Imperial

Chapter 29

Well aware that everyone was watching him, Rutilus shot a glance at me - his gold eyes darker than normal. "You can't go back," he warned softly, pain glimmering in his eyes. "You must not go back. The humans will find you there."

Only heavy wingbeats could be heard as each dragon waited for Rutilus to continue. It was an uneasy silence, even Kronx remained silent and still. At the entrance of the tunnel, Kaiya and Kodar exchanged alarmed glances.

"I made the mistake of deciding to go back to where I had lived before being captured. At the time, another dragon was with Argentum and I. We escaped, but she was captured. Perhaps killed." He did not mention that Soriak had sacrificed herself - nor that had she not done so, all of us would have been captured.

My heart lurched painfully as I recalled the way the pale green dragoness had sacrificed herself. Now she was dead, or on the verge of it, tortured by humans. Even if we successfully saved the other dragons at Fehïrk, I doubted that we'd be able to get to her or Black Beast in time.

Grief clawing at my stomach, I held Rutilus's gaze. His own gold eyes were sorrowful, yet they still gleamed brightly. With promise, with determination. Knowing that soon, he'd be able to save the dragons, and have his own revenge.

A frustrated snarl echoed through the tunnel, interrupting my thoughts. Stiffening, I snapped my head towards the cave's entrance, watching as the dark green dragon appeared. Her yellow eyes no longer blazed, but dark instead. Hollow. Dejected. As though she had nothing to do now that she could return to her home.

"What else are we to do?" She asked the darker blue dragon, her voice soft. Weary.

Kronx watched her solemnly, seeming to understand whatever the darker green dragon felt. "That is for you to decide," he flared his wings, before carefully folding his wings back against his flank. "You could leave and find somewhere new, or you could stay here."

Neira glanced towards her two companions, before turning back to Kronx.

The dark blue dragon eyed them carefully, before sighing. Flicking his tail, he gestured for Rutilus and I to follow him. Hesitating, I glanced at the three newcomers. What were they doing? Why was Kronx leaving them alone in there?

"Come on, Argentum," Kronx rumbled, jerking me out of my thoughts. Not wanting to make him ask again, I abruptly chased him through the dark depths of the tunnel.

Sunlight glimmered through the entrance, steadily growing bigger with each wingbeat until it opened up into a clear blue sky. Mountains loomed around us, each massive ridge seemingly filled with snow.

Dark blue scales glittered in the corner of my eye. Swinging my head around, I spotted Kronx gliding on the breeze, gradually picking up speed. Such a behaviour was normal for him, and by now, I knew he wanted us to follow him.

Spreading my wings completely, I hummed in contentment as the wind current started carrying me across the sky. Colder air encircled me, streaming around my wings as I sliced through the sky. A final beat of my wings brought me almost directly behind the bigger blue dragon.

When I had first escaped, I could barely kept up with Kronx at this steady pace. But now... it was easy. Too easy. If Rutilus and I were going to leave tomorrow, I wanted faster. Test our limits; make sure that we could fly fast enough.

"Faster?" I prompted hopefully, but Kronx shook his head.

My heart sank. No going fast today - and probably no fighting, either. There would be no way of knowing if Rutilus and I really were ready to take on the humans, aside from the journey to Fehïrk.

"No. Slower, if anything," the dark blue drake explained, examining the landscape carefully. His voice lowered further, and his eyes darkened, although I could not tell whether it was by guilt, anger, or disapproval."We've had two groups of humans nearby. How many more are there?"

Beside me, Rutilus raised his wings. His red scales rippled as his wings swept down, carrying him a little bit closer to Kronx. Golden eyes shining in excitement, he asked,"So we're searching for humans?"

"Yes," was Kronx's only reply.

That wasn't too bad. If we found the humans, we'd be fighting them. And even though it would be a lot harder at Fehïrk, Rutilus and I could try a few more things before we left - such as making sure we could breathe fire when we needed too. A skill neither of us had completely mastered, despite coming closer to.

Circling around the mountains, I quickly spotted a gold fleck glittering in the sky. There was only one thing that could be. A dragon - with a human most likely on its back. Alarm jolted through me.

I screeched a warning.

Kronx growled, a low rumbling sound in response. No longer just relying the wind to carry him through the air, he beat his wings. Remaining close behind him, I focused on the golden speck, quickly growing closer and closer each time my own wings reverberated through the air.

In front of me, the dark blue dragon abruptly flared his wings, slowing to a halt. Hovering beside him, I could quickly see why. There was no human on the familiar gold dragon's back.

Amethyst eyes wide in terror, Kaiya frantically shrieked, "The humans! They've found your cave!"

*~*

1506 words

Chapter 30 will be out soon :)

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