Hidden Among the Dead [Open]

The day started out much like any other. Silver opened her eyes, lazily shambled over to the tub she used for a bath, then left her cozy cave soon after so that she could feel the cool crisp winds against her pure white scales.

For whatever reason, the air smelled extra fine today. Her own cave, her own schedule. True and ultimate freedom to do whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. There was nothing quite like it. The world and the dragons in it were there to do with as she pleased.

With a pleasant sigh, Silver allowed some of her icy breath to crystalize the air in front of her maw, and trickle down like sparkling gems. Today her schedule was open. An open schedule, for her, usually meant that she would browse the various shops at a nearby village.

Before setting out to interact with others, she held up a small mirror in her talon and delicately adorned her body with the jewelry and clothing she’d picked out for herself the night before.

Today’s colors were similar to most. Silver and sapphire. The ones she felt complimented her scales and eyes the most.

She wore an earring on one ear with a sapphire in it, deciding that a little bit of asymmetry would be a good enough change to her usual wear. Three silver bracelets were around the tip of her tail, ordered from smallest to largest based on which part of her tail they were around. In addition to her tail, she wore another silver bracelet around her wrist that had a sapphire encrusted into it.

The coup de grace of her attire had to have been the transparent white veil she wore on her head to add an air of mystery to her eyes, and the matching gown that was intricately connected to cover various other parts of her body.

After spending a few extra minutes ensuring her appearance met her expectations, she set off to the nearby village to mingle with the locals. It’d been a little while since she’d been there, but the last time she visited she certainly attracted quite a few eyes. Something told her she wouldn’t necessarily be out of dragons to talk to, her only hope was that they weren’t as dull and repetitive as they usually were.

During her casual stroll down the path that she normally took to the village, Silver had a strange feeling. The snapping of twigs and silence of the wildlife around her made her feel as though she were being followed.

Feeling an eerie sense of urgency, she proceeded to walk a little bit faster. Silver looked over her shoulder, then looked forward and recoiled when she saw another dragon standing in her path. He looked utterly disgusting, like the right side of his yellow scales had been badly burned. He stared at ice dragoness with intense eyes.

“Can I...help you?” Silver said softly, taking a few steps backwards.

Her tail brushed up against something, and she quickly turned around and saw another dragon, this one was a brownish color, and held a dagger in one of his talons. As she looked around, she noticed at least three more of these malevolent dragons stepping out from behind trees and over snow-covered bushes. They surrounded her from all sides.

“Aye, you can help us,” hissed the hideous yellow dragon, “by swallowing a blade.”

Silver’s stomach felt like it was sinking. Instinctively, she tried to leap away. Before she could, however, she felt the dragon behind her grab her roughly by the tail and pull her back to the ground with a painful thud.

The others moved in just as fast. Two of them positioned themselves on either side of her, roughly turning her over onto her back despite her struggling. A third, the one that had yanked her tail, climbed on top of her and raised his dagger high in the air. He used his other talon to pin Silver’s neck to the snowy ground.

“You’ll die today!” he shouted, his voice cracking with rage and...oddly enough, what sounded like a hint of sorrow.