Rise of the Scaled Ones

Chapter 2

Rhydian stared after the strange, moody girl who'd woken him up just minutes ago. She was beautiful, he had to admit, but she was a handful. It was nice, though, to wake up and see striking green eyes and honey blonde hair attached to a stunning female human. She almost didn't seem mortal.

Of course, that was until she started snapping and yelling at him, claiming that his home was her's. But it wasn't. He'd already made the necessary territory-claiming ritual, so she couldn't have the meadow unless he gave it to her.

He shifted his gaze to the rapidly sinking sun. According to the female, he had until the sun was high in it's cycle the day before he had to "move". No doubt she'd be back to check to see if he'd really gone, but before then, he had to figure out whether or not to kill her and eat her or let her live. Not that mortals were particularly tasty, but they'd satisfy his growling stomach.

But for now, as a nighttime meal, he'd have to settle for a deer. Sticking his bag into a small opening in the rocks, he mentally and physically prepared himself for his Shift. Rhydian arched his back and gazed at the sky before allowing his magic to cover him, embrace him, change him. Black scales rippled across his body and horns curled from his head. Dragonfire burst from his maw and into the night sky. Soon, he was a dragon, towering over the rocks and head-height with the trees.

Slowly, he unfurled his large, powerful black wings and gave them a strong pull downwards. He shot into the sky with a terrifying , hungry roar. In the corner of his eye he saw a doe race deeper into the trees in a desperate attempt to escape. He turned and dove towards the frail creature and gave a quick snap of jaws and the deer's neck broke. His fangs pierced the soft throat of the animal and warm lifeblood filled his mouth. Satisfied, he landed back in his meadow and began to tear the meat from the doe's bones. Greedily, he crunched the small bones and started slurping up the entrails of the deer.

As he finished his night-meal, a new thought dug its way into his mind. The human female. Did she live nearby? She had to if this was her apparent meadow. Against his better judgment, Rhydian took to the skies once again, but this time towards the nearest human-infested area, the Mountain village.

Torches were lit all over the village, forcing Rhydian to fly higher to avoid being seen. He saw trade posts, fruit, vegetable, and meat stands, and many, many small houses. He saw women and children head to their homes, men come back from their hunts, and young adults lead the sheep, cows, and horses back to their pens. The whole village was getting ready to retire for the night. Among the bustling people, he spotted a head of honey blond hair. He immediately knew it was the fiery young woman he'd met in the meadow.

For the strangest reason, she intrigued him. If it were any other human that had disturbed his routine and actually dared to argue with him, he would have eaten them and had a great time gnawing on their bones. But this female made him feel like he could take on every human army in all the lands he knew of. No female human or dragon had ever made him feel that way. He almost felt bad for yelling at her.

Rhydian hovered in midair as he watched the female talk with another darker, blond female. He presumed they were kin. Both of them reeked of stress and worry, he could smell it from the night sky.

The talked in hushed voices, cramped between two fruit stands. He silently hovered lower and closer to hear,

"-yes, I know the king and his son are arriving in a moon, Anjaleen," He caught the taller blond telling his female, "We have many days to prepare."

His female, Anjaleen, retorted, "I understand, Jezabelle, but the king never comes here unless it's important-"

"And it is, sister! He travels from land to land for his son to pick a wife."

"He still hasn't found one yet?"

"No, Anjaleen. Prince Derek is incredibly picky if you ask me. Most young maidens are too young or their looks are not to his liking."

"None our women are beautiful though, and most of them are not even adults yet, way too young to get married."

"Well, we are his last village that he will visit. It will either be one of our women or he will have to start over."

Both young women thought deeply for a moment, their eyebrows furrowed and their anxiety visible. "We should go home, Jezabelle. Mother will not be pleased if we miss curfew."

"Agreed, sister. Perhaps we can discuss this again tomorrow after chores. What do you say?"

"I'm sorry, sister. I plan to visit the fish market further into town." Rhydian knew Anjaleen lied. Not only could he smell it, but he knew she planned to visit the meadow.

The two girls continued to converse as they headed towards a small cluster of houses. With his curiosity-rush dying down, he flew higher, back towards the meadow. Now it was time to sleep. By dawn he would be ready for Anjaleen's arrival.