AN: so I just wanted to let every one know before they read this is that all the stuff about a nightmare I kinda just thought up along the way but they are in the fictional realm of dragons and such. But anyways if you look it up I just thought I'd let you know because what I have is probably completely different. Now on to the story!
Chapter One: Hooked by Hook
I suppose I should introduce myself before I begin this tale. My name is zephyr, but most just call me a night demon. I have many other names too, such as the equine fea, dragon horse, and the shadow and fire devil. What I actually am though is a nightmare. before you ask no I do not mean the kind that comes in your sleep. I am a magical creature that can really only be described as a cross between a horse and a dragon though I can also take a humanoid form. I am a powerful creature that roams the night. I can control the shadows to hide me when there is no moon. I am also similar to the phoenix being that I can regenerate from my own ashes and I have a flame that can burn through anything or heal any wound though they become quite annoying when you accidentally burn your home down, but thats a story for another time. Another thing that I know about is that my blood is the most toxic substance in the enchanted forest. My kind were almost completely wiped out because of our powers. This has caused many to believe that we are just myth even in such a magical place. That was the case until that fateful night anyways.
It was dark. About midnight to be precise. I was running at top speed. My four beat gait seemed to thunder in my ears and I wished that I could somehow be more silent. Those that were hunting me were pirates. How they found out about what and where I was I had no clue. I just had to get away because I was the only one alive currently. I could hear cannons fire-ing off and saw a net hit the tree next to me. My bright green and blue eyes widened in fright and I urged myself to run faster. My leathery bat like wings were tucked in close to my side to try to make me a smaller target. Do to my stealth I could tell with a swivel of my ears that I was drawing farther away from the enemy, though I was still worried they would catch a glimpse of me. In the gloom of the night my sleek black hide could easily blend with the surrounding forest, all except for my snow white mane and tail that is, but I supposed it was better than the usual when they were set ablaze with blue and white flames. The trees blurred past and I could almost taste the victory of my freedom. My muscular limbs drove me forward to the clearing where I could escape into the air. 100 yards, 50, now only 25 left. I reached the edge but suddenly had to skid to a halt. My breathing was deep and even despite the little gallop, my eyes wide with the excitement that had been going on around me, yet I was stopped by a single man standing in my way. This man had the most clear blue eyes, like tropical waters, his hair was a chocolate brown color and was slightly mussed. I eyed him warily as he stood before me with his arms crossed with a smug look on his face. Wow! I thought as my ears flattened back against my skull, and i thought all pirates were just noisy old men, I didn't know they could be smug too. All of a sudden I heard him shout, "Fire now!" I looked around just becoming fully aware of my surroundings, there were men every where. I suddenly realized I had ran into a trap, the men chasing me before were only a small amount of the crew. They had managed to herd me straight to the clearing where the rest had been lying in wait.
There were 2 canons one on each side of me. The one on the right fired first and I easily dodged. I then charged straight at the men trying to reload the canon. They became frightened and dodged out of the way of my clawed feet. There was now a path for me I was almost home free. I spread my wings to their full length of 20 feet across. I felt the wind under them and gave a strong downward thrust lifting me into the air. I was almost overjoyed. That is until I heard the loud bang that would be my doom.
The second canon had been fired. I quickly rolled to the side causing the net to miss my body but it caught my left wing. I heard a sickening crack and plummeted to the grassy clearing below. Well at least it was a soft landing. I thought as I gathered my legs under me and turned to face the large group. about half of the men ran at me one jumped on my back while another grabbed for my neck. I countered by letting my flames light once again spreading from my main across my back to my tail. The man on my back immediately died from the intensity of the heat the one grabbing for my neck I grabbed with a taloned foot and threw him to a tree wincing in pain as he stuck. i wasn't big on the whole hurting others. I brought my focus back to the eight other men that had also decided to charge at me. giving a roll of my eyes I easily managed to trip one and send him bowling into three others knocking them over like bowling pins. Another I kicked in the behind and sent him head first into a tree hollow where he promptly became stuck with his butt sticking up in the air. I had three more to go. I sent a glare to them and they quickly retreated behind the line of 10 men who carried ropes. i could instantly tell that the ropes had spells on them to protect them from my fire. I would need to be more careful. there was pain shooting up through my wing and I was beginning to tire I wouldn't be able to hold up much longer. One of the men threw a rope which I caught in my mouth and pulled him off balance with. A secom one came right behind it though and the man quickly tightened it around my neck. I sprinted forward hoping to catch him off guard when another rope made a ringer around my neck. I could already tell I was going to lose this battle the pain in my broken limb being too much to bear. I didn't give up though, I kicked and lashed out my teeth were bared and a low menacing growl was released from my throat. Wait when have I been able to growel? Momentarily distracted by my thoughts, the pirates soon had more ropes around my feet. "Pull her legs from under her!" one in a red hat yelled. Angered at this I violently shook my head and reared causing some of the men to fly into the air. "Look Captain I'm flying!" Thud he hit a tree before falling to the ground in a daze. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. Sadly the one that went flying though was quickly replaced by another and they all began to pull at once. My legs trembled and then gave way. I collapsed in the field with no way to move.
The man that had stopped me earlier swaggered up to me the smirk back on his face. I felt myself shiver in anticipation for what would happen next. He slowly lowered himself and kneeled before my face, "Well now you put up a pretty good fight, but I always get what I want in the end." He reached forward to pat the side of my head but he had another thing coming. I turned and chomped my sharp teeth at his hand the flames along my back flaring briefly before disappearing because of the magic ropes. Luckily they also kept me from setting the clearing on fire as well. "It seems this one needs an attitude adjustment," The man glared as he cradled his injured hand allowing me to take notice for the first time the hook he had. It also dawned on me now that I was dealing with captain hook. "I smirked as best I could in the form I was in and deliberately snorted on his leather vest he was wearing. He caught the bridge of my muzzle with the curve of his hook pinning it to the ground. The hook felt burning hot on my sensitive snout. my eyes widened and I began trying to remove my muzzle from his hook. How could I be so stupid of course his hook would be made of iron. My skin burned and sizzled and before I knew it I was in my humanoid form. My long brown hair hung to the middle of my back. The ropes had all completely dropped from around my slender lythe frame while my wings splayed to the sides one being at an awkward angle. I knew this happened when my body was trying to heal itself because it takes less energy but it was a curse as well because I was now weak and vulnerable, or at least more so than before.
As I looked around I saw the stunned faces of the pirated with the exception of the one sleeping on the ground do to his little flight lesson earlier. I quickly made the decision to use this to my advantage. After all the ropes no longer detained me do to my smaller stature. i gave a yell and swiftly kicked out at hooks shins causing him to lose his balance. "See you suckers I called out as I ran for the forest. Unfortunately for me Hook was quicker than I anticipated and the next thing I knew was that I was hog tied and hanging in his grasp. Yes i had just been hooked like a fish by Hook. "What a feisty one you are love but i'm afraid that we are going to have to teach you some manners about how rude it is to bite a gentleman." I stared at him in amazement, "You think hog tying me is being a gentleman?!" My voice was slightly higher pitched than normal. "Milady," he drawled out, "I am always a gentleman when the time calls for it." After giving an over dramatic bow he then turned to his crew, "Alright ye scags back to the ship with you!" They quickly scurried off to do what their captain commanded helping the fallen men to their feet and rushing to the ship. Just as the last one began to leave Captain Hook picked me up and threw me over his shoulder and began to walk with me back to his ship.