by
Tode
To their left was the forboding mass of Kurn's Tower, where Tode was sure his brothers of the Reptilian Empire, Mooshi, Myshii, and Sslash, were already hard at work advancing the rebirth of the Empire.
Drizzite drowsily snapped a large fly out of the air and munched it down. A sudden draft of cool morning air drifted up from the ramp from the Pit and, although sluggish in the cool breeze, both young hunters were instantly alert, heads lifted at a slight angle to sample the air. Tode hissed a warning, there was the scent of blood in the air! Both Iksars were up at once and following the scent like a chum trail across the already shimmering floor of the pit. Tode, in his fourteenth season as a member of the Swifttail Caste, was not given too much thinking about the hunt. Hunting was every Iksar's birthright and planning had long ago given way to primitive instincts for him. he detected movement far out in the Pit and altered his course slightly to intercept. The chase was on!
The target turned out to be a Burynaii Excavator, grievously wounded in the left thigh from some earlier confrontation. Usually an Excavator would be a handful for the two hunters, but this one had already been weakened. "The Gods provide." Thought Tode, but he knew he could ill afford to take his opponent lightly, even in it's weakened condition it was still very dangerous. As the pair deployed, one to either side of the enraged beast, it attacked in a whirlwind of fury. No matter which way the Excavator turned, it exposed itself to a rear or flank attack by one of the hunters.
Both warriors rained accurate and unmerciful blows on the creature, and the battle was quickly over. The victory was not without cost however, Tode noticed, as he touched a small gash in his shoulder. Drizzite too, had lost a small patch of shiney new scales, but it was a small matter. Drizzite removed the claws from the dead beast. Tode had no use for such Trophies, but he did help himself to a few gobbits of raw, bloody, meat and gulped them down whole. He usually preferred his meat a little more aged than this and to be sure this meat wouldn't have suffered from a few more days in the sun and a healthy sprinkling of maggots, but ever the oppurtunist, Tode didn't complain. After gorging themselves, both lizards stretched out on a nearby rock to sun themselves.
Tode reflected on how many more enemies would need to be dispatched before this Cleansing of their homeland would be complete and the rebirth could be fulfilled.
A change in wind direction brought a new scent to the two hunters. Both young hunters were instantly alert, there was the scent of prey on the air! Another glorious day in the Empire had begun!