Chronicles From the End of an Age

Flightless Wings - 7Yrs BTA

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Aviosa woke with a ragged gasp, quickly followed by a heaving cough of water as her body forced the unwelcome liquid out of her. Her throat felt as though it had been torn to shreds by talons, and every breath felt as though she were inhaling litres of coarse sand. Dull aches and tingles flooded her body, and her hearing glands rang with a shrill drone. The world around her was swimming with white, green, and blue, and her snout stung with the scent of salt and leaves.

A groan escaped her maw as she hacked up another mouthful of saltwater that tasted of blood, causing another pulse of pain to run through her body. Suddenly, relief engulfed her, the feeling of a cool bath in the heat of summer. It washed away her pains, her aches, and unnatural tingles. It quenched her dry throat and muffled the ringing of her hearing glands. The groan was replaced by a rumbled purr of appreciation as she felt her entire body relaxing. Slowly, the world fell into darkness.

When Aviosa woke the second time, it was much more peaceful. Her body still hurt, but it was more a dull ache. Her vision was clear again, and the ringing was gone. She slowly raised her head, blinking a couple of times as she looked at her surroundings. It seemed she was in some sort of cave, though maybe that was a bit of a generous term. It was barely big enough to fit three dragons laying down, and if she stood up she would likely bash her head against the roof. It was made of limestone, with lots of jagged edges that she knew could be quite uncomfortable.

The opening lead out to a forest of rich green trees and shrubs growing on loose dirt and sand. A salty ocean tang was on the air, accompanied by rich undergrowth. A slope descended from the cave and down through the forest until it reached a pearly white beach, before continuing into a vast blue ocean, stretching as far as the eye could see. On the horizon, she could see the sun setting, billowing out its beautiful oranges and purples along the sky.

An uneasy rumble escaped her. The last thing she recalled was... a battle. She had been fighting over the ocean with a small group. They had tried to retreat... but then there was a flash of power and now... now she was here? The dragoness went to pull in her outstretched wing when a flash of pain from it startled her, causing her to let out a yelp.

Her eyes went over to her wounded wing, eyes wide. Her opallic scales glimmered in the soft light, with her long tail curled slightly behind her. Her left wing was folded tightly to her side, while her right lay outstretched. The problem was at the elbow of her wing, where a cleanly broken bone pierced through. Aviosa stared at it with horror, wanting to tear her eyes away from it but unable to.

It was a clean break, with the hollow insides of the bone fully visible. The leathery flesh around it seemed to have reattached itself to the bone but in completely the wrong place. A dull ache originated around it, and as she went to move it again she could feel the grating within her wing, causing her to wince again. It wasn't so much painful, but the feeling caused her stomach to heave a little and her entire body to shrivel with unease.

The sound of rustling talons caught her attention, and she quickly leaped to her feet with practiced ease, ignoring the spike of pain it caused in her wing. Her tail lashed, liquid crystal seeping from her scales and hardening into spikes as she prepared for whoever was about to find her.

A green snout poked around the side of the cave and froze as a warning rumble escaped her. She narrowed her eyes at the life dragon that had just appeared before her. A young drake it seemed, with a mouthful of fish and wide eyes. His light green scales meshed with forest in the background, and he himself seemed suddenly terribly frightened.