To Know Thy Enemy (Monster Hunt/Fury)

Daelorios Island grew increasingly smaller as the great EarthWing climbed higher in the sky. Baldirak flew as high as was possible before the air became too thin. Here, he wouldn't have to worry about the sea beasts jumping out of the dark water and dragging him under. Here, he could hopefully avoid the winged monsters... but perhaps there lungs could handle such limited oxygen for a greater length of time than a Dragon? He didn't know; there were many things--everything--about these monster the Twilight King knew nothing about. That was why he now left the safety of the ElderWings' island and traveled back to the mainland. He intended to find and kill one of these monsters, maybe even take it alive if he could, and bring it back to be studied.

Baldirak didn't tell anyone of his plan, not even his mate. Kenina would forbid him or worse want to join him and he didn't want to risk something happening to her. It took an hour for Baldirak to reach the mainland. Over that time he occasionally dipped to a lower altitude for a while to get more oxygen. As the coast came into view, the EarthWing's pale eyes scanned for any sign of the creatures that had taken over. Because it was closest--and he was most familiar with it--he would go to the former Twilight capital. With the mainland growing ever closer, Baldirak noticed something. The sun had shone over the ocean but the mainland appeared to be cloaked in a blanket of grey. Dark clouds loomed over it, lightning occasionally illuminated the thick darkness.

Baldirak was looking for a smaller creature, one he could take down without too much trouble. But he kept an eye out for anything bigger; there was a chance he'd end up running into one of the more dangerous ones instead. He managed to make it to the forests of EarthWing land, seeing quite a few monsters on the way. Most were too small to dare take on such a large Dragon. The rest were too busy killing other prey. The forests seemed dead; the trees still bore leaves but they appeared black. No animals were in sight. It began raining and that only added to the eerie feeling. Baldirak landed in a clearing big enough to accommodate him, folding his wings against his sides. His nostrils flared as he inhaled, smelling for any sign of life. His pale blue eyes scanned the dead forest for any movement. His paws felt for even the slightest tremble in the earth to alert him to anything approaching from the ground, above or below.

Baldirak heard water being disturbed and turned his head in that direction. 164ft away from his was a large snake. It's eyes locked onto the EarthWing as if it meant to devour him. But Baldirak could tell by the size of it's head that he would be a difficult meal for it. Well, there's was no need for formalities here, just attack and hope to come out on top. He moved closer so he was only 80ft away from the beast. With a menacing growl, Baldirak opened his maw and spewed a stream of acid at the beast. It was more of a warning shot than anything, a test to see if this big snake would cower or try its luck against potential prey that would actually fight back.

After his "attack", the snake creature dropped into the water. The water was murky and just deep enough to conceal a small creature like this. Baldirak assumed it would use the water to it's advantage, so he took to the air--just in time to watch the snake emerge from water again. It would have been behind Baldirak. The EarthWing opened his maw and emitted an earth-shattering roar, one that split the ground of the clearing from one end to the other. The water was drained, leaving nothing for the snake to hide in. He circled around to see the creature better and hovered 50ft over the ground.