The Dragon of Broken Talons

Prologue

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The gleaming beam of a spotlight caught the flash of red scales hidden in the dark night sky. It was but a moment of time. Easily missed. But the beaming light quickly focused in on the gleam of unusual colour. Past the dull greens and waving branches whispering in the canopy above, silhouetted by one of the two dull blue moons holding the horizon, and now attempting to escape into the glistening darkness of a starstruck night sky, was a dragon.

Shouts echoed in the undergrowth as engines revved and tires dug into the well-worn ground. There was a click of loaded weapons and a stampede of boots as more spotlights swung around to face the flying creature. Orders were spat from hurried mouths. Dark shapes moved through the tree line atop speeding motorcycles as they struggled to keep the lights trained on their target.

"Keep it steady! Remember, alive. We want it alive!"

The dragon in question beat its batlike wings strenuously, seemingly invigorated by the sudden noise as it drifted closer and closer to the tops of the trees. But as the creature tried to rise into the sky its movements were halted, slow, and lethargic. One of its forelegs was clutched to its chest, while the other seemed to try and claw for purchase on the wind. But instead of rising, the increased movement seemed to only make it fall several more metres toward the top of the forest.

"NOW!" The order echoed through the night.

The sound of metal against metal screeched as a wired harpoon was suddenly caught by several spotlights. The dragon shrieked as its struggled flight was pulled to a complete stop. The tip of the harpoon tore through the membrane of the dragon's wing, the wire connected to the vehicles below becoming taught. The dragon didn't even have the energy to fight against the pull and was yanked from the sky, crashing down into the forest. All it had time to do was curl itself around the object being held against its chest.

The dragon crashed to the ground, surrounded by torn leaves and broken branches. It heaved for breath, laying stunned as vehicles drifted to a stop around it. Larger vehicles with heavy harpoon guns on the back and four doors followed by what looked to be between a motorcycle and a hovercraft. All coloured in the same silvery grey metal with beaming spotlights marking the front. Figures moved between the vehicles, finding patches of cover within the trees or from the transportation itself.

"We got ourselves a female!"

"Yes! Is she marked?"

"Can't tell."

The dragon lay on the ground, unmoving, her breaths coming in ragged and shaky gasps. Her body shuddered and groaned. The harpooned wing lay outstretched and limp, while her other was curled as tightly around her body, as were her other four limbs and tail. A soft fin streamed from the back of her neck and down into her tail. Sharp and elegant horns sprouted out from the back of her head. The humans began to slowly approach the downed dragon, cocking their weapons with several electrifyingly fuelled clicks.

A glow began to run down the sides of her neck, a sharp fiery orange that broke through the scarlet red of her scales. A soft glow at the very back of her neck, one that began to burn its way upward in a steady neon glow. The muscles in her neck seemed to almost inflate as they filled with the fiery hue. As the glow reached the back of her skull, she leaped up with a sudden angry cry. A stream of fire escaped her mouth, burning the nearest figure to a crisp with a surge of furious flame.

"Bass vehss orass tavss, poress Yovess!" she roared as the hissing language escaped her mouth.

A moment later several bolts of lightning fired from the other figures, stunning her into silence as her body jolted, falling to the ground. The figures rushed up around her, her breathing still coming in ragged gasps as her body went limp.