The sky, dark and streaked with gray clouds, allowed no sunlight on the burning panorama below, as if it was afraid the already fiery landscape would be further scorched. The forest that stood darkly under the gloomy clouds was lit by patches of amber embers, glowing with the fires and patches of lava that decorated its mass.
A single female Imperial dragon stood amidst this gloom, her magenta eyes reflecting the glowing landscape around her. She waited silently, her posture casual as she hide behind one of her inventions -- an invisibility cloak. If all went well, the cloak would keep her hidden from the creatures she was looking for. If all didn't go well....I suppose we can expect some explosions and complete annihilation of anything within the dragon's fifty-mile radius.
Kedia, the female Imperial, waited happily under her cloak, her gem-encrusted skin rubbing slightly against the magical (and very scientific) material. She was a pretty iridescent dragon with skin colored by green, blue, teal, and purple. Orchid-colored feathers decorated her royal-shaded wings, and a mysterious golden pendant clasped a square-shaped topaz to her slender neck.
Rustle....
Kedia immediately perked up at the sound, her muscles instinctively tightening into a ready pose. Could it be? Was it possible?
A disgruntled-looking rabbit hopped out of the bushes, its splotchy maize-colored fur burned and charred in several places. It lifted an ash-dusted paw daintily and sniffed around, its head of ram's horns tilting and catching the flickering orange light.
Kedia scampered towards it excitedly, flinging off her cloak with a "HA!!" and falling upon the jackalope with eager claws. The horned rabbit screamed an unearthly screech as it lashed out with its sooty paws, slashing them harmlessly across the dragon's scales. Kedia kicked the Familiar into a tree and killed it with a neat blow from her tail. The extinguished jackalope collapsed on the ground before dissolving into a pile of meat and furs.
The female Imperial poked about the spoils with her long snout, then sighed with disappointment. She hadn't been looking for skins and meat -- she'd been looking for a very special chest those bunnies were suppose to be dropping as loot.
"Oh, well." She thought out loud to herself. "I'm sure I'll get it sometime soon."
With that optimistic thought, Kedia continued hunting.
~Three days later....
"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE DEVILS!" Kedia screeched as she charged after two extinguished jackalopes. One scratched futilely at her, but the furious Imperial smashed its head into the ground and stomped on the other bunny. Seconds passed before the regular pile of meat and skins appeared before Kedia, and the Imperial yowled with rage. Her howls echoed across the Scorched Forest and reached the ears of a pale lavender Mirror dragon.
CirrusShade, nicknamed Cirrus, frowned as she heard a very familiar voice carry through the dim forest. She stepped away from her latest spoils and spread her sky blue wings, intending to seek the origin of the dismal screech. Her wings caught a warm breeze easily, and soon the drake was off, darting skillfully through the tangled branches of the burning forest.
"I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" Kedia was howling at the forest by the time Cirrus glided by. "THIS ISN'T FAIR! I'M TELLING YOUR MOTHER, YOU UNDERSTAND? BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES! "
"Kedia?" Cirrus asked as she landed on a somewhat sturdy branch above the rampaging Imperial. "What's happening?"
"Can't you tell?" Kedia turned around and slammed into Cirrus's tree with an unintentional faceplant, pitching the Mirror off her perch. "They're doing it on purpose!!!"
"Who?" The Mirror caught herself before face palming herself the hard way, her wings flapping to keep her balanced.
"THEY ARE!" Kedia wailed. "BULLIES! JERKS! I WILL HAVE YOUR HEADS, YOU UNDERSTAND? I'M GETTING THOSE CHESTS IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!!!"
"Blink twice, find your brain, swallow, and please repeat." Cirrus said with a roll of her four coral-colored eyes. "You do realize you're blabbering nonsense, right?"
"I DON'T CARE!!!" Kedia screeched, then clamped her mouth shut and tried to compose herself. "They -- are -- hiding -- their -- chests -- from -- me." She seethed through clenched teeth.
"Who?" Cirrus looked about and caught the images of several charred heaps of skin and jackalope meat in her peripheral vision. "Oh, the extinguished jackalopes?"
"No, the Leafy Moths -- yes the extinguished jackalopes!" Kedia complained, tears in her eyes. "I've just about had it! After so many days of hunting them down and killing and beating them up, I can't take it anymore!!!"
Cirrus sighed. Having known Kedia for quite a long time, she suspected something very interesting was going to happen soon. "And what are you going to do about it?"
Kedia dug her talons into the newest pile of jackalope spoils, a fierce growl like a chemical explosion rising from her throat. Her eyes flared, and she stomped down hard on the ground.
"I'm suing the extinguished jackalopes!"
~ Several hours later....
"Kedia, this is ridiculous." Cirrus grumbled as Kedia sat huffily on a velvety cushion next to her. "You didn't need to bring those things to the Arcane Court of Justice!"
"This case must be solved!" Kedia declared. "This injustice must be abolished!!!!"
"I'm not talking about the case. I'm talking about the cats." The Mirror edged away from the crowd of kittens mewling and wandering about Kedia's paws. "Why did you have to bring all your pets here? This isn't an animal saloon, you know!"
"Hey, they're cute." Kedia nuzzled a fluffy tabby with a squeal. "See? Just put up with them. Suck it up."
"Why don't I break your leg and tell you to walk it off?" Cirrus retorted. "On another point I was getting to -- yes, the case is possibly more ridiculous than the last time you hosted a Winter Raffle and got into trouble with yet another Familiar. The extinguished jackalopes -- "
"Were hiding the festival chests from me!" Kedia argued. "This is villainy! I see that all the other dragons already have all the chest....which can only mean one thing -- the jackalopes are conspiring against me! Or, more suspiciously, in cahoots against purplish dragons -- especially Imperial dragons -- like myself!"
"And why are you so sure of this?"
"The drop rate was suppose to be one percent! I've plowed through about three hundred devilish bunnies and still no chests!"
Cirrus flicked her tail, impatient. "The chest drops are something accidental! They aren't handed to you! Nobody wants to lose their treasures after getting beaten up! The jackalopes didn't calculate this drop rate, other dragons did. WHY would they hold to it if they could avoid it? And why are you convinced there is a conspiracy against purple dragons anyway?"
"Because there is!" Kedia insisted. "I'll get the witnesses and the proof, CirrusShade. Just you wait and see!"
"Oh, I'll definitely see." Cirrus muttered. "Call me when you lose the lawsuit."
YOU ARE READING
Flight Rising: The Arcane Court of Justice
Fanfic'Twas the night of the Flameforgers Festival, when all through the land Not a thing was stirring, not even a bit of sand The nests were filled in, the hatchlings under care Dragons resting their wearied limbs, relaxing without fear -- ~*~*~*~ "I WO...
