Burning Hearts

Chapter 6

This is for you Sasha, my ever loyal and faithful Miniature Schnauzer.

Chapter 6

"Morning Rowan," Amy greets as I eat my cereal. I nod in greeting since my mouth is full of Cocoa Puffs and milk. "You're up early," she says, amused.

"If one thirty in the afternoon is early, than yes," I muse, refraining from laughing as I continue to eat my cereal. Amy shakes her head heading back to the kitchen. She comes back with her own bowl and spoon, pouring the Cocoa Puffs into her bowl and filing it with milk. Before she digs in on the chocolately goodness she looks to me again.

"No sleep?"

I nod, sighing and pushing my empty bowl away. Pinching the bridge of my nose and shutting my eyes tightly has the images in my mind disappearing. "I would take a nap, but I'm not tired."

"That's what they all say," I hear Amy mumble under her breath but I chose to ignore it.

I stand from my chair, staring at the wall across from me but not really seeing it. "I am going on a hunt and I won't be back until after the meeting at the Pack House," I inform.

"Alright. Be safe and have fun on your hunt. I'll take care of your dishes." I nod, not looking at Amy. I quickly leave the house and transform, taking to the chilly and crisp autumn air. Winter will be here shortly.

The afternoon sun quickly warms me up and the scenery gently changes below me to a thicker forest as I fly higher and higher. Once I've reached a height where I'm panting for air and can no longer see the ground clearly below me, I'm relieved of my pain as magic flows over me.

With a distinct pop in my ears, I'm transported to my Natural World. A couple feet above me is a shimmering portal that reveals the ground of the human realm and below me, seemingly upside down, is a large plains. I must have been transported to Aracrageon[air-eh-crag-eon] instead of my destination point, close to the Glassiers. Oops.

I descend and gently land, sniffing the air immediately for the scent of prey. The wind shifts towards me -rippling the tall grass beautifully- and I catch the scent of a herd of plains elk about an hour old. I follow the trail and as I get steadily closer, become more quiet. When I know they're only a couple hundred meters below me in a canyon that is coming up, I pause.

I summon some storm clouds slowly my way to not frighten the elk since they are smarter than their human realm counterparts and let them gather in the area. It starts to sprinkle which gradually turns into a downpour. Some snort come to my ears but the elk have not stampeded away, yet.

I take flight and circle high above the canyon, observing my surrounding. Ten elk, one adult male and seven females with two babies, idle near the rushing water in the canyon, getting a drink or just resting. The male stands at watch for the herd, alert for any sign of danger or attack.

Plains elk are as tall as a six foot human and they can easily fill up any grown dragon. The male's antlers however, are laced with poison, making them a formidable piece of prey if a dragon is cut with those things. The poison can't kill a dragon, but it keeps a dragon from breathing fire for a straight week and makes a dragon's senses go haywire for thirty minutes. Only the oldest and most experienced hunters go after them.

I dive and the herd senses me, the male bleating out a warning call. The females and the babies run off but the male stays put, watching me with his intelligent eyes. I land in front of him and roar, trying to scare him into chase, but he doesn't budge and just lowers his head in response. Just as he is charging, I catch sight of a tree hanging for life on the canyon wall that if pulled down. . .