BloodLust

Standing at the edge of a cliff, the world opened up before her. The sun was setting in the horizon allowing the light to dance off her scales and the sky reflected in the ocean below her. Her wings were spread as she prepared to take off, eager to join the sun in its final dance. The red of her hide glowed as if on fire with the sun itself, being accented by the gold swirls that wrapped around her body like a ribbon, and the small crystal hanging from her neck shined like a star. The crown of horns upon her head marked her as royalty, being four large spikes, and six rounded bone knobs. The sunset reflected in her eyes, the blue of them piercing and deep, with the life of a sweet, gentle lover and a fierce, violent enemy showing in their wells. Her neck was adorned by a small mane of flames and her tail had four spikes each ablaze as well. Looking devilishly malevolent, the sweetness of her heart still shinned through the fury of her breed.
Used to being alone, she took off in the glory of a goddess. Elegantly using the height of the cliffs to give her lift, she swan dived down to the blue depths, pulling up just in time to allow the ocean to wet her wings. Diving in between the waves, feeling the rush of wet scales and cold wings, she roared joyously. It was her favorite time of day, the peaceful tranquility rushing from the sun out to embrace her weary heart. The blackened blood that clung to her coal black claws was washed clean and every trace of the battles of the day erased. With her spirits lifted, she opened her spinal ridge to create a fin-sail and went swimming, looking for a meal to replenish her strength.
As the stars came out, she finally took flight again full on swordfish and contentment. Soaring soundlessly over the vast waters, she relaxed alone in the night sky with her crystal matching the stars above. After about an hour’s flight the setting began to change, it was subtle at first, gradually becoming more noticeable as the sky grew dark, the waves grew in height, and the winds turned cruel. All her peace, in a second was taken from her as the lightning started tearing the sky in pieces. She dodge the strikes looking fiercely about her for a place to land lest she break a wing, and finding nothing about her, she was forced to struggle on. The winds increased pulling on every tendon, making it difficult to make every beat of the tensed hang-glider-like canopy of skin. Her muscles strained against the struggle and being one of the fiercest fighters in her land, proved beneficial as she welcomed the pain that would test her endurance. Looking below her she saw a small dot being swallowed whole and then released by the waves like a cat playing with a mouse before the fatal blood letting is completed. Diving closer to get a better look, she saw a small fishing boat. The size of the boat was small enough to be a fun toy for the cruel waters, who enjoyed their games. Pity struck her heart, as the cries of an infant sailed above the insanity of the storm, now filled with a purpose she fought on filled by a new fury.
Down into the waters she dived, into the dark and cold depths of a merciless creature of nature. She was tossed under by the fierce waves, and reckless to her own safety, down to the very bottom of the ocean floor to get away from the torrent above. Upon reaching the surface again, she was thrown back under by the wave’s fury at her daring to attempt such a thing as steal its precious toy; the sea wanted a few more bodies to keep it company. Her lungs ached with the lack of air, as the blood within her started to freeze. Unwilling to die because of a slight chill she ignited her fire lungs to warm her body. Renewing her battle with the sea and the sky, she left from the waters with a vengeance. Taking careful note of the vessels predicament, she guessed that her work would be useless in roughly five minutes. Fueled by sorrow at the lack of justice in the world, she raced on in an east ward direction searching with the speed of a fire from hell for the little island that should be nearby. Her eyes stung from the salt water and the rain pegging the sensitive tissue as she raced with a speed unmatched by the known world. She searched for the length of four minutes, fearing that she had found the child upon the vessel too late, she gave up, knowing that if she didn’t get the vessel out of the water, those on the ship would perish. Her heart was full of woe as she reached the ship, and only pieces were left. The weight of pain upon her, dug in like a nettle-thorn in one of her toes that she would bite and claw at to get it out, without any luck, only injuring herself all the more.
