[CW: Blood, Minor Gore, Death]

  Scenting at the air Zephyria crept as close as she could before pouncing just like with that foolish adventurer, but she didn't take into account one simple fact. She was covered in blood and gore, she had wounds that were raw and fresh, she had an arrow in her side. She reeked like death itself had just gone on a rampage. The lizard wolf sniffed at the air and gracelessly scrambled around to face Zephyria. In that moment of surprise she tried to pounce but the strange lizard creature dodged out of the way! Swiping with a paw the creature barely slipped aside, Zephyria's claws skittered along its scales at a bad angle doing nothing more than making a bit of noise. The lizard snapped out its own fangs at Zephyria's foreleg and in her fatigue she was too slow, her scales fended off the worst of it but the lizards short fangs ripped grooves into her flesh causing her to lose blood once more today.

  Circling each other the two oversized lizards snarled and paced, each looking for an opening. Come on you stupid dog, pounce at me so I can make this quick! Instead the smaller lizard kept circling not giving an opening. Fine then, I'll make the next move! Opening her maw Zephyria went to shoot a blast of lightning at the creature only she was still so tired and sloppy after the tragedies and happenings of the last day. Not only did she throw far too much power into the bolt it went completely wide with a loud CRACK! The wolf lizard startled and panicked, its animal brain choosing to fight instead of run. It leapt towards Zephyria while she was surprised by her own breath attack, snapping towards her extended throat Zephyria clumsily whipped her head back avoiding injury but leaving herself unable to counter with even an ounce of grace. Infusing some lightning into her claws she crudely swiped at the creature and to her surprise the attack connected, kind of. Her great paw simply slapped into the side of the creature knocking it to the ground, winded and pinned but very much otherwise uninjured. It immediately started to writhe and try to free itself from Zephyria's much stronger paws so Zephyria did the equally inelegant killing move. She wrapped her maw around its face and bit down.

  Bleeding once again with her enemies blood further coating her paws, claws, and maw, she sat there for a moment and reflected on what the void just happened. I fumbled that hunt worse than my very first hunt as a hatchling. I was nearly 20 cycles old and could barely flap my wings and it was still more elegant than that! What was it that human said again, fuck you? Fuck you today. Fuck you. That's fun to say. Fuck you today!

  Moving over to the creature, she messily tore into it not even bothering to pretend to be anything but a savage right now. Even skipping the traditional prayer she scarfed down the creatures heart. Her heart flame grew a little brighter with the lizard wolf's power but not enough to suppress the tremendous amount of embarrassment she felt over that hunt. I need to sleep. I need to sleep so bad. And when I do sleep I need to practice my breath again like I'm a foolish hatchling. That scale- lizard- dragon- wolf thing! Fuck you wolf thing. It stood still! I missed a stationary fairly large target. Embarrassing.

  Mumbling and grumbling to herself about "Embarrassing" and "Practice" over and over Zephyria left the wolf thing behind and looked for somewhere safe to sleep. Eyeing up the sun was almost at its zenith. Seeing nothing but forest, forest, and more forest she had no idea where a cave might be. I could try- No. None of these trees are remotely big enough for me to sleep in like a hatchling, I may have fought like one but I'm far bigger. I'll wander a bit more, avoiding anything nasty. Maybe I'll find a dragon sized tree branch or at minimum a massive bramble bush I can push my way into the center of. Neither terribly comfortable but anything to keep the predators off me while I sleep. Fatigued and still humiliated, Zephyria continued to wander the forest aimlessly. An hour later she came across three of the lizard wolves hunting a herd of deer. They hunt in packs normally. I got lucky. Really, really, lucky. Sneaking by best she could with her injuries she limped away. Another hour passed and it was visibly mid afternoon. I have to find somewhere to sleep before dark, I can't stay up another night and if I sleep in the open I'll get my throat torn out before I can wake up. I'm so weak. Pathetic.

  Hours passed and Zephyria never found a cave, or a dragon sized tree to sleep in. But, she did find a tremendously oversized thornberry bush, its thorns visible in the early evening light. Hesitating she assessed her wounds. Noting the wounds were all covered by thick scabs at this point, and that her scales would protect her uninjured flesh she let out a tremendous and defeated sigh before pushing her way into the giant bush aiming for its rough center. I hate this. Sleeping in a bush like a rabbit. The thorns are pricking my paw pads too, too small to break the leather but it still hurts dammit! Reaching the rough center Zephyria smacked a bit of the bush down with her tail and circled a few times like a cat before curling around herself, the tip of her tail resting against her lowered head. Extremely sleepy now, Zephyria had one last thought before she passed out from exhaustion, I never ate that boar's heart. I'm sorry for dishonoring you giant boar may your- she lets out a great toothy yawn -your soul.. Join.. The… And she was asleep.

