This day a darling dies...
Oct. 22nd, 2007 07:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
khiemtranA dragon dogfight on the cutting room floor... The voice is a bit off and it could have done with a clean-up, but it's been excised from the story so I thought I might put it up here.
"Blast it," muttered the dragon. "Everything's changed. I'm sure all these villages weren't here last time I looked. No matter, we'll find them."
We worked our way further north, swooping down to inspect each road we spotted.
"This might be a little harder than I thought, " conceded the dragon. "Uh oh."
At this, Kaui Ling pulled up abruptly, and I was thrown forward, lucky to hold on.
Looking up, I could see what looked like two silver threads in the distance ahead of us, twisting like ribbons as they approached. As they came closer, I could see that they were two dragons. One of them was longer than the other, but both of them looked longer than Kaui Ling. I could feel Kaui Ling's body tense as they got nearer.
"The miserable Kaui Ling!" they called. "How dare you trespass here? Go back to your river!" They spoke with voices that rang through the sky, even though they were still a great distance away.
"You ill-bred scoundrels!" shouted back Kaui Ling. "I am on my private business and not trespassing!"
"Criminal! Have you forgotten the trouble you caused at the Jade Emperor's palace? Get back to your river before we teach you a lesson!"
"Teach me a lesson? I'll teach you a lesson, you inflated wind-worms!"
And with that, Kaui Ling launched himself at the other two dragons, with me gripping his scales as hard as I could.
Now, of course, I had never seen dragons battle before, and I had no idea what to expect. It was all I could do to hold on to the back of Kaui Ling's neck as we raced onwards, great jets of steam coming from Kaui Ling's nostrils.
Kaui Ling picked out the larger of the two dragons and headed straight towards him. As I watched, the other two dragons appeared to shrink away. At first I thought they were disappearing, but then I realised that they had merely turned their long, eel-like bodies directly towards us and all I could see were their heads and claws. They were charging at us as well, and we were closing at an alarming rate.
As we got closer, the smaller of Kaui Ling's two opponents abruptly peeled off and started to climb. Kaui Ling ignored him and concentrated on the larger one, which was still rushing on towards us. From the back of Kaui Ling's neck, I stared at the oncoming silver dragon. It seemed to be getting faster and fatser and I couldn't look away.
Just as I was sure that a terrible collision was unavoidable, the larger dragon twisted his body in a great spiral and Kaui Ling rolled to match it. The other dragon flashed passed us, teeth and claws flying, and Kaui Ling cried in rage. To my amazement, neither dragon managed to strike each other. I looked around to see where our opponent had gone and saw instead the smaller of the two dragons now diving down upon us. While the larger dragon had been charging towards us, the smaller one had been climbing up to a position above us, from where it could launch his attack.
"Kaui Ling! Look out!" I cried, but Kaui Ling had seen it too. He threw himself around violently as the smaller dragon bore down us. The smaller dragon flashed past harmlessly, with a cry of rage of its own. I lost my grip with one hand as Kaui Ling writhed, but managed to hold on with the other. The smaller dragon was diving away now, and the larger one, I saw, was already climbing back above us for another attack.
Kaui Ling growled in frustration, and even I could see his predicament. Whenever one dragon dived on us, the other would be climbing up to dive on us again. In this way, we would forever be under attack from above.
Kaui Ling turned back towards the larger dragon, just as that one began his dive to attack us again. Again, we charged towards each other, but this time the larger dragon had too much height on its side. It swept in over Kaui Ling's head and outstretched claws and raked his own claws along Kaui Ling's body. I felt Kaui Ling's body shudder under the impact and heard him scream in rage. I held on as tightly as I could as Kaui Ling writhed through the air. To my horror, I could see a fine trail of red blood spraying from Kaui Ling's side. The larger dragon was climbing away again, carried by the excess speed it had built up in the dive.
"Kaui Ling! Kaui Ling! Are you alright?" I called. The only answer was a cry of rage.
"Come back here, you pond snake!" cried Kaui Ling at the larger dragon.
But where was the smaller one? I looked around again, and to my dismay, it too had climbed back to height and was attacking us once more.
I shouted "Kaui Ling! Kaui Ling! Behind you!"
"I see him, Wen Yu," came the reply. "Hold tight!"
Kaui Ling twisted and rolled as the attack came, but the smaller dragon was too fast for him. From the corner of my eye, I saw it closing upon us as a terrifying blur, and saw its claws outstretched.
I felt Kaui Ling shudder and then convulse as the smaller dragon dug in his claws. I hold on as tightly as I could, but this time it was not enough. Kaui Ling's neck slipped out of my grasp and suddenly, I was falling towards the earth. I looked up to see Kaui Ling already far above me, a fine red trail of blood spraying out across the sky.
