Bres

It was a glorious start to the day. The sun was just rising above the horizon, not only glinting off the Eastern Sea but also off the matching golden scales of two Skydancers lying at the edge of the Sunbeam Ruins.
“What a sight,” the male Skydancer, Bres, breathed. His mate, Brigid, said not a word but she stirred against his side. It was a rare moment for them - they were not on duty, and had the chance to spend the night together. As such, they had decided to get out of the Clan and nest by the cliffs overlooking the sea. It had been peaceful, relaxing.
Bres fell quiet again, taking the view in.
Suddenly, Brigid sat upright, her body stiff and her eyes narrowed. There was a change in the air; the quiet morning had suddenly gone silent. There was a foreboding pressure that both dragons felt.
And then, without warning, there was a high, twinkling sound. Bres gasped as he heard it. A shrill-pitched, enchanting voice called out, filling the air with a sense of urgency. The siren’s song of the sea, it was beautiful at first, majestic - until suddenly the melody shifted, and it became a deadly thing. Brigid screamed as the song pierced her, and Bres pressed his face into his paws, groaning to drown out the noise.
Just as quickly as it began, the maddening melody ended abruptly. It’s absence left a ringing echo in the air, in the Skydancers’ ears. Bres looked at his mate; they were both clearly still shaken.
“What was that?” Brigid asked in a low growl.
“Maybe we should move out,” Bres suggested.
“We should stay - see what it is. Might be dangerous.”
Before Bres could respond, there came a rageful shout from the sea, following by the crash and splash of several loud waves. Bres jumped in the air, flapping hard to carry him higher, while Brigid marched to the edge of the cliff. The monster emerging ... ten pairs of gleaming eyes and just as many long, sharpened antlers, teeth and drool glinting in the shadows of dawn. Tales of such legendary beasts straight out of horror stories had washed up on their shores ...
Bres shouted out a warning from above before Brigid could think to breathe the monster’s name. “Emperor!”
The monster was rushing straight for the border of Light’s territory - the Court of War and their Clan would be in danger if this beast wasn’t stopped.
“We have to stop it,” Brigid cried. Bres swooped down, his eyes glinting. He didn’t need to say what he was thinking aloud for Brigid to know. Are you crazy?
“Yes, it’s crazy! But we can’t let it destroy our home,” she said, already taking off with a strong kick and flying towards the beast. She feinted and narrowly missed being bitten by one of the monstrous heads. As she flew past the Emperor, she noticed many of its eyes were still half-closed, and three of its four tails were stubby. From what she could tell, the wings were not even fully formed. It’s still young. They would not have to defeat it to save the day.
“Lead it out!” Bres shouted, reading her thoughts.
With a determined grunt, Brigid turned back to face the beast and flew just out of reach, taunting it. While it was distracted, Bres darted in and slashed at the Emperor’s backside. Between the two Skydancers, they were able to dodge and evade the monster’s strikes as they drew it further away from the cliffside, back to the sea. The Skydancers were skilled, faster, and had the luck of flight. The battle seemed to be over too quickly for Brigid’s taste, but the Emperor was frustrated, low on energy, and unable to reach its prey high above.
All too soon, the Emperor blew out a weak stream of fire in contempt before diving back under the surface of the ocean. The waves swallowed the beast from sight.
Suddenly feeling drained, Bres gestured between his mate and the cliffs, and began to fly back. Brigid followed, still rushing with adrenaline.
“We were lucky. If it had been older, better formed, able to fly . . . We wouldn’t have won,” Bres said, hating the words even though he knew they were true. Brigid snapped her beak in response. “We need to warn the others,” Bres insisted.
“I know,” Brigid said, feathers still bristling. “First, can’t we just thank the Lightweaver we survived an Emperor?”
Bres knew it was better to remain quiet in lieu of his mate’s temper than to point out that the Lightweaver had created Emperors in the first place. He nodded and gave her a soft nudge, breathing into her neck feathers. “No. We couldn’t have done it without each other.”