  Zephyria pounced on her prey like a predator.. predator! She's incredibly big and scary! Wrapping her fierce maw around her prey she sinks her fangs into her prey's flesh only to be deflected by it's hard scales! Bouncing back for another fierce attack Zephyria bounds forward once more prepared to strike.

  "Zephyria, playtime is over now. I need to go hunting, my little one."

  The very NOT little Zephyria lets out a very fierce and majestic whine and snarls at her resilient prey. She is a predator and she will not be denied! Bounding forward she moves for another pounce but her confounding prey does the unthinkable! The prey wraps around her torso delicately pinning her in place, much to the mighty and big Zephyria's displeasure.

  "Stop, my child. I must go hunt for your next meal, you need meat to grow your heart-flame big and strong. You want to be a powerful predator, don't you?"

  Letting out another very majestic pathetic whine Zephyria lets go of her mother's tail and quits wrestling. With a tiny little crackle of electricity she huffs and relaxes, understanding her wise mother's wisdom. As her mother unwraps her she lets out another huff followed by a whine.

  "Come now little one, you are almost 15 cycles old. Use your words."

  Standing tall and proud she utters her first words of the day. "Me go with! Hunt! Hunt!" Extremely proud of her eloquence she moves to follow her mother out of the cave and join her hunt. But is once again stopped by the cowardly prey! Her mother's tail blocks her path and gently shoves her back.

  "No, Zephyria." The great red dragon leans her head down and gets on her daughters level as much as she can while being massively bigger. "You need to stay here, I'll take you hunting eventually. You will learn, have no fear, but you must control your sparks first. A dragon without their element is no better than a wild beast." Gently pressing her massive red snout into her much smaller daughter's muzzle she continues. "You know I didn't get to go on my first hunt until I was 25 cycles! Your only 15 cycles but you've grown so very much. You should be able to hunt with a little help by the time you're 20 cycles. You are a predator in the making daughter, but even a mighty huntress must know when to pick a fight and when to retreat. Practice your sparks while I'm gone and I'll make sure your heart-flame grows big and strong."

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  The little mighty Zephyria nodded her head and let her mother walk off into the wilds outside of her hoard. Watching her massive red figure brush aside branches and fade into the greenery, Zephyria-

  Letting out a tree rattling roar Zephyria woke with a start, a sharp pain in her side. Whipping her head around and breathing lightning towards the pain she missed the monster eating her alive! With the stabbing pain stopping she came to her senses and actually assessed what was hurting her. There, stood upon her side, was a small bird with a slightly long and sharp beak for its size coated in blood. It stood above the shallow gash on her side having ripped open a spot and started feasting like she was carrion! The bird,who was standing there completely still, was shocked the corpse it was eating came alive. Zephyria rewarded that hesitation with a more carefully aimed blast of lightning blasting the bird into a smoking mess and flinging it off her.

  Snarling and furious Zephyria stood up and looked around to try to judge the time, it was the golden hour but without a bit more context she wasn't sure if it was dawn or sunset. She hoped it was dawn. Taking a moment to calm herself she thought, Deep, calming breaths Zephyria. Channel the lightning from your heart-flame to your maw, then back into the heart flame. Breathe.

  Calming herself she took the time to gauge how bad her wounds are after some sleep. First and most importantly her wing, still torn but mending itself. She should be good to fly in a day or two, especially if she keeps eating well and lets it heal. The deep wound in her rear was entirely closed over already. That healed too quickly, it doesn't even ache. Was it the strength of my heart-flame? Mother taught me much, but not that. The gash in her side looks to have healed on the edges, but made worse by that bird. An involuntary growl graced Zephyria's lips before she controlled herself again. Lastly her leg had totally healed as well, with fresh scales and everything. That arrow is still there, the damn thing. The flesh looks to have grown around it, I'll need a mortal to come cut the damn thing out. Corruption curse that damn archer and his stupid name. "Wolf" and he's not even a wolf! Humans. I'm still absolutely caked in blood all over, its just dried and flaking now. I desperately need a swim if I want my scales to shine even a little. I practically look like my mother like this, my precious blue scales..

  Standing and shaking the leaves and the thorns off her scales Zephyria thinks, I wonder what healed my wounds so fast? Channeling her mana once more Zephyria inspected her heart flame more properly, and realized it was a bit dimmer than yesterday. Roughly as strong as it was before that lizard wolf creature. I consume some of my flame to heal my wounds faster? Mother never mentioned anything like this before. Could she do this too and just never spoke of it? Or is there something that makes me different? A lightning dragon thing perhaps? Answers won't come from standing here basking my scales in the early morning light, as pleasant as it is.

  Facing the morning dawn and giving a very cat-like stretch, she prepared herself for the days eventual stress. Zephyria pressed her way out of the thornberry bushes and really gave them another look. I'm impressed I found these at all, what a massive patch. They can grow taller than a human, sure. But big enough to hide a dragon? I got lucky again. Well, not that lucky. Damn bird. And my poor paws. What I wouldn't give for a book to read right now instead of having to go practice and hunt.

