Wings of fire: The Scavengers of Pyrrhia

Chapter 10

"But dad! You can't!" Nixi exploded. "You'll die!"

"And if you do it, you will too." He said calmly. "I'm old. My time is over. I want to give you two a chance at life." His eyes became misty and grief-stricken.

"But I can't just leave you!" Nixibelle choked out. "I came to save you!"

"You have, my daughter." He gave a sad smile. "I can die knowing I saw my daughter one last time. That's enough saving this old man needs." He opened his arms and embraced his sobbing daughter tightly.

Terrin noticed a shadow suddenly looming and his eyes flicked up to see a dragon's talon's rise above the pair, ready to strike. "Look out!" He shouted.

Nixi's father glanced up and gasped. Immediately, he pushed her towards Terrin, and dove away in the opposite direction. The dragon's massive arm slammed only the table. Terrin managed to catch Nixi and helped her regain her balance.

"DAD!" Nixi shrieked.

"Go!" The older man shouted. "Get out now! That is your Father's wish!"

Nixi backed up and gave one last look before turning and running. Terrin began to turn to follow her when he heard Nixibelle's father call to him. "Terrin!"

He gave him a gentle smile, eyes soft. "Take care of my daughter for me." the man said.

Terrin nodded. "I will, sir."

His kind gaze lingered only one more split second before they became hard and intimidating. "Now go!" He shouted again, turning to face the dragons around them. "You want something to Catch!?" He bellowed up to the dragons. "Try and catch me first