Lykos

A small grey egg with purple swirls bounced and rolled down a grassy slope of the Reedcleft Ascent.
It rolled further and further from it's nest and closer to the fleshy veins of the Scarred Wasteland.
With one roll over a protruding traprock the egg landed with a sicking slurp into the rim of the Wandering Contagion and there in was wedged tight.
The warm flesh of the infectious land heated the egg; Finally the greyed shell began to crack and splinter.

A dusty fog hung in the air over the Abiding Boneyard.
The air was eerily quiet; The stillness was soon broken by a faint squeaking and flapping of wings.
A salt-marsh mosquito darted in and out of the bones protruding from the plagued land. It was being chased by a hungry plague-bat, mouth open and teeth ready.
The bat weaved in and out of the ribs and femurs, anticipating the mosquito's every move.
It snapped it's powerful jaws around the tiny insect; The bat let out of blood-curling screech.
It fell to the the ground, a long dagger sticking out of it's back.
An Opheodrys Serthis slide gracefully out of the shadows of a large dragon skull; She was followed by a Serthis Alchemist.
"Excellent shot, Slither," the alchemist watched the bat flop frantically on the cold ground, "Though one of those beasts is hardly a challenge."
The green snake crept toward her prey; the purple serthis continued.
"I caught 5 of those with one shot; Just the other night."
"Oh, shut up, Snarl" Slither replied, "Are you seriously doubting my ability to hunt?"
The alchemist smiling smuggly at his friend. Slither flicked her long tail down toward the flailing, screeching bat.
A loud crunch was the last sound the plague bat made; Slither removed her tail from the dead creature, picked it up in her jagged claws, and took a large bite from the bat. She glared at Snarl, a look that dared him to doubt her again.
"No," he replied hastily, "I- I know your skill to be-"
"Shut it." Slither hushed him quiet, a new sound had caught her attention.
A faint but unmistakable whimpering was coming from somewhere close.
"Sounds like desert to me." She smiled, showing off her glistening fangs, and slide effortlessly toward the crying.

A shiny black nose twisted and sniffed; a furry black snout forced it's way through the slimy, warm veins that twisted around the creatures neck and body.
A wolf head poked from the plagued membrane of the Wandering Contagion's outer rim; a cool breeze, carried from the slopes of the Reedcleft Ascent, filled the newly hatched beast's lungs.
It was sure that was where it was meant to be; It struggled to break from of the fleshed earth where it had hatched, but the ever creeping festers were too much for it.
The creature sunks back into the tendrils and began howling.
Slimy blood oozed from the veins, staining the hatchling's white scales a sicking, pale red.
It's black, feathered wings tried to flap; They to were soon pinned by the twisting festers.
It wailed again, a sound know all to well by the inhabitants. The land itself seemed to take pleasure from the creatures pain as the veins tightened around the tiny body.
The veins slowly crept around the hatchling's neck, the creature yelped once more.
The veins flinched and shrilled. The scarred veins twisted and crept from the tiny beast; They did not withdraw quickly enough to avoided the silver dagger that ripped through it's plagued core.
Slither, the green Opheodrys Serthis, stabbed and tore through the crawling veins.
Snarl, the Serthis Alchemist, crept behing her.
"Getting soft, Slith?" he smirked as he spoke, "Are you going to save every creature that falls prey to the Scarred Wasteland?"
Slither ignored him and instead watched the hatchling wiggle and stumble, now free from the binding of the land.
"What is this beast?" she said atlast.
The tiny creature's fur-black wolf head, wings, and neck was a sharp contrast to it's white scaled body, legs, and tail.
"It's clearly a dragon," Snarl picked a severed veins from the monster's wing, "But it looks more Beastclan."
Slither watched as the hatchling waddling toward them.
A cunning, twisted smile crept across her snaky face.
"Oh, I know that look" Snarl chortled, "What are you planning."
Slither reached to the hatchling; Her spiny fingers stroked the soft black fur.
"We can use this creature," Her smile widened, "We raise this beast, make it part of our sect, and use it to combat the filthy dragon scum."
She swooped down, gently picked up the hatchling, and cradled it in her arms.
The hatchling's bright red eyes looked up to the serthis, it nuzzled it's head against it's rescuer.
The tiny beast licked her cheek; the Opheodrys Serthis' Slither's was a bit shocked, she hadn't expected a sudden show of affection.
Her smile softened; the baby yawned, squirmed slightly, and closed it's tired eyes.

