Smoke and dust formed their own clouds, in black and gray with the already present white. Blood stained the landscape a dark crimson as corpses littered the ground. Dragons were doing anything they could to escape, moving away as fast as possible.

  Towers were collapsing. Those who weren't fast enough were crushed under heavy stone. Guards flew up to meet their unknown enemies. They were outpaced, outmaneuvered, outperformed.

  Slaughtered.

  Many who were trying to fly away only found themselves falling to their deaths moments later, wings flailing behind them as their lifeless bodies plummeted to the ground down below. Those who were running were stalked from the skies like they were panicked rabbits trying to escape the deadly hawk. A loud buzz, a series of sharp cracks, and the dragons would slump to the ground as the predators climbed back into the sky to hunt down more prey. Every dragon had the same thought running through their heads.

  Run.

  Attackers dove down from the sky, with a terrifying sound increasing in volume as if warning the dragons of their impending death. Explosions were dismantling the buildings with brutal efficiency. Centuries old constructions, filled with history, were wiped out in moments.

  Dragons raced for the woods, trying to hide from the buzzing monsters in the sky. Trying to survive. Trying to live. Word will spread swiftly over the continent of what happened this day.

  The Sky Palace is destroyed.

  *****

  Kelp was gliding over the land, enjoying the final moments of the day. The sunset was casting beautiful streaks of orange and pink across the sky, tinting the clouds with a painter's touch. The landscape below her was filled with deciduous and evergreen trees swaying gently in the breeze. To the North of her was the Kingdom of the Sea, and to her South was the sea that stretches below the continent. She was flying over what would be the beginning of the dragon's tail when looking at a map of Pyrrhia.

  It was weird how what was above water fascinated her more than what was below. How does that even work? Coral reefs are so much more colorful and vibrant, with reds and blues and yellows all around; fish of all sizes, shapes, and colors. Compared to forests, with only green being visible for miles on end and wildlife much less common, it was truly an anomaly that the forest awed her more than the many beauties in the Kingdom of the Sea.

  But it can't be helped. If anything, her odd interest made her an ideal candidate for an outreach project being done by all the tribes. Over a year ago the queens decreed killing scavengers illegal after finding out they had dragon-like intelligence. Dragons were encouraged to try to interact with them and build relations, through projects such as the one she's in. Right now she was exploring the Tail Peninsula in search of smaller scavenger dens for this specific outreach. The dark green sea swayed just as much as her blue home. Kelp was hovering on a nice wind current when something faint pricked her ears.

  Vrrrrrr...

  What is that? She thought, any thought of finding scavengers moving to the back of her mind. It sounded like a growl, but not any growl she had heard. It wasn't a wolf or a bear. It definitely wasn't a dragon. Perhaps this was a new animal? She seems to always find something new on these explorations she's done these past few days.

  She flew deeper inland, curiosity propelling each wingbeat. The sound got louder as she flew closer. She was also starting to get some kind of smell on the wind now too. It wasn't pleasant. Rather repugnant, really. But curiosity kept pushing her forward.

  Vrrrrrr...

  It was louder now. She flew for another minute until it sounded like it was right below her. She couldn't see anything though. Apart from some small openings, the forest hid everything on the ground from view.

  And this growl was weird. Now that she was somewhere above it, she could tell how unnatural it was. It didn't waver or stop. Whatever animal this was didn't pause to take a breath. It just kept growling. And whatever it was, it clearly wasn't moving. The growl kept resonating from the same spot.

  What in the three moons...

  The growl suddenly grew a little in pitch, and its source finally seemed to move. Kelp hovered above the treeline, trying to keep track of where the creature was.

  There!

  In one of the openings, she caught sight of... something. It was a dark green, like the forest around it, and it was definitely emitting that weird growl. A part of it turned, like a head. But it didn't look like a head. It had a horn of some kind jutting out of it, and as it turned... it pointed towards her.

  Kelp tilted her head in question.

  Crack-ack-ack-ack-ack!

  Kelp's ears suddenly felt like they were splitting in millions of pieces as the loudest sound she had ever heard pierced them. Her left wing's membrane exploded in terrible pain as she felt something rip through it. As she looked over, to her horror, large holes and tears pocketed the flesh of her wing, leaving it in tatters. The forest started to rush up to meet her. Suddenly it didn't look as interesting as before. Now it looked terrifying, with whatever had done this to her waiting down there to meet her.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  She plummeted in a chaotic spiral with a roar. She tried anything, everything, to control her descent. Her glide was borderline free fall as she reached the tree line. The leaves and branches slapped her as she fell through the canopy. She poorly maneuvered through the branches on her one-and-a-half wings, leading to her crash landing on her good wing, breaking it and almost breaking her forearm. Her breath was knocked out of her lungs as she collided with the ground.

  What just HAPPENED? She thought as she lay on the ground in pain. She was just flying! Then something attacked her and she could fly and she fell and now she was on the ground and...

  Wait.

