Merenwen had spent a lot of time relaxing and hanging out with friends in recent days but she knew that it was time to get back to training. She had some skill with her bow and arrows but she wanted to be even better and the only way to get better would be to practice. Added to that she had been gifted a beautiful bow from the Goddess of Life and she still hadn’t taken the time to work with it very much. She knew that she may need it in the future and the power it held would be a great deal of help to her but it was different from her basic bow and she needed to take the time to work with it.

She had decide to practice at the lake as even when training she liked to be somewhere that was relaxing. She had always found that a relaxing setting would allow her to concentrate more freely and her training tended to be much more effective. The only bad thing about practicing by the lake was that she could be easily distracted by thoughts of going for a swim.

When she arrived at the lake she was happy to see a bright sun floating in the sky and feel the warmth surround her. It was the perfect temperature for her and the light breeze off the lake was refreshing. She could smell the salt on the breeze as well as the smell of wild flowers all around her. The water was clam and almost hypnotizing to her. Though she was there to train she decided that she would dip her toes in the water first.

She slipped off her boots and stepped into the water. It was cool and refreshing but though she would have loved to go for a swim she knew that she needed to get to her training. She found it very difficult to pull herself away from the water but she knew that if she got some good training in that morning she would be free to go for a swim in the afternoon.

When she was standing on the beach again she looked around for a good place to practice. She could see a knot in one of the trees and thought that it would be a good place for her to aim. Straight out from the knot was very open and she would have plenty of room in which to work. It would also be good because it would allow her to get a true measure of how far off she was and she would be able to adjust. There had been many times when she had just aimed at a tree but not had such a visible spot to aim at so she was very happy to have found such a spot.

She pulled out her beautiful Vivacious arc and her arrows. Setting the frost arrows aside as she didn’t want to waste them on practice she notched a normal arrow into her bow. She started at about 15 feet from the tree to warm up and began to practice. She would need to get a good deal of practice in before she would feel free to take a break and so she began to work diligently. Her first shot was a little short but she just continued working and knew that by the end of her training she would be more prepared to use her bow and arrows when she needed to in the future.

((Not my best but I wasn’t sure what else to add))

Flying with outstretched wings stretching out 6 and half feet in both directions, Az flew down by the lake. He had flown from town, flying fast enough to go the long distance in just a few minutes. His knew demon wings and speed helped him tremendously, both in travelling and in fights. He was now able to cover more ground than ever in travelling, seeing more places faster. And in fights he was very agile, able to change his direction in one quick flap of his wings and come from another angle with full advantage of the fight. He could do acrobatics in mid flight, and give a good show with flying.

And he found it even more fun over water. He loved the cool breeze blow past him, the water rushing past him. He found it cool to see himself with wings now. It gave him a menacing look, great for fights. He grinned everytime he saw it.

Now though he flew towards it, flying fast just above the treetops. The treetops were nothing but a green blur rushing past him and it was very hypnotizing. He swerved side to side dodging the treetops and scared many a bird as he flew past with his speed. He saw the end of the forest coming near, making way for the clear smooth lake on this bright sunny day. He suddenly broke over the tops, and yelled out in excitement.

"Waaaaaaahooooo!!" He cheered out, doing a flip over the trees and diving down to the water. He glided jsut above the water once he reached it, still flying fast. Water was displaced from his rushing air, being throw up behind him. He flapped his wings more, making him go faster. He looked down at the water just inches from his face, seeing his reflection. It looked strong and ready for anything.

He suddenly took a sharp right, a wall of water shooting up justt beside him. He flew in that direction for a split second, then flapped his wings again and shot straight up, water shooting up under him trying to keep up. Az shot up still up to a good height, and flew back down. He tucked in his wings to decrease air resistance and fell faster. Again once he reached water level he stretched back out his wings and soared parallel with the water. Water rushing even higher at his point of turning, getting him wet.

He soared out into the middle of the lake, and flew in a tight circle, shooting water up into the air on the edges of his turns. He did one complete cycle and shot up a few feet and barrell rolled with his wings tucked in out over the wall of water to soar once again over the water. Water following behind him in a tracing cyclone of water, but soon lost momentum and blobbed back with the lake.

