Draconic Graveyard

Six large, black horses came galloping into the land. Each being was garbed in medium Dragon Scale armor. Each also had a three foot banner for The Phoenix State.

Behind them came six more on horses. One was in a different color. The group was searching for life amongt the dragon skeletons.

"The Phoenix State will love to know this place is a dragon graveyard. There has to be nearly a dozen of them. We must find the master of these lands! Let's bring them life and nirvana despite this graveyard." The State Representative spoke amongst the group who moved slowly now that they were in a new land.

After finding someone, they were directed to a location known as Elders Valley. With that, the group was in full gallop in that direction.

This land was a spiritual nexus of sorts. A great deal of energy was concentrated here. Those more attuned to the machinations of the beyond could almost see the memories of intense fire and lightning flying back and forth.

However, to a mere mortal like Catriona, it was still the perfect hide-away and a decent place to hunt. Animal tracks dotted the loamy soil. In fact, the concentration of deer and certain types of rare birds was higher here than anywhere else, as most humans from the Land-Tiller's Expanse preferred not to tread here.

If Catriona were to examine the skeletons more closely, she'd notice signs of harvesting. Dragon bone was a very useful commodity to some. With the proper knowledge it could be used to make formidable weapons and armor. The large rib cages which jutted out of the ground would have signs of clean cutting, exposing dark, rotted, mummified marrow. Most of this harvesting was done by armorers of the Phoenix State, who could tread here with permission from Elder Havador.

The mysterious resonating of the skulls will have died down recently. The great secret of the forest was that the energies which should have been released by the slaying of the dragons was actually stolen. A powerful necromancer had sought to revive his long lost love and use her as a puppet for world domination. However, through both luck and miracles of the mind, he had a change of heart. The once evil being had even gone so far as to sacrifice himself to save innocent people, at the behest of that great love. The energy of the dragons disappeared in a great flash and fury, and their grave enemy was slain.

But those events would remain secret to all but a select few. It certainly was of no concern for the current inhabitants of this forest.

The small drake had been quietly watching Catriona since she entered the bone yard. It was unsure what to make of the human. Others that had come here previously attempted to catch it, and larger animals had attempted to eat it. This new human wasn't here for the bones it seemed.

The drake darted between large rib bones and through empty skulls, keeping out of the human's poorer vision. A large bird of prey was circling overhead as well, but it seemed to be busy with the birds in the area. The drake had eaten those birds too. They tasted alright. He preferred the small rodents for their thicker bones.

The human was moving again, following something. Perhaps if it wasn't here for the bones, it might not try to catch him. Using its mottled green hide as camouflage, and its knowledge of the terrain, the little drake moved around to the side of the human, two dozen or so feet in front it. He stuck his head out from between two bones of a half-buried rib-cage, cocked his head to the side and let out a curious chirp.

The drake watched the human freeze in its tracks. Odd. Humans usually acted more aggressively. He cocked his head to the other side and let out a longer trill.

The drake watched the human approaching slowly. Cautiously. Curious.

He decided that since it hadn't shown any aggression yet, he'd try to communicate. Stepping partially out of the skeletal dragon's rib cage, it let out a third chirp, giving the human the best inquisitive look it could muster.

The drake watched as the human stumbled to the side and then prostrate herself in the mud. He cast an eye to the sky to see where the marauding falcon was. Not spying it, he decided to approach the human.

He slowly left the cover of the rib cage, into the light that shimmered through the tree branches overhead. His entire length was maybe just over three feet long, and half of that was tail. He kept his wings folded at his side in an attempt to not alarm the human (it worked well on predators, but it didn't seem like it wanted to hurt him yet). Stepping over tufts of moss with feline grace, he crept closer to the human, eyes alert for signs of aggression.

He stopped and made a quiet chirp after a few feet. He would wait for the human to do something.

Well, it didn't seem like the human was going to be aggressive. At the very least, it was pretending to not be aggressive in a convincing manner. He decided to risk it. If worse came to worst, humans weren't very smart or strong, so he could probably get away.

He took a few more steps in the direction of the human, still watching for any sudden movements, and keeping the bird of prey above in mind. When he got about two feet from the human's outstretched hand, he sat back on his hindquarters, tail in a lazy coil and wings folded. He cocked his head again and chirped twice. It was unlikely, but maybe the human could even communicate somehow.

Well, that wasn't a sound he had ever heard a human make. Was it attempting to communicate? Maybe it was. Usually they used their mouths to produce odd and guttural sounds. Of course they usually chased him with sharp pointy sticks, too.

Seeing the falcon descend towards them, the drake made ready to bolt back into the cover of the bones where the bird would be hard-pressed to get to it. But instead, the bird landed atop them and began to feast on its fresh kill.

Not particularly comfortable with the situation, the drake decided to keep the falcon in view while he tried to communicate with the human. He stepped sidelong a few paces, to try to keep them both in line of sight.