Prologue
~A young woman that looked 'round the age of 14 hit the ground running, coughing as she breathed in the ash filled air. She stumbled over the black rocks, frizzy hair flying, brown eyes searching the smoky sky- desperately trying to find- to see beyond the grey.
Nothing.
She listened, frozen for a moment. Then she heard it- a puff a breath, a wing beat.
The young girl continued to sprint, allowing a long stick to slide out of her sleeve into her hand.
She heard a deep throated growl and threw herself upon the sharp edged rocks, ignoring them as they dug into her hand, allowing blood to come out of the already dirt covered skin, as she clutched a small bag.
Fire roared over her head- bright white orange tipped flames, scorching and turning the tips of her hair to ash.
"HOW DARE YOU!"
Others who heard the furious, cry in the Volcano Alps would have only heard a roar, a vicious growl of a… dragon.
Eleanor Morrigan Fay – Apprentice Wandmaker – looked at the bag, the bag that held dragon scales for the next collection of wands. She winced. Dragons were particularly possessive of discarded scales- Mages or Necromancers could enslave Dragons to their will if they had a discarded scale.
The ash was clearing from the powerful breaths of the dragons and Eleanor looked at the edge of the rocky black cliff.
She heard the pounds of the dragon's feet and it's claws as it scrabbled for hold on the uneven ground.
Eleanor began to count down, 5..
The dragon's screeches filled the air, drawing in deep breaths as it sniffed for the scale-stealer.
4…
It swung its gigantic horned head around, puffing bits of flame out, hoping to hear a cry as he might have scorched the scale-stealer.
3..
Eleanor closed her eyes, preparing for the moment when everything would hit the fan.
2…
There! Right there, her scent!
1..
The Dragon leapt right where Eleanor lay, just as she waved her wand and was given an extra burst of speed as she hurtled towards the cliff edge.
She skidded to a stop, looking desperately for a way out.
The dragon howled in fury and dove at her, it's wings injured from the blast that Eleanor had cast at its thin membrane.
The Apprentice closed her eyes, inhaled sharply and took a back step, as the dragon opened its mouth, letting out a burst of flame.
She jumped over the cliff edge just as the fire touched the tips of her hair. ~