[Sarah]

A rather odd looking paragon flew in from the west. It was the middle of the night a time when most creatures explored the desert. It was far too hot to venture out during the day, especially for a creature that wasn’t originally from the area. The paragon was not a native to the desert his browns and reds wouldn’t hide him when hunting nor would it protect him from poachers. He was muscular and bigger than most males but he flew with the wings of a butterfly. He was heading north from the whisper forest and once he hit the desert he turned west. Still on the fringes but deep enough into the sand that he could only travel by moonlight.

He sailed effortlessly over the orange dust below. His head scanning the landscape for prey or signs of other paragon. He was unsure yet if he wanted to find other paragon. They would either be a horrific threat or a great help. Before he had lived on his own, not many creatures dared to wander into the whisper forest. He was a skilled hunter and could protect himself well enough. If he did find a group of paragon he would be able to help them too. He doubted that there would be any groups of paragon in the desert anyway. That didn’t stop him from focusing his attention to what was going on below.  The desert stretched for a few miles but he could see mountains ahead of him. Hopefully by morning he would reach them and leave behind the burning sand.

[Sarah]

“I just don’t feel safe out here, that’s all.” Madylin complained sweeping her flamed tail back and forth in order to light up the world below. Normally she would be back at the mesa safe atop a butte looking down at the world below. Tonight however she was stuck in the ground way to near the border with only one guard accompanying her. She had the unfortunate luck of drawing night border patrol. Her partner had assured her that nothing bad would happen but she was very doubtful of that. Every little sound that came out of the darkness made her jump or flinch away. The ironic thing about being the night guard was that she was absolutely terrified of the dark.


“Firstly, I am insulted that you think I wouldn’t be able to protect us. Secondly, you are the one who can’t fly, not me.” Tayshaun pointed out, walking beside her. Her wings folded neatly at his sides. This was his usual route only he flew in the air most days. Today was not turning out like most days. He had pulled the night shift and was stuck with a ground lantern. Madylin replied with an angry glare but didn’t say anything. Tayshaun only snorted and smoke blasted out his nostrils. They were just reaching the beginning of the desert and once the sand became thicker than the volcanic rock would they begin to travel south. To the east the clan’s territory stretched on much farther than any other direction. The land between the volcano and the desert was rarely inhabited and filled with a mix of mountains that had sparse patches of foliage and plains of volcanic rock when the mountains used to spew lava actively.

[Sarah]

In the sort grays of morning Gheyvyn could see the Tuun mountain range cut through the sand and the redness that stretched beyond them. He was surprised he was able to fly high enough to see the other side of the mountains. Typically at higher altitudes his wings began to feel uncomfortable and sometimes they would start to freeze up. He didn’t want to risk delaying his travels and dropped altitude very quickly, only pulling his wings out again when he was mere meters away from the ground. His wings sent spirals of sand scurrying and twisting away from him and a few short lived dust devils sprawling away into the desert only to die down again seconds later. In a few short minutes he was over the extinct volcanoes and snow tipped mountains. And moments after that he was over an almost equally hot volcanic plain. “This is almost as bad as the desert.” He complained raising himself in order to get into the cold high altitude air. His body only low enough to avoid wing freezing.

[Sarah]

“Ah fuck. D’ya see that?” Tayshaun asked his head tilting back. There was either a paragon flying above them or some sort of demon bird had found its way into the volcanic area, either way they would have to deal with it. “See if you can get it down close to the ground.” Madylin said her head craning back so she could get a good look at the flying creature. “I’m going to say it’s a paragon, by its size male, but it looks to have some odd wings.” She said as Tayshaun began to lift off the ground. “Hey now, you can’t leave me down here!” he called to him. “Well I can’t just let some stranger into the heart of the territory.” He called back to her. “Lure him down here.” Madylin screamed at him flames flickering out of her mouth. She could see Tayshaun was going to do what he liked and sent a burst of tan, almost pink flames to try and knock him down. She was only a night watch paragon and had no formal training in self-defense, the best she would be able to do was burn something to death. That in theory would be sound protection but out on the open plain there were more pack roaming predators than anything else and she would easily be over taken. Suddenly she was painfully aware of her lack of training.