Okay, so apparently even the normal Kiandri dragons weren't as easy to take on as she though they would be. Instead of discouraging her, this only reinforced her conviction to continue training. "I will not leave the Malro Desert," Kamala said out loud, infusing her words with the booming certainty of a promise, "until I am strong enough to destroy this tyrant of Kiandri dragons." Her words sounded crisply through the arid air, any echoes muffled by the sandy surroundings, and Kamala was pleased. Really, the Kiandri dragons should thank her for getting rid of who was obviously their local dictator. Other than, well, the whole killing them in order to train up for the challenge thing.
Still, sacrifice a few and to save the many. Kamala decided to give the lone surviving Kiandri dragon from the previous encounter a break and look for another dragon to hassle. She winged left, then right, looking for a suitable prey. After a moment, she found another pair of Kiandri dragons, both also looking like average, healthy specimens of the species.
This time, however, she did not land immediately. Instead, Kamala decided to observe their habits from above for a little longer. They had evidently evolved well to survive in the desert; their hides blended well into their sandy surroundings except for the telltale glint of the sunlight off their scaly bodies. Kamala noticed with interest they seemed to have no trouble moving across the slippery sand, something which had been significantly hindering her motion across the terrain. It had been rendering her less effective than usual, though still fast enough to outrace most Kiandri. It was something in the way that they placed their feet, a detail which Kamala hadn't had the time to observe before, having been so caught up in the thrill of the battle. Kamala landed a short ways behind them, silently, so as not to alarm them, and tried to imitate their style of walking. It involved spreading out her talons more than she was used to, but helped with the slipping. Her feet just weren't made for it. Still, if she could remember to keep her claws spread out more, perhaps she could find more purchase and move with more force in battle.
Well, that was enough observation from afar, but Kamala still wanted to take the opportunity to observe them during battle. All this thinking was not a custom of Kamala's, but the best way to defeat an enemy was to know him. It wasn't like she had to make any plans or anything. She was just looking.
Kamala cleared her throat. The two Kiandri dragons turned. "I'm going to be killing you now," she announced, as before.
The two dragons did their weird vibration thing and zipped forward. This time, Kamala made sure to keep her eyes wide open. Don't blink, don't blink, don't blink -- she told herself. She could actually see the blur of the dragons where they moved. Flattening her hindclaws against the sand, Kamala prepared to dodge. She did so, nimbly, right before the two blurs reached where she was. The Kiandri dragons dug their claws into empty air and sand.
"Nah nah! Missed me," said Kamala, sticking out her tongue. The Kiandri dragons sprung toward her again, without using their special lightning speed, and Kamala dodged them with considerable more ease this time. "Oh no you don't. You won't be even close to catching me unless you use your special ziparoo thing. Go on, try it."
The dragons growled at her taunting, shaking their heads in irritation. Kamala forced herself to not blink once again as they vibrated and tapped into their lightning speed. This time, one came right at her and the other went up and over. Kamala struck where the throat of the blur in front of her would be, then quickly dodge rolled to the side to avoid an attack from the back. She struck at the blur above her as she rolled.
Both blurs vanished, replaced by a Kiandri dragon orbs. Kamala picked herself up and collected her spoils of the battle into her bag. She squinted at the hot desert sun that had watched so impassively over the entire scene. "I think I'm ready."
Word Count: 709
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