I awaken.
The first sensation is an unbearable constriction, and the second is placid warmth; one fights the other and the urge for freedom wins out. I lash out against what contains me, my prison of comfort and sleep, and in moments I feel it tear and shatter. I am free.
I emerge, covered in ichor, from the fragments of my egg-casing into a new world, one of tall green and brown objects, a mat of smaller green as far as my newly-opened eyes can see, and an extraordinary canopy of white and blue far above. I crawl free from the remnants of the egg, hungrily consuming the remains, and give a sharp, vicious cry to the heavens above. I will conquer that infinite blue.
First, though, I hunger.
There is noise nearby - creatures I can smell from afar, beyond the line of the green, swaying objects. They chatter to each other, laugh and sing. I hate them already. They stink of animal and mud. Standing on my rear legs I can see what must be their own egg-casings, large cubes of brown.
One of these horrible creatures approaches from the barricade of foliage, unaware of me. It looks remarkably similar to myself - small, cylindrical limbs where its wings should be, much smaller and paler, no scales, and its head is small and weak-looking. I am overcome with hatred, with rage. Its blood pounds in my nostrils and I flare my wingspan, shrieking at it. The tiny creature stumbles back and I smell its fear. Lashing my tail and leaping forward, I strike. I hunger.
It is a simple matter to destroy it: I simply grab the creature in my jaws and rend, and its death-screams end quickly. Taking my time, I feast, gorge myself on this stinking, foul thing.
More are attracted by the creature's last cries, charging through the underbrush towards me and my half-finished meal. I rear up, howling at them, a challenge.
They fall like the blades of this green plantlife I crush beneath my claws. Left and right, they leap towards me. I taste their fear, revel in it, and strike. I soon realize I have other weapons than my powerful jaws - I lash out at one appraoching from the side and rend it with my foot talons. Another leaps and I strike squarely in the thing's head with my tail, ripping it off in one sting with the tip.
Soon, though, I grow incautious and complacent. I feel, for the first time, pain. Agony.
Shrieking again, I rip its head off in a single swipe of my talons. These things are tricky, I learn. They will sacrifice some to get a single strike. I learn and I hunt. The next one to hurt me will take longer to die.
I feast, and awkwardly make my way towards their dwellings. I find quickly that I cannot walk as they do, my legs are jointed incorrectly. Instinctively, I leap-- and do not fall. My wings catch the air and I glide effortlessly above, gaining altitude with each shift of muscle. I howl from the pure joy of it, and descend to where more of the creatures are scurrying.
Smaller ones - hatchlings, no doubt - are quick to fall to my talons and fangs. They are the most delicious morsels, full of tender meat, but are snapped up too quickly. Some barricade themselves in one of their cube egg-dwellings and I simply shatter the side as I did my own egg prison. Like a whirlwind I leap as they rush to defend themselves in their last moments.
Like the others, these do not last long. I savor the remnants of the one whom they were defending to the death, one whose outer skin is so rich with the burnt hides of other creatures that I must spit out several pieces.
Delicious.
(Note: Will continue more tomorrow, probably)
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Topic: Venomsmiles: Life and Times of the Wyvern Anu (Read 825 times)