The Elemental Chain Saga Book Two: Dragons Ascending

Chapter Seventeen: Flying and Fighting

The wind whistled through Cooper's hair and he breathed in the sharp air. He looked down at the land below and a smile creeped on his face. The land was far below, stretching outwards in all directions. The bustling green hillocks and valleys all seemed so small and insignificant, the hills small green dots, the valleys groves a worm would make in damp ground. Even the river that danced along through the land seemed but a thin line from so far above, a bright blue thread weaving over the patchwork quilt of the land.

He loved flying; now at least.

As he dipped suddenly, Cooper yelped and clutched Altor tightly. "Don't do that" Cooper grumbled. Altor laughed and he beat his great ruby wings to level out his flying "I'm sorry, it's just so funny to think that you're riding on me, so high up when you're afraid of heights."

Cooper's grip tightened "Had been afraid. Had. I got over it after a couple days with you." Altor turned his head so that one of his big brown eyes looked at Cooper with mirth in his eye "Oh, have you?"

Cooper knew what was about to happen "Altor, please, don't-"

Altor arched his back and twisted off to the right. Cooper was flung from the dragon's back, twisting as he tried to grab at his scales, take or wings, grasping air as Altor narrowly avoided his hand. And, with a rush of wind, he began hurtling towards the ground, sunlight streaming around him. Cooper screamed at the top of his lungs and flapped his arms as he fell, his blue shirt and short cloak rippling in the wind turbulence. He saw as the ground rushed toward him and no longer did it seem so insignificant as the 'small dots and groves' became all to large mounds and deep ravines, ready to shatter his small frame into powder. What a horrible imagination I have, Cooper sweated.

He tried to gather his aura, so that he could use water to slow or soften his fall, but the fear disrupted his concentration. His head was a jumble of thoughts, none of them focused and orderly as they were supposed to be. He imagined hitting the ground, his bones jarring, cracking, splitting. The extreme pain after the impact, and then, over, everything gone but bleak the nothingness of death.

Penelope would have been able to focus, to ignore these horrible thoughts, Cooper thought sadly. She was never one to fear, always had a clear head, always the reasonable, responsible one....

His eyes snapped open and he took in his surroundings, ignoring the heights for the moment. Cooper's eye locked onto the large tree, getting closer by the second, and he positioned his body closer to it. The pointy green top bristled with sharp pine needles, he deterred from it, launching himself to an even larger one with whippy, thin branches. He watched as the green land became foliage and brush and the hills loomed large and cavernous gulches wide and deep. He wished he didn't.

And as he hurtled towards the large tree, far too large for his liking, he cursed Altor once more, for good luck.

He swung out his arms, readying himself to grab hold of the branches of the tree. It was his only hope. Damn you, Altor, Cooper fumed.

His gaze was filled with green and brown and his thin arms jolted as he snagged the closest branch. It gave way and he continued to fall, his body flipping over as he flailed and smacked into the limbs of the tree, whipping his arms and legs raw and red.

Biting his bottom lip, he reached out for another branch, making sure this time that it could support his weight. His arm jarred tight, the branch bending under his weight. It snapped upwards. And the branch held.

His breaths came quickly and his heart was beating in his ears, adrenaline coursed through his body. He swung from the branch, his arms growing weary. He dared to glance down and he groaned as he noticed he was still far above the ground, yet close enough to have a full view of the grassland below. He wondered if he could drop down without maiming himself as he felt his sweaty hand loosen on the smooth bark of thin branch. He wondered if he'd let go or the branch give out first, looking at the main artery of the tree where the base of the branch was bent at an odd angle. He dared another look down.