"The moment you consider yourself the strongest, is the very moment when most definitely someone has surpassed you."

- Lord Tragen of Delro

"Strength is not the only way to be powerful."

- Ancient Merchant saying

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The Mitocrasis leaped down and grabbed up the skeleton, lugging it back into the tree. It would seem its child needed further example of the hunt. Time crept by as the two waited for further prey. The Mitocrasis was rather annoyed by how long it had been waiting for its food, hours crept by and, before the monster realized, sunset had come. Both it and its stomach, growled in aggravation, however, it immediately mouthed up the skeleton and descended from the tree, nothing else it could do with the sun setting. The prey would be asleep after all.

The mother did not place the skeleton upon the ground after its descent, and instead carried it awkwardly back to the cave. Upon reaching it, the Mitocrasis tried to tell it to stay while it quickly found itself a meal. The skeleton simply stared empty-like in return. The Mitocrasis snorted in thinking itself successful, and barreled back into the forest, not wishing to be away for long at all. The skeleton became inanimate, like a statue, once more.

Time drawled on, minute by minute. The skeleton did not move, and the Mitocrasis continued its hunt.

Some distance away, great wings of blood flapped. A giant mass tore threw the sky as eyes the size of men scoured the earth. It had felt something when the skeleton had landed. Now it was a moth drawn to a flame, seeking that which disturbed its slumber, It was the king of the mortal realm. It was a dragon, not seen since the age of gods. Her name is Quartresnox, or in Dracoun, Deaths Mistress. She was at the peak, even among such beasts known for terror and death. She ruled the night in a way vampires never could. Quartresnox controlled the shadows with an iron grip. Nothing hid in the dark from her wrath and all knew horror upon her approach.

As she approached the mountain, which made even her seem like a child in size when compared, she threw her head up and announced her arrival with a swath of black flame and a mighty roar that echoed even farther than the skeleton's landing. She was mad, and little would stop her from razing this mountain whole.

The Mitocrasis was cowed in fear, tiny creatures keeled over around it from heart attacks in fright, others fled as if Frostinac, the lord of death, himself hunted them down. However, it broke out from its fear for one reason, its child. It began bounding back to its cave to safeguard it child from whatever greater monster than it now came knocking.

In the cave, the skeleton gained a new stimulus, not that of fear through the bond, but curiosity from a rather strange source. Due to the Mitocrasis wondering of the condition of it, it developed a notion of 'wondering'. It first wondered what 'fear' was, then it wondered about the source of the noise. Thus is felt the need to 'satisfy' this desire. It left the cave and began leaping up the mountain side, much like it watched its 'mother' do, to the peak.

Snow pelted the mountain the higher it climbed, till it was quite literally jumping from snow hill to snow hill. A monster of a snowstorm howled as it went, yet it was not enough to repel its blurry advance.

Eventually, it was rewarded the peak, just above the clouds it sat. Nothing more than 20 feet high of gray and brown rock piercing the heavens. The skeleton recognized the view somehow. Its orbs ingrained the sight it had seen just days before once more into its skull through its dark flame eyes.

Suddenly the sky went dark, the skeleton looked up to see a massive creature blocking the sun. Quartresnox had found the source. Squinting her massive eyes, the dragon landed on the tiny peak, its face within centimeters of the skeleton, its massive eye radiating power and danger.

However, the dragon then flew off as suddenly as it came. Without knowing the reasoning one might just consider it that the beast thought it a waste of time, however, the truth was different. Dragons were the creation of Olgarth, and so was the skeleton. Thus the Quatresnox considered it just a new creation by its parent and deemed it rude to destroy it.

Yes, the very nature of its existence was also the only thing stopping it from being absolutely destroyed by a dragon. At the same time the dragon had appeared, so had the Mitocrasis, watching the Dragon look at its child before leaving. Immediately on its departure the Mitocrasis scooped up its child, and barreled back down the mountain, simply thankful it was safe. However, the skeletons eyes never looked away from the peak. Its curiosity now fully sparked into existence.