Dragonscales

Chapter 1|Shadow Wolves

The moon rose as dusk settled across New York City. I felt the heightened magic surge within me, ready for action. I cast a spell rendering me and my dragon, Tourmaline, invisible. While we were gliding through the city, something caught the corner of my eye. It was a monster made of shadow. "Shadow wolves..." I hissed under my breath. 

I steered Tourmaline into the direction of the wolves. There were three running through the street. A red and gold robot flew over to the wolves and tried blasting them. The blasts were ineffective, most human weapons are. Another figure came flying toward the wolves.  I decided to wait and watch to see if they could handle it. I didn't want to draw more attention to myself than I had to.

Three more people showed up to fight the wolves. All their weapons just passed through the wolves harmlessly. They were losing, badly. Tourmaline landed in a nearby alley and I rushed out to fight the wolves. Showing myself would be bad enough, they didn't need to know I had a dragon, too. I couldn't keep the invisibility spell and fight at the same time so I released it when I got to the sidelines of the fight. I nocked an arrow and shot it one of the wolves. The arrow hit the wolf in one of its forearms and it roared in pain. The team of people looked at me. My hood was up, so they couldn't see my ears or horns. I nocked another arrow and shot the wolf charging at me in the chest. The wolf let out a howl of pain as it poofed out of sight. Another wolf charged and tackled me, knocking me onto the ground. 

It chomped down on my left arm. I unsheathed one of my blades with my right arm and stabbed it. It poofed with a bloodcurdling screech. I got up and ran toward the last wolf. The robot and man with long blonde hair were trying to subdue it. I nocked an arrow and shot. The arrow hit the wolf in its head, making it poof into oblivion. 

"Who are you?" The man-robot asked. "It doesn't matter," I told them while I started to walk away. "It certainly does matter. You are an excellent fighter, Lady Whose-Name-I-Do-Not-Know." Blond Hammer Man exclaimed. "My name is Thistle," I said. "That's a weird name." The guy with the bow said. "I have weird parents."

I sheathed my blade and slung my bow onto my shoulder. I continued to walk away. The man with the patriotic colors jogged over and stopped me. "S.H.I.E.L.D will start looking for you, so I suggest you join us before they capture you." Patriotic Human suggested. "I don't know what this 'shield' is, but it can kiss my ass," I said. "Language!" The rest of the team laughed. While they were making fun of their teammate, I slipped away. 

Tourmaline looked at me from the corner of the alley. Why did it take so long and why are you bleeding? She inquired. Tourmaline and I shared a telepathic bond. One of the wolves tackled me and bit my arm. I answered.  I cast a quick healing spell on my arm. The injury faded away and I climbed onto Tourmaline. She took off and flew back to our camp.