Dragons

A Nomad

She stood still, listening to the leaves high in the trees sway along with the wind. The fresh smell of pine filled her lungs. The amber sunlight pierced through the emerald canopy far above, the sun was almost setting, she needed to find shelter soon. Either that, or get climbing. She surveyed the area around her, no signs of carnivores, at least not at the moment.  If she was going to be completely safe, she needed to become practically invisible. 

She looked up into the leaves of the tree that towered over her, it would take at least half an hour to reach the top. She walked around the tree trying to determine if there were already some tenants, as far as she could tell from the ground, there wasn't.  She took off her pack and opened it, she fished through it and found her set of claws. They were metal cast claws, modeled after the Red Nose Climbers, they could climb on virtually anything. She sat down and leaned her back on the tree, and slipped her foot claws on, she then secured the belt around her shin and flexed her foot. They opened. They closed. She then put on her claws, she flexed her fingers. They opened. They closed. She closed her pack and swung it onto her back. She looked up toward the canopy, she took a deep breath and jumped onto the trunk. She clawed her way toward the first branch she could stop on. She climbed up, squatted and surveyed the tree, there was still no sign of anyone living in it. She kept climbing a few meters up and then stopped for a second. Leaves were all around her, the light from the sunset washed over the leaves with a golden light. She almost made it to the top when there was a disturbance in the leaves a few feet away from her. She froze. The hair on the back of her neck stood up on end. She stood still for what seemed hours. She continued to climb higher until out of the corner of her eye she say a flash of deep green. Her eyes widened in terror. "SHIT!" Adrenaline filled her veins.

She hauled ass. Jumping down from the tree, branch to branch. Her palms became sweaty.  She gripped a branch to swing from. She slipped. She clawed at the air trying to get a grip on the bark, so no avail.  In the middle of her frantic arm swinging she stopped falling. Her heart dropped, she would know if she caught a branch or the bark. A sense of nausea came over her.  She curled up into a ball, something had caught her pack. She was afraid to look at what had caught her. It's hot breath rushed over her shoulders and neck. Frozen with fear, she didn't move. She started to be lifted up, and set on a branch.  She held onto the branch, and looked up at her savior. A pair of yellow green eyes met hers. The same dragon she thought was going to devour her saved her.  She sat up slowly. It's scales were a deep green and it's belly was a light grey. It's wing spread, she let in a small and shaky gasp. The bat like wings covered the remaining sunlight of the setting sun and shrouded them both in darkness. With a powerful beat of it's wings it was in the air and soon out of sight. Her eyes followed it until she couldn't differentiate it from the laves any longer.

She gasped and air flooded her lungs, it felt as if she hadn't taken a breath in years.