A flash of silver light assults her field of view, instinctively she shields her face and her eyes snap shut. Water and salt sting her skin as shes struck along her forearm. The wave of pressure from the explosion in energy sweeps her off her feet and her body flips.

She feels her forehead scrap against the salt flat and she slams to the ground and slides to a stop. Mind spinning and vision blurred she looks up to the figure standing out before her, his fingers tingling with electric energy. Salt, water and blood swirling in beads that glide over her cheek.

Her nails scrape against the hardened earth. The stark whiteness of the salt flat filling the empty spaces under her nails, It’s grainy and hard beneath her fingertips. The grounds surface catches her eye, it ripples from the droplets of water that fall from her face, reflecting the sky above, a quick flash of green dips beneath the the visible cloud cover.

She feels his power the next instant, that all-too-familiar sound of his irritation striking the earth off in the distance. Yet the sound falls on deaf ears, the drumming beat of her heart suffocating her senses. All she can hear is the angery rhythm of her blood pulsating throughout her body.

A dull tingling sensation begins to rise within her, making fingertips ache, her body recalling a long lost memory. Her eyes snap shut and she shakes her head, tearing her mind away from the thoughts that creep in, throwing the memories out; this isn’t the time to remember. No, she refocuses on the rage she feels, and it’s deafening; The sound of blood pounding in her ears, to the drum of her angry heart.

The saturated air makes her hair stick against her face when she looks up, framing it. Pupils dilate in blue eyes, eyes that fixate on the lone figure that stands far out before her. The clouds above swirl against a gust of air, and he strikes the earth with two streaking bolts of lightning.

Damn, he’s missed. She thinks. His training far from complete. Refocusing her attention on the sky, she now hears him roaring in rage.

His anger is distracting him. She thinks, then suddenly looks down at the white soil clutched in her palms and slowly relaxes her own hands.

“A heart full of anger is a sure path to loss.” She mumbles the words aloud and pushes herself up off the ground. Rubbing her damp and dirty hands against her trousers.

The line figure take a few strides forward, then lifts there palms to the sky and begins to mutter something out into the howling wind. This woman had come out of knowhere, surprising her with a forceful blast against her back, sending her flying forward to land face-first into the cold salt flat, and now it seemed they were both in trouble.

She had told no one of her plan to see the dragon the Council had stripped her of. Today had been the first time she had seen him in months. You fool, you stupid fool. She says to herself. Shaking her head at her actions. A fool for the risks she’s forced upon a creature she considers her companion. “I won’t let them take you” she promises him aloud.

“I will die before you get your hands on him!”She shouts, steady and unwavering.

She has never met this person, and yet their appearance was all too familiar. The sleek navy cloak and the riding boots made of dragon hide alone would give them away. But it was the white tattoo that dominates the left index finger, adorned with a golden ring that solidified her assumption. This person belongs to a group of dragon dealers.

Her hand slips into her waist pouch and thumbs a group of round capsules, and she wraps her fingers around two.

“Listen to me!” She calls out to the stormy sky above. “Go back to the keeper. You cannot win this; you cannot save me.” A loud screech responds. She pulls the capsules from her pouch and holds them ready in her hand. “Do not fear for me. Now, go! I demand it!”

The loud clacking of his beak reverberates through the air, and she feels it deep in her chest. He was close, too close, if there had been more of them… She stops herself from falling down that path of thought.

Listening carefully his sound diminishes as he retreats off into the distance behind her. Towards the mountains beyond the flats.

To bring an adolescent out alone is dangerously reckless. Shame leaches through her shattering her confidence down to her very bones. She should be stripped of everything for this. She realises that now.

The person begins to slowly move towards her. Hands now tucked away in their pockets. The sloshing water against their boots was the only sound they made as they strode casually forward.

“There’s no dragon here for you anymore. Be gone!” She yelled out, stepping back with every step or so they moved forward.

“I see no dragon.” The womens features expose a broad smile as she moved closer into view. “But I still see a dragon’s pet wizard.” She sneers.

Irritation ripples through her and she grips the capsule ready to throw them at any moment. “Your eyes deceive you; I am no wizard!” She spits those last few words as if they left an acrid taste on her tongue.

“How interesting. A keeper perhaps? Clearly you hail from the citadel; you are donning the necklace, are you not?” The woman now stands, stagnant, speaking to her from a distance. But the longer she speaks, the closer her words seem to become. “I think you’d be quite useful to me.” A smile creeps across her face “I think i’ll take your spirt." Her last words are warm against the back of her ear. She blinks, and the women was gone. Instantly she spun on her heel and dropped to a knee. Simultaneously throwing the two capsules at the space now before her. They exploded, and the force of the shattering thunder within cracked the salt flat on impact. But the lady was nowhere to be seen.

She waited a moment, then another, listening carefully to her surroundings. But only the sound of the wind could be heard. Grey clouds pushed in overhead, and a light drizzle began to fall upon her.

She slipped her hand cautiously into her pouch and pulled forth many small square packets, that bulged at there center. One by one she cracked them within her fist, and tossed them in the space around her. Each one expelled a thick fog that gushed out, obscuring the space around her, concealing her from view. The next moment she was gone. Running for the safety of the trees and the mountains beyond.

This was:

*Part Two From The Sky’s Furry Short story*