Ebonia had grown from a whelp into a young drake. She had been raised inside a colossal, ancient volcano, tucked away with many other drakes in a hidden series of caves.
One of the first things she'd learned was that none of them liked her.
It had taken her a little bit to figure out why.
It was because she looked different. Her scales were darker and shinier than theirs, her horns were differently shaped and far more elegant, and she was smaller than they were. The other drakes therefore ganged up on her and tried to make her feel awful for even existing.
Ebonia was currently hiding in a dark corner of the caves, keeping a wary eye out. She held a silver ring in her talons, a piece of dwarven treasure she'd found while exploring the caves. She did not want the other drakes to know it existed, for they'd surely steal it from her. This was her only treasure right now, so she refused to let that happen.
She shivered as she heard the sounds of heavy breathing and talons scraping stone. One of the drakes was already nearby.
Ebonia knew she could take it on, assuming it was alone. But a fight would cause a ruckus that would attract all the others, which was not what she wanted.
She'd have to find a way to either escape without being noticed, or find a way to silence the drake.
She risked a peek, and shuddered as she saw the drake. It was the worst one - a huge brute known as Tethrion. He had many scars and was the largest of the drakes, not to mention he delighted in tormenting Ebonia.
Ebonia took a deep breath, readying her fire. If he spotted her, things would get messy fast. She was going to need every weapon she had.
Tethrion sniffed around, then grinned toothily. "So this is your new hideout, hm, Blackwash? Not a very good one I'd say."
Ebonia remained silent, but her inner fire flared furiously at the sound of her nickname. That was another reason she hated Tethrion - he'd been the one to come up with it.
Tethrion made his way ever closer to her hiding spot, growling, "Come out, come out, wherever you are..."
He was now too close for her to escape unnoticed. Ebonia hissed, and then leaped out from her hiding spot, breathing out her stored-up flames.
Tethrion bellowed and stumbled back, recoiling from the flames. Ebonia took advantage of the situation, and leaped at him, attempting to close her jaws around his throat.
However, Tethrion had quickly recovered from his surprise, and flung her off, smashing her into the side of the cavern. Unfortunately for Ebonia, she hit the wall on her burn scars, causing her to screech in pain.
The burns were a lasting reminder of her trip with Deathwing, and Tethrion knew how much they could hurt her. Ebonia was enraged now, and lunged at him once again, swinging her tail around and smacking him in the leg.
Tethrion chuckled. "You're not strong enough to defeat me, you know. You can't defeat any of us. Stop this foolishness, and perhaps I'll beat you up a little less."
Ebonia replied by slashing at his throat.
Tethrion snarled, and rammed her with his head, knocking Ebonia off balance. Before she could recover, he swung his tail and knocked her over.
As he did so, he spotted the dwarven ring, and his eyes lit up with greed. "Ooh, a piece of treasure for me! Hand it over, Blackwash."
"I'm not letting you bully me anymore!", snarled Ebonia, "The treasure is mine!"
Tethrion replied, "Oh really? Let's test that."
He charged her and slammed her into the wall again, causing an audible crack. Ebonia winced from the white-hot pain coursing through one of her wings, not to mention the pain coming from her burns, but she would not let Tethrion beat her this time. With a roar, she shoved Tethrion back, and readied another blast of flames.
Tethrion charged her again, and Ebonia unleashed a point-blank fire breath. Now it was Tethrion's turn to screech in pain, as the flames melted the scales on his face. As soon as they subsided, his eyes lit up in rage.
"Oh, you've made me angry now. Very, very angry...", Tethrion growled, "I'll make you wish you'd never hatched from that slimy egg!"
Ebonia leaped to the side as he unleashed his own fire breath, which was followed up by him swinging his tail and claws. Ebonia was not interested in letting him hit her, so she charged him from the side and raked her claws across a series of scars on his arm, reopening them and causing him to roar out in pain. He whirled around, claws outstretched.
Ebonia prepared to counter him, but now he was angrier and faster, and slashed his claws right across her eye.
Ebonia shrieked and fell back, talons covering her right eye. She felt blood trickling through her claws, and knew the wound was deep. She was terrified, for if she became half-blind, she'd become an even easier target and would suffer every single day.
Not to mention of course all the other problems that would ensue...
Tethrion laughed as Ebonia leaned back against a wall, trying to see with just her good eye. That made Ebonia extremely angry. Not only had he inflicted a grievous wound on her, but he found it hilarious! Ebonia was infuriated, and she knew that she would not tolerate this fiend being alive any longer.
While he was still laughing, Ebonia took an even deeper breath, and then unleashed a devastating blast of flames that rose the temperature of the cave by several degrees.
Tethrion screamed and fell over, fire blazing across his scales. Ebonia did not give him the opportunity to recover. She pounced on him, and snapped his neck with her jaws.
As she stood over his lifeless body, missing an eye but triumphant, Ebonia realized this was the first time she'd ever killed someone of similar intelligence to her.
But she felt no remorse. In fact, it felt good. She felt powerful, unstoppable. She'd never thought she could be this strong.
Then she heard the sounds of many talons racing through the passage, and some of her old fear returned. She may have taken down Tethrion, but she still couldn't fight all the others at once!
Twelve young black drakes charged into the cavern, ready to fight. But when they saw Ebonia standing atop the corpse of their leader, they froze, staring in shock.
Ebonia readied her fire breath, but it was no use. With a chorus of roars, they leaped at her in rage, and Ebonia struggled to defend herself from the barrage of claws and tails.*