Grrel was lazying on a rock catching some sun rays when she saw Kadryn approaching with her bag stuffed full. Grrel rolled off her back and onto her feet to perch daintily on the edge of her large rock.
"I see a stuffed bag! Is there tasty food for me in it?" Grrel called out archly.
"Only some of it! There's word of a large Ysali dragon nearby that has been attacking children, it's killed 3 all ready. I was asked to deal with it before it killed anymore. So the rest of my bag contains bandages and stuff for the aftermath of battle. Care to join me in hunting, Grrel?" Kadryn responded. She dug out a carefully wrapped package that steamed gently in the cold. "Here's a pastry that Ma baked this morning, its something new she's been trying out. Different type of bread and filing, she wants to make something that's sturdy enough to last in my pack without crumbling." Kadryn smiled as she handed the delicious smelling treat to Grrel.
Grrel reared back onto her haunches and received the treat in her fore paws. As she quickly but cleanly ate the treat she thought over what Kadryn had asked. Hunt her larger cousins with someone that her clan had told her came from egg stealers? Well, that would certainly shock her family clan! Grrel growled with pleasure as she finished devouring Kadryn's gift. If only she could cook too....
"Well, I will admit that it is odd to go actively hunting Dragons, but since they have killed children, then you must do what needs to be done to protect your clan.. er, I mean village. I have only had one encounter with a Ysali, so I might not be of any help in this fight. Grrel hated to admit she was less than perfect, but she hated lying even worse.
"Oh that's alright, I can take out a Ysali easily by myself. It's the Kiandri Dragon's that are difficult.. Opps! Sorry Grrel, but.. um..." Kadryn blushed and stumbled to a halt as she realized that she could be insulting Grrel, who was, after all, a Kiandri Drakein and might not take well to Kadryn hunting her larger cousins.
"Indeed?"Grrel tilted her head and gazed at Kadryn, amused and pleased, "It is only right that Kiandri's be more difficult, we are after all, a superior breed! Lightning is by far the best, in my humble opinion. Besides, I dislike those lumbering idiots of Dragons, they think bigger is better, when that simply is not true! To judge my upon my size, it offends!" Grrel sniffed, she still smarted from being called ugly runt by the Dragons she had encountered in her journeys.
"Is that so?," Kadryn hid a smile at Grrel's arrogant reply, "well, that's good then. I started out hunting Ysali's, so if you want to get stronger that's the place to start! Though it did take Ismiril helping me to kill my first Dragon.." Kadryn smiled at the memory, "Ready to head out?"
"Of course! But who is Ismiril?" Grrel asked as she started walking alongside Kadryn into the snow covered forest.
"Izzy is a Dovaa, not sure which clan he's chosen though. When we first met, I thought he was a girl; I mean how could a boy be that feminine and pretty and still be a guy?! Didn't find out he was a boy until I helped my mom clean him up, he was all covered in blood, mud and dragon drool! Hmm, I suppose I should start at the beginning....." Kadryn's light husky voice made the hours pass by quickly as Grrel and her traveled to where the Ysali was last spotted. Grrel found her tale light and amusing; Kadryn was skilled in telling an engaging tale, she had practice from bed time stories for her little brother. While Grrel would never admit it to anyone, challenging a Dragon scared her, they were so much bigger and stronger than her! And she only knew the basic spells! Kadryn's story calmed her, if Kadryn could do it when she was smaller than Grrel was now, Grrel was not going to back down! She knew that Kadryn was stronger than her, and she was bigger than the Orderite! So maybe winning didn't depend on size.... Plus, watching Kadryn fight would give her hints on how to defend against a two-leggers attacks. Grrel had heard about the missing eggs and worried that the two-leggers had discovered about the Bond and powers that came from enslaving Drakein young... She would need to know how to fight them to defend her people.
It was late afternoon when Kadryn and Grrel came upon the Ysali. It was a young one, and looked malnourished to Grrel's eyes; was he attacking Orderite children because he couldn't catch or find any of the normal prey? She pitied him, but you couldn't attack the children of a clan, every Drakein knew that the future was in the eggs, and they must be defended to the last! These Orderite's seemed to feel the same way, or at least that was what she got from Kadryn.
"Let me try to beat him, I will need the experience." It took a lot of effort for her to say that; to charge such a large Dragon alone? Oh how it frightened her. Hopefully Kadryn wasn't aware of her fear, that would be so embarrassing!
Kadryn gave her a look she didn't understand before nodding and sitting back on her heels.
"Be my guest, I'll back you up should you need it." Kadryn had read the fear in Grrel's muscles; she had faced enough dragons to know when one was confident or afraid. Grrel's insistence on fighting alone despite her fear impressed Kadryn; she too knew how it felt and how difficult it was to overcome your fears. Besides, it would be good for Grrel should she defeat it alone, and if she couldn't, well Kadryn was there to help and could give her some advice.
The fight that followed had Kadryn covering her eyes, how had Grrel defended herself up to this point! She didn't know anything on where to attack, when to attack or when to dodge!... That and she kept trying to use her lightning which wasn't that effective. Did she not know that Ysali's were somewhat resistant to lightning? It would have been better to use her fangs and claws...
Shaking her head as Grrel got ensnared by the Ysali's vines, Kadryn grabbed her mace and charged the Dragon.
Grrel really needed to learn how to fight.....
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