for
it. The removal of Firsa was not known by the humans, yet each took a
deep breath, feeling at ease. Yet, the air was not relaxing merely
over the humans; even the rising dragons could feel it.
Serac woke slowly, a simply
contentment wafting over him. He felt rested and calm and with a
delectable scent flowing into his nostrils,

The soft chirping of the morning
birds woke Serac from a light sleep. The whole night he’d been
plagued by bad dreams and he just couldn’t bare it any longer. The
harsh lesson he was learning, spending time with humans, getting to
like them meant he had to risk getting his heart broken. All humans
were fair game when a dragon was hunting, if he had more friends then
surely some would simply disappear, and he’d be left wondering
which of the dragons he knew had devoured the creature. The
re

The dreams of the night had been
good to Serac, he had soared the clouds with Raven clinging to his
back, a mixture of his two greatest wishes. To break the ground’s
smothering hold had always been his dream, but to have Raven by his
side, he only now realised just how much he wanted that human by him.
Unfortunately the images the day brought to his mind were less
soothing.
He remembered when younger being
told time and again to never go into the forest on his own, he was
told endlessly of the

For a mere moment Serac panicked as
he woke. Human form had always felt strange, but he’d never woken
as that before, it was almost frightening. The loud bustling of the
humans overwhelmed his senses, for some time he just moaned lightly
till his mind adjusted. The sun barely glanced into the hole Raven
called home, the world Serac viewed when he looked to the side seemed
so much brighter than where he was now. It was disheartening; Raven’s
world was so dark… Surely if he revealed himself

As any experienced dragon would
expect, the fury of the humans quickly died away in the light that
almost half of the slayers that charged into the woods to enact their
human revenge didn’t return. The angry villagers were brutally
reminded of their fears and promptly rallied to force the slayers
back into their fort, lest they provoke more trouble. The village
reacted as one; the loss of one child hurt them all as it certainly
wasn’t a stretch to imagine their child would be next. Yet, desp

The cliff-side home of the dragons
was more divided than most there realised. Several families lived
with their young in the large cave near the ground, it allowed them
to discuss while raising their young. It also granted the children a
chance to get to know each other. The cave’s best feature was that
it had an escape at the back in case of the worst case scenario.
Searing memories of the early days of humanity’s betrayal still
lingered in the minds of some dragons, the horror of a nest ra

A fresh morning brewed on the
horizon as the village woke, another day with nobody they knew
missing, it was a good day. That just down the road on the trail
through the woods a family had become a meal was unknown to them,
perhaps a hunter would find scattered belongings, but it wouldn’t
register. The village was fairly certain a dragon lived in the woods,
that people got eaten, they’d just be glad it was nobody they knew.
It gave the little fort above the level of the village a purpose, to

The morning sun rose, shining over a
large village nestled on the edge of a vast wood, the wood darkened
in the shadow of a mountain, more wide than tall. The village owed
its size to the small fort holding a position above the houses,
overlooking the settlement.
To the ancient eye, however, such
things received only a flickering glance, they were new by
comparison. Through the forest of olden trees, at its deepest point
where it hugged the mountain, a companion for many centuries, the
trees bec