@Marjorie
Melisma had never been a fighter. She could defend herself from an attacker, even a small group, well enough-- but when the dragon hunters had returned to Yoreiq, determined to claim a prize, she'd been unable to do much more than rage and flame at them uselessly.
They'd come prepared; a sleeping toxin coated their arrows and spears, and even just a few cuts had been enough for the poison to enter her bloodstream, and then the struggle was over. She was barely conscious through the days-- maybe weeks-- that passed as she was bound and trussed and carted across the sea to the mainland. Vague memories of a mage standing outside her cage, chanting spells to keep her docile, occasionally dotted the breaks between feverish dreams or utter blackness.
By the time consciousness fully returned to her, it could have been months later and she would have had no idea.
Careful listening to her captors revealed it had only been a matter of weeks, and that the hunters were not
hunters exactly, but trappers, traders. They were intending to sell her to a collector of some sort... Whole or in pieces, it didn't seem to matter much to them.
The dragoness wasn't entirely sure herself how she managed to escape. She remembered the mage coming toward her, already chanting his control spells, a vial of her own blood clutched in his hand to ensure his dominion over her will.
And in a desperate bid for freedom she'd lunged against the bars of her cage, startling the man into dropping and shattering the vial. With that small semblance of control returned to her, she'd somehow managed to rend the bars apart and flung herself into the air, narrowly avoiding a flurry of arrows and thrown javelins.
Well. Mostly avoid. A few of the bolts had found their mark-- the motion of her wings was enough to dislodge the shafts, but it seemed these two had been dipped in poison, and she could feel her strength fading rapidly again.
Land. I have to find somewhere to land, somewhere to hide... Desperate, she banked higher into the mountains. Her fur and feathers were not suited to the chill, but she pressed on, hazily scanning the rocky terrain beneath her in the hopes of finding a suitable place to hide herself away until she could regain her strength.
There! Just there, was that a cave? Oh thank the stars!
Groaning with the effort, Melly dipped into a shallow, clumsy dive, her paws barely touching the stones of the mountainside before her legs buckled and she collapsed to her side, panting desperately. Her vision shivered and threatened to go dark, but she bared her teeth and dragged herself forward, into the mouth of what had from the air appeared to be some sort of tunnel.
On closer inspection, it may have been...some sort of ruin.
But she really didn't have the energy to think about that too much. Whimpering quietly, the young dragon curled herself into the sheltering darkness as much as she was able, bringing her tail up to curve around her body, wings folded tight to her back in an effort to preserve warmth.
I just need to rest. Just...for a little...while...
