Raising his large feathered head from his small feast, he gave out a soft chirp. His bright orange eyes were alert and intense. A soft wind blew in from the north west and with it the smell of burnt pine and … flesh. Human flesh. His black pupils restricted then expanded again. Cocking his head he let out a another soft chirp. There was no sign of fire from his view, even with his keen eyesight, however, large thick pines blocked a good part of his view for anything below. He opened his large wings and hopped above the ledge where he had been to get higher look. Still nothing. Strange. 

“What is it boy,” called his rider from below. A young woman who’d been his rider a little over ten years now. “You better finish this thigh. I’m not hawling that thing all the way back to Arch Valley.” She waved to a piece of meat that was half the length of her body. She picked up her pack and swung it across her shoulder. Then her hunting knife and stuffed into her thigh sheath. Bright Eyes gave out a collection of calls and chirps. Jemmin looked up at him again. “Fire? Are you sure,” she asked looking around. “I don’t smell ---” She paused as the north wind hit her face. It was faint. So very faint to her nose. She looked. Her emerald green eyes searching the forest below them. The only village close enough was -- she gasped. “Bright Eyes, down!” 

At the command, the massive golden raptor hopped to the lower ledge next to her. His human size talon’s clicked the rock next to her. He lowered his body to the rocky cliff allowing her up to a saddle that sat just between his wings at the base of his neck. The cliff had been resting stop from their long flight from the town Waterspring. After their mission there, it was a good excuse to get away and see her family on the return trip. 

The smell of unseen fire frightened her. They weren’t too far from her hometown. It had been a long time since she had seen them. Being a rider, one didn’t get too many chances to return to their home. Without another second delay, Jemmin mounted her giant golden eagle. “To Aheim,” she commanded him and with a rush of feathers and wind from his massive wings that extended the length of fifteen horses standing end to end, took to the skies effortlessly. 

Aheim was two hours away from their current location in walking distance. Something that too Bright Eyes only a fifteen minutes to fly but those fifteen minutes felt like fifteen hours. The closer they got, the stronger the smell became and panic surged through Jemmin’s body. A thick layer of foggy smoke covered the land below the surrounding area of the village. She swallowed looking around, unable to see a thing. “Take me down Bright Eyes,” she ordered. 

Bright Eyes cocked his head toward her. A bright orange eye staring at her as if surprised at the command. Catching it, she said, “We must see what happened,” a noted quiver in her voice. “Perhaps there are survivors.” 

He gave her a collection of chirps in disagreement and disapproval.  This was not protocol. They needed to return to base and report their findings, not go explore them. Even if it was her home. This strange fog and flameless fire; it was not normal. They were not prepared if it meant a fight. They were only returning back from Water Spring, a large city near the Basin River, delivering a list of goods and materials needed in Arch Valley. The home of their base and over two hundred thousand citizens. Most training to be riders but only less than half were capable and even less than half the capable became actual riders. Only the elite flew the eagles but Jemmin seemed to forget all her training when it came to her family. Granted, she hadn’t seen them in years because of her training and duties. People from all over the country came to Arch Valley to be a rider and found very quickly that it was not an easy task to complete.

“Bright Eyes, please,” she said a little irritated. “Aheim is my home. I must know if my family is alright!” 

Bright Eyes gave out a pitiful argument of noises in protest but descended at her command. As they drew closer, Jemmin quickly noticed the odd behavior to which the smoke was acting. The air was warm as if there was a fire, but the smoke only rose to a certain level and then paused just below the tree line as if stopped by some unseen force. Strange she commented to herself. A sense of danger was felt but her overwhelming desire to know if her family was alright won over her knowledge and intuition to get out of there. 

Bright Eyes gave her another quiet collection of chirps in warning to which she involuntarily ignored as she looked around desperately for a structure through the thick fog to know where she was in the town. The smoky fog was too thick. She needed to go lower. “Lower,” she ordered, her voice had an edge of worried urgency. He gave her another warning but obeyed despite the dangers. She knew she needed to leave and report this but, she just had to know. 

As they drifted further down below the edge of the fog, horror struck her as she could see the rough outline of what was left of the town. The area looked as if it had been scored by a large creature twice the size of her eagle. Large gouges were left in the places where once buildings and roads lay. Jemmin’s heart pounded with anticipation and fear. Dying fires lined the destruction. The smell of burnt flesh and livestock grew more intense; it made her sick to her stomach. Then she saw it. Or, worse yet, didn’t see.

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Bright Eyes landed in a flattened area near what used to be her home. She quickly jumped off him and ran toward the rumble of a flattened house surrounded by the smoldering pines. He gave her a click of his beak warning her they needed to leave. He could sense that it was not safe there. He could smell an odd unfamiliar odor. It did not make him comfortable. He shifted uneasily as he watched his lifelong friend cry out for her parents in vain. By the scene, if they had been there, they were not any longer. Jemmin fell to her knees ignoring the pain of the hot ground burning through her soft padded clothing. 

As she started to regain her composure knowing they needed to get out of there soon, Bright Eyes heard a strange collection of clicking just beyond the trees in front of them. He saw their glowing eyes before she did. He gave out a loud screech alerting Jemmin of the danger. She jerked her head toward him startled. Her heart jumped to her throat in fear as he opened his wings in a defensive manner making himself look even bigger. This worried her. She quickly got up to her feet and started heading toward him. 

