#ajagara

(An excerpt from chapter two of my book.)

Two circles of blood red pierced the black veil separating Dyfri and whatever laid at the back of the cave. Within the circles were two thin, vertical pupils staring straight at him. It reminded him of the terrible, great water lizards that lived in the rivers. With the eyes being as big as his head he wished it was so simple a beast.

Dyfri’s legs locked in place as the strange, piercing eyes came closer. He had to run. He knew it. He had to run far, far away and hope he’d get help. Hye and her soldiers, or villagers, just something that could kill the beast. Dyfri could only stand there like a terrified lamb before a rabid wolf.

As it moved into the light, the first he saw was the black, scale covered mouth, large enough to swallow him in one gulp. It was narrow and straight, with two nostrils on the tip, like the water dwelling lizards. Sitting shortly behind the mouth were the eyes, still staring straight at him. Just past the eyes were two horns jutting back at an angle, four feet long and sharp as spears. The neck, long and snake like followed.

And then the wings revealed themselves. They were great and large, with membranes like a bat. She walked with them as if they were legs, three of the six clawed digits acting like toes with no membrane between them. As her body was revealed in the light it showed a more slender, sleek form than he expected, built more for speed than strength. Her back legs were the exception, strong enough he imagined them ripping trees from their roots with ease.

The tail was last, and was twice as long as the rest of her body. It was long and slender like a strange, living whip, ready to crush him like a python strangling its prey.

“It’s not nice to stare, my little friend,” the wyvern said with a grin, her razor sharp teeth revealed with every movement of her lips.