She began to fly away, letting the winds take her where they wanted to go, pushing and pulling at her wings and body, determined to take her soul as well. Lightly a sound touched her ears, almost a whisper. Save me. The thought toyed at her consciousness and was a cruel joke she shook her head as a single tear rolled down her spiked cheek at the loss of an innocent to the world, hope for the future always lied in the innocent of the young. Save me. The thought persisted, refusing to be tossed away like the ship in the sea. In her delirium she answered the voice, “There is no one to save!” She cried out against the wind, anguished, as her mind toyed with her in its misery. SAVE ME! The voice screamed inside her head. She roared in frustration and turned about back towards the wreckage, “You see, the ship is gone!” she bellowed at the sky, who through her words back at her, forcing her face to glance upon the torrent of waves and wood. She then realized what a fool she had been; lying in a small crate bundled against the cold was the infant. SAVE ME! The little boy screamed out with his mind to her.
Fearing that she had taken too long, she dove with the light shining its way into the darkness. Crashing into the waves, by sheer brute force she swam like her own life depended on it towards the mind crying out to her. Grasping out into the frigid darkness, fear creeping into her stone heart, she struggled to find the small light of life that was in grave danger by the callousness of the world around it. Loosing hope at a rapid pace, her heart started to give up when her talon touched the rough wood of the crate. The small mind cried out in fear, and she again heard the infant’s cries above the rages of the storm. Hope bloomed so quickly with in her, the fires of her race took over and she delved into the race against time with a renewed fury.
Grasping the crate as gently as she could, she stilled cursed as the talons dug into the soaked wood cracking it and piercing through its sides. Unable to see if there was any damage to the crate, all she could do was hurl her self back into the air, praying that her wings would hold through the gale that was looking more and more like an endless hurricane instead of a small storm. Her breathing was ragged, her lungs and limbs burned from the exertion, her fire lung singed the inside of her, for the flames had been held entombed within her for too long. The pain seared her mind, driving her to the edge of insanity. There was nothing to keep her sane, to keep her focused, except the soft sound of the infant crying, the feel of the crate within her talons, and the mind that spoke unceasingly to her in fear, two words was all it said and it repeated them with a vengeance, SAVE ME!
The storm raged around them, pelting them with rain at first, then hail, finally giving something to unleash her fury upon. A stream of neon green flame burst from her maw melting the hail in front of her, so she wasn’t dodging the stones, but could fly as smoothly as possible for the babe, screaming in the crate blow her. Her wings took the beating from the hail, saving the infant an assured death were just one of the stone sized ice-balls hit its precious little body.
He screamed for two hours as she flew exhausted, but doggedly on. She didn’t even realize that he had fallen asleep until half an hour later, when the rain began again instead of the hail. The tips of her wings were frozen open, and her body bloodied again and bruised, pain filled her entire body, muscles stiff and tight from exertion. She was a pitiful sight to behold. Black blood oozed from multiple wounds, her head hung limp from her long normally elegant neck, the crown spikes felt heavy upon her brow, her tail swayed loosely barely used as the ballast it normally was, and her wings beat so slowly it was a miracle she stayed aloft. Gliding upon the currents of the air, soaked to the bone, but for her inner fire, the dragoness would have been dead hours ago. The only thing that was even remotely alive about her was those piercing blue eyes, hardened to diamonds by the determination behind them and the single paw that clenched the crate within it, tight enough to crush, so as to not lose her most precious cargo.
Time slowed for her, the seconds felt like minutes, the minutes like hours, the hours like days. She lost all reckoning of days, months, and years. Her body was spent, and her mind driven weak, her reality was that she would die before saving the babe slumbering peacefully unaware of the danger it was still in. Hope was non-existent for her, and it resonated through her and into the world around. She would have roared in frustration, pain, agony, sorrow, loathing, but for the rest of the innocent that she dared not disturb. Unaware of her surroundings, she didn’t notice that the rain was little more than a drizzle and that the clouds were thinning into a light mist. Below her stretched out the mountains, rivers, and plains that made up her world. She flew on for a few miles, when her wings gave out and she dropped about a few hundred feet. Becoming aware once again, she realized how far she had flown. Her home was another two hours flight from here, but she would never take the babe there. Revisited by the last remaining amount of strength she had she dove towards a small grove of redwood trees clustering closely to the mountain side, offering a bit of safety for the moment. Landing upon her back legs, she balanced herself out with her wings and set down the crate beside her. Eagerly she looked into the crate for the first time too find two small green eyes staring back at her.