Talons Of Glory Book 1: For Glory

Chapter 1

Woe to thee who
would think to breach these chasms and hope to see daylight again

Far beneath the wonders and colors of the surface world lie endless tunnels and caverns that seem as if they wish to embody the void. For miles, one can blunder through the dark and never hope to find the warm embrace of the blazing sun ever again, and instead succumbing to the ever-expanding darkness, becoming a birthing ground for mushrooms.

The bravest of explorers, since the dawn of time, always used caves as a means of self-assurance when their "friends" belittle them with name-calling and false accusations of cowardice. It's quite the quixotic practice, but it yields results if the cave jumper decides to make it back home. Of course, it would yield better results if Fen'r could actually fit his horned head into one.

"Confound it.. I can't.. seem to..!"

Kicking at the mud with his hind legs had only managed to net him a few inches further than some five minutes ago. He was starting to lose momentum. He clasped at the mouth of the cave with his talons and heaved with what remaining strength he had left, but all that managed to do was blunt his claws and leave a couple of scratch marks that would frighten off any nearby scavengers, for whatever good that would do.

His exasperated breathing did attract a number of nearby dragons to the spectacle, though (the forests were teeming with the majestic creatures around this time of year for the purpose of a widely accepted ritual initiation; Fen'r just so happened to be passing through the wood). A number of questioning and mocking phrases and noises came from some mature sentinels and concerned nestmasters. Mixed reactions (ranging from disgust to hysterical giggling) came from the soon surrounding crowd. The struggling drake ignored the sounds coming from the other end of the opening and continued to press forward, straining to get the rest of his body inside. At least to him, staring at a lava lake isn't nearly as pleasurable as dipping his claws in one.

He only wished he could tell the others of his find: on the one hand, it would prove that he wasn't some "scaredy-cat smokesnout" as the others were peculiarly fond of calling him, but on the other, the whole square mile would hoard around the cave attempting to find another way in. Which, in hindsight, is probably what he should have done, but he had already sunk too much time and energy into the relatively small hole he found.

The grown-ups and juveniles took every pleasure in observing the youngling as he continued in his battle against tight spaces. It would've later become the talk of the area, if the lake hadn't been discovered. Still, Fen'r continued to disregard the snickering and other, more hurtful names he had been called in favor of the lake in front of him. He could almost taste it; he wanted oh, so badly to just dip a talon in the smoldering lake. But then, just as he was sure a wing was slipping in with his head, the cackling halted; he paid no heed to it, until something reminiscent of a pile of jagged rocks wrung pressure around his tail, yanking in the direction opposite the lake. His head (and bruised wing) popped right out of the hole. He whimpered as the possibility of an isolated magma bath disintegrated in the recesses of his mind. He flipped his head, and was mildly shocked when he got an upside-down view of an umber-hided, six-pronged Hydra bearing him down. His claws were still wrapped around the red lizard's tail.

All twelve of the multi-header's blazing green eyes were fixated upon Fen'r. The hand digging into his tail's hide let up, plopping the sore flamer onto the ground, singing some grass. "Up," the leftmost head commanded. Fen'r scrambled to his feet, crouched with his tail curled around his forelegs. "Y-yes, sir? Sirs?" the youngling asked, shifting his talons in the drying soil. "What exactly were you doing with your muzzle shoved in a hole in the ground?" the head right of the prior questioned. "Probably went after a fox or something. You know how gluttonous some fires can be," the rightmost unnecessarily added. Fen'r shook his head, gazing awkwardly back at the hole. "No, sir, I didn't follow any prey down there. My friends, uh.. dared me to jump in a cave, so I went to this one. I couldn't fit." His snout drooped, but quickly rose again, turning back to the Hydra with eyes widened. "But I found a lava lake in there! And to be honest, I wanted to keep it to myself-"

"That's preposterous!" a silver-scaled Frostdrake interrupted. "There's no way a magma lake could appear this close to the surface. It's a geographic imposi-" The Hydra's barbed tail whipped the freezer in the back of the head. He rubbed his neck and clamped his maw, shuffling towards the edge of the crowd. Some other Frostdrakes, presumably his relatives, snickered in his direction and went after him. The center head of the Hydra promptly dove into the hole to scope out the validity of the youngling's claim, while the remaining crowd and the unoccupied heads began whispering amongst one another. Fen'r continued to sit in a fixed position as the blades of grass around him shriveled up.

"The dragonet lies not," the head called from inside. "There is a lava lake down here." The crowd gasped, speaking in fretted and ecstatic tones. The head retracted from the orifice and returned its gaze to Fen'r. "You've done a portion of the clans a good service by finding this entrance. As for the rest of us, well.." He trailed off, mumbling beneath his breath. Another head rose up before he could muster the words to finish: "You've done a great job! Your friends will treat you like a prince, now, I'm sure." Fen'r's expression brightened at that remark. "Head home. Word of this discovery will probably get there before you do." The little firedragon nodded with confidence and spread his wings, shooting through the canopy.

"I wonder how nobody caught attention of the lake's heat," said the left Hydra head. "It surely should have been picked up by other fires like that youngling, especially the younger ones." The rightmost spurted a menial flame and scoffed. "There isn't much radiating from this hole. You'd have to be right up against it to get anything more than what the Sun's already putting off." The left head nodded, flicking its forked tongue in and out. "You there. Sentinel." A nearby armored, cobalt dragon stood at attention, acknowledging the Hydra with respect. "Make for the nearest city and report this finding. The miserable fire residents will be delighted at the news of a den discovered close to the surface." The suited dragon nodded, lifting off with much less enthusiasm than the child.

All six heads shifted their attention towards the patch of scorched earth where Fen'r had been sitting, all thinking to themselves, "Since when do younglings do that?"