Lirima Malda'Elen A brief but powerful blast of air flattened the soot-filled grass below Lirima's expanse of wings. She beat them once, twice, and was off into the air, turning slowly at first but then arching her neck and gaining altitude quickly. The queen's eyes glowed in the red light and her scales were painted gold by the rays of the dying sun, glimmering neatly in the sky. Lirima swooped and wheeled over the crater she'd just been in, wings curling as they caught the air and scooping it into eddies and currents. She'd just been in the young dragons' favorite training place. It reeked of charred flesh and rotting bones from previous kills of prey, but that didn't particularly bother her at the moment. Usually she'd snort and pinch her nostrils closed, but she'd grown accustom to this spot just because she landed there often.
Lirima gazed at the expanse of gray grass and soot. It was about half-a-mile long, a short distance on wing. She could see a couple of adolescents sparring nearby, leaping and fluttering their wings for balance in the dusty atmosphere that was the hollow. She shook her head and beat her wings in a circular motion, keeping her body in a relatively still hover. The young dragons glanced up, the male's scales rustling in a way that showed he was feeling self-conscious. His partner, obviously his sister by their similar traits, lowered her skull and looked away while her brother tried to look gallant for the queen. Lirima chuckled wryly and twisted away, pounding her wings against the air to move herself away from them.
She soon broke into a cloud bank, ignoring the soft mist of water that glistened on her scales and made twisting trails off of her wings' leading edges. She slitted her eyes and peered down through the white mass of sky and allowed herself to slide lower, gliding easily on the currents of air. She was heading for her favorite place to relax: a large boulder nestled conveniently on top of a large hill. It soaked up the sun's heat nicely, providing a comfortable spot for a dragon filled with fyre to warm her belly.
Lirima's wings angled themselves automatically as she aimed lower in the sky. Her striped tail lowered itself to absorb the impact first, and then her wings rotated quickly to slow her descent. She dropped her hind-feet onto the rock first, then her fore. Stretching out her neck and settling her wings against her flanks, the queen allowed herself to lie regally on the boulder. The day had been peaceful, and the sun's warm setting was starting to lull her into a sleepy state. She arched her neck and crossed her forelegs, lowering her eyelids halfway. Perhaps she'd be able to relax for a while before she returned to the cave she slept in.
Maksa Nim Losa A small gleam of white appeared at the mouth of a cave. A waterfall curtained it with both its glittering swirls and the noise that it created as it tumbled into the pool below. Maksa Nim Losa was the occupant here. She lifted her crested head silently and sniffed the air, cautiously passing under the veil of water and sliding into the deep, cold pool. She could just touch the bottom, and she stood still for a moment, checking her surroundings. The tall trees provided excellent cover for this place, but she was a bit worried that anyone could show up at any time.
Satisfied that she was alone, the female dragon lowered her head and drank deeply from the water. The liquid slid down her throat and filled her belly, contenting her. Maksa looked up again, her jaws dripping, and scanned the trees. Huffing with the effort of her feet sliding on the loose rocks below the surface, she gained the bank and let her scales drip-dry. She glanced back at her cave. It was safe now, but who knew what would happen. Some dragon could come along and chase her out, or worse, destroy the place's beauty. Maybe someone would even poison the water while she was gone and she'd die at her return.
These were the paranoid thoughts that ran through her head. Shaking her skull, the young dragon cleared her mind. That stuff is silly. Nobody would do that, she assured herself. Clacking her teeth together, Maksa slipped between two tree trunks, off in search of some medical plants she'd wanted.
Lord Ard'Rakka "I'd better get out of here before the Empress comes along. Fine fix I'd be in if she, or anyone caught me in this state." Lord Ard'Rakka's entire body and wings were coated in dust. He'd been excavating a trench that he wanted to use for water-diverting. A nearby river had started to create a deep well that was approaching his lair. That wouldn't do to have muddy water on his cave-floor. Sighing, the male shook his dirt-heavy wings and lifted them. He leaped upward and flew off silently, whirling in the air to go in the right direction. The wind brushed off some of the dust, but most of it still stuck between his wing-feathers and caked along his mane. The fur was draped along both the front and back of his long neck, ending between his shoulder blades and forelegs respectively.
Diving nearly straight down when he spotted his cave-mouth, Ard'Rakka narrowly but cleanly missed an outcropping of jagged stones. This cave had once just been a shallow gash in the rock wall, but Rakka had used his ability to dig deeper. It was now a spacious cavern large enough for three dragons his own size.
Yawning, the dragon set his frame down onto a pile of smooth, rounded pebbles in an alcove at the back of his chamber. His claws clicked dully against the stones as he shifted about. "Better clean myself up," he groaned to himself. Closing his eyes momentarily, he allowed his ability to flow. Focusing, he elevated a flat stone and forced it to defy gravity and logic by fanning a powerful gust of wind towards him in the cave. The dust flew off of his whipping mane and swirled out of the cave, chased by the fanning stone. Sighing happily, Rakka allowed the stone to rest once again, partially blocking the entrance. The sun's dying rays filtered in, lighting some of the chamber. But most of the light came from his own glowing crystals. They were fading quickly as he relaxed his power. The purple glimmer flickered out, leaving Rakka in a room of half-lit stone. Stretching his jaws in a yawn, he settled down to rest.[/font]
