DracoStryx

i. Ring of Fire In the desert there was no escape from the sun. Even the shade was scorching, and everything burned to the touch. Charlie didn't dare lean up against the splintery, rough-shod poles that made up the round pen fence, nor the ground either, which was certain to be a couple dozen degrees hotter than the air, so he squatted under the awning and made himself as small as he could, to get as much of him in the shade as possible. The metal canteen he'd set aside earlier burned under his hand, even through the handkerchief he was using to protect himself. The water inside was scalding, tasted metallic, and not nearly satisfying, but h

“I really don’t get why we haven’t just shot her yet,” Asa muttered, staring out to where the ever-present black-and-white harpia was flying off with an entire bag of stryx chow. “Pshaw, let her have it,” Drakyn said, leaning back in her usual rocking chair with a hat over her eyes. “Reckon it’s hard being a wild stryx, finding your own food every day, no one to brush your feathers every night. Right, Rex?" Her loyal tyto, who was curled up beside her as always, cooed as she pet the ruff of his neck. "Yeah. That's right." “I saw her carry off an entire cow yesterday.” “Beef is