((OOC: Don't forget, this is HOURS into the task, and not in the same time frames as others))
Renz paused in his climb towards the caves, letting his muscles rest a moment and checking his surroundings. The next section of the climb was almost vertical, and he didn't see an easier path up. It looked like he would have to climb up the cliff hand over hand, and even if it was only twenty feet up, he didn't like the looks of it. He had to get higher up, though. He could see a few people above on the mountain, many of them with horses, and seemingly all headed for the top. He knew the advice was to go straight for the top and get the best dragons, but he was also aware that even if he could get to the mountain's top in three hours and down a little faster, finding an egg would take long enough that he wouldn't make it back in time. So he planned to get an egg as safely as possible and head back down. Even if he didn't get the strongest dragon and was outclassed by others, at least he'd have one and be able to train at the School of Dragons. Perhaps if he'd had a horse he might have gone for the top, but he knew he wouldn't make it there on foot.
Once he had redirected his thoughts and flexed his fingers, he began the climb up the wall. There were grips for his feet and hands, but they were thin. Halfway up, a thin ledge of rock, barely an inch wide, fell out beneath the weight of his foot and he thought he was going to fall backwards. He barely managed to cling on, and, gasping, quickly went up the last half. Sitting on the ledge at the top of the rock wall, he became aware that there was a small cave just a dozen feet above that he hadn't seen from beneath the wall. His breath caught in his throat, and he had to take a moment to steady his nerves. If there were a dragon in that cave, and if that dragon was awake, it might be the end of him. He knew this, but he still forced himself to pick his way silently up to the entrance and to slowly, carefully peek in.
The inside of the cave was dark, except for a few feet illuminated by the light of the outside. That few feet, though, showed him the tail of a dragon. The moss-green scales, and the spikes along the top of the ridge. Renz ducked back, holding his breath. 'Should I go in...? What if it's awake? What are the chances that there's an unguarded egg?' After standing there, internally debating on whether or not to enter the cave, Renz decided to look around and come back to this as a last resort. He snuck away from the cave entrance and went higher up, hoping to get a vantage point.
He looked down across the stony land, searching for any potential places to nab an egg. At first he didn't see anything, but after a minute or so, something caught his attention. Off to his right, he saw movement. He started to move closer, putting his hand to the hilt of his sword just in case. He saw the movement again, and stared. What looked like a patch of stone was moving up and down, and as he got a little closer he realized it was a dragon. It was sprawled out with its large wings spread, and it looked like it was resting or asleep. He could also see a slight indent in the stone, and what looked like some smooth rocks inside. Judging by the proximity of the dragon, it seemed likely that it was a nest. It was downhill from where he was, and he could see two routes down from his location: climbing back down the way he came and trekking across horizontally, or going up, around, and down another slope. He opted for the former, since he already knew where to go, and about ten minutes later he was back at the bottom of the wall. From there he had to go a bit farther down before he could travel towards the nest, and once he had done this he caught sight of the dragon again. It was almost invisible against the stone, so well was it camouflaged. However, it seemed to be fast asleep, and now he could see the 'nest'. He could tell now that the 'rocks' within it were dragon eggs, and it looked like it was his opportunity to get an egg.
The wind was blowing in his face, so he was pretty sure the dragon wouldn't smell him. He grabbed his shield from its hook on his back, took one last look around, and began to advance cautiously. He looked between the ground at his feet, the nest, and the dragon. He was getting close, and he could see every detail of the sleeping dragon's scales. He was only a few yards from the nest when a roar sounded in the air. The dragon in front of him stirred, and Renz decided to make a risky move: He ran to the nest and grabbed an egg. It was smooth, and while it was of a dark stony color there were many glimmering specs of silver dotting the surface. He didn't have time to marvel at it, though, because the dragon was moving, and he could now see another taking off from a nearby cliff where it had been clinging to the wall, hidden by its camouflage like the sleeping one had been. Presumably this one had spotted him and given a warning roar to its mate.
Those details didn't matter to Renz, though. He ran, with the egg clutched in one arm and his shield strapped to the other. He sprinted downhill, and once or twice he nearly lost his footing. He glanced over his shoulder for a mere instant, and he could see that both dragons were in the air and quickly gaining on him. He knew he needed to go faster, but he was already nearly out of control. Then he saw that he was moving towards a cliff, and tried to slow himself. He didn't know how far down it was, and he decided he'd have to go sideways and find a slope. His legs were already aching, and he doubted he could outrun them. He thought he could hear their wingbeats behind him. And then, suddenly, a strong gust of wind accompanied by the roar of a dragon knocked him over, and he was sent over the cliff's edge.
He fell hard, clutching the egg and realizing that this was probably the end of him. He should have been more careful. He should have been smarter about this, or perhaps he shouldn't have come. He would never see the end. He would fall, and fall, and fall, and crumple on the rocks below. He prepared for the inevitable, and all of this in a split second. And then he hit the ground. It hurt, and he could feel his skin being cut open, but he hadn't fallen far. He rolled with the momentum of the fall and saw one dragon pass overhead. Its underside was silver, unlike its much duller back. It flew on, and Renz didn't see the other one yet. He picked himself up, battered but alive, and tried to keep himself calm enough to assess the situation. He could see the snow a little way below, but he didn't think he could make it that far and it was unlikely that he would be able to escape even if he got there. The egg seemed undamaged, but his shield arm hurt with every movement. And worst of all, the other dragon flew overhead, and both of them had spotted him. The one that had flown farther down the mountain had turned back, and the one that had just flown overhead landed about a hundred feet away and glared at him. Renz suddenly thought that this must be what it felt like for a mouse pinned down by a cat. It was horrible.
