The blue-scaled dragon, Lazan, kept himself entirely still, hidden amongst the thick forest of the highland mountains. These lands were home to him and his people, and still here he found himself, breath held as he hid in fear, TRUE fear perhaps for the first time in the dragon's life, listening to the heavy thud of footfalls belonging to the beast that pursued him, not bothering to soften its step.

Everything had gone so wrong. Their plan had been perfect; an intruder in the highland dragon territories was not to be tolerated, and the brown dragon clearly seemed lost when Lazan and his three cohorts had spotted him moving through the forest like a freight train while they flew overhead. Four on one, each highland dragon being an expert with the varying magic gifts they'd come into the world with, as all highland dragons were, Lazan himself being unrivaled in these lands with illusion magics. An earth dragon was told to be a menace, certainly, due to ferocity and size alone, the beast clearly larger than they. But numbers, and the element of surprise, were on their side. They'd ambush from the skies, overwhelm, disable and go for the throat. Simple, clean, effective.

His companions were dispatched with an unsettling ease, drawing the earth dragon's full attention with their offensive strike, Lazan's talents being used to confuse the beast, multiplying their numbers and appearances with illusory doppelgangers, Lazan himself casting an invisibility spell on himself before the charge. The earth dragon barely seemed to acknowledge the mirages as he dispatched his attackers, one after another, those enormous, horrible jaws crushing down on the necks of his cohorts in succession, Lazan being slashed out of the air by the earth dragon's claws when he attempted to intervene, despite still not being visible to a non-magical eye.

Lazan did the only thing his brain told him do, and he fled. The dragon bounded through the trees, blood trailing behind him as he struggled to fold in his newly tattered wing, highland dragon unable to seek the safety of flight. Pain and blood loss began to catch up to the dragon, legs giving out despite the adrenaline pumping through his system, screaming at him to keep moving.

His magic was his last bastion, the blue drake doing his best to calm himself as he hid, concentrating as gathered what little strength and energy he had left, conjuring more illusions of himself to also go and hide in an attempt to throw off the brown monstrosity he knew wasn't far behind. Those trails of blood seemed to vanish, all traces of Lazan vanishing as his spell made the sight and smell and sounds he made imperceptible to the senses.

Tucked beneath a rocky outcropping, Lazan hid, focusing on maintaining his concentration, and his breathing, listening as those heavy foot falls stomped closer and closer, shaking the earth, as if in an attempt to flush the highland dragon out with fear. Those footfalls boomed louder and louder, clearly headed right for the blue, Lazan bracing for the worst before they suddenly came to a stop.

The silence lasted much too long, Lazan staying put, listening to every sound in the trees, willing his illusions to occasionally make sounds of snapping twigs in various directions around the immediately surrounding woods, but the behemoth didn't seem to be moving. Carefully, and as slowly as possible, Lazan began to lean out, peeking from beneath his rocky outcropping, looking over the top of it to see the looming flank of that. Lazan froze again, realizing that if the dragon could see through his invisibility, he was in plain view. The beast stood still and vigilant, clearly listening intently for any sign of its quarry. Those crimson eyes scanned slowly and thoroughly, earth dragon's gaze seeming to leave red trails as he craned that great neck to scan, causing Lazan to begin to panic at the thought that it was a spell that would reveal his location.

But the tanky beast's gaze passed right over Lazan, continuing to scan. Reassured and eager to be gone, the highland dragon willed his illusions to begin to scatter, making various, convincing sounds of fleeing as they did. His pursuer suddenly lifted his head at those noises, Lazan taking the opportunity to begin to move in the opposite direction with haste, knowing his spell would silence his movement.

A sudden CRACK violently sounded out as Lazan was suddenly struck upside the head by a swing of the earth dragon's enormous tail, launching him air born for moment before he was sent, tumbling down a shallow cliff. His illusions vanished as his concentration broke, evaporating along with the magics concealing him to the senses, dragon roaring out in pain as he bounced his mangled wing off a jagged stone. Lazan groaned, head pounding and spinning, ears ringing as blood ran from them, his muzzle and nose, the dragon struggling to get to his feet, knowing he had to move. He had to flee. He had to survive!

"You've exhausted the last of my patience." Came a low, cold voice, the first it had been heard by any in his group. Lazan didn't even think to reply, struggling in his attempts to get to his feet as the monstrous brown came down, moving around to the front of the bleeding blue, glaring down at him without so much as a scratch on those scales for all their efforts. All their plans and magics. Lazan looked up at the dragon's muzzle, locking gazes with him, glaring at the brown with a vile hatred deeper than most could imagine seeing. The earth dragon, in contrast, simply looked down annoyed. As though they had been nothing more than an inconvenience. That glare turned into a snarl, teeth bared as flames began to leak from between them. Lazan was no stranger to the ugliness of death, and despite his abhorrence of this brown, the highland dragon understood: This was it. This was the end.

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Aaaaand here's one of my favorite pieces of the old brute by the amazingly talented  natsuakai PLEASE give them a follow if you haven't already!


The highland dragons are a strange breed who all seem to have a random magical specialization as they grow, unable to expand beyond their specilties, but able to hone them as they're all but second nature. Their kind is constantly fueding amongst themselves in their clans over territory, so naturally they won't abide outsiders. Unfortunately, Cain might be the most seasoned mage-slayer on their world. Just bad luck of the draw to try and ambush him as he was passing through, really-


I just adore these sorts of "screenshots" that Nat does so I was eager to snag one when the opportunity arose. Just adore how it came out, and am still using it as my desktop, haha. The lighting is so gorgeous, love the allegory of the sun setting. And that BULK AND PLATING AHHHH