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The dripping sound in the cave was the soft pattering of the early morning raindrops falling to the icy ground of the small cave. The drops resounded and echoed through the open mouth of the cave, making the bats on the cieling to be lulled into a drowsy state, caused by the repititive lullaby from the tears of the clouds. A gental breeze signaled the end of the hunt. Shadow dragged the mutilated carcass into the corner of the cave by the neck, her silver claws digging into the flesh. She tossed the long dead stag into a small pile of hay.
Shadow was a small black dragon. She was immortal, so she lost count of her age long ago. The membrane of her wings were a deep saphire, and her reptilian eyes were emerald. Her horns, claws, spikes, and the sythe at the end of her tail were silver, tipped with navy blue. She was about twelve feet long, and standing up, she was five feet tall. Her wingspan was thirty feet for each wing. Her razor sharp fangs were both snake like and vampiric, in other words, she could suck the victims blood or poison them with a single bite. Her glimmering claws were at least six inches long, and sharp as daggers. Her sleek form was covered in dark obsidian scales, darker than the shadows themselves. Her personality was also unique, she was suspicious of everyone and everything around her. She trusted only a select few. She was somewhat weak, compared to other dragons, anything else she could easily overpower, but her speed, senses, and intelligence made up for her lack of strength. She was very clever and sly, fooling her enemys with simple tricks.
She shuffled the hay around into a tight pile. She blew a thin stream of fire until a small flame flicked back and forth, then spread quickly to the stag. The smell of burning meat and smoke filled the air. Both smells disturbed the bats on the ceiling, and something outside in the dull orange dawn sky.
Shadow hated bright light and loud noise. She hated it more than humans. Both angered her for some odd reason. She growled at the unknown creature outside. Footsteps began to sound outside the circular cave. Something found the rock path that went to every cave on the cliff. Shadow sniffed the air, HUMAN! She thought with a snarl. She backed away into a dark corner, unlit by the fire.
A soldier slowly made his way in the cave. He yelled, "HELLO! Is anyone here?!" His question echoed through the cave. He looked to the fire, and then behind him. The fire made his armor glimmer and shine. He carefully stalked his way to the fire, searching in every direction to detect the slightest trace of movement. Shadow kept silent and refused to move even a muscle. Her eyes followed the humans form. He reached the fire and let his guard down.
She walked out of the shadows and to the man. "Who are you?" She asked. The soldier spun around and his sword was not but an inch from Shadow's face. She didn't flinch.
"Oh," He slightly lowered his sword. "I am truly sorry for the sudden movement. I am feeling edgy. I heard there was an ogre in one of the caves up here." Shadow kept silent, the fire causing her ice blue eyes to glimmer. She clenched her hand in hatred. He looked at any potential weapons. "You're a powerful dragon." He whispered. He grabbed a rope at his belt and moved it toward her neck.
"Don't touch me." She snapped. He hesitated, then continued. Shadow swept the ground with her tail and tripped him. Before he hit the ground, she grabbed his gloved hand. "Do you want to try that again?" She raised her eyeridge in question.
"Yes." He smirked from under his metal helmet.
Shadow released his hand, making him fall on his rear. "Wrong answer." She said as she walked to the cave mouth.
"Oh no you don't!" He ran toward her. He grabbed her scaly arm and spun her around, staring into her eyes.
"Remove your hand now." Shadow said through clenched teeth. He didn't. She glared at him, and he smiled.
"What are you going to do, Shadow, kill me?" His words burned into her mind like the blazing fire in the corner.
"I don't result in bloodshed unless I must." She whispered. She punched him in the stomach. But the metal softened the blow, but still had great impact. She blolted to the cave mouth and closed her eyes, then she let out an earsplitting roar. She clenched her hands, and ran faster. When she opened her eyes and looked back, she saw the soldier trailing not far behind her. She roared again just as she jumped into the air. Her emerald flashed. Shadow felt something pulling her tail. As she looked down, the human's sword rose, and as he swung to plunge the weapon into her back, she rose into the air, pumping her wings. The soldier lost grip of his sword, and it fell down into the dense forest below. Now above the clouds, Shadow tucked her wings to her scaled back, and began to free fall. She searched the ground below, planning for the best way to get rid of the human without hurting him too much. The warrior clung on to one of her spikes with both hands. She grinned at his misfortune, then roared once more, and tucked her wings in tighter, going faster than the eye could follow. The ground came at them in a blur. Shadow fanned out her wings just before she hit the ground, the grass of the clearing tickling her wing tips. She swooped up suddenly, curving her neck and tail, and the man jumped off, rolling to break his fall.
She turned to land in the clearing next to the soldier. Her great navy wings beat as she lowered her sleek body onto the ground. She made her way, slowly, to the man in armor laying on the ground. He looked up and saw her coming, and scrambled up to fight, grabbing his hidden knife in his boot.
"Oh! A knife! I'm so scared!" Shadow said sarcastically. The human dashed toward her, knife raised. He met the ground suddenly. "I'm a dragon. Do you think you could kill me? Reallisticly?" She had swatted him, and pinned him to the ground with her clawed foot. He sliced at her leg with the knife. The weapon snapped into shards and left a small bruise. Shadow didn't even blink. She snarled a dragon smile, and licked her fang.
Shadow gaped, roared, and stepped off of the human. As he got up, she clenched her hand around his metal protected throat.
"I thought you said you don't result in bloodshed unless you have to?" He managed to whisper as her hold on him tightened.
Shadow clenched her hand tighter, until the sound of his neck snapping signaled his death. She threw his corpse to the ground, then whispered, "I don't see any blood."
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