With no other options, he staggered and began to run downhill. He was in no condition to fight off two angry dragons with a wounded arm and backed against a solid wall. He ran, and ran, but he could see the nearer dragon moving to intercept and the farther one could easily block his progress. The nearer one crawled along with the claws on its wings and its hind legs, and Renz almost thought he was going to make it past when the dragon spun and knocked his legs out from under him with its tail. He tumbled down and nearly lost the egg. He heard the growl of the dragon and rolled, and he heard the clip of jaws only inches away. He scrambled painfully up again and tried to run. He heard the dragon right behind him, and the other was in flying towards him from the front. He heard the woosh of wings behind him, and then another gust of wind knocked him forwards. The gust was so strong he was actually sent into the air by it, and the dragon flying towards him was knocked off balance. He hit the ground hard yet again, and he thought something might have broken in his leg. He barely kept his feet, and the parts of his body that weren't numb were stinging like fire. He could taste his own blood, and it was only by a miracle that he was still holding onto the egg. He forced himself along, even though he knew that unless he was given an extraordinary stroke of luck he was only prolonging the inevitable.
In fact, luck was on his side, since the airborne dragon had been knocked off balance by the other's gust. While it was recovering its equilibrium, Renz stumbled by beneath it and onto snowy ground. The other dragon was behind him, though, having taken to the air, and it gave a roar of anger and grief. After all, they were just parents trying to get back their unborn child. Even though he was sure the dragon would be clawing him to death any second, he unstrapped his shield and threw it onto the ground in front of him. He heard wingbeats and threw himself to one side, jarring himself and causing him to hiss in pain but preventing his getting snatched up in the talons of the hunting dragon. He forced himself forward and threw himself onto the shield, using it as a sled. Before he had even gotten ten minutes up the mountain, he had decided he would get back down by sledding on his shield. Now he clung for dear life to the handle with one arm and the egg with the other, and began sliding down, slowly gaining momentum. He glanced over his shoulder and saw both dragons in pursuit, flying right behind him and roaring with anger. Their jaws gleamed with teeth, and Renz imagined himself getting ripped to shreds. Never before had he been so frightened of dragons. All his life he had known tamer dragons, and while he had seen wild dragons in the past he had never seen angry parents chasing down the one who had stolen their child.
He looked back ahead, and felt the stinging snow and cold winds lash his cut and bloodied face. His wild progress kicked up a wave of snow that blinded him and sent out a trail to either side. He was going faster and faster, going, going... right towards another ledge. With no way of stopping and death right behind, he hurtled over the lip and shot down. His momentum carried him on, and he landed with a bump that nearly threw him off. As it was, he was able to cling on, although he bit his lip so hard that he punched a hole in it. He had lost some momentum now, and the dragons were closer. He was going down, down, down. There was a long way left to go, and another cliff like that might be the end of him. He was weary, almost ready to give up. He wanted to live, but he didn't see how he could.
A rock stuck out of the snow ahead, in the direction he was going. With barely any time and less thought he leaned slightly to the side, turning the sled just enough to skirt around it. His heart was racing, beating faster that the wings of a hummingbird, and he could hear the beating of dragons' wings behind him. They hadn't sent another gust at him, and looking back once more he could see them with wings spread, gliding and letting gravity do most of the work with only the occasional pumping of wings. Then, one of them tucked in its wings and dived straight for him. He leaned desperately to one side, hoping to steer a course away from the attacking reptilian, and ducked. He capsized, rolling over and losing his grip on both shield and egg, but the dragon crashed into the snow ahead of him. The egg began to roll downhill, and although he felt dizzy Renz reached out for it. The roar of a dragon split the air again, though, and the other dragon dived for it. Its claws closed around the egg, and it took off into the air to return the egg. It trusted its partner to deal with the human who had stolen it.
But before it could really get going, Renz scooped up some packed snow and flung it at the dragon, hitting it in the face. It gave a shrieking roar and dropped the egg into the snow, where Renz quickly lunged over and scooped it up. He recovered the shield and set off again, passing the dragon who was extracting itself from the snow. He was on the edge of consciousness, and the only things he could process were the need to keep the egg and the necessity of holding onto the shield. It was irrational that he should so wish to keep the egg. He could save his life by throwing it away and letting the dragons have it. But somehow, he couldn't. He needed this egg more than anything else.
Only luck and pure instinct had let him get this far. He could hardly feel anything anymore. He was bleeding everywhere, and he had at least one broken bone. But he was alive, and with just a little more luck he could stay that way. He gave up attempting to monitor the dragons behind him. He just hung on and kept his eyes on the goal. He could see the world below getting bigger, and he could blearily see the caravan in the distance below. He still had a long way to go, but he was barreling along. It was through pure good fortune that he didn't run into any major drop-offs or cliffs, although there were several times he was jarred by a drop of five feet or so, and the occasional jump from a smaller ledge. Indeed, one of these drops saved him, because just as one of the dragons dive bombed him again he dropped suddenly and it passed overhead with a shriek.
He was almost there. He could see people now, and dragons, and horses, all fairly distinct if it weren't for the blurriness of his own eyes. He was on the home stretch. The dragons dived one last time, hoping to get their egg back before the human got to his allies. One came in just short, and with an explosion of snow Renz was thrown into the air and down, down, down, still clutching the egg. He fell into cold snow, and finally let go of reality. His shield lay on the surface of the snow, much of the blue paint scraped from the wood.