  Her eyes widened. She was on the ground! As the rushing blood receded from her head, she could make out a noise getting closer...

  VRRRRRR...

  The growl was much louder now, as if it was angrier at her presence. And it was getting louder rapidly. Kelp jumped to her feet. She instinctually flapped her wings, trying to take off, and immediately regretted it as her already screaming nerves erupted in more pain. She started to panic. If that thing got a hold of her... only the Currents would know what will happen.

  Being a dragon, she never considered anything other than a dragon being able to overpower her. She was a dragon! The top of the food chain! The most powerful kind of creature to exist! But as that thing approached rapidly, she was seized by a primal instinct. The instinct of prey.

  Run.

  As fast as she could, faster than she ever had in her life. The monster behind her never stopped its roar as it chased her through the forest.

  The sea. I have to get to the sea!

  She was running North, where she flew in from. She knew she wasn't far from the sea. She only flew for a few minutes when chasing the sound. So long as she could outlast the creature and stay ahead of it, she could escape into the water and live.

  But a few minutes of flying did not mean a few minutes of running. Whatever it was, it was fast. No matter how many trees she wove through or obstacles she leapt over, that thing never let up. There was no lapse in its sound, no indication of fatigue through panting. Its constant ferocious growl never sounded more than a few dragon lengths away.

  Crack!

  Kelp's heart lurched as she heard something whizz by her ear. A few pieces of wood leapt off a tree as if trying to escape whatever was meant for her. She sped up even more, running faster than she ever has in her lifetime.

  Onward she ran, stride after stride, minute after agonizing minute of sprinting, desperate for her survival. Her lungs were burning. Her legs were exhausted. Her heart pounded wildly with a mind of its own.

  There!

  A break in the trees! The ocean beyond! She can escape! She can live!

  She dashed between the trees out into the open and skidded to a halt, nearly vaulting off the cliff before her.

  Over the cliff led to a long fall, right into violent waves crashing against the cliff. It was too high to jump down and survive, at least. Rocks jutted out of the water as if they were shark teeth ready to devour her. The waves crashed and rolled and roared as if they were trying to break the cliff itself. No way she could survive swimming through with destroyed wings and absolutely exhausted limbs.

  The sounds behind her caught up and dulled into the same low growl she heard at first. Kelp fearfully turned around to face her pursuer.

  It was the strangest thing she ever saw. It was a dark green box of some kind with no limbs. Towards its back was the horn she saw earlier before, and something small moved behind it. Looking closer at the creature, it didn't look scaled or covered in fur, instead it looked like...

  Suddenly two... wings? Or something like wings... unfurled towards the front of the creature. From behind them came...

  Scavengers.

  Two of them, one on each side. They wore the same thing - gray-colored cloth of some kind, and both had equipment attached to them via leather straps. She saw a third pop its head out from behind the horn.

  Scavengers? Was that thing chasing me even a creature? Or was it something they made?

  Kelp relaxed the slightest bit. Maybe she could reason with them through talon gestures and miming to get the creature behind them to leave her alone, as well as get a head start on the outreach.

  Crack!

  Pain exploded in her forearm as something tore into it. The front of her body collapsed onto the ground as she couldn't put her weight on her leg. Any semblance of reasoning with them drained from her mind.

  She watched with wide eyes as one scavenger approached her. The scavenger chittered something. It almost seemed to smile as it kneeled down to meet her eyes. Kelp saw no mercy in its hard gaze.

  Am I...

  It pulled something off of its hip, and an audible click was heard.

  ...going to die?

  *****

  Blood dripped from a point in the middle of the dragon's head, painting streaks of red on the vibrant blue scales, as the uniformed human stood up.

  "Didn't you get a little too close, Sarge?" The far human said.

  "It wouldn't have done anything at this point. It was too injured and too scared to try anything." The sergeant responded. "How about you come and get a closer look yourself, private? Considering this whole chase is your fault in the first place."

  "The dragon spotted us! We can't let any dragons with knowledge of us spread the word!" came the retort.

  "You're supposed to report to me first, then wait for the order to engage. Is that understood, private?" said the sergeant with a piercing glare.

  "Yes sir."

  "What should we do with the body sir?" asked the third human.

  "What about it, corporal?"

  "We can't leave it here in the open. It might lead to dragons searching the area." clarified the corporal.

  The sergeant paused. He looked towards the dead dragon. And the drop beyond.

  "Throw it into the sea."

  "With what, Sarge? We have no heavy equipment."

  "I want you to push it with your hands." replied the sergeant sarcastically. "Ram it with the thing behind you, dumbass! Then I want to head back and get some chow. We'd be lucky if there is anything good left."

  The humans re-entered their transport. With a roar, it moved forward and shoved the dragon off the cliff. It fell into the violent sea, floating at the mercy of the raging waves.

  The transport stayed motionless at the top of the cliff for a few moments, as if observing its slain foe. Then it backed away, turned around, and moved back into the forest, its unnatural disturbance fading away, leaving the cliff as empty and peaceful as it was before.