Elemental Dragons (Book 1)

Chapter 9

I flew out of the canyon and headed towards what looked like a large thicket of trees. The scent of the dragon I had been following seemed to intensify as I went in to land. Just as I almost made my first, perfect landing, a torrent of rain smacked down onto my thick scales, pushing me down. I was able to do a half barrel roll, half skid in order to not crash land and managed to fly back into the open air around the top of the canyon. Whoa, close one aye? It wouldn't have been great if I had pretty much given myself away. Not that it would have bothered at bat.

In the end, it took me at least ten minutes to land on the outskirts of the trees without making too much of a racket. I changed back to human form, thinking it was probably easier to hide this way. Turns out, it was a mistake. The cold wind froze my insides and the rain stabbed at me like little daggers of fury. I bet my clattering teeth would have doubled the noise I would have made if I had crashed.

Shakily, I made my way through the trees, searching for any signs of a dragon or human. I fiddled with my hands, trying to keep them from freezing and just falling right off. It seemed that as I walked deeper into the forest, it became oddly warmer. I wasn't complaining but it was odd. The rain faltered to a drizzle and barely got to me through the trees. I felt my inside begin to slowing unfreeze, freeing up my ability to move more fluently.

I saw a small glint of light coming from a few metres in front of me. As I approached, I saw a person, hidden by shadows, fiddling with something near the fire. I crouched down behind a bush, and peered over. The person was humming a tune I wasn't familiar with.

I shifted my foot, trying to stop it from falling asleep under my weight. It slipped onto a stick. A thunderous crack echoed around the trees. Bloody hell! In any movie, thunder would have gone off to mask the sound.

I got down lower so the person couldn't see me. If I thought my inside were frozen before, it was nothing like the paralysing dread I felt right now.

After a couple of minutes of silence, I lifted my head just enough to see the crackling fire. Boy it looked nice and war- I heard the whistle of the blade as it whizzed past my head. I watched as some of my hair floated to the ground. I fell over with shock, and I just laid there, in the damp ground. Ii felt as though my heart was about to pump out of my chest.

"I know you're there."

A voice came from out of the blue.

"No point in hiding."

The voice was oddly familiar. I strained my brain as I tried to think of who it was.

"If you don't get up, the next dagger will land between your eyes."

I rose unwillingly and faced the man. My eyes widened in shock.

"Dylan?"

I took a weary stepped forward as he stepped into the light of the fire.

"What are you doing here Steven? And why the hell did you have a knife?"

I cleared my throat trying to stop it from cracking. He let out a snort and stepped forward. He tried to kill me! Well, I did follow him out here...

"I think the real question is Dylan, what are you doing here? I could have killed you! I was going to."

He mumbled the last bit, lowering his head.

I folded my arms and raised my eyebrow. He three his hands up in defeat. Technically, I had done what anyone would have done when someone sneaks off into a dangerous storm. I wasn't going to let up that easy.

"This is just a place I go to every now and again so I can escape my worries in the real world and just clear my head."

I bit my lip, nodding.

"Escape your worries?"

"Yeah. It's been tough lately, well tougher. You know with Flicker murdered and all that."

He paused and sat near the fire. He beckoned me over and I gladly wandered over. I put my hands to the fire to try and warm up my fingers.

"They said that when the healer comes-"

He stared at me and continued.

"There will be a an outburst of disaster followed by a attack against elemental dragons. In which we are doomed to fall. Even with the healer on our side. Dylan, Flicker's death is only the start of the fight against us. Against you. I-we, need to be prepared."

He lifted his knife to show that he was talking about the knife throwing and that that was what he was doing here.

"How come the council hasn't said anything?"

He shook his head, twirling the knife between his fingers.

"They don't want anyone to worry or panic. It'll just make it worse, but the people who do know are planning on leaving. My parents included."

I swallowed anxiously and stared at my feet. Was this my fault? What if Steve had to leave?

"Are you going with them?"

"No! Never. My parents are fools, they run away from everything, but they're dragons. They are more than capable of fighting. I'm staying to fight. The real question is.... Are you?"

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AN

Sorry guys I read through this again and realise I hadn't fixed too many mistakes and had just focused on making it more detailed. Thanks for reading and I will continue to edit it. Thank you and Bye!! ❤️😊