Prettyboy

Clan Protector
Guardian of Morgana

~***~

"Hello Morgana!" SirFuzzyboots cooed, tail lashing excitedly. "Now, what would-"

He never got to finish the thought. Before he could go on there was an almighty crash, a crunching of leaves and branches beneath great feet. The ground shuddered, the greets shook, and what seemed to be a hundred birds took off from their nests in fright. Titania whirled around, placing herself between her hatchling and the noise. As they watched the trees at the edge of the nesting grounds swayed, wavered, and bent, parting to admit the creature that had been approaching.

"It's a Guardian!" cried SirFuzzyboots in alarm, stepping over Morgana to shelter her beneath his body.

The great obsidian dragon, eyes glowing the deep red of the plague flight and the armband of their reigning god shining on his arm, stepped closer to the nest. The eye spots on his coal dark wings loomed menacingly over the clan as they cowered below him. Slowly, he approached, each step deliberate, his body hulking close to the ground as though poised to attack.

Titania flapped her wings and took to the air, hovering before the Guardian's face.

"Guardian!" she called, the instinct to protect her nest lending strength to her voice. "Who are you, and why have you come here?"

The dragon did not reply, instead continuing to stalk forward, forcing Titania to move back or be knocked aside.

"Why have you come here?" Titania repeated, louder this time. Still there was no answer, but the Guardian continued to advance as though he hadn't heard her.

"Stop!" she shrieked, hurling a Contuse at him with all her breath, but the dragon was too massive, his hide too thick, and her attack did little more than nudge him vaguely to one side.

He was nearly at the nest now, and SirFuzzyboots stood, readying his magic to join Titania in the fight, when . . .

"Prettyboy!"

Titania and SirFuzzyboots both looked down, to find that Morgana had stumbled her way out from underneath her father's protective girth. She hopped forward, tripping over her wings, obviously pleased at the sight of the Guardian.

"Prettyboy!" she repeated excitedly.

The Guardian stopped. Then he lowered his body the rest of the way to the ground, and rested his head on his front legs. He let out a hissing breath, and Morgana chortled in delight, coming forward as her parents looked on in bemusement and bumping her tiny nose against the Guardian's massive one.

"Ye gods," said Titania in amazement, "she's his charge."

The Guardian turned slightly to look at her, then raised his massive head and nodded once in acknowledgement of Titania's revelation.

Titania fluttered over to the vacated nest and settled in her mate's mane once again. "I suppose he'll become part of the clan now," Titania sighed, watching resignedly as Morgana rubbed noses tenderly with her new bodyguard. "Still, it's just as well she has someone to look after her. This clan could use a few more fighters to protect it."

She glanced down at SirFuzzyboots, who nodded his assent, then looked back up at Morgana's Guardian.

"What is your name, stranger?"

The Guardian turned once more to look at Titania. For the first time he opened his great jaws and spoke in a deep, low rumble, like the shifting of stone at the heart of a mountain.

"Prettyboy."