A dim glimmer of sunlight shone through the trees above, illuminating the forest floor. It cast eerie shadows across the soil, dancing back and forth, flickering and disappearing. The foliage growing thick both above and below rustled in the light wind that traversed through the trees. It made a hollow moaning sound as it did so, adding to the unsettling aura about the forest this particular morning. The residents could sense the tension. Many of them stayed concealed, although there were a few that put their caution aside and came out to feed. A small group of elk stood scattered round a few yards of forest turf. Most were cows, though there were a few bucks in the herd as well. The one standing farthest from the rest was obviously an adult—one could tell by the size of his antlers. The rest were adolescents, barely into their first set of antlers.

The far off sound of a crack echoed through the forest. It was that of a large animal stepping on a twig or small branch, fairly common in the forest. For the most part, the herd payed no attention to it, although a few of the smaller cows raised their heads, startled by the break of silence. Although, it was anything but something to ignore. The sound was that of a fault in stealth, attempted by a predator far too large to succeed. Although, what it lacked in agility it more than made up for in cunning and pure muscle. It moved slowly through the forest, head leveled with its chest. Its gleaming red eyes glinted in the dim light of the woodland. The enormous shape of its body was broken up by the shadows of the trees and the trees themselves, as well as the rest of the foliage growing on the forest floor. It had picked up the scent of the herd from a while off and had been stalking them for quite some time. It moved as carefully as it could, attempting to remain unnoticed. The attempt wasn't going as planned, but it could be far worse. A creature of its size could easily hurt itself in a tight place such as the forest, choked with trees, roots and small holes along its floor.

It stalked toward the scent of its prey, its stomach close to the forest floor, head level with its chest. The only sounds it made were that of its tail dragging along the soil and even then it was just audible from a few feet away. As it neared a clearing it knew fairly well, it stopped, lowered itself down into the ambush position typically displayed by wolves that are about to attack their prey and emitted a low growl. It took a step forward, stretching its neck to its utmost ability. Its piercing red eyes peered through a bush directly in front of it. Its blood-red pools settled on its prey, grazing in the clearing, completely oblivious to the danger they were in. It licked over its upper lips with its small tongue, eager for the hunt to begin. All conditions seemed right. It stretched its maw open, exposing several razor-sharp teeth. It propelled itself upward, forward and into the clearing. A magnificent beast. It was enormous, covered in dark scales, complimented with leathery wings and long, sharp horns. It was obvious now that it was a dragon—a beast with amazing cunning, strength and intelligence. Today, an elk was going to die. It stretched its wings outward, opening its maw and emitting an ear-piercing roar. The herd panicked and scattered, terrified. But they were far too late now. As it landed with a great thud in the middle of the clearing, it thrust itself into the center of the confusion. It sunk its fangs into the nearest piece of flesh, which happened to be the flank of an adolescent buck. It let out a squeal before tumbling down into a cloud of dust, unable to move its back leg. It was completely helpless. The rest of the herd bolted into the thick of the forest, leaving the small buck to his inevitable fate. The dragon lowered its head and leisurely sunk its fangs into the neck of its victim, aware of the fact that it could do nothing to escape. Blood drenched its dark gray muzzle as it began tearing the flesh from its prey. It laid down next to the body of the small buck, relaxing. It had been traveling since dawn and its paws hurt quite a bit. But it had been worth it. The large amount of meat on this kill would keep him full for a day or two, so he wouldn't have to hunt again for a while.