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Skorga was hiding in the forest about her clan’s lair, mostly from Skjalg, Frida and her siblings. They kept wanting to go out hunting... she wanted to not do that! Waste of life! Waste of time! Too high risk. She was still a little rattled (okay, a lot if she was going to be honest with herself) from the last encounter with dragons. They were huge creatures! Well, the Ysali not as much as the others, but still large compared to her. They had stronger magic than her right now and could easily over power her, why should she risk pain, loss of limb or life for a stupid orb? They were shiny, yes they were, and she did like the power she sensed with in them… but not. She needed to hone her skills more. Come up with a better way to fight them. Others called the Ysali weak, pitiful; she hated them for that. They were not weak! They were merely the smallest of the dragons! The others were very proud of their Peisio and Diabi roots, bragging about how much stronger they were than the Ysali… She growled to herself. It galled her to be called weak. Even if she knew she was right now, to have those her age think they were strong just because of a fight or two… But… they did have a point.. she was weak compared to them. She’d seen them get stronger with more fights…

Sighing, Skorga slid out of her tree to the thick underbrush and slunk off deeper into the woods. This would not do. She shouldn’t let her fear of death or pain hold her back! She’d go hunting a dragon… And be prepared for it. I will see if I can sneak up on a dragon, strangle it with vines… or—She looked around, maybe she could lure one into a trap? No… not a Ysali. Another type yes, but a Ysali would sense the difference in the plants if she set a trap up with them. But a tactic to keep in mind for other dragons.
Skorga, while she was out lurking in the tall grasses and shrubs that covered the forest floor, kept an eye out for new plants, especially vines, flowering ones, or fruit bearing ones. She needed to create a nice little lair of her own; take over a glade, set up a lair within the thick roots of an old tree, then start decorating the entire area with plants. She found a patch of jasmine, small and mostly destroyed by the Ysali foot print, but enough surviving that she could transplant it. Wrapping it in magic, she placed it in the bag that hung about her neck. Then she turned her attention to the tracks: since it was there she might as well go hunting. Steeling herself, and telling herself that the fear was stupid and childish and she should get over it, Skorga stalked off along tracks, following the scent that still clung to the ground.

There were, she noticed after a while, two scents; one female, the other male. Complications, she thought with a silent hiss, but I shall try it, I’m not going to let my fear dictate what I do!

She followed the tracks out of the forest and stopped at the edge, her dark green scales with bright green stripes melding with the shadows and green bushes. Above her the black and dark blue-green leaves of Soudul rattled in the ocean breeze, in front of her the land fell away in a steep cliff and she could hear the dull roar of a waterfall. I must be near the outlet of that river that’s near our home! Skorga thought with surprise, I’ve traveled a far distance outside our territory. Creeping to the edge, she peeked over and saw her targets, two Ysali sitting near the waterfall. Mating. Okay, she thought, probably not something I should be watching… but… She turned her eyes towards the strong limbs of the plants nearby. At least it will keep them busy while I prepare to kill them. She was amused to note that they did it just like her people… something she’d have to tell Thani and Frida since she’d heard them and a bunch of others arguing if dragons and Khehora were a lot different or cousins or almost the same and so on. Silliness. We came from them, were once dragons, she thought to herself, goes to figure that we’re a lot like them. Foolish arguments. She settled down and reached out through the ground with her magic, traveling along roots until she reached the plants she wanted, then she encouraged them to grow, quietly, quickly down the cliff side towards the occupied dragons. Once they were within reach, Skorga called forth the vines and wrapped the dragons up before twisting the magic within the plants to replicate the energy of thorns. Long sharp black thorns burst from the plants, impaling the dragons as they struggled to escape. Their angry bellows were cut off suddenly and Skorga chuckled. She could do this! Though Skjalg would probably say that she killed from a far and didn’t actually face her fears of death… which was true… but she was going to ignore that for now. Humming happily to herself, she flared her wings and glided down to the bloody mess of vines and thorns. The dragons had disintegrated, leaving behind their souls for her to claim. She moved the branches aside and rolled the orbs out to look at them. Before stashing them in the now bulging bag about her neck. I’ll need a new bag soon! She thought as she turned to go.

She squeaked in surprise as she spotted a Ysali looking down at her from above on the other side of the cliff. Dashing forward, she flew away from the plants she’d used to kill the dragons, not wanting them to be used on her. I’m better at sneak attacks, not frontal assaults, she growled to herself as she flew up and over the cliff to flee into the forest. I’ll just… leave this at a win for today. Two dragons is nothing to sneeze at! Even if it was from the shadows with surprise!