Gliding along the waters surface he dragged his fingers along in the water, letting little drops of flying water hit against him. Suddenly he brought his feet around in front of him and planted them on the surface of the water. Drag was put on heavily as water was displace all around him. He slowed almost to a halt, then thrusted his wings down and shot like a bullet straight up again. He came down, and glided straight along the water again. Now, he just glided at a cruising speed along the waters surface near the shore to catch his breath and think of what else he could do to help his training. He was getting hang of flying finally, now able to do tricks and crazy turns with his wings. Now to have a more fun, he just needed an audience to soak in water....

Ruby scales covered the mass of muscle pulsing under armor-dense skin. Long cords of strength weaving between bone built on a short structure compared to its forefathers. Everything about the creature was sharp, dangerous, and twice the size of what one would normal behold. Its arms were long and proportionate of that of a human’s with thick joints and elongated digits; their tips coming to a close with pointed talons - their purpose merely to rend flesh from bone. The chest of the creature was muscle-ridden and hard like several condensed stones, bypassing any weaknesses brought on by a dragon’s underbelly. It was also a dark shade of blond, golden in the setting sun. Atop the winged creature grew an expanse of leathery wings, enveloping the space and commanding the sky. Their tips flitted with the gust of the updraft, yet required very little flapping, giving the monster an almost haunting look as it glided through the air.

From afar it would appear as if it was a meager burgundy crane flitting through the sky, long legs poking outward below its flight path. The occurrence was a strange one, the mass large by ten-fold, and its features far less pleasing. What brought Vaudeux to this state was utter chaos. His mind had been restricting the beast for so long it almost ripped his skull apart with fury, commanding not only his conscious but his body in return. Vowing not to cause ceaseless harm he traversed out to the plains and let loose. A few pain filled minutes later he was up in the pink sky, floating over the lands looking for nothing in particular. Since then the man Jupiter had given up control to the unassailable supremacy of the Wyrm and what it came to be. When he would awake, he wouldn’t know where he would be or even what the blood splattered across his fingers meant.

Usually the beast was after blood as a first goal. Thirsting for meat and carnage. Once or twice a village had been unlucky enough to find a spot on its map, left corpse-riddled and terrorized. This is way Vaudeux Jupiter could never truly be a good person. Half of him could only live with such actions, while his other was filled with greed and admiration. A part of him wanted to embrace the Wyrm, while the other was afraid to harness such horrific feats. It was his soul duty to survive only to please the beast that was within him by giving it the free-reign it desired - no matter what happened to be in its path.

Parallel to its anterior front the Wyrm dipped lower towards the Earth at the sight of Lake Aelin. The lowered sun glimmered the waters, creating a darker shade to a cool blue. Its flight had been one of searching and hunting for hours on end and the killing apparatus craved for thirst. With a sharp movement the creature dove for the earth, falling with grace - much like a cat - for its size. At its landing sight the earth gave way, cracking in the constancy of wheat, whilst a mist of dusk kicked up and around the creature’s pronged feet. A short muzzle, raised, jagged brows, and a thick, tendoned neck encompassed the face of the Wyrm. A pair of crimson eyes were shinning brighter than ever under the ridged brows, shooting dangerous glances even without anyone to receive them.

Its maw gaped, revealing to the world a set of straight spikes almost shinning at their razor-sharp tips. Fluidly it approached the bank of the lake and sucked in mouthfuls of water at a time, barley stopping to breathe or to observe his capacity. After a few good minutes full of water consumption the beast stood upright once more, its height rivaling that of anything nearby trees, a square jaw of red scales dripping clear waters to the soil and crabgrass. Suddenly a noise alerted the Wyrm caught by small holes designed for keen hearing. Its stout head shot towards the noise, an expanse of trees, and without question strode deliberately at it at once.

At the opposing beach, near the boarder of the trees, a familiar woman to the human was practicing a hardened skill that looked to be of mastery. Quaking paces later the half-breed shadowed its enormous frame in the shade of the largest trees nearest the beach. It observed the woman with bright eyes, watching as a arrow bulleted into a knot of a tree mimicking the same sound as heard earlier. Her hair was golden and shinning in the sun, as was her face. The beast watched from afar as she lowered her bow to survey her work, as if calculating distance. A fine catch indeed, It thought, saliva almost trickling out of its maw.

