A Tale of Dragons

Chapter 04 - The Flight

Akeethen glided through the air as if he were made of the milky clouds themselves. The wind ruffled Max's hair and blew through his clothes, plastering them against his body.

"This is amazing!!" He shouted into the wind, even though the roar of wind in his ears engulfed his words.

He passed over the greens and browns of the forest, all mixing into a blur of colour underneath him. The sun had long since began to set filling the sky with various shades of oranges and reds.

Soon he became aware of another set of wings emerging on his right, and another on his left. Their emerald glow indicated that they were the two smaller dragons. His friends must also be riding out as well.

He stole a glance to the right to see Alyssa sitting high upon one of the smaller mythical creatures. She looked so beautiful with her golden locks flowing behind her as the wind ripped through her hair. The dragon, he could see, basked in the sunlight's rays, clearly overjoyed it had the chance to stretch its wings wide.

Max looked to his left to see Nigel riding the other emerald coloured dragon. George sat behind Nigel having wrapped his arms around him tight. His eyes shone with excitement and he smiled from ear to ear. Nigel looked briefly to Max giving him a small wave. In return Max nodded, too scared to let go.

A closer look at the smaller dragons flight patterns showed why Max was placed upon the scarlet dragon and not one of the younger ones. Akeethen cut smoothly through the sky as if he had done for many years. Considering he was Primed, he probably had. Which meant that the smaller dragons were less experienced and needed more assistance in flight. But none of that mattered to Max; he was riding a dragon, and that was a privilege itself.

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Before he knew it, the sun had set and the sky had turned a dark purple. Akeethen flew under the light of the moon and stars sometimes flapping his way wings to gain height. The wind no longer blew as hard, instead in its place was a cool breeze. Max has never been happier in his life. He felt so free flying, it was like nothing he had ever experienced before.

He could hear everything so clearly now, frogs croaking in a hollow beneath a tree, the distant howl of a wolf, buzzing cicadas trying to find their partner, but most importantly, the silence. The silence of the city from which he came. Normally at this time he would hear the rumble of cars and various people still bustling in the late of night. Instead of the hum of the air conditioner turning on, there were the salty waves crashing against the sea shore at the edge of the forest.

The cool night air nipped at Max's clothes threatening to make him shiver. He hadn't brought much on the hike since he left at sun-high, a pair of shorts and a tee-shirt was it. Nigel too had worn similar clothes clearly expecting the weather to be kinder.

"Max!" Nigel called out. "We're going to land now! Just stay still and Akeethen should follow us!"

Max felt a lump in his throat. They were going to land? How are dragons supposed to land? What would happen if he didn't keep still?

Before Max could even form a coherent phobia of landing, the dragon began his decent towards the darkened forest.

Max kept still like instructed and held on tight to the spike on Akeethen's back. The ground flew closer and closer. Inches from impact, Max closed his eyes; when he had opened them again, the dragon was safely sitting upon a large grass plain. He watched as Alyssa directed her dragon down. Max was sure she was to crash, the dragon was headed too fast, but at the last moment, it stopped and opened its wings at the speed of light. Gently, it padded across to Akeethen.

"Some ride, eh Max?" Alyssa commented as she slid off her dragon and onto the neon-green grass.

Max nodded in return murmuring something about how beautiful he thought nature in this part of the forest was.  

"Yeah, I really like coming out here with Nigel and George all the time." Alyssa smiled, he eyes focused on he sky looking for the boys.

"That is..." She continued. "When they let me tag along."

"Huh?" Max said sliding off his dragon.

"Oh, sometimes they leave me to care for the two green dragons while they take Akeethen out."

Max moved around the dragon to face Alyssa.

"What do they do with him?" He asks.

"They just ride. I see them a couple times in the sky. Nigel's always leading and George always holds tight to Nigel from the looks of it. They seem really happy riding together. Sometimes they're gone for hours."

Max remembered seeing Nigel engulfed in George's arms as they rode together.

"Good for them." He mumbled looking at the sky.

Alyssa noticed and directed her gaze up as well.

"Where did they go?" She whispered into the air.

"Wait." Alyssa stopped. "Nigel said Akeethen would follow his dragon if you just stayed still right?"

Max nodded remembering how he tried hard to keep perfectly still.

"Then they should have already landed." She continued. "They should be here if Akeethen followed them." Alyssa paused looking around. "Then where are they? How did Akeethen know to land?"

Max looked around them. The grassy plain was small and a dark forest surrounded them thick with brambles and thorn patches.

"I grew up in these woods." Alyssa whispered. "But I have never been in this part of the forest before. This is bad Max. This is extremely bad. We are no where near The Shard. I don't where we are. Without Nigel and George were as good as gone. These woods get dangerous at night, Max. I don't know what's out there."

Max stepped closer to Alyssa rubbing his arms up and down.

"It's too cold tonight." He whispered. "We won't survive the night if it gets any colder. Your right, Alyssa. This is bad, very bad."

"Max?" Alyssa murmured looking around.

"What?" He said fearing danger.

"I don't know what to do."