"I literally have no idea where I am!" Max exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air as he directed his shout towards the heavens. Hopefully the gods might've heard him. Then again, they might already know that he was out here in the forest wandering in circles and they were merely watching for their personal entertainment. They might've even placed bets on how long he was going to survive out in the forest by himself. The sun was already over halfway across the sky. A cool autumn breeze whispered through the trees. It felt nice but it wasn't gonna help Max find the dragon he shot down or his way home.
"Maybe I should've just stayed at the house," Max murmured with a heavy sigh, "Might've been better for everyone else in the village." Disappointed with himself, he whacked a tree branch. That only made things more miserable for him when it came swinging back, striking him right in the face. All the teen could see for a few moments were green needles and rough bark. A pine cone somehow ended up in his mouth. Spitting it out in disgust, Max proceeded to wipe his tongue clean with his hands when he suddenly noticed something.
The tree was broken in half down the middle, like some god had taken their largest battle axe and sliced right through the wood like it was nothing more than water.
Awed by the sight of the broken tree, Max silently looked down the trail he was on. It appeared that something had crashed here according to how the earth was shaped like a mini gorge. There also appeared to be a few white scales that led to a large gray boulder. Gulping nervously, the young Viking crept down the path towards the rock. Then he peered over the top. And he saw it.
A dragon, a Rabbu, caught in the net he had fired.
The creature was motionless, showing no signs of life. But Max had his doubts. Grabbing the small knife he had on his belt, he held it firmly in both hands as he cautiously approached the beast. Upon closer examination, he saw that it was tightly wrapped up in the net and its left tail fin was missing, completely gone. There was a thin line of blood where it should've been. Two of the rocks attached to the net were smeared with something red. That's when Max knew what happened. The tail fin had been cut off. And the dragon had died in the crash that followed.
However, that wasn't entirely true when Max finally noticed a bright blue eye staring up at him.
