tick tack, tick tack, the sound of talons on stone, swift and hushed the swish of scales and fur. jaws spreading with a low hiss, ichor flowing over tongue as body writhed beneath predator. rending head back in furious fashion, life ending with a shriek, taste of the hunt thick within instincts. bones turning to powder and splinters, hunger abating within gut, carrying the corpse like a doll. blue eyes gleaming with an unbidden rage, deep hiss undulating from golden chest. twining about, steps heavy and firm, came the beast back to it's den. laid upon it's jaws, body of an animal too torn to make out species, it's purpose only to be food for the dragon that carried it. den upon high, isolated from others, a place to fend other beasts from, to oversee and watch. the life they led was more preferable to the ones in the past, able to descend on other dragons and beasts and to bring violence in their essence. the call of war could be nurtured, fed and kept contained here within the peaks, where violence ran unchecked in the feral population.

battles between dragons and such similar beasts were nothing new, chasing off thieves that dared to make their way too close, killing intruders more brash than brawn. in the months since they had left, the call of blood had grown louder, their mind wrapped in the primal joy of slaughter and death, killing and taking, conquering and ruling. nowadays, they had settled into their place of living, establishing their own ranking among the feral beasts, vicious in protecting what was there. pausing to briefly scent the air, the beast slid within their den, settling only long enough to gorge themself on their food, cracking bones under mighty jaws, swallowing to let their body do it's job. tongue swiping over long jaws, they gave a sound, investigating their den with a displeased expression. far too empty - they needed more things to fill it with. stretching out with a yawn, the beast would turn to face the mouth of their den, growling lowly at the crooning cry of a dragon not far off.

roosting pairs were of annoyance to the beast, their sounds and scents abrasive and disgusting to the foreign god, not unlike their own harem but of far more annoyance. clicking their jaws together, they slid from their den to stand on the peak's side, talons dug into rock and crevice, inhaling the crisp cold air. gaze following to a secondary peak, flattened by ages of dragons, where they had erected a pen for their prey creatures, easier to swoop upon than to go hunting in the colder days. shaking out their mane, they debated for a moment, knowing the pitifully small amount of beasts and ignoring the fact that soon they would need to hunt. perched upon their home-ledge, they gave voice to a deep snarl as movement flitted at the edge of their gaze, a quick and nimble npc darting by in a dive, aiming for their pen. without thought or care, the beast launched with a push of tightly-bound muscles, calling the wind about them to their aid, creating an arrow of themself.

talons and fangs digging deep into scaled hide, the screams of pain from the other dragon falling deafly onto their ears, only giving them cause to bite harder, talons curling harder with a squeeze as they used their weight to pin the unfortunate thief to the ground. pulling their head back to lick the other's blood from their lips, they gave a deep booming hiss, paw pressing the other dragon's head to the ground as they went to bite it's neck. ears flicking at a screech behind them, they braced their body for the incoming slam of the npc's roosting partner. seconds before impact, they threw their weight to slam into the dragoness descending at breakneck speed, tail serving as a weapon to whip her away from them, destroying the pen's fencing as she scrambled at the edge of the peak, a wing broken by their tail. hissing as they turned their gaze to the dragoness, letting the first npc up to dive after her with a snap of their jaws, the roar of the other catching their attention as she dove away from their attack. growling, they turned on their haunch to grab the foreleg of the male attacking them, jaws snapping down firmly as they swung their head, tossing him off the peak's edge with the dragoness' distressed call following as she haphazardly floated down after her mate.

clicking their tongue as they watched the two freefalling, they turned their attention back to their pen of prey. disappointment filling their gaze as they gazed upon slaughtered bodies, smaller dragons having snuck in whilst they were in combat to drive off the thieves. one unlucky dragon remained behind, too gorged upon hastily consumed food to use its wings, falling prey to the god's wrath. quick the end of it's life, thrown from the peak like other challengers and thieves before, neck snapped before it could fight back. standing still in the remains of their pen, they uttered a sound of frustration as they became semi-aware of scores on their scales, silver ichor tracing down between their scales slowly. they would need to hunt now, they had been hoping that their hoard of food would be able to last them a few more days, but karma remained to prove how much of a bitch it was.

shaking their head, they would take leave from their peak, descending to the grounds below where another group of creatures had been settled, creatures whom would come and interact with the feral dragons. they had successfully managed to chase off or kill those who wished to approach them, simply desiring to avoid being bound to another creature, let alone ones as small or mortal as these. landing amongst the trees of the thorn jungle, would they begin their hunt, observing the creatures about them with a sense of boredom, striking and grasping a beast of good size in their talons, studying it for a moment before deciding such a creature as fit to be their first beast to be brought to their pen. applying some amount of pressure, the dragon would coo an amused sound at the beast's struggling bugle as they broke its hindleg, incapacitating it for ease of transport and keeping.

Renlys lifted his head as he heard the cries of other dragons among the throng of clouds that hung heavy upon the Ore Mountains.  Roosting pairs.  It was that time of year.  Might as well be the year that he got in on that action.  Producing eggs by himself had proven to be fruitless, no matter how much fire he bathed his nest is.  All he got were duds.  Dragons were a powerful magical race, but it seemed that a single dragon did not a village make.

Another sound reached Renlys' eardrums.  Wind, or the closest approximation to wind that a magical creature could replicate.  The dragon craned his neck to look beyond the Iron Gate and sure enough, off in the distance, a large snake-like being swam through the sky.  They were too far away to catch a good glimpse of them, but the shape was undeniable.  Renlys narrowed his fiery eyes.  That couldn't be right.  He had never seen such a creature.  Mind you, most dragons he had seen were quite like him and he had never seen a dragon without wings.  Seeing a flying snake was not something he was accustomed to.

Now half-curious and half-territorial, Renlys took wing.  With a few powerful beats, he was off and heading towards where he saw the great serpent.  Within minutes, he was upon the thing.  A great beast of gold and pearl.

He screamed at them, a query and partial challenge.

sorry its short//

sounds muffled and confused by the sound of animals crashing through undergrowth, piercing and loud the screech that reached their ears, turning to face another draconic beast, though much more like that of the western counterpart of the dragon species. tongue running over jaws, a flick of long ears and a low clicking in their throat as they stared at him in silence. why were screams always the answer to a stranger? yawning, the serpentine beast would open their own jaws to respond with a roar of their own in answer, gaze catching cherna on high. uttering a low growl, they would return their gaze to renlys, senses picking up on brymstone as the dragon king approached. turning their head to look at the skull-faced creature, they rumbled softly, pinning their prey under their foot, talons keeping it in place.

waiting as he approached to some degree, they would scent the air, picking up a scent from both renlys and brymstone, chernabog too high in the air to successfully take her scent. it seems that these few would belong to this territory. rumbling in the depths of their throat, they settled, content to see this meeting through to the end. they were curious about the group as is, what with the minor interactions that they had encountered. the dragons about them were of no company, more interested in roosting and laying eggs, an event that they didn't suffer from until later in the warmer months. keeping their attention on brymstone, curiosity in their gaze as they licked their maw once more to clear all traces of blood from their scales. taking a moment to study the other, would they speak, "greetings.", they would fall silent shortly after, a low hiss of annoyance escaping them at the strange ache within their throat. without having need to speak in months, the beast was sore and lacking in their voice, throat tender now at the chance to speak.