Allure paced sleepily across the forest floor, soaking in the quiet. It was hot and humid, and dark, so dark that it was a wonder the scattered ferns and saplings managed to flourish. She kept her scales to muted greens and greys as she explored, so jungle life continued around her in its usual unhurried way.
Today she was following a huge grey parrot, a type she'd never seen before. It was away up in the canopy, flapping wildly through the branches in a way startlingly different to the graceful movements of the native birds. Macaws, harpy eagles, toucans, paradise birds – Allure knew them all, which made this new species startling.
The parrot was leading her into a deeper and deeper tangle of flowers. Their petals dripped down Allure's neck and the stamens caught in her scales. The parrot fought through the thicket with grim determination, and so she followed, treading lightly and camouflaging her colours to the radiant pinks and yellows of the blooms.
At last, the flowers melted away, revealing an empty patch of wet earth overshadowed by craning trees. The parrot disappeared with a screech, but Allure had already banished it from her thoughts.
In front of her was the best discovery she'd ever made, and she loved it already. An immense palace in pink and white marble grew up from the jungle, with ancient orange trees outside the double doors and a thick sheen of moss over the stone. One of the doors stood ever so slightly ajar, and inside she could see nothing but black.
Allure took a step forward, her scales shivering to splotches of pink and electric blue. The clearing was still, but to her, it seemed the edges curled with mystery. A water drop landed on her head. She made up her mind.
The gap between the two giant doors was large enough for a relatively determined RainWing dragonet to slip through. The buzz of birdsong and chittering insects soon faded and the echoing tap tapping of Allure's claws was the only sound as she crept into the cool green darkness.
Drifts of leaves had been blown in through the open doors. Allure avoided them with deft little hops until the light faded so that she couldn't see them enough to stop the crunching underpaw. Every moment in the dark hall she felt more and more awake. Lightly, stealthily, she moved about and watched as the dark pressed against her eyeballs.
The tunnel sloped gradually down, and if there were any turnoffs Allure couldn't see them, so she kept walking straight, trembling faintly with excitement. A palace – maybe even a temple! – sitting undiscovered to the south of the village. She could come back, with fire and friends, and explore for days. The palace was huge, judging by the length of this one corridor, and just by running her tail over the walls, Allure could tell there were intricate murals carved into the stone.
Who could she trust with this secret? Of course, Queen Glory must be told, but not immediately, no. That would ruin the fun. Allure ran through her closest friends – Tropic, Boa… Peccary… Was it worth telling Uakari –
There was a light up ahead. It was warm and flickered. Allure spread her wings a little and glided the rest of the way down to where the hall split into two tunnels. A torch was sitting in a bracket at the junction, and she could see more torches lining the way to the right.
The RainWing shivered.