Suddenly, several small red human size dragons poured out from the smoky debris around them. They scrambled over themselves as they raced like hungry scavengers toward Jemmin. “Fireflies?”

Bright Eyes screeched for her to hurry as he took a few careful steps toward her. Jumping to mount him, she yelled, “Go! Go!” He spread his wings further to take off when one of the fireflies jumped at his side clawing at Jemmin’s left leg. She screamed in pain as the razor sharp claws sank deep into the flesh of her calf. She grabbed her hip dagger, her only weapon, and sank it, with a shout, deep into the soft scaly flesh between the creature's eyes. The small dragon fell to the ground crushing another below it as the eagle took lift. 

Bright Eyes gave a collection of warm coos concerned with his rider’s well being. Jemmin looked at her bleeding leg. She hissed as it burned. It felt as if it was on fire. Sweat formed on her forehead and upper lip at the discomfort. She leaned against her eagle’s back. “Just get us to ….” she began but didn’t finish as something grabbed at Bright Eyes’ feet and yanked him downward hard. She didn’t have time to act as they both slammed into the ground. Jemmin was thrown off a few hundred feet away from him as he landed awkwardly on his side. She moaned as she tried to get up but her leg rebuked her and it was hard to move it. Along with the burn came a paralyzing agent. A firefly’s claws produced a venom made to paralyze their prey while they suffered in agony before being devoured. There was an antidote, however. In Arch Valley. 

She glanced around for Bright Eyes. He was slowly getting back to his feet as she managed to turn over onto a side and use her arms to lift. One of his wings didn’t look right. Idiot she muttered to herself knowing they should have just gone to Arch Valley to give a report when they flew over. Her judgement to see her family’s well being may have cost them both their lives. Looking him over she noticed his foot. Deep cuts spiraled up one as if something had wrapped around it. Confused as to what would have done that she looked around uneasily. A very strong need to get out of that place overwhelmed her. Looking back at Bright Eyes, she saw, just a few feet behind him were a group of five red fireflies stalking him like large cats to their wounded prey. Ignoring her pain she staggered to her feet while screaming, “Bright Eyes, behind you!” The great raptor cocked his head toward her then to his foes. He lifted his wings, as best he could, taking a defensive approach. Clicking their jaws in strage rhythms made it seem they were communicated to each other. They seperated and slowly came at him. “Bright Eyes!”  The golden eagle gave a disappointed call in return. 

Jemmin looked around. On the ground was her dagger. She went for it and, as quickly as she could, hurried to help her winged partner. 

Finally, she heard him and a sigh of relief came from her lips. She slowly managed to sit up and in the distance she saw him struggling to get to his feet and checking his wings. One looked slightly awkward and her heart sank. 

Just a few feet behind him stood a group of three red fireflies stalking him like large cats to their wounded prey. “Bright Eyes!” she cried out to him throwing aside her earlier fears. “Behind you!” The great raptor cocked his head toward her then turned toward the foes. He lifted his wings as best he could taking a defensive approach. Clicking their jaws in strange rhythms made it seem they were communicating to each other as they separated and slowly came at him. “Bright Eyes!” she screamed worried as she struggled to her feet, as if she could help.

There came a loud roar behind her, she looked and to her horror saw another dragon. Larger and more dangerous. A great blue nightstalker. Her eyes grew wide in fright as the mighty beast landed before her and even more to her surprise saw a rider on its back. The rider dismounted and at the sight of him or it, she wanted to scream but was frozen with fear. The creature that had dismounted from the great beast looked as if he was a night stalker in a humanoid form. His skin was dark and thick like tar and he had black rough looking horns that came out of his forehead. Long rough bluish black hair fell to his shoulders. He grabbed her by the throat and picked her up effortlessly with one hand. She gagged and immediately grabbed his wrist trying to pull him away. She had lost her dagger in the fall. 

“Hmm,” cooed the dark creature. “A spy, eh?” 

Too much in shock at finding it could speak she just stared wide eyed in her fear. She had never seen anything like this. Neither had the nightstalkers ever adventure out this far north. It wasn’t until she felt the pressure in her head from lack of oxygen that she realized her desperate situation. She tried to glance toward her eagle but couldn’t. All she could hear was his defensive chirps and calls for help. She looked back at the horned one and tried to speak but he choked her even tighter not caring what she had to say. She gasped out for air as she struggled for breath. 

“Can’t have you telling your friends what you saw here,” he continued in his dark voice. “No, too early.” He dropped her at his dragon’s feet. The beast lowered its head. She could feel its hot breath on her clammy skin. This was it. This was how she was going to die. Eaten by a dragon. She saw the creature’s tongue slithered out of its mouth between its large pearly white fangs. She tried turning on her side, ignoring the numbing sensation of her leg as she gripped at the grass and dirt as the hot tongue wrapped around her waist. She tried screaming on the top of her voice for her eagle as she looked for Bright Eyes, but all that came out was hoarse croaks as her vocal cords were damaged from the choke hold. The horned creature was heard laughing at her efforts. Bright Eyes looked at her giving a loud screeching cry as he tried to get to her.  Nevertheless, just before everything went black she saw one of the fireflies jump at his neck as he gave out a painful screech.