Imperial

Chapter 8

"It is good," I agreed, stretching my wings as I sank further into the stone. Somehow, despite being made of practically the same things, the cave was much more comfortable than the Dragon Stables. So much better than the cold walls that the humans had given us. "All those times I dreamed that I was free... I'd never thought that even sleeping would be so much more enjoyable."

Sprawled beside the entrance, Rutilus yawned lazily. "You are in for a shock if you think this is good," his molten gold eyes met mine for a moment, before glazing over as he recalled the past. "My mother and I use to sleep in the same cave every night. During the day, we'd gather wood that we could set alight during the night, and slept in nests lined with the pelts from our prey"

For a moment, I was jealous. To sleep in soft nests, near the warmth of a fire in a cave... such luxury! But it was the concept of prey that was enticing. Not rotten leftovers, but fresh meat. Warm and enriching, oozing with juicy blood. Just imagining the taste was overwhelming; my tastebuds started salivating.

But that had to wait. First, I needed rest.

I focused on the bright red drake once more. "Lets do that, then," I murmured, "After all, we are free now." Lowering my head onto the ground, I closed my eyes, finally letting sleep take me in its grasp.

But unlike the cave, my dreams were far from peaceful. Haunted with the faces of the other dragons back at Fehïrk, and the knowledge that Black Beast may have been killed and the sky-blue dragoness was probably being tortured, my sleep was anything but pleasant.

"Argentum," a soft voice awoke me.

Confused, I blinked open my eyes, to see Rutilus peering down in front of me. Glancing around, I realised that Soriak was nowhere in sight.

"Soriak went to scout the skies, to make sure the humans are not near by," he murmured quietly, before glancing towards the sunlight flooding into the cave. "She thought it was a good idea to make sure that there wern't any nearby when we left, just in case."

Satisfied with his answer, I dipped my head.

"I... We need to go back. Rescue them," I murmured softly, staring guiltily down at the stone ground. Something like pain flickered in his molten gold eyes as I continued. "We can't leave them there."

"We won't, we'll come back for them later," a soft female voice murmured behind me. Tail sweeping back and forth anxiously, Soriak stood by the entrance of the cave. Her azure eyes were glazed as she stared at me. "But right now, what good could the three of us do? Get captured again?" Her words were bitter, although they were flooded with sorrow. As though she didn't want to leave the other dragons there, either.

She had a point, and I recounted Black Beasts final words to get free. There was little we could do right now. But someday, we would rescue them, but for the moment... Narrowing my eyes, I peered back at Rutilus, remembering how he seemed to be leading us. "Where are we going?"

For a few moments, he fidgeted his wings awkwardly. And then, "To the east there is a mountain range, overlooking the ocean. Rich with prey, and the dawns are always exquisite." He sighed longingly, and I could have sworn smoke curled from his nostrils. "My mother and I used to live in one of those mountains."

Of course he had a home to return too. He'd only been captured a few months, so it would be only natural for him to return there. So my answer was simple. "What is the ocean like? Is it really like a giant lake that goes on forever?" The dragons at Fëhirk barely ever spoke of the ocean.