"Blast it," muttered the dragon. "Everything's changed. I'm sure all these villages weren't here last time I looked. No matter, we'll find them."
We worked our way further north, swooping down to inspect each road we spotted.
"This might be a little harder than I thought, " conceded the dragon. "Uh oh."
At this, Kaui Ling pulled up abruptly, and I was thrown forward, lucky to hold on.
Looking up, I could see what looked like two silver threads in the distance ahead of us, twisting like ribbons as they approached. As they came closer, I could see that they were two dragons. One of them was longer than the other, but both of them looked longer than Kaui Ling. I could feel Kaui Ling's body tense as they got nearer.
"The miserable Kaui Ling!" they called. "How dare you trespass here? Go back to your river!" They spoke with voices that rang through the sky, even though they were still a great distance away.
"You ill-bred scoundrels!" shouted back Kaui Ling. "I am on my private business and not trespassing!"
"Criminal! Have you forgotten the trouble you caused at the Jade Emperor's palace? Get back to your river before we teach you a lesson!"
"Teach me a lesson? I'll teach you a lesson, you inflated wind-worms!"
And with that, Kaui Ling launched himself at the other two dragons, with me gripping his scales as hard as I could.
Now, of course, I had never seen dragons battle before, and I had no idea what to expect. It was all I could do to hold on to the back of Kaui Ling's neck as we raced onwards, great jets of steam coming from Kaui Ling's nostrils.
Kaui Ling picked out the larger of the two dragons and headed straight towards him. As I watched, the other two dragons appeared to shrink away. At first I thought they were disappearing, but then I realised that they had merely turned their long, eel-like bodies directly towards us and all I could see were their heads and claws. They were charging at us as well, and we were closing at an alarming rate.
As we got closer, the smaller of Kaui Ling's two opponents abruptly peeled off and started to climb. Kaui Ling ignored him and concentrated on the larger one, which was still rushing on towards us. From the back of Kaui Ling's neck, I stared at the oncoming silver dragon. It seemed to be getting faster and fatser and I couldn't look away.
Just as I was sure that a terrible collision was unavoidable, the larger dragon twisted his body in a great spiral and Kaui Ling rolled to match it. The other dragon flashed passed us, teeth and claws flying, and Kaui Ling cried in rage. To my amazement, neither dragon managed to strike each other. I looked around to see where our opponent had gone and saw instead the smaller of the two dragons now diving down upon us. While the larger dragon had been charging towards us, the smaller one had been climbing up to a position above us, from where it could launch his attack.
"Kaui Ling! Look out!" I cried, but Kaui Ling had seen it too. He threw himself around violently as the smaller dragon bore down us. The smaller dragon flashed past harmlessly, with a cry of rage of its own. I lost my grip with one hand as Kaui Ling writhed, but managed to hold on with the other. The smaller dragon was diving away now, and the larger one, I saw, was already climbing back above us for another attack.
Kaui Ling growled in frustration, and even I could see his predicament. Whenever one dragon dived on us, the other would be climbing up to dive on us again. In this way, we would forever be under attack from above.
Kaui Ling turned back towards the larger dragon, just as that one began his dive to attack us again. Again, we charged towards each other, but this time the larger dragon had too much height on its side. It swept in over Kaui Ling's head and outstretched claws and raked his own claws along Kaui Ling's body. I felt Kaui Ling's body shudder under the impact and heard him scream in rage. I held on as tightly as I could as Kaui Ling writhed through the air. To my horror, I could see a fine trail of red blood spraying from Kaui Ling's side. The larger dragon was climbing away again, carried by the excess speed it had built up in the dive.
"Kaui Ling! Kaui Ling! Are you alright?" I called. The only answer was a cry of rage.
"Come back here, you pond snake!" cried Kaui Ling at the larger dragon.
But where was the smaller one? I looked around again, and to my dismay, it too had climbed back to height and was attacking us once more.
I shouted "Kaui Ling! Kaui Ling! Behind you!"
"I see him, Wen Yu," came the reply. "Hold tight!"
Kaui Ling twisted and rolled as the attack came, but the smaller dragon was too fast for him. From the corner of my eye, I saw it closing upon us as a terrifying blur, and saw its claws outstretched.
I felt Kaui Ling shudder and then convulse as the smaller dragon dug in his claws. I hold on as tightly as I could, but this time it was not enough. Kaui Ling's neck slipped out of my grasp and suddenly, I was falling towards the earth. I looked up to see Kaui Ling already far above me, a fine red trail of blood spraying out across the sky.