  Focusing on her heart-flame she sat down primly outside of the thornberry bush. Channeling mana through her flame she drew lightning into her maw and let out a bolt and watched it go wild, not even in the same direction as her maw. This wasn't just an aim issue, but something simpler. I haven't had such poor control since I was a hatchling of 15 cycles. I need practice again, void curse me I need to practice like a hatchling again. Zephyria channeled the mana from her heart-flame to her maw where it crackled as a barely restrained thunderstorm, then pushed the mana back into the heart flame. Repeating this process continuously she entered a meditative state. Deeper into her heart-flame cycles she refined the flames crackling in her heart into something she could control, taming the wild mana into a true dragon's fire.

  Opening her eyes, she looked for a good target. Spotting a knot on a tree she aimed her head just so and fired a full strength bolt of lightning, almost roaring as the power overwhelmed her throat for a moment. A blinding flash, a thunderous crack of lightning, and a small explosion as a large hole was blasted into the side of the tree, surrounded by smoking wood. I didn't blow up the tree, but that's far more than I could ever do before. Uncomfortable too, that will take some getting used too. Crude but it works, importantly I can aim better than a hatchling, and have the strength to take on one of those lizard wolves. That's getting annoying to think every time. Wolzards. Until a mortal gives me a better name they are henceforth Wolzards.

  Moving off at a trot, Zephyria goes off into the forest once more, refreshed and refocused. Vaguely trotting towards where she saw that pack of Wolzards, Zephyria is on the hunt once more. Moving through the morning woods Zephyria picked up the odd scent of her prey. The sun glides through an empty sky and mid morning approaches by the time Zephyria is able to track down that pack of Wolzards.

  Around a large stump in an open clearing Zephyria finds four of the Wolzards. The biggest is keeping a watch, another is sleeping just behind it, and two are eating a deer in front. Keeping to the shadowed edge of the clearing Zephyria stalks behind the only alert one and creeps closer to the sleeping one just behind the guard. If I can take out the sleeping one, and then blast the one on watch I should be able to pounce towards one of the ones eating before they can react. One versus two, or one verses one if I can get lucky. A single one yesterday almost killed me, but now I have control of my heart-flame and some actual rest keeping my thoughts clear. This only goes wrong if they smell the copious amounts of blood on me, but with fresh kill just in-front of them and a favorable breeze this might just work. Creeping silently closer Zephyria wills her heart-flame to the edge of creating her element and sneaks within biting range of the sleeping one. In a flash she bites down on its throat, silencing its life before it can even whimper but this close the one on watch can smell Zephyria and stars to turn around. Quickly letting go of the corpse she pushes just a bit more power out of her heart-flame and blasts the guard with a bolt of lightning right in the side of the head! A tremendous thunder crack and flash accompany her bolt and the guard drops dead in an instant. Pressing her advantage Zephyria leaps over the second corpse and bites at one of the ones eating, its alert state gives it just enough time to try to dodge but with her long neck and size difference she's able to take a chunk out of its leg before it gets away.

  The three oversized lizards all watch each other for a moment, looking for an opening. Zephyria roars at the uninjured one and charges a blast of lightning as her maw hangs open. Despite the elemental attack being so telegraphed the bestial Wolzard take it straight to the chest sending it tumbling backwards with a raspy whine and a huge burn mark on its scales. The limping one snarls at Zephyria in defiance, however Zephyria simply lunges forward to bite again. The beast throws itself to the side dodging the bite entirely, but lands hard on its flank in the grass unable to stand properly. Before Zephyria can move in for the kill, the remaining Wolzard snarls at Zephyria from behind trying to bite at her tail to distract her. No prey ever expects how dexterous a dragons tail can be, fuck off hound! With a mortifying thwap and crack zephyria whips her tail into the flanking Wolzard breaking its ribs and sending it tumbling once more. Aiming to end this hunt Zephyria closes in on the limping Wolzard as it continues to struggle to try to stand again. In the end it doesn't matter as Zephyria's maw closes down on its neck ripping out much of its throat. Stalking towards her last prey she finds it lifeless with only a bit of blood oozing out of the hole in its chest. It must have broken something important in that fall. Perfect.

  Padding happily over to each of her kills she breaks into their chests and consumes their heart-flames one by one. With each corpse eaten she says a small prayer. "Be honored, worthy prey, you lived and died well with a bright heart. May your soul join the gods of old as your heart-flame burns through me."

  Standing in the mid morning sun Zephyria basks in the joy of a successful hunt, her heart-flame pounding stronger than ever before alongside her heart. After all the void cursed happenings of yesterday, I needed a good win. Now I just need a bath and this arrow taken out and all will be well again.

  By the old gods I'm covered in far too many creatures blood my scales are starting to itch. I need a bath, now.