Chapter 8

Serali soared high above the plains, following Cherval with her wings outstretched. Cherval in turn trailed behind another dragon who formed the point of a wedge shaped formation of dragons. They flew over the plains rapidly, scanning the ground below for certain signs. Suddenly Cherval spoke up.

"There! Look, they've been this way!"

The lead dragon nodded his head and altered his course, the others following after. They flew further until finally they spotted what they were after. The formation broke up as the dragons spread out to approach from different sides. Serali stayed near Cherval, since she was new at this. Looking down at the scene below she was amazed.

"I never imagined that this was what I've been having for dinner! It's incredible!"

The green grass of the plains looked as though somebody had spilled a heap of beans out onto it, but these "beans" were alive and they moved. Stretching nearly from horizon to horizon was an immense herd of creatures. They were big shaggy animals with humped backs and impressive curving horns. The sound of their movement was like thunder, and they left a trail of trampled ground behind them that was a hundred times wider then the sweep of Serali's wings.

The other dragons were in position and as the leader gave the signal they dropped out of the sky, falling on the herd below. Serali swooped down, hitting a huge bull. Cherval had explained to her the rules of the hunt, you didn't take young, nor mothers of young, nor the lead animals, but all others were fair game. As she slammed into the creature, who probably weighed at least half what she did, the others around her startled and took flight. Where the other dragons landed the creatures also fled, spreading panic, and it wasn't long before the whole monstrous herd was moving, racing away from the hunters.

Serali had hit the bull just right, breaking its neck with the first blow. After making certain it was dead, she quickly took to the air again, soaring after the departing herd. She could see the winged shapes of the other dragons doing likewise. It was a mere moment before she caught up with the fleeing creatures. Picking out a limping cow that trailed the rest of the herd, Serali dived again. Hitting a moving animal proved harder than hitting one that obligingly stood still and Serali struck the cow in the side of its barrel-shaped torso rather than in the neck. The cow fell over and Serali somersaulted over its back, tumbling head over heels. When she picked herself up, she saw the cow struggling to get to its feet. Serali leaped at the cow, landing on its back and grabbing its huge shaggy head. One quick twist and the cow collapsed, neck broken.

Serali had taken her hunter's share and was licking her lips when Cherval landed near her, followed by a dragon that looked nothing at all like the plains dragons she'd seen. For one he was easily three times Cherval's size, and for another his scales were glossy, a deep forest green, where plains dragons were pearlescent and seemed mostly to have lighter colors. The plates that ran along his chest were a slightly lighter shade of green, while his forest green sides shaded up to a green that was almost black along his spine. His head was crowned with an impressive set of jet black horns, one large pair that twisted back from behind the ridges above his eyes and several smaller pairs set below it, tapering down as they ran along his jawline. Between his horns she saw the beginning of a crest of spines that ran down his back to his large, spade-shaped tail. The undersides of his wings were pale and veined with pink, and his heavy claws were black. A mountain dragon, Serali thought, feeling suddenly both excited and nervous. Here was somebody who was not only her own species, but more or less her own race as well.

Cherval didn't seem the least bit daunted by the differences in their sizes and he was angrily chewing out the larger dragon, whose stammered apologies weren't having the least effect on the irate sky-blue dragon. Cherval stormed over to Serali, trailing the mountain dragon behind him.

"This idiot decided it might be entertaining to turn part of the herd back around after we got it running. I was nearly trampled!"

"Calm down Cherval, there's no harm done, from the looks of things. Besides, I think you've already given him an ear full."

The green dragon broke in. "I'm truly sorry sir, I didn't think that…"

"That's right, you didn't think!"

"Cherval, he knows you don't approve, he's trying to apologize, can't you accept his apology?'

The smaller dragon gave the big green one last glare, then said, "Very well, I accept. I realize you're sorry for what you did. But if I catch you at another stunt like that…!"

"You won't." the larger dragon said firmly. Serali grinned at him. There was something, some nuance of his voice, a slight lifting of the corner of his mouth or perhaps the tiniest little twinkle in his eye, that suggested that just because Cherval wouldn't catch him at another stunt like that didn't mean there wouldn't be any others. The stranger returned her grin, then spoke.

"Thank you for defending me, my name is Kethro."

"I'm Serali, and this," she gestured to the still irate sky-blue dragon "Is Cherval, in case you haven't already been introduced."

"As a matter of fact, it seems we managed to forget such little formalities," responded Kethro with a grin.

Cherval just scowled.

Serali grinned back. She liked this dragon. He had a sense of humor, and he proved to be willing to make up for the trouble he caused when he offered to help Cherval haul his kills back to the dragon stone.