Grasping her ears with her dirty hands, Nadia watched the dark brown plates covering the dragon’s vulnerable throat quiver as the sound waves passed. The obstreperous boom pierced through her head, causing her to scream aloud with clenched eyes as she spun from a loss of balance. After the beast had completed its roar, it turned its long neck to stare directly into the girl’s frightened face. His bright blue eyes glowed in contrast from the golden scales that covered his body and seemed to reveal no feeling of warmth. His face bore a twisted snarl, revealing a few of his carnivorous teeth as he continued to give a cold stare to the child, intently scrutinizing her. Two, dark brown ram-like horns twisted around the creatures head, pointing forward near the dragon’s cheeks, matching the plates that covered his throat and stomach. His four, short, powerful legs held up his monstorous body with pride as he spread his leathery wings behind his back to appear intimidating. The dark veins flowed through the thin, brown membrane of his wings like rivers on a map as he flexed them as far as they could stretch. The gray claws that potruded from the wings’ tips gleamed in the fire’s light along with the five claws that were unsheathed about the creature’s hands.