Seeing Wings of Green

Chapter 10: Open Season

I rested my chin on my forepaws with a tired sigh and briefly looked over at the pair of green and red Dragonets who were snoozing together on one of the thicker tree branches to my left as I kept an eye and ear out for any signs of trouble. Though everything was quiet as it currently stood this morning, I knew better than to let my guard completely down; as such things could change at an instant. The mystery reptilian creature was still around, which we knew based on the fact that we had caught its scent in various places around the park; especially around where we congregated the most often, which included our nesting grounds and what I liked to refer to as our "Morning Song Stages".

The two red and green Dragonets- Larkin and Ashley if my memory was correct- had stayed with me for the past three nights since we had first fought that mystery creature. The night after we had fought that creature, it had tried to dig someone out from their burrow. Thankfully, it didn't get very far; as all it took was a couple of well-aimed blasts of fire from the tunnel's occupant to get the creature to abandon its chase in favor of scuttling away with its lizard-like tail tucked between its hind legs, figuratively speaking. After that, no one dared to go anywhere or do anything alone- including sleep. We always travelled with at least one other individual and made an effort to stay within the safety of the dense treetops and on the high, steep ledges that the park provided; only coming down for water, to care for any flightless hatchlings, and of course, Sunburst Berries. As crazy and as dangerous as it sounded, not even a mysterious, black, mutant cat-lizard thing could keep us away from our treasured sweet treats.

"It's back!" A female voice suddenly shouted over the general mindlink. "The creature is back! In the clearing where we sang this morning!"

A less-than-pleased growl rattled my body as a mental string of cusses- both my own and those of a few other individuals- echoed in my head. I immediately took to the sky and of course, Larkin and Ashley were quick to follow. This was no leasurly flight through the park with calm, slow-paced flying and the occasional aerial acrobatic display if I was in a particularly playful mood. The goal here was to get from one place to another, and to get there fast.

"Mel, Ashley, and I are almost there, Amber." Larkin said through the general mindlink as we flew as fast as our wings could carry us. "We should be there right about-"

"Now." Ashley finished.

The three of us perched safely on the branch of a nearby tree in order to briefly catch our breath and assess what was going on in the clearing. Around twenty Dragonets were swirling over the creature. Occasionally one or two individuals would drop down and swoop low over the creature while unleashing a jet of flame upon it. Despite the severe burns that marred its scaly black hide, the thing- whatever it was, exactly- was desprately trying to counter our attacks by rearing up on its muscular hind legs in order to lash out at a low-flying Dragonet with its talon-like claws or by wildly flinging its whip-like tail around in a poor attempt to smack a Dragonet out of the air. We watched seven more Dragonets join in on harassing the foul creature before we eventually gave in to our raging anger and bloodlust that the mere sight of the creature had brought to the surface of our minds.

Even though it was injured pretty severly, it continued to try to bat us out of the sky; but due to our constant barrage of flames, the shadowy mystery creature was forced to keep its distance or risk getting even more well-done than it already was. The speed that we used when dodging the thing's claws or flailing tail was barely enough to avoid a sharp blow or a deep slash. Had we been the same size as the creature of vice versa, I had a feeling that our speed and agility would've been evenly matched. As it currently stood, the only reason we were slightly more nimble was because of our smaller size and our ability to so expertly use our wings.

"This thing has got to die." A voice hissed over the general mindlink.

Feelings of agreement rippled throughout the link. We obviously all shared the same mindset of 'this creature needs to die'; but given that we were barely a fraction of its size, we had no idea how we could actually manage to kill this thing. We knew that if we let it escape alive that it would continue to come after us. This same level of persistance was present in some of the other alien creatures that we had seen beyond the safety of the walled city where several Dragonets had lost their lives to the claws and teeth of those things before we had all decided to take shelter in this park.

"Why won't it just die already?" An irritated voice snarled through the general mindlink as Dragonets continued to arrive. "The thing's more cooked than a well-done steak!"

Immediately after I had exhaled a plume of fire at the thing, a blue Dragonet suddenly did a nosedive and attached himself to the black creature's back by digging into its scaly hide before he swung his head down and buried his teeth deep in the back of the thing's neck as it reared and bucked around like a wild stallion in an effort to throw him off.

"Yee haw!" He linked us all gleefully before he let go and quickly returned to the safety of the skies.

"Nice one!" A female voice replied with a laugh as I swooped down and mirrored the blue male's lead.