The drake hunted through Zanr'ak in a more-or-less straight line. The roads curved around ramps and cliffs, ironworks and sites of unholy ritual where the power of Ifrit burned as a palpable volcanic breath. Zanr'ak was a city of tempered Aml'jaa and their sand drakes. From time to time, a Miqo'te in a linen robe could be seen, seemingly at work. They were not caged or shackled. They did not have to be. But they were slaves nonetheless.
As the drake moved towards the eastern part of Zanr'ak, the sun began to fall below the horizon, and the great crags through shadows over one another. They rushed into a premature night, the fires of Ifrit lighting up dirt and stone. The air grew hotter the further west they went. The drake moved undeterred, untiring, towards a deep crag where a pair of Amal'jaa idled. They took notice of the drake as it approached, and though it did not acknowledge them and in fact looked like it was about to slip past them into the crag, one of them jammed a great metal spear through its neck.
As the drake writhed and made hideous sounds, The Mal'jaa that had skewered it lifted it for the other to see. "Is it the same as the other two?"
"The Scorpion's drake." The second guard huffed, shifting unpleasantly. "The Roh will kill us when he finds out we're killing his drakes, but what are we supposed to do? Just let them attack the Chah?"
"This is no accident. Baoht knows that Shan'Gai Chah is to be tempered tonight." Lifting the drake on his spear as it still squirmed, he cast it into a dark corner where the corpses of two more waited. "The Rho has four drakes, so watch for the other and don't let it into the crag. If Baoht Zuqqa Roh does not come to challenge the Chah himself, then I say he is too weak a being to hold a grudge against us."
As the drake moved towards the eastern part of Zanr'ak, the sun began to fall below the horizon, and the great crags through shadows over one another. They rushed into a premature night, the fires of Ifrit lighting up dirt and stone. The air grew hotter the further west they went. The drake moved undeterred, untiring, towards a deep crag where a pair of Amal'jaa idled. They took notice of the drake as it approached, and though it did not acknowledge them and in fact looked like it was about to slip past them into the crag, one of them jammed a great metal spear through its neck.
As the drake writhed and made hideous sounds, The Mal'jaa that had skewered it lifted it for the other to see. "Is it the same as the other two?"
"The Scorpion's drake." The second guard huffed, shifting unpleasantly. "The Roh will kill us when he finds out we're killing his drakes, but what are we supposed to do? Just let them attack the Chah?"
"This is no accident. Baoht knows that Shan'Gai Chah is to be tempered tonight." Lifting the drake on his spear as it still squirmed, he cast it into a dark corner where the corpses of two more waited. "The Rho has four drakes, so watch for the other and don't let it into the crag. If Baoht Zuqqa Roh does not come to challenge the Chah himself, then I say he is too weak a being to hold a grudge against us."
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