The dragonet rarely left Alais, but she had gone where he could not go. That left him alone on the island with his larger kin. He had followed Garl around for most of the day, but the big silver had grown weary of his diminutive shadow. One good snarl had been enough to send the dragonet off in search of other entertainments.
The green and growing parts of the island were located around the construction project, and the slope that led to the sea, but the dragonet had explored everything close to the building site there was to see, an so he flew off toward the far side of the island, away from the views of Odhran and Kadir.
The steep cliffs of the north side had always attracted birds that nested in the cliff face, but when the dragonet reached the cliffs, they were devoid of the darting birds that he had always loved to chase. The wind whistled mournfully over the empty rock face with the sea crashing against the barren stone far below. The dragonet landed and stood at the edge of the cliff face listening to the wind and waves. His talons dug into the bare ground as the wind buffeted his small body.
It was then that he noted movement far below him. Six or seven creatures were making their way up the wall, and disappearing into a cave or recess in the rocks below. The dragonet launched into the onshore breeze and circled out over the sea for several minutes before spiralling lower for a closer look at the curious creatures.
There was a fairly large opening in the rock face about 10 meters above the high tide level of the sea, and the white stone was sheer enough to require wings in order to reach this place. There were no hold fasts for climbing in this section of the cliffs. The black opening of the wall did not let the dragonet see very far into the crevasse, and so he flew closer for a look.
An arrow zinged from the blackness and tore a large hole in the dragonet's wing, sending the little creature careening out of controlled flight and into the white stone wall at full speed. He hit the stone, bounced off of it and fell the 10 meters to the broken surf zone below. The little dragon crashed hard into the rough stones and laid unmoving as the surf began to slowly make its way toward high tide.
The green and growing parts of the island were located around the construction project, and the slope that led to the sea, but the dragonet had explored everything close to the building site there was to see, an so he flew off toward the far side of the island, away from the views of Odhran and Kadir.
The steep cliffs of the north side had always attracted birds that nested in the cliff face, but when the dragonet reached the cliffs, they were devoid of the darting birds that he had always loved to chase. The wind whistled mournfully over the empty rock face with the sea crashing against the barren stone far below. The dragonet landed and stood at the edge of the cliff face listening to the wind and waves. His talons dug into the bare ground as the wind buffeted his small body.
It was then that he noted movement far below him. Six or seven creatures were making their way up the wall, and disappearing into a cave or recess in the rocks below. The dragonet launched into the onshore breeze and circled out over the sea for several minutes before spiralling lower for a closer look at the curious creatures.
There was a fairly large opening in the rock face about 10 meters above the high tide level of the sea, and the white stone was sheer enough to require wings in order to reach this place. There were no hold fasts for climbing in this section of the cliffs. The black opening of the wall did not let the dragonet see very far into the crevasse, and so he flew closer for a look.
An arrow zinged from the blackness and tore a large hole in the dragonet's wing, sending the little creature careening out of controlled flight and into the white stone wall at full speed. He hit the stone, bounced off of it and fell the 10 meters to the broken surf zone below. The little dragon crashed hard into the rough stones and laid unmoving as the surf began to slowly make its way toward high tide.