Flight 29
Night Green Roczath(Written by Jennalyn)
It was a cloudy, moonlit night as Roczath perched upon her ledge, possessively eyeing the little group of admirers waiting below. Three browns and two blues, all of them Nights, almost indistinguishable in the shadows. A very satisfying following. Her sister was plagued with irritating metallic-toned chasers, bronzes who didn’t know when to keep their mouths shut. She was happy with her lot.
Ever since her return to Ryslen, the dragoness had regained much of her cool poise and detached manner, to her rider’s intense relief. Anel’inh had begun to fear that the euphoria of that first clutch would never wear off and he’d be stuck listening to her twittering about how lovely her children were turning out again. And again. And probably again, if she insisted on mating so often.
From his seat next to her on their ledge, the half-vampire watched as the whirling of her eyes slowly picked up speed. She was watching “her males” as they left their expectant vigil to sweep over a once-sleeping herd of hoofed meat. The terrified shrills of the herdbeasts seemed to hold her interest, and she stayed on her perch to watch her suitors feed in preparation for the flight ahead. Their riders were likely cursing the hour at which it was to be held, but it was only to be expected when they sought to catch a nocturnal huntress such as she.
Vain creature, her rider thought in amusement. Nocturnal huntress? Don’t tell me you’re waxing poetic now.
She didn’t dignify that with a response, except to rise and stretch, preparing for launch. He rose as well and snatched for a limb to haul himself atop her back – she was not feeling particularly cooperative.
Finally the last of the browns finished blooding his wherry, and she was ready. Her descent was quick and fast, reaching the ground to drop off her rider before springing aloft once again and snagging a beast of her own, neatly breaking its neck.
Fighting with her to blood was unnecessary, since she rarely ate the meat at any time, much less one as important as this. The carcass was blooded quickly and cleanly, with little being spilled from long practice. As it had been a fairly small creature, she went for a second one, not much larger, and drained it as well. She did not jump for another.
Being small herself, the two of them would be sufficient.
With a lash of her inky tail the only warning, she leapt for the sky and gained altitude as quickly as her long, sharp wings would allow. The males followed suit not a second later, a flurry of black and brown and blue.
Once she gained a reasonable height she began to swerve, zigzagging across the sky in a confusing pattern that some of the males attempted to follow. A problem arose as Night brown Chth zigged when he should have zagged and collided with Night blue Bretainth. Both males struggled to right themselves, tangling more in the process, and were left behind as the others soared farther away.
Stopping and sparing a glance for the unfortunate duo, Roczath was nearly caught when Idaylath surprised her from underneath. The Night blue had used her momentary distraction to a definite advantage, but hadn’t counted on a vicious slash at his face from the irritated female, which he barely managed to dodge in time. It likely would have taken out his eye if it had connected, and it seemed to convince him that maybe, just maybe, this wasn’t the female for him. Needless to say, he discontinued his pursuit, leaving Redaelth and Ydouraith vying for Roza’s attentions.
Extremely annoyed at having been caught off guard, the green decided that a different tactic was in order. Instead of “running” and being chased, she turned around mid-air and flew straight at the two remaining males.
Both males were caught off guard with this change of pace, but instead of swerving hastily away to avoid collision, Ydouraith welcomed it with wings spread wide. After all, being slammed into by a female was fine as long as he managed to keep a hold on said female.
Roczath was satisfied with the outcome – he’d received the brunt of the impact anyway – and only gave a token struggle before allowing nature to take its course.
Far below, Nel was eyeing Ttrae’an’s dappled hair with interest, more than pleased with the outcome of this latest flight. She didn’t seem bothered in the least by his heritage, and...well, she had such lovely markings...