The harsh sunlight flashed against the steel of a Venomblade Assassin's sword. The young wolf-dragon ducked in time to miss the swing of the blade; a few tips of black fur cut and fell to the ground.
The dragon, a few weeks of age, fell as he leapt and dodged the serthis' attack.
He tumbled and rolled; Slither, the Opheodrys Serthis, scowled as she watched the fight.
"What are you doing?" she scolded, "I trained you to fight better than this!"
The dragon looked up at her.
"But I don't want to-"
"DO IT!" Slither screamed, "Fight or you die."
For weeks the dragon fought; He fought in battles against other serthis'.
This fight, he was told, was to weed out the weak from the strong. While his other battled had ended without fatalities this match was different.
His mentor, Slither, was not permitted to interfere. The other Serthis' in their sect had complained that her 'saving' her ward was softening the other hatchlings. This battle he was on his own.
The Venomblade Assassin raised it's sword high above her head, and struck it down hard; The wolf-dragon screeched as the blade pierced his black feathered wing. Tufted of feathers and blood stained the hard ground of the Abiding Boneyard. The assassin yanked her sword back and posed for another attack.
She swung the sword downward; The wolf-dragon kicked the ground hard and flipped on his back. He dug his claw deeply into the assassin's underbelly.
She screamed as she fell backward, her sword slid across the boneyard.
"Now!" Slither yelled, "Kill her now!"
The wolf-dragon looked at the Venomblade Assassin, now picking herself off the ground.
"I don't want to kill her." he looked at her with pity and turned back to Slither, "Why do we have to kill each other?"
He began walking back to Slither. The Venomblade Assassin launched herself at her foe, she wrapped her long tail around his body and began squeezing; She dug her fangs into his neck.
The wolf-dragon bucked and flapped his wings; The assassin grabbed his wings with her free hands and began ripping out his soft feathers.
He fell to the ground, gasping for breath. His tail flailed, his slim black wolf arms reached backward and scratched the assassin's face. The assassin flinched, the wolf-dragon fell into a ribcage protruding from the plagued ground. The Venomblade Assassin hit the bones hard and was knocked off the dragon.
The wolf-dragon heaved as he tried to regain his breath.
"Don't just sit there," Slither ordered, "If you don't kill her she'll kill you."
The wolf-dragon snarled; He had spared the assassin, but the assassin had tried to kill him anyway.
His bared his teeth, glistening in the setting sun, and launched himself forward.
His teeth sunk deep into the assassin's throat. His black furred wolf paws held her still, his four scaled paws ripped and tore the serthis' body. She screamed and flailed, the wolf-dragon held her tight until finally the twitching stopped and the assassin laid still on the boneyard's cold ground.
The wolf-dragon glared down at his quarry, his breath now steady.
He turned back to Slither, who now brimmed with pride.
"Good, little one." Se praised, "Good."
The wolf-dragon limped to his mentor.
"I-I didn't want to," he whispered, "But I had to."
Slither smiled at her ward.
"That's the serthis way," she said, "We all have to."
The pair left the battle area; the wolf-dragon turned to the southern rim of the infected land.
Grass and leaves flowed gently in the breeze from the Reedcleft Ascent. The land seemed to be calling to him; Though he didn't know why, he knew he needed to be there in the windy plains.

