Timpanogos

“The clan eagerly awaited the arrival of a new member. Per schedule, the hatchery was due for an emissary of the winds. The clan rejoiced for there would be a new child amongst them. A child to rear in in this blighted wasteland and guide in the way of survival at all cost.

On the night the egg was to be delivered, a chillingly silent wind swept over the scarred moors. The emissary of wind has come to deliver us a new fledgling! The wind began to rouse and bellow with more vigor than before, the air all around for miles became arid and cold.

Whispers of concern began to spread around the lair. Had something gone wrong? Was this storm causing a delay for the emissary? Minutes of concern turned into hours, where was their new progeny? Had the wasted claimed them?

The wind had been roaring in a cacophony of shrill sounds as it gouged its way over the wastes. As if interrupted, it abruptly came to a standstill, an ominous silence blanketing the night. Confusion and false hope flooded the minds of those who were awake this night. Had they arrived? We’re they safe?

A snowflake, swaying and dancing, fell from the sky. Another soon followed. Another, and another still. They pranced around one another before softly landing on the earth below. A snowstorm? It was already spring. While not entirely unheard of, the plaguelands rarely saw such weather.

The lair guards stiffened, all senses on high alert. Something wasn’t right. They ushered the few curious night-owls and hatchery staff into the safety of the burrow. The night captain requested a straggling resident to go wake the day guard.

No sooner had the final dragon entered the burrow, that a figure could be made out within the snowfall. It approached slowly, confidently, and on foot. One of the Icewarden’s children? We weren’t due for a visit the guards mumbled, as they readied claw and fang.

One shape became two, became four and so on. This visitor was not alone. The shapes that accompanied the clearly draconic one were bulky and large. Their gaits lumbered, and fur whipped in the wind. The lead figure drew closer still, a coatl?

Unmistakably, the plumed chest and feathered wings came into view as the intruder encroached upon the astonished lair. The head of the guard barked out a warning, “Come no further! You are not an expected visit. Explain your intrusion at once.”

“Intrusion?” A voice, carried like a whisper on the wind caressed the ears of all who listened. “You misunderstand.” The iced white coatl stopped his gait about twenty feet from the guard, his companions coming into view.

Polar bears? Dozens upon dozens of them, stood in a cluster behind this coatl, cleverly obscured under the encompassing snowfall. There were so many. Unreasonably so. The hushed voice hummed once more, “I am no intruder. I am simply here to take what is mine.”

“This burrow is not yours to take,” the guard captain growled as the freshly roused day guard scrambled out of the lair behind. “Not a step closer. If you value your life you will leave at once.”

A chuckle escaped the coatl, “You all will make a fine foundation for my new palace.” His jaws parted slightly and a cold mist pour out from within, obscuring the dragon and his hoard once more. Hums and hymns filled the air around the guards.

The intruder was speaking coatl, but none could understand him. None of the other dragons at least. As if being given orders, the bears lunged through the mist and barreled into the guards. A fight ensued, obscured in what had become a roaring blizzard. The muffled sounds of battle cries and spells engulfed by the storm.

Silence.

Nothing but silence and snowfall lingered for what felt like hours. The coatl landed on the snow with a slightly audible crunch. A sea of crimson soaked white fur parting as he practically waltzed around the impromptu battleground.

You’ve left most of them in one piece I see. He yipped in coatl as he walked over to a massive corpse of a guardian. This one will do. His lips parted once more as he began to slowly encase the remains of the dragon in an icy tomb.”