High in the air over Town Square the Imperial circled
slowly. His dark eyes intently focused on the area
surrounding the fountain where he had seen the Go-blin-al
dart only minutes before he himself had taken flight. The
Imperial flew down a bit then so he was only about fifteen
feet up in the air still circling and the Gobbie, not exactly
hidden as there was no Thug or Oog or any other place really
to hide behind, under, or next to felt him approach even
before his massive black form darkened the sky.
The Imperial's bondmate was sleeping and he was in short,
incredibly bored and also a trifle irritated; a dangerous
combination indeed for one of his strength and size,
and so he chose this foolish little mortal to take his
frustrations out upon, good thing his bondmate was sleeping
for he would never act this way in front of her, because it
would distress her and even though he had no intention of
doing any bodily harm, he knew she would not like it and he
did not want to cause her any angst now or ever. He certainly
did not want to kill the little rugrat although he could
easily, just wanted to mess with him a bit and see how fast
he could run with or without a fear dart, or whatever else
that came to mind till it was either time to rest or his
beloved bondmate woke up.
Letting out a low grunt of fear that did not escape the
Imperial's ears, the Gobbie, while still hunched as close to
the ground as he could be without inhaling dirt, intended to
make it appear as if he would dart in one direction, and if
he was successful and did not trip over his own feet like he
did occasionally, he would then change direction and run the
other way. He was not the brightest of his race but was among
the quickest and once, he had hid so well from some drunken
ruffians that they could not find him even with the hellhound
they had brought with them. Thinking back on that, he
realized the hound must also have been inebriated by the way
it kept tripping over its own feet, and the amount of drool
coming from its mouth. He himself knew he had smelled
something fierce on that day and and even though weeks had
passed, he still had not bathed and couldn't believe his eyes
when the hound failed to find him. Tensing up he made his
move, took a few steps to the right then darted swiftly to
the left with a fear born of not wanting to end up as an
appetizer in some Dragon's gigantic mouth.
The Dragon knew how fast Go-blin-al's could be, but he did
not care. Sure he might not move as fast as a Gobbie but he
knew he was smarter and what he lacked in agility he more
than made up for in intelligence and wit. He watched the
little bugger run away as if the Reaper himself were at his
heels and slowly, still flying mind you, headed in the same
direction. Not in a hurry but not going as slow as he could
be either.
The Gobbie ran south for all he was worth and headed for
the tent, oblivious to everything but the racing of his
heart, and how fast his feet were hitting the ground. He was
not even aware when the shadow that had been trailing him
from the sky vanished.
With a slight movement of his powerful wings, the Imperial
had flown up another twenty or so feet and flew rapidly on
ahead, where he landedon the other side of the southern gate
and still annoyed, slammed it shut for good measure.
The Gobbie, now all of a sudden aware that he was no
longer being followed, glanced up to search the skies even
though he was still running like mad and ran right into the
closed gate with a resounding smack, falling back down upon
the ground, stunned.
With a smug nod of his massive head at the crash heard
from the other side, the Dragon flew over the gate and landed
right next to the Gobbies head. He craned his head down and
narrowed his eyes as the smelly little creature at last began
to move. The Gobbie slowly opened his eyes and shrieked in
terror as he found himself staring up into the Black's face,
and as his eyes met the Imperial's, he, for a few seconds
could only watch in horror as they strangely darkened and
narrowed into angry slits. Flailing his arms about he started
to scoot away but did not get far when something stopped his
escape and when he looked back to see what prevented him from
fleeing, he saw that the Black had stuck one of his wicked
looking claws through the corner of his cloak and raising his
head once again, saw that the Imperial was staring down at
him with what he could only describe simply as amusement.
When a low grumbling sound then came from the Dragon's
belly; that was all that was needed to send the Gobbie into a
serious fit of hysterics and he somehow, while partially
pinned upon the ground managed to wiggle out of his cloak,
stood up and still shrieking of course, ran all the way back
to Town Square knocking down two merchants and a guard
who had the misfortune of being in his path of flight. And
once again, not paying attention to where his feet were
going but instead looking everywhere else, ran into the
bricks lining the fountain, tripped and fell promptly into
the water with a big splash, giving all the others a good
laugh at his clumsiness.
And the black Imperial, once again flying over the center
of town, decided to have a little bit more fun. With a mighty
flap of his wings, he swooped down over the fountain
and just as the stinkin little mortal picked himself up and
out of the water, grabbed the back of his shirt with a claw
and with a mighty downstroke, took to the air again
with the shrieking Gobbie in tow, and headed for the river
where he released his load and watched the flailing Gobbie
shriek his way through the air and down into the river with a
splat. He at least hoped he would bathe thoroughly before
coming back to town, for the odor about him was a most
offensive one.
"Ahh now I am in a better mood" he
thought with a chuckle as he turned and flying up a few
hundred feet, headed for his lair deep in the southlands upon
an old mountain.
And so ended the Imperial's game.
ARDIC 
ORE