An opportunity...

What greets your eyes as you move, rather loudly, fuck your lack of stealth, through the canopy was a sight that was all to familiar. A pack of Nychs, raptorial monsters that were covered in dappled green and black feathers. There were five in total. Three normal, male and female, lead by a large alpha female. The fifth was a juvenile, much like yourself, that was hiding behind the bushes, perhaps trying to stay out of combat, or kill steal to level up.

What drew your attention away from the hiding nych was the loud swearing from one of the three adventures, a female rogue was, looked to be elvish, or at least half elvish, was bellowing out order to two male adventures, a halfling with a bow and an orc with a fuck off great axe.

“ Ryan, aim for the leader, Tim you have a bow, actually fucking shoot!” she squealed as the alpha nych slash at her torso, before she phased back into the shadows.

The Orc adventurer bellowed out at her. “ We started a fucking week ago Tina, and you wanted to go to the one spot everyone told us not to go.” The high pitched voice did not match the over muscular form of the orc.

“It was an egg gathering quest, how was I supposed to know,” she squacked as the nych went for the halfling skull before taking an arrow to the eye. Fucking ouch, you think to yourself as the subordinate nych went down. Their feathers made excellent nest material, you should probably grab them if the adventures went down. You shifted your neck slightly as the phantom pains of nych claws went down your neck, but you were brought out of your past recollections by the third nych biting down on the halfling. He howled as he disappeared, dropping his loot sack on the ground.

The alpha nych screeched at her subordinate, and through the clanging of battle you here “Hatchling needs Xp, don't kill, only wound,” before she bit his scruff, dealing some minor damage before clashing her claws against the orc’s shield.

The fight went back and forth for a while afterward before the elf went down to another nych claws, but not before the poisoned ailment took another, and the orc bisected the other. The alpha crunched down on his shield and with a slam, the ax bisected her.

The barbarian huffed and wiped his mouth. “ Stupid slut, trying to get us killed. Wait,,, level three? That's awesome! This actually might have been worth it.” he huffed and turned, seemingly opening his inventory.

The juvenile nych started stalking toward him, and you made a split second decision. You took a flying leap, and with a flying leap you performed a specialized move, “Hit something really hard from above. You slam down on top of the orc, talons first, and rip at his head, He shouts and swings his ax, and with practiced nimbleness you dodge, but not before he shears off some of your scales. You crash with a grunt, and he raises his ax to swing down on your neck.

Your savior arises from the brush however, and the juvenile nych rushes out while he is distracted, biting at his heels, The adventure growls and swings back, turning around to crush the feathery interloper. You stand up, and charge, ramming yourself into his back, drilling into his back with your horns. He started whirling both of your attacks disorientating him as he tried to focus on two very fast moving targets.

You both dart in and out simultaneously attacking his legs and torso but a hiccup happened , The juvenile nych tripped on the vines that had been chopped by the raging ax wielder. As he let out a Hah and swung, you started building a familiar pressure in the back of your throat. With two deep breaths, you let out a roar,( a Squeaky one,) and let out a blast of electricity. You hold it for a minute, but the **** brought forward causes your head to flip black, followed by your body. You slam the top of your head first into the ground, and you quickly scramble up. The orc is gone, all that's remaining is the loot bag, and the juvenile nych.

You both sit there for a minute, just staring at one another, but you slowly move forward, head down, tail up and lashing as you make your way to the loot bag. You grab it, and take a tentative peer in.

                                        Zorg The Ruthless, loot bag
                                               Cooper x 13
                                                  Silver x 5  
                                                   Gold x 2
                                           Claimant Crystal x 1 
                                            Nych Feathers x 7
                                                Stone x 12
                                                Wood x 14

You nod to yourself, the
The beginning of a proper horde, even a crystal! Wait a minute, that sounds familiar, didn't you see that on the patch notes? Grzmot could probably tell you what to do with these do. You grab the loot bag, and you did a double take. The juvenile nych was looking over your shoulder, staring at the loot, head cocked, You squawk and jump back, but you do get to see her title for the first time.

                                        Juvenile Deinonychus 
                                   Dinosaur, Raptor, Explicit
                                                    Level  4

“
“ You can speak, right?” You ask hesitantly. Its always a mixed bag with dinosaurs, some can hold decent conversations, others are as dumb as bricks. Wait… What are bricks?

“Yes,” She says simply.

“ Why are you still here?” You attempt to rumble.

“ You kill things that kill pack, you pack now,” She squeaked, a little hopeful.

Pack? You had a pack, before you left the old entrance caves. You were small, but it was somewhat safe, pack sounded nice.

You turn around, loot bag in your mouth, before turning your head around. You grunt “ Are you coming?” She gave an excited chirp and you made your way back to the nesting ground, with your little follower behind you.

—

You made your way to the border, but paused before you excited the tree line.

“ Get on my back,” you chirp

She gives you a confused look.

“ Your kind steal eggs and hatchlings,” you say somewhat conversationally. “ I would rather not have my pack crushed by an angry mother.”

She nodded and climbed on your back. Take off was difficult, the weight on your back was new and you had to flap like a microraptor in order to get high enough, and even then, you were only eye level with the Nigerasourus, so only eight feet off the ground.

You glide, occasionally flapping in order to stay off the ground, You were too low, tails swinging over your headband under, and one clipped your wing, sending you spiraling closer to the ground. You caught the familiar sight of an deep brown and tan tail. You try to angle your flight and you shout at the Juvenile nych “Jump on the tail!”

She humps forward and latches on. You do not. You crash. Painfully into the top part of the tail. As the sudden weight left you, you catch the draft you were trying to coast on, and you spiral.

You lay there, spread eagle, and you just lay there, groaning through your muzzle, bag still held in your mouth. You feel a jab in the side of your face and here the increasingly familiar voice. “Are you dead? Can i has tha bag if you dead.” You flick your eyes open and glance at her
“ I am not dead,” You grumble through the bag “ Let's get moving before she kicks us off,” You mumble as you get up and start loping up the dreadnaughts back.

You arrive at her shoulder base, and Grzmot turns back to you.

“ You have…a lot of nerve… Small dragon…to bring a raptor here,” she rumbles in her wise and powerful voice, but there was a note of hostility there, and you actively try not to flinch back as the Commanding Presence washes over you.

You lower your head, and you can feel the Nych grab onto your tail. “ We will leave shortly, matriarch, but could you tell us what this is?” You reach into the loot bag and pull out the Claimant crystal.

Her head comes dangerously close, and you are once again flinching as her Commanding Presence hits you full ****.

That… is a … claimant crystal,... The smaller beasts… and adventurers… use to claim… a territory… “dungeons”... they are called” She rumbled

I could create a dungeon? I looked up at the matriarch reverently, “ Thank you wise one, may i go home to claim my territory?” You look up pleadingly, all dredges of draconic pride forgotten and repressed in the moment.

“ Leave… and take… the raptor… with you,” She Rumbles, and you quickly grab the juvenile nych. You, feeling a bit cheeky, and **** to get away. You scale her neck, the nych grabbing onto your neck. You get to her crest and kick off, gliding quickly toward to cliffs, trying desperately to stay away from the trees.

—

The flight back was exhausting. Your wings are burning as your low endurance comes back to bite you. You eventually are **** to land on the branches of one of the tall trees, one of the ancient redwoods. You start huffing and gasping as you land, **** to gain the vital oxygen you need it.

That when you hear it. The rhythmic boom boom, boom of heavy footfalls and both you and the nych flinch back into the leaves.