[Gift] The 11th Hour | Lantern

Boney Jones walked quietly through the forest, her floating lantern bobbing beside her like a patient firefly. The woods were dark enough to swallow the path whole, but the lantern’s warm gold light spilled across the ground in soft circles, revealing roots, stones, and patches of damp moss before her hooves reached them. The young dragon moved with an odd but graceful rhythm. Her four hooved legs carried her steadily through the undergrowth while the extra limbs emerging from her chest adjusted the straps of her satchel and occasionally pushed aside low branches. Her skeletal frame clicked softly with each step, ribs shifting faintly beneath the thin skin that covered the majority of her body.

The forest did not fear her anymore but perhaps it should.

Owls watched from high branches with calm yellow eyes. Small animals paused only briefly before continuing about their business. Even the wind through the pines seemed familiar with her nightly walks home. Boney Jones liked the silence. It gave her room to think, especially considering her home life could get a bit hectic with her rider hatching more and more dragons. She tilted her skull slightly upward as the cold air drifted between the trees. The lantern floated closer to her face, its rather large metal frame glowing brighter for a moment as if sensing her mood. Reflected light danced across the polished curve of her horn and the black strands hanging from her jaw. She could not see home from where she was but she made her way steadily there regardless.