"But it's not fair!"
Lykos, named such for his wolf-like apperance, stood before Slither.
"I have done everything I was taught," he protested to his mentor, "I'm more of a serthis than any of those snakes out there."
Dark scars covered his once white and black body, each one proved his skill as a warrior.
"You are strong," Slither replied, "It's not about that."
"Then why?" Lykos agrued, "I thought strength was all that mattered."
Snarl, the Serthis Alchemist, crept behind Slither.
"You're weak where in counts, boy."
Slither shot him an anger glare, but remained silent.
Lykos looked at him, both hurt and confused.
"Weak? I'm not w-"
"You're a pathedic lump of a -" Snarl began to rant, before being stopped by Slither.
"I'll handle this, Snarl." she sneered at the alchemist.
Turning her attention back to Lykos, she softened her gaze and tried to explain why the young dragon was being expelled from the sect.
"The other serthis' said that ... " her gaze fell from the dragon to the hard ground of the Abiding Boneyard, "... They say that you've been ..." Lykos could tell that whatever she was trying to say was hard for her, " ...They others say that you're-"
"You're soft-hearted." Snarl butted in. Slither have him a sad, almost teary look. The alchemist continued. "You're not vicious, you're not a born killer. You're weak."
Slither did not reply, Lykos puffed his furred shoulders.
"I am too vicious," he argued, "I've beaten every enemy I fought."
"With Slither's help." Snarl added.
"So?" Lykos shot back, "So what if I got help? Only at the start. I'm great on my own now."
"You're not a born killer," Snarl replied, thrashing his tail, "You won't need help at all if you were."
Lykos paused for a moment, then turned to Slither.
"Is this true?" he asked, "Do the others not think I'm 'serthis' enough?"
Slither didn't reply.
"I'll fight all of them," Lykos hissed, "I'll beat them all."
"It's not just that," Slither said atlast, "It's ... the bird."
Lykos glared at her.
"What bird?"
"Yesterday," Slither replied, "A few other the other serthis' say they saw you rescue a bird from the Wandering Contagion's rim."
This Lykos remembered; A zephyr sparrow had been blown from the Windswept Plateau. Lykos had cut the small bird from the festering tendrils of the Contagion.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Lykos asked.
"You freed it," Snarl hissed, "You let it go. If you were as vicious and a killer as you claim you would have killed it. Or let the festers keep it."
Lykos pouted.
"I don't eat meat, I can't. Why would I need to kill it for?"
"Practice." Snarl replied.
"At so what if I took it from the festers?" Lykos scraped his white claws along the hard ground. He turned to Slither. "You freed me the same way. Would you rather have left me there?"
Slither looked away from Lykos, unable to keep her gaze on him any longer.
Tears came to Lykos' eyes.
"You ... you would rather have left me there?"
Snarl to it upon himself to speak for Slither.
"Which brings us to what else the others are saying."
Slither slide away from Lykos, back toward the center of the Abiding Boneyard.
"Slither's ability to command as come into serious question," Snarl added, "For not killing you."
Lykos watched as his mentor moved further from him. She stopped on a nearby hill.
"But ... that was ages ago." Lykos wondered why he hadn't heard any of this before.
"And you've been a wretched, soft-hearted disappointment ever since." Snarl's hard eyes pierced Lykos, "These thing built up. You can't fight on your own, you're destroying our reputation, and you don't kill the weak. "
Lykos looked from Snarl back to Slither, who now had moved further away.
"Why is that bad?"
Snarl's expression grew angrier.
"It's not bad," he hissed, "It's not serthis!"
He turned from Lykos.
"You can leave now, you beast." he slid toward Slither.
Lykos watched them with tears in his eyes.
"But... no." he whimpered.
The two sethis' moved away, back toward the sect.
Lykos sat on the cold hard ground.
All of what had been said and down raced through his mind.
Tears fell from his eyes, he pulled his head backward he howled.
He howled through the cold night.