Wings of Fire: A Mage from Another World

Ch.7: Outside for the First Time

Almost immediately under the water Clay looked for the hole where the current was heading. Once he found it he resurfaced and took in another breath and then propelled himself to the hole. His top half entered with ease, but once he got to his wings he became stuck. Clay tried to push himself out through the hole, but when he wasn't making any progress he began to panic. "Don't panic! Don't panic! Don't panic!" he reminded himself.

Finally he got himself unstuck, and now he was swimming through a long tunnel, which he hoped headed out of the mountain. Now there was no turning back. It was a long way, and he had to maneuver left and right as the tunnel curved. "Yikes! It's so tight!" Clay thought, feeling the tunnel's walls scrape against his wings. "Could I even turn around if I wanted to?" He turned right, making sure to feel the current. The Mudwing grunted, swimming with the current. "But I don't want to!"

As he kept swimming, the cold of the water got to him which caused the Mudwing to shiver. "Cold cold cold! It's so cold!" he yelled in his mind, speeding up his pace. Clay went too quick as he crashed onto the wall of the tunnel with a pained grunt, which turned left.

A while later, Clay still found himself swimming in the dark tunnel. "How far have I gone?" he asked, worried that he wouldn't make it out. Clay kept going forward, each passing minute engraving more fear into him. "I don't think I have ever held my breath for this long." The Mudwing kept turning, forcing himself to not stop.

Then he began to panic more, looking worried as the minutes passed. "What if I can't really hold my breath for an hour?" Clay felt like he was going to drown, his swimming slowing down slightly. "What if only full grown Mudwings can hold their breath?! What if Kestrel and Dune kill Glory and Permafrost because of me?!" The Mudwing slowed his pace a bit more, his worrying thoughts taking over his mind. "W-what if that happens and I am known as the most useless dragon? Oh, aunt Asha and Hvitur will be devastated if anything happens to Perma!" He then closed his eyes and calmed himself, remembering what Starflight had told him, then speeding up his pace.

Then Clay felt something change in the current. "Wait. Am I going up?" he thought. The Mudwing then suddenly surfaced, taking a deep breath. He held onto a rock ledge, finding himself in a cave full of glowing insects. "Everything hurts.." he thought, still holding on as to not be pulled away. Pulling himself out of the water and onto the surface of the rock, he proceeded to flop onto his belly and pant. "I guess I'll just... lay here.... and die for a while..." he muttered between pants, staring down at the water.

His ear then flicked, and he casted his gaze forward. "What's that sound?" he asked himself, not noticing that he wasn't alone in the area. "Waterfall!" he noticed the fall, slowly standing up as the rock was slippery. "I'll just.. approach it really carefully then- AAAH!!" he was shoved forward by a sudden wave, making the mud dragon fall forward. Clay dug his claws onto the stone, looking down fearfully. "Don't panic! Don't panic! Don't-"

"Whatever you do, don't let go! You could easily break your wing." Tsunami joked, standing below Clay who was hanging mere inches from the ground. The Mudwing let go, landing next to Tsunami, or at least he tried to as he staggered forward and accidentally rammed into the Seawing, sending both dragons falling into the sea below.

Clay swam towards the nearest shore, watching worriedly as Tsunami struggled to swim. Once they both made it, Clay turned to his friend. "How did you get here?" he asked, then a smaller yet familiar dragonet landed next to him. "Sunny, Starflight and I breathed fire onto the chains at the same time, although... Tsunami had been pulling at the chains beforehand and-!" "Permafrost! How-?"

Tsunami ruffled the dragonet's head, earning a growl of protest from the IceMudwing. "When we were free from the chains Phoenix grabbed some moss, soaked it, then mushed it into some paste and covered Perma with it. The paste worked as some sort of lubricant, and it allowed him to slip through the hole in the study cave." She sighed, turning back to look at the mountain. "He said he couldn't just let him stay..."

Clay frowned at Tsunami's shoulder, watching as she struggled to stand on it. "But what happened to your shoulder?" the Seawing huffed, scanning the area. "I dislocated my shoulder from pulling at the chains. It was then that Sunny, Starflight and Permafrost decided to breathe fire at the chains." Her gaze then fell onto a boulder, and she prepared herself to ram into it. "Now. I can't save the world like this, so I'm gonna pop it back into place!" Tsunami began to run to the tree, but was stopped by Clay. "Stop! That's not going to work! It'll just make it worse!!" the mud dragon yelled, holding the Seawing still. Permafrost looked at her pleadingly, holding her talon. "Please, Tsunami. I don't want you to hurt yourself further.." the sea dragon was about to protest, but she came to realize that both Mudwings were right.

She turned her head away, and held the IceMudwing's talons. "Alright, but make it quick." Clay grinned, then went back to his serious face as he held onto her shoulder. "This will hurt, so Perma be sure to really aid her. Ok?" As the hybrid nodded, Clay then counted down from three. When he reached one, he quickly shoved Tsunami's shoulder back into place, earning a pained roar from the Seawing. She looked down, moving her wing and being relieved that it didn't hurt anymore. "Thanks." she mumbled, looking up as Clay looked up at the sky then at her and Permafrost. "Let's go fly! We have to see all that is around us!"

Then the three dragons took off at the sky, very happy at being outside for the first time and to be able to feel the wind flowing through them. "It's so beautiful!" Clay yelled, attempting and failing to do a barrel roll. The other two dragonets laughed and plummeted downwards, with the Mudwing following suit.

Clay landed on the mud, sending thick droplets flying with some almost hitting Tsunami. "Tsunami! Look!" Clay exclaimed excitedly, dropping down and rolling in the mud. "Oh! Mud! It feels amazing!" Tsunami huffed, sitting on the side watching the scene. "It feels so good in between my scales! And hey!" Clay then held his talons up. "My talons aren't sore anymore! I don't feel sore anymore!" He then rolled upright, rubbing his head on the mud with a happy smile on his face. "I'm not itchy! Ah the mud feels amazing!"

Tsunami approached him, gazing up and down at the mud on Clay's scales. "I don't think I've ever seen someone so excited about mud!" "I bet Mudwings do! Hey, Perma! Join me!" Permafrost hopped in the mud happily, rolling among the earth whilst laughing. The Seawing then looked out at the river, looking down at where it headed. "You think I'll feel this way about the sea? When I'm properly swimming, I mean." she asked, turning to the Mudwings. "I bet!" Permafrost stated, sitting up.

There was a sudden crashing sound, catching the trio's attention. "What was that?!" Tsunami growled, stopping when she saw the source of the sound. It was a scavenger, and it looked absolutely terrified at seeing three dragons. "Aww! It's so cute!" Perma hastily approached it, unknowingly engraving more fear into it. Tsunami sneered, looking at its structure. "So one of these killed Queen Oasis?" Clay shrugged then studied it curiously, his eyes squinting. "Can we eat it?" Tsunami shook her head. "Starflight says they're endangered, and Phoenix seems to be.... well... far more interested in them than normal." The scavenger then dashed away from the dragons, screaming with fear.

The scavenger left behind a bag, and in it was some treasure like gold and jewels. Permafrost picked up a pearl bracelet, staring at it with awe. "Woah! Look at all this treasure!" he exclaimed, hanging it on his horn. Tsunami then picked up a blue star gem, holding it by the string. "Why would a scavenger need this much treasure?" Clay shrugged, poking the star. "Can we keep all this?"

"Certainly NOT! Unless you want to fight me for it!"