Coming Home

Illamnodrid's Silver-Gold 3-headed duowinged Lupix

HATCHING
Illamnodrid sat at the edge of the sands. He had heard the eggs rocking long before the alert had gone out. He had lingered there ever since. Now the candidates were entering along with the watchers. Illamnodrid put his ears high in the air and closed his eyes. Carefully he scanned the sounds and signalled out the cracking of the eggs. Suddenly he heard a growing screeching as from nails scraping on a shell.
Illamnodrid's eyes opened wide, looking in the direction of the egg that was about to crash. A dark red dragon, two heads, four wings emerged. There was nothing at all wolf-like about it. 
"If I ever get my claws near that green again, she won't live to see another sunrise." he growled and stepped back. No use in befriending one of these so alien animals.
As the hatching continued Illamnodrid grew ever more nervous. He wanted to walk away, but hope held him back. Those pesky good dragons weren't the most likely ones to hatch, even if green was a most unhealthy colour.
Another egg smashed open. The first thing Illamnodrid noticed was the deep infrasound it made, like a deep snarl. Then he saw a neck of grey fur stride into the corner of his eyesight. Illamnodrid focused and held his breath. The green had been right. The obviously part wolf dragon was large and grey, though with some weird golden wings and paws. His fur didn't cover his entire body, but Illamnodrid was willing to overlook it...
If only the 3-headed hydra would look his way. But he didn't. 
Arching forward, Illamnodrid followed the movements of the hydra and picked up a faint smell of danger. Almost in ecstasy his tongue rolled out of his mouth when the corners enlarged into a grin. His blickering white teeth reflected a few stray rays of light and his front fingers tapped the sand impatiently.
Finally a man, the leader of this dragon place, ran in front of him and said: "Try it and you'll only have two heads." A very unwise move to make in front of one that reeked of danger. 
But the hatchling hydra, still uncertain about his powers and likely also his part drak genes obeyed the command. One of the heads turned to Illamnodrid, while the other two still eyed the two humans.
"I was going to eat them, but the big man stopped me!" he hissed in Illamnodrid's mind, conveying hunger on all channels.
"How about finding you some food elsewhere, Lupix?" Illamnodrid answered.
"Fine, but I would rather have eaten them." whined Lupix as they left.
Outside Illamnodrid turned to Lupix and said: "Never let a human know I said this, they are highly vain creatures, but human flesh doesn't taste that good and there is too little to go around... now a Dwarf Dragon is what you should eat to grow."
"Can I have one?"
"Soon my son. But first we need to teach you the ways of the pack."

RETURN HOME
The trip back to Keltic Spirit Glade was easy and uneventful. Illamnodrid had gone over the details a million times while Lupix was growing. The part drak-part wolf now towered above him. His three heads looking in all directions.
Illamnodrid slowly went over his plan. They would have the surprise. Hydra's where not known on Lyria. Especially not ones as bright as Lupix was. His colouring alone would dazzle the hated demons. Southern Dragons were dark, they always were, with little colours other than black and red. More, all things white and gold would surely be considered Angel dragons from the North. Illamnodrid spat on the floor. Only the thought of those dragons of pure goodness made him shiver. They were strong, they might even be stronger than the demons who ruled the south. 
Illamnodrid looked at Lupix and wondered if he should...
"No." Lupix said firmly.
"Oh come on. They would be afraid of you. It's all for the pack."
"I will not braid my hair! Have you than been so humiliated that your pride is gone? I say we go back as ourselves or not at all."
Illamnodrid fell silent as he heard the all too true words of his bond. He had softened and grown afraid when once he would have engaged in battle without a doubt in his bones. He was too young to lose his edge, even if he was the last of his tribe and carried with him the torch of revenge. Revenge should be delivered swift and bloody. With a feast afterwards to pick clean the bones of his enemy.
"That's more like it!" Lupix yelled excited, "Can I try one of those Dwarfs too?"
"We will catch some later... First, we need to work out a plan."
Nighttime fell, though it couldn't be recognised as such in the ever dark of the Southern part of Lyria. They discussed there tactics and finally agreed on a bigger element of surprise. Illamnodrid would face the Demon alone, while Lupix would fly in from above to confuse the demon long enough for Illamnodrid to gash open the belly and rip out the intestines to devour them raw. All in all it was a good and righteous plan. 
Afterwards Illamnodrid walked once again the barren cliffs of his homeland. There were dwarfs aplenty now that the wolf dragons had been diminished by the large demon prowling there. Lupix easily mastered the skill of catching the rather fatalistic dwarfs. The meat was the best he had ever had. Juicy red and with a strange hot aftertaste Illamnodrid said came from the lichen they ate.
"Isn't what we do to the dwarfs the same as the demon did to us?"
"No... the dwarfs still have a tribe to go home too. We never kill them for the pleasure of seeing them squirm. Besides, they breed almost constantly. The babies are capable of surviving alone almost immediately since all they do is hide and eat. They aren't very bright."
"Plus they taste good."
"Indeed."

The next morning they headed out into the forest. Though the smells had faded somewhat, Illamnodrid could still recognise the smell of the demon that had killed his pack. He would never forget the stench that had surrounded the blood-red dragon. Never in his life.
Lupix flew up and guided by his bond's directions soon came across the abandoned lair of the Demon. Bones were scattered across the floor and high on top of a rock bench lay a bigger, more complete skeleton. The demon.
Illamnodrid's eyes nearly bulged out. The demon couldn't be dead. Granted, he had been gone a few years, but hardly enough for the demon to die.
"What happened?" he whispered.
"He's dead father." Lupix stated, "We are too late."
Illamnodrid broke down to the ground and lay between the bones of his fellow wolves and the odd crow the demon had caught. "How..." he kept whispering, wanting to die.
"You cannot die. As long as I am here you cannot." Lupix said, clinging to Illamnodrid's soul with every fibre of his own.
"But it is useless now. I am a fool." Illamnodrid said and howled to the two moons of the Southern Continent. Lupix managed to get his bond out and back to their little nest at the edge of the forest. He was afraid, Illamnodrid had never acted this lost. Carefully Lupix wrapped himself around the wolf, covering fur with fur and hoped the morning would bring peace.

BACK

Illamnodrid was adopted at the Keltic Spirit Glade.
Lupix was found at the Bipedra 2003

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