Roar! the Dragon Did Decree
Murtagh looked down over the suddenly still bodies as Thorn circled around.
Thorn had been silent except for the pounding of his wings, but the elves must have sensed them somehow as each glowing face was turned up to them. Murtagh noted that they were stock-still. The only part of them that moved was their cat-like eyes that followed his movements in the inky sky.
When descending to land, they bounded away and Thorn dropped with all his gangrenous weight. The earth shook for a moment more as he slammed his front paws down to follow. Murtagh dismounted quickly with a slide and Thorn tucked his wings in, his tongue darting out in the air to taste the smells and read the situation of celebration.
The elves were silent and still for a few moments more before they erupted in yells and hollers of excitement. This made Thorn rear his head back in shock from the sudden onslaught of noise, but Murtagh calmed him easily enough.
A few notable elves, like the ever-ageless Queen, came and gave him respect as he sat against Thorn's neck. He was a little surprised at their sincerity and welcome, and he wondered when the elves had begun to change from this peace. He must have missed it in his own little part of the woods.
Some braver, or many ignorant, individuals asked him to join their dance. Some were very beautiful women and a few men, which made Murtagh a little shifty, but he refused them all. He favored to sit in his place close to one of the few fires, the warm waves washing over him.
The fire also reflected off of Thorn's scales that shone brilliantly tonight, the spots dancing over the elf's faces as they passed, their smiles widening with the odd reflections. Murtagh heard them whispering that the red dots were like a blessing, and he felt Thorn's chest raise in pride.
It seemed he also missed the total societal number increase, and he wondered if their population was almost the same before they'd marched off to join in the war. While the elves were powerful, it didn't stop them from being killed in battle like the rest of the races.
The modest amount of children ran about, squealing. Murtagh resisted wincing. Opposite to him in this was Thorn, whose eyes followed the youths where ever they ran.
Watch anymore and the elves will think you will ask to make a sacrifice of the children to you, Murtagh joked to his dragon, who only gave him a playful face of smoke.
As the hours passed by and Murtagh saw the stars migrate over the sky, he was surprised to see the elves continue to move around the fire, their faces still as energetic as when he'd first landed. Their constant movement made him feel sluggish and a sudden itch seemed to overtake his skin. This need to move transferred to Thorn, who suddenly let out a bellow.
Murtagh felt a proud smirk come onto his face when his dragon opened his mouth and bellowed a roar that had the elves almost loosing their ever-present balance. But they leaped up to regain their footing, and it looked like they were a school of fish from the sea jumping up to avoid a shark or other predator.
Thorn then began to bang the earth with his forearms, making the elves continue to hop. They cheered at the new dance move, and soon Murtagh was following along.
The dark-haired rider told himself that it was just out of necessity so he would not have to fall over like a young child, but soon he was mixing in with the elves. With his height he could look over a large majority of them, and in this way he could keep his eyes on his paw-smacking dragon.
Thorn gave another roar before he was leaping towards Murtagh, and the elves seemed alarmed for a moment as the dragon attempted to squish his rider between his claws.
But Murtagh understood the game and began darting around, spinning and leaping and giving playful jibs at Thorn, which only encouraged the beast more.
Eventually, though, Murtagh decided to land himself in the saddle again, and Thorn reared on his back legs.
Let's show them something to really celebrate over, Thorn said to Murtagh before he projected to the elves: Watch us and marvel!
And then they took to the air and began twisting and climbing, crushing gravity's grip on them. And in this blood-oath ceremony they did become something to gasp and watch with wide eyes.
Color theme 001: Red; Word Count: 775
Posted on the 22nd of January, 2011