Post by Zsadist on Sept 30, 2011 0:17:02 GMT -8
[/i] It was just too strange for her, far too strange. She liked the skies, loved them as much as she loved life itself, but there were times when she felt that the sky only had so much to offer. And that's exactly why she had made the decision to do a little earthly exploring on this very night. She had heard many rumors, but had never bothered to take a look for herself. She was usually too busy being immersed in the sky.[/size]
A large, pale light flickered across the fading evening sky. It moved swiftly, like a comet, yet it wasn't. The flicker was far too large, and definitely not the right shape. Nor did it fade as it streaked across the sky. This flicker was a dragon, moving across the twilight sky miles and miles above the Crete Mountains.
The pallid shadow spiraled above; its body slim and lengthy, with its wings stretched out to the sides. It craned its neck downward, as if searching for something in the shadows of the mountains far below it. Every few seconds, the dragon would give a hard, downward thrust of its leathery wings to keep it aloft. It would give a flick of its lengthy tail as if it were keeping a beat. And it would lift its narrow head to glance around it before turning its searching gaze to the vast mountains below. It tilted its head to the side as it spiraled above, looking as though it were trying to get a better look, or trying to confirm whatever it was looking at. Suddenly, it snapped its wings to their full width, tilting them upward to bring itself to a full halt. The dragon beat its strong wings back and forth, keeping itself hovering in place as it gazed at the ground below it. With a whip of its tail, the dragon gave a strong heave with its wings, then rotated its body so its head was facing the ground. It tucked its wings along the sides of its body and plummeted downward, head stretched out before it, and tail streaking straight behind it.
Just as the ground began to draw closer and closer, when one would think that the dragon would crash into the rocky surface, it snapped its wings open. The movement roughly slowed the dragon, rotating its body into an upward position. The wind from the sudden motion buffeted the dragon's wings as it drew to a halt, only to gently place its hind legs on the ground. It gave another flap of its lengthy wings to steady itself before it lowered its fore to the ground as well. Leaving its wings to stretch after being tormented by the wind, the dragon rested its tail upon the ground behind it and wriggled its toes, talons making a jaw-grinding scratching noise on the rock as they scraped the surface.
Looking toward the sky, the dragon heaved a sigh. The ground had always felt so odd to this one. This specific dragon was meant for the air, she was meant to soar the skies. She thought to herself, "After some 400 odd years, I'm starting to think that I will never get used to feeling these crusts beneath my talons."
There was this place called the Arethusa. Or so she had been told. She had been told that is was just behind a waterfall; one that seamed to flow from nowhere. The Arethusa was a cave unlike many have ever seen. But she was about to set sights on it for herself. Bending her wings from their up-stretched position, she tucked them loosely along the sides of her slender frame and set forward. She lifted her tail as she walked, for she found that leaving it to drag was unpleasant. Within only a few strides, she could already hear the falls. She had not missed her mark. So the female kept walking forwards, toward the roar. As she rounded a curve in the mountain side, she was faced with a rush of water that was far taller than she was long. Turning her gaze upward, she noted that the stories were truthful; the waterfall did seem to flow from nowhere. It was breathtaking. There was no other way to describe it. But that's not why she was here. Nodding, she looked forward and began to move again. Carefully this time, for as she got closer to the falls, the ground began to grow slick with water from the falls, and the moss that must have grown over time.
As the female entered and her steel gray eyes adjusted to the lack of light, her breath caught as she noticed the walls closing in around her. Just behind the falls, the entrance to the Arethusa shrank to half the size it started at. Enough room for a single dragon, and that is all. The memory flitted across her mind as she slowly made her way through the darkness of the tunnel. The path through the darkness was well warn though, she could feel it beneath her talons. And for some reason, that made her feel more... safe. If that were possible. A worn path meant that said path was well traveled. So it could be less likely that she would run into something on the path. Besides, her enhanced sight allowed her to see what was in front of her. And beside her as well. The walls were smooth and gray, though not as smooth as the ground on which she walked.
While she ambled onward, her mind began to wander. How long had the Arethusa existed? Millennia, probably. How were these tunnels carved? She was told that the great Wyrms of the past had done so. How long would she have to walk? She hoped it wasn't too long. Her body was already starting to protest. She was meant for flying after all, not walking. And just when she had thought that she must have walked for at least five hours, a light appeared before her. It flickered at the mouth of the end of the tunnel, in shades of red, yellow, orange, and gold. Sighing, she quickened her pace. As she emerged into the Arethusa, she blinked, batting her lids furiously as her eyes attempted to adjust from the darkness to the glowing cave before her. Opening her eyes wide, she gazed at her surroundings. Her breath came slowly, steadily, as she gazed upward. The ceiling had to be at least double her height, and the width of the cave the same, if not slightly wider. Turning her head, she looked around. The walls were a scarlet red, some areas lighter while some were darker. They were laced with ribbons of gold, with some patches here and there. She had no idea where the light came from, but her eyes were immediately drawn to a lake toward the rear of the cave.
She approached the edge of the water, halting with her talons only inches from it. Arching her neck, she peered into the water. "Liquid gold..."[/i] She thought to herself. That was exactly what it looked like to her, and that was where she thought the light was coming from. Even if it made no sense to her. Though things didn't always need to make sense to be true. Looking around again, she nearly jumped out of her skin when a soft plink echoed throughout the cave. She froze, but heard nothing more. There was no one else present, so what was the noise? Glancing at the water, she noticed ripples moving across the surface from the center of the lake. Moving her gaze upward, she narrowed her line of sight upon a golden stalactite with water beading at its tip. She hummed to herself as she made the connection, and made certain that she would not jump at the sound again. Then her vision adjusted to something just beyond that stalactite. A large ledge jutted out from the wall. Her head tilted to the side as she examined it from a distance. Deciding to get a better look, she stretched her wings outward and gave a couple hard thrusts to lift her into the air. The golden water rippled as she ascended and wiftly made her way to the ledge. Turning sideways, she landed softly upon the smooth surface. It too was smooth like the path into the Arethusa.[/size]
Folding her wings back against her sides, she moved towards the edge of the ledge. It was large enough to hold her and possibly one other dragon about her size. Looked down, she gazed at the gold-laced red stone under her talons. It lit up her ivory scales in multiple shades of scarlet and gold. Peering over the ledge, she gazed at her reflection in the lake some hundred feet below her. To her, she looked as though she were alight with fire; her pale scales gleaming gloriously in the light. Somehow it made her feel happy, and she liked that feeling. She liked it a lot. Reveling in the feeling, she lowered her body to the smooth stone, liking the cool sensation against her belly. She tucked her legs beneath her like a cat, though she leaned to one side. She allowed her wings to unfurl slightly as she lowered her head to rest upon her front claws. For the moment, the world was peaceful. For the moment, she was going to enjoy life as though war did not exist. As so she closed her eyes, basking in the fiery light of the Arethusa, and pretended that things were not as they were.
---------------------------------------------------------
Word Count :: 1718
Tags :: None
[/blockquote]
