Its squawking was kind of cute. It almost made Septiezal feel bad for hunting it, almost. Suddenly, it opened up its jaws and spat forth a wave of heat directly in his face. Instinctively, Septiezal flinched, however its attack was barely strong enough to sting his scales. In that moment, the gemling turned tail and fled. Septiezal noted how it did not use its wings. It cannot fly, He realized fiendishly. And it is trapped on this island with me.

Septiezal did not need to be faster than his prey, he had superb tracking on his side. He lapped at the ground with his forked tongue, following the gemling's scent through the vegetation and over the stones. It did not seem to bother twisting its trail into puzzle. Instead, it lead him directly to a crevice off in the distance. Septiezal stop and flicked his tongue in the wind. The scent was freshest here. It had to be in that crevice.

This is too easy.

Septiezal would have slithered straight up to its little den, if it hadn't shot him with a fire spell. Sure, it was a pathetic cast, but the serpent knew all too well how fickle magick was, especially fire, and next time, he might not be so lucky. He opted to slither towards the bushes just out side the entrance. He was careful to be quiet as he tucked himself within the leaves. Hopefully, the foliage would provide him with enough cover to succeed at his ambush. If he hid well enough, the gemling would be met with a nasty surprise when ever it decided to come out.

Until then, he would wait.

"speak"

It had become waiting game between predator and prey. For what seemed like hours, Septiezal waited and watched. He knew the gemling was in there, he could smell it, but nothing stirred, not even the lizards scurried or birds sang. It was quiet, too quiet. Septiezal's gut began to twist. Am I hiding well enough?

That was confirmed for him when the dragonling crept cautiously from its dark crevice. Septiezal stayed put. It was too late to reaffirm his cover. All he could do was hope that his scales blended in with the stones. For a moment, he thought the dragonling over looked him, the suddenly, it let out a hiss and disappeared back into its small den. Septiezal let out a small, frustrated hiss of his own

Damn it.

He debated on whether to find better place to hide. He could last cycles without food, but he had no idea if this creature could as well. For all he knew, it could choose to starve to death instead of meet his coils, then his wait would be all for naught. In the end, Septiezal chose to let it win the waiting game. He had better things to do, like quenching his thirst and sunning his scales. Perhaps he would come across its scent again, then the game could began once more. Reluctantly, Septiezal retreated into the cover of the foliage beyond and out of sight. He slithered towards the water's edge where the warm stones sat, welcoming him.

"speak"

Septiezal had dozed off once more as he laid on the warm stones only to be awoken under dimmed lights by the clacking of loose stones followed by the faint scurry of smalls paws. Something was coming towards him. The serpent's stout body stirred to life as he slide out his tongue. The wind smelled of rat and Septiezal's hunger peaked once more.

It wasn't long before the rodent came clambering blindly out of the brush, clearly panicked. At first, it did not see the python in the shadows until its glittering black eyes met his. The rat shrieked in terror and turned to scramble away. Septiezal wasted no time and snatched the rodent by tail. The rat snapped around and plunged its fangs into the serpents nose. Despite the pain, this did not phase Septiezal and he twisted his large coils around his prey, mercilessly squeezing the life from it. Eventually the rat when limp, and Septiezal began to work his jaws around his kill as he started to swallow it whole. Blood trickled from the bite wound left by his prey. It looked deep enough to scar, but only time would tell.

Septiezal popped his jaw back into place as the last of his meal slid down into his gut. It wasn't big enough to sate his hunger entirely, but at least it could hold him down until he found bigger prey. He tasted the air inquisitively. He knew a rat that size could not have made such a ruckus, at least not alone. There was another that attempted to hunt it. Septiezal first thought went to the gemling he had cornered earlier, though in his slumber, it was possible he had missed another gembounds swimming to the island. Like a slug, he crept slowly away from the shoreline, his forked tongue tasting for anything new.
"speak"