Thirel

Thirel was on his way home from visiting some friends from another clan. Being a coliseum dragon, he had many interesting stories to tell. The visit had been fun, but it was getting late and Thirel wanted to be home before it got too dark. The path home lead through the woods, over the river, and through a small centaur village. If he hurried, he could be back before sunset. As he walked through the woods, Thirel imagined what he'd have for dinner back home. Maybe if he got hungry, he'd just catch a deer on the way. Still pondering this, he came to the river and the ancient stone bridge that crossed it. It occured to Thirel that a dragon doesn't really need a bridge, but for the sake of this story it had been built here by the centaurs, and it was polite to cross it instead of just ignoring their work by flying over it. As Thirel approached, he saw that there was a large, burly chimera napping in front of the bridge. Thirel considered just stepping over it, but he didn't want it to wake up while he was stepping and claw at his exposed belly. Instead, he let out a deafening roar to wake it up, then prepared to scare it off. He was a coli dragon, after all. He fought beasts for a living. The chimera jolted awake and immediately took up a defensive stance, hissing and bearing its venomous tail. Thirel made to attack, then feigned in the other direction, taking the beast off guard. The chimera was knocked clear away from the bridge. Triumphant, Thirel began to cross the bridge. He barely had time to register the creature's angry screech as it launched onto his back, attempting to bite him on the neck. Thirel's scales were strong, though, and the chimera scratched ineffectually at his back as the dragon chuckled. "You've got spunk, little guy, that's for sure." The chimera realized it wasn't doing any damage and stopped to stare at the back of the dragon's head. For a chimera, the strongest individual is the dominant force, the leader of the pack. This dragon was strong. "Ok," said Thirel. "You've had your fun. Off you go now." The chimera sat, thinking. The dragon had beaten it in a fair fight. The dragon was now the alpha. The chimera decided it would be good to have this dragon as an ally. It could learn how to be stronger itself. Its mind made up, the chimera stubbornly curled up on the dragon's back. "What, are you staying?" Thirel asked. "Last chance to shove off... Ok. Guess you're in for a ride, little chim'" The dragon and chimera crossed the bridge together, heading home.