Almost at once his throat let out an uncontrollable rumble, with the tones of thunder, and it moved into the light - one earthquake-like step after the other. The sun reflected and shadowed the creature dangerously, over the contours of its muscled exterior. It’s appearances was feared by many and unknown to most. The horror of the power looming behind its sharpness deafening. Its wings were pressed against its back to allow it room to move out of the trees. Once it appeared, its arms elongated, the snap before the throw, then shot out at the woman at breakneck speeds. Its legs were floating above ground with an explosion of wings and flesh, and when it reached the woman it halted deep into the earth - to snatch her from her spot. It made a blind swing as the earth backfired and clumped deep up to its thighs.

As she was practicing Merenwen's ears picked up on another noise. She glanced around and saw someone flying through the air. At first she had no idea who it was but as he got closer to where she was standing she thought she may have figured it out. The face looked like Az, though she had not seen his wings the first time she had met him. Even so, she knew that he was a half demon and so she wasn't surprised at his having wings. Knowing that it was him she decided not to worry.

Seeing him made her want to pull away from her training and head out into the water but she forced herself to ignore that instinct. She watched him for a while and her feet started to move toward the lake but she stopped them and turned back in the direction of the tree. Watching him fly was interesting and rather exciting but she had told herself that that she would practice. Even though she could still feel the pull to turn back and watch him or just plain head out into the water she stepped back toward the tree and took aim.

By this time she was about 25 feet away from the tree and though she could aim from that distance she only hit the mark about 3 out of five times. It was for that reason that she knew she needed to practice. Many of her friends and the other elves in the city could aim from a much greater distance and she knew that with hard work she would be able to do the same. She had the eye sight and the knowledge but she needed the practice.

She didn’t know if Az would notice her standing on the beach and she was more in the open by this point then he had been before. If he looked in the right direction then he would likely notice her but she didn’t know where his flight path would take him and again she had to tell herself not to worry over such things. She had work to do and if he came upon her then she would talk with him for a little while before getting back to work. She was nearing the point at which she would be taking a break anyways but she wanted to work a little while longer before heading off for fun.

Merenwen notched another arrow and aimed it at the tree. The arrow flew straight and true right into the knot of the tree. She could feel that she was getting more competent and a grin spread across her face at the fact that the hard work was paying off. All of a sudden she heard a noise behind her that was different from the sound of Az flying over the lake. As she went to turn in the direction of the sound she felt something thrown up upon her.

When she realized that it was a massive amount of dirt she began to become frightened as only something of massive size could have caused so much dirt to fly over her. She turned around and what she saw scared her more then anything else had in her life. A dragon was before her and it seemed prepared to take her down. She stumbled back in fear and her mind came very close to freezing. She had dropped her bow at the shock and by stumbling back it was now out of her reach.

She fell backwards and her hand moved down to her sword that was still holstered at her side. From the angle at which she had fallen she was finding it difficult to pull the blade and she didn’t know what she was going to do. She had never fought a dragon before and she had decided not to wear her armor during this training session because she had wanted full range of motion so she knew that she was in serious trouble. All she could do was scream and hope that Az would hear her and come to save her. Her voice rang out as loud as she could possible make it and though she felt like a coward for having to scream she would not let that stop her, when help was needed it was more important to accept that fact then to let pride stand in the way.

Az didn't notice much action along the shore he was sailing along near. All it was was just dirt, rocks, and trees. Not much happening there. Then again, he was pretty oblivious to his surroundings as he let his mind free through his gliding. His gliding helped him clear his mind, and maybe learn a little more about himself somehow. It happened before.

Over the wind in his ears, he heard the occasional raven call out in his wonderful call, and caught sight as he turned his head to the source of the sound. Sometimes he heard the splash of a fish jumping out of the lake, but never saw it in time. Instead he saw the ripples of its re-entry. Then he heard the rare call of the damsel in distress, and immediately looked toward the source.

The scream was faint once it reached him, since he was a good distance across the lake from her, but it wasn't out of sight. Once he looked in the general direction he saw what was happened. He saw a huge dragon snatch up a good friend of his, Merenwen, suddenly as she practiced her archery skills. he had seen her bright golden hair in the sunlight just as he did the day they met right here on the lake. He was somewhat relieved that the dragon hadn't taken off yet, but he still had a hold of Merenwen.

But being a little relieved left him very worried. Just because she wasn't in the air didn't mean she couldn't be yet. He cursed, and thrusted up his wings. Thrusting them down, he surged forward in a tremendous burst of speed, water rushing up behind him from the force of rushing air. He flapped them a few more times, gaining much more speed and blasting up more water behind him as his air zone rushed past.

Soon his wings got him to the dragon deep in the soil. He ascended a few feet so that he was eye level with the dragon that was Vaud. Like Az would be able to tell the difference though. He had never even seen a dragon before in real life this close. Now he had to fight one. Why couldn't he conversate with a nice one? What a rotten deal.

He circled around the dragons head, seeing that he was only a fraction of the size the dragon was. He had only heard rumors of soft spots, which was its exposed underbelly. But, this one seemed tough enough even with three or four easy to find weak spots. He drew his dagger as he flew around, sizing it up. He knew it wasn't much to fight with, but with speedy movements involving guerilla warfare, it might come out ok. Seeing the size of it made Az predict it wasn't very agile as him, but that didn't falter strength any.

He then dive bombed around the head down to where Merenwen was caught. As he rushed by her, he called out, "I know you're the one in trouble, but I need as much help as I can get." So much for the whole cheesy hero catch phrases, but this wasn't the time for arrogant heroes.

Flying back up and around, he set foot upon top of one and sunk his dagger into the fleshy part of it. Using the dagger like a hand hold, he jumped down and hung from the dagger. Any movements from the wing brought the dagger down the wing, ripping it open. But any movements would no doubt put Az in gravity's hands immediately.

It was a beast of might and of fear. The familiarity that surrounded normal dragons was adverted in this dragonoid form that was the Wyrm. One may be mistaken in labeling it such, yet such ignorance is closely related to the blood than ran through its veins. At this very lake such a beast tangled with its ancient forefather, one who spat on such blood-meddling and nearly killed the Wyrm in spite of it. Since then the creature would never be embraced by such gargantuans or humans alike. It was an outcast, accepted by the likes who merely want to harness such power or embrace it as an ally, such aid usually discarded from consideration in the beasts mind altogether. For the most part it was unaccompanied and single-handed in its ways, appearing to feast and to destroy.

The earth splattered in thick sheets around the area, bringing the dragonoid to a jolting halt. Its victim before him belted out a shriek, which only fueled the hunger of the creature. Its eyes were lit crimson with venom as it body jerked and rested in its spot. It stood towering over the fallen maiden, twice the size of any large man its shadow blocking the orange setting sun and its shape obscuring any view of the cherry sky. Its torso expanded with monstrous amounts of air and it expelled its breath in one short spout, a cloud of dust erupting though their area in response. Its body leaned forward, long arm extending with ferocious claws quivering, towards the female now sprawled on the soil.

At that moment a man floated down from sky, bobbing in and out of the Wyrm’s vision. Immediately its eyes darted over to the anonymity until it caught a pair of blackened wings dart around its stout head. The beast stood back to full height, with the woman still looming in its wake, and glanced slowly back around to catch the insignificance as it made its way around a second time. The shape darted and the half-dragon caught a glimpse of light reflecting off of a drawn blade. It was obvious that the new arrival’s intentions were to thwart its actions for a meal. The path of the winged man was predictable as it circled back around and the keen muscle-mass contorted around until it was sideways, just in time to spot the crusader in mid-stab.

The Wyrm’s wings acted like large shields, forming and blockading any airspace in their path. Even then the patron seemed agile enough to dart a weave around its movements. Then, to its utter annoyance, it began to converse with its dinner. Without a second thought, and with more longing for the catch of the woman than a fight with a pest, it whipped its body back around to face the blonde. At once he noticed her trying reverently to withdraw her own blade, it would be now or never if it wanted to have its meal. With a great lunge and mere purpose it lashed outward at the woman with its corded forearm. A yellow, scaled palm would catapult straight around one side of the body of the woman, picking her up, and turning her over in the air.

With little to no effort the Wyrm brought the woman close until it was gripping her with both taloned paws. As it moved forward it felt a slight sting in the membrane of its right wing. Choosing to ignore the disturbance, it crouched slightly, then - with projectile force - launched off the ground with its catch. Its expansive wings flapped and its body elongated immediately, stretching up into the atmosphere and gaining feet in seconds. Soon it was bee-lining over the trees, its talons shielding its catch while, at the same time, coming dangerously close to puncture. It could very well gnaw off a limb right away, but the dragooned was for more interested in a stable feast back on the Earth. The creature was perilous and ravenous, its very movements sharp and made to perform. The wind whipped over its scaled body, surprising speed behind the bulk, from the air.

Merenwen didn’t know whether or not Azlateen would hear her nor if he would be able to help her even if he did. The dragon was massive and though Merenwen had heard stories of such creatures before she had never been in a situation in which she had to fight one. She didn’t know that the dragon was a man she had met before whom she had known as Jupiter. She had met him at the Falls but never found out that he was part dragon and even if she had known that it wasn’t likely she would have realized that the dragon attacking her now was him. All she could do was hope that somehow she would be able to escape because she was not ready to die.

She saw Azlateen flying in towards her from out of the corner of her eye and wondered again if he would be able to help her. She knew he had experience in fighting but fighting a dragon was very different then fighting other men and she didn’t know whether he had experience in such fights or not. Even so, she was glad to have his help because she didn’t think that she would be able to get out of the mess she found herself in alone.

As she saw Azlateen darting about she continued to try to get her blade out of its sheath. She rolled to the side trying to get to an angle at which she would be able to pull the blade out but was finding that it still didn’t want to come out and she didn’t trust letting her back be to the dragon. She had managed to reach out and grab her bow as well as the rest of her equipment but she wasn’t sure how much good any of it would do her. She would not be able to get either the armor or her cloak on and so the only item that she could see helping her was her bow.

She had rolled back over to find that Azlateen was circling about the dragon and she heard him saying that he would need her help. Most of her arrows were lodged in the tree that she had been shooting at and so she didn’t want to try to shoot one of the few that she had until she felt onfident in her ability to control the shot; something she didn’t think she would be able to do from her position on the ground. As she went to stand up the dragon once again turned its attention to her and she found herself caught in its taloned paws. One of her arms was pinned between her nody and the talons but the other one was still free and she used it to once again try to get her blade out. It was no use, with the way she had been caught she was unable to reach the blade well enough to pull it out and even if she had been able to she wouldn’t have been able to pull it out.

As the dragon shot up into the air Merenwen knew that she would not be escaping any time soon. All she could hope was that they would be landing before too long and that she would have a chance to fight back. Her armor, cloak, and bow had been in the hand that was pinned to her side and so it stayed in her hand. She wouldn’t have to worry about losing any of it as she couldn’t even move her hand but even with her stuff she didn’t know that she would have much of a chance when they landed. She could see the blood coming from the dragon’s wing but even that didn’t seem to stop the dragon and this just made her fear greater. She looked back to where Azlateen stood and realized that she had never responded to him. She had been unable to help at that point and all she could hope for now was that she would somehow escape once they landed and that Azlateen would follow along to help her.

((Sorry it took so long and is kind of crappy. Stress is messing with me but I hope to get back into it fully and with good posts next week when school is done and I am home where I can trust my laptop to be safe from theft.))

Az's knife had no effect as the dragon took off, ripping his knife right out with no effect. Az tumbled to the ground and caught himself on his feet as he hit. He looked up as he watched the dragon take off with his good friend Merenwen. For a moment he thought he had lost her, but he realized he had too much to loose with Merenwen gone. She was one of his closest friends to him, as he felt. And he could fly, so the lost can still be in hand. Az's hand.

"Alright big boy, lets see what you and I got in each other." Az said, crouching for take off. His wings shot up, and thrusted down as he jumped into the air. He shot up like an arrow towards the dragon. He gained on it quickly as they soared above the treetops. He surged forward once he had a lock on the dragon and drafted it for a while.

He took advantage of the draft and used the backdraft to help his surge forward even more. He surged down under the big beast to where Merenwen was being held captive. He flew by her, giving her a wink as he went past. He would rather have been cocky rather than underconfident while fighting such a big beast. Flying the rest of the length of the dragon, and ascended up next to its head at eye level.

"Find some other damsel in distress to feed on!" He shouted at it, trying to project his voice over the roar of the wind. He strafed sidways towards the dragon and threw an elbow to its eye. He knew anywhere else on its hardened body would be just like a fly hitting a rock wall, and he knew eyes were sensitive. Best shot he had, and he had to take whatever he could to get Merenwen out of this death hold.