The Dragon Princess and the Cook

Chapter 2 - The Harrowmen's Prize

"Willow, you said you'd play with me, come on!" urged the young princess, Maylan.

She nudged her big sister eagerly and thrust her tail through the wet grass.
Willow, the eldest daughter of King Fession and Queen Eira, was tall for a dragon of her age. While her juvenile sister still had a few growth spurts ahead of her, she was getting on for a good ten feet when standing straight. Her scales were a gentle lilac, something she had inherited from her mother, and her eyes were an even fairer shade of blue, which was something that neither of her parents had.
The elder princess was quick to turn and check for a sign of approval from her parents. Both of the regal dragons sat close by, watching their daughters with an equal sense of gladness and caution for all the unseen dangers of their world.
After some quiet debate between themselves, the king and queen agreed. With a firm nod from her father, Willow knew she was clear to go. Without wasting a second, she darted off ahead of her little sister, laughing as she felt the wind against her face.
"Think you can beat me to the forest?" Maylan called as she caught up with her older sibling.
"Don't wander too far now!" cautioned King Fession, chuckling despite himself as he watched his offspring frolic about the fields of flowers that surround their home, bathed in the chill sunlight of an early winter.
Maylan was fast for her size, but it was clear she had no chance of out running Willow. The older  dragon knew this, of course, and so, without making it too obvious, she would slow down just enough to let her little sister think she was winning.

The grass grew longer the further across the field the two ran, and the ground lost its firmness. Eager to prove her speed, Maylan took little notice of these signs, but Willow had started to hesitate...
A cloud passed over the sun, sending a shiver down the young dragon's spine as she turned to look back towards her parents. Then she returned her gaze towards the twisting branches and empty boughs of the forest of Orslock. The vast woodlands lay directly ahead of her, watching and waiting without a sound. Winter had changed its friendly, welcoming appearance beyond all recognition.
"Maylan, I don't think we're allowed in there..." warned Willow, her ears twitched as she grew all the more weary. But Maylan continued to run. Either she hadn't quite heard her sister, or she didn't want to listen. Either way, the little, blue scaled dragon ran straight into the woodlands' embrace and vanished behind the cover of leafy bushes that the cold had yet to affect.
Willow came to an immediate halt by the brink of the forest, listening past the sound of her heavy breath for some sign of her sister's proximity. All was silent...
"Maylan, I'm not playing anymore. It's dangerous in there," the princess warned sharply. She lingered by the edge of the woods for a second longer, unsure whether she should pursue her absent sibling or hurry back to tell her parents.
A sudden, heart-stopping scream rang out about the cold air. Flocks of dark feathered birds left their roosts in alarm and fluttered out into the pale blue sky. The scream was quickly followed by a vigorous scuffle, as though the whole forest had come to life.