Desert Rider

Many have tried to replicate her and their corpses litter the desert.

She lives on the desert fringes, eking out an arcane existence. Inhabiting a shack, constructed of wood and cactus scraps, which while rudimentary manages to survive the deserts harsh advances.

The desert rider herself shields her face with a veil, covers her body with robes and protects her eyes with a primitive looking set of goggles. Her physical appearance is based upon scuttlebutt and tales, only enhancing her legend.

The interior of her shack is the image of rustic, consisting of sleeping quarters and a single shelf. On the shelf lies the withered husk of a larva, wrapped in a decayed cocoon, once a triumphant crimson now reduced to a sunken shade of pink.

Concave pits litter the desert, steeply angled, jaws protruding from the bottom. Some of these pits are clean while others are scattered with splintered remains, animal and human. Fresh kills are denoted by the red stained sand. Some are the result of a cursed tumble while others have attempted to catch the larva often with dire results. It is only her that has caught one and raised it.

Standing outside of her shack, she whistles. Submerged below the ground, a dragon rises, sand streaming from its back and wings. Whilst being a dragon its eyes and wings are not reptilian, but insect like their appearance. A pair of scaled antennae adorn its head. They maintain reptilian jaws with serrated teeth. Fire blasts can be launched, but the energy it requires makes it a rare sight. Mounting the dragon she flies it over the desert performing maneuvers of nimbleness and dexterity, looping and rolling over the sands, skimming the deserts surface, dragging dust clouds in her wake, twisting through the zephyr. Flying up on high she can see the cactus patches with ease, making following them a much easier task.

Given that desert dragons are the largest and most dangerous of the deserts inhabitants she gets first pick of the cacti. The dragon is also liable to take both animals and humans, spotting them from the air and diving with immense speeds, snatching prey before it can react. It also flies low the ground at times, the dust clouds blinding its targets. Food is either taken back to the den or eaten in flight.

Wild dragons are rarely seen and cannot be tamed. They must be caught when larva and raised from infanthood. A full-grown dragon will balk at its assailants authority before devouring them. Kills are quick, but intensely painful.

The dragon also ensures the desert rider and her shack remain safe. Many have spotted the shack and anticipated an easy plunder only to be dragged below the sands and gorged upon. They may also be snatched from the ground, mutilated mid-flight.

She is the only desert rider. Only she alone can wield the dragons power, earned through years of care and attention on her animal. She is the deserts most powerful figure. Yet she lives in a shack, made of wood and cactus scraps.

~~~

Based on the Pokemon Flygon and its previous evolutions, Trapinch and Vibrava: http://bulbanews.bulbagarden.net/wiki/On_the_Origin_of_Species:_Trapinch,_Vibrava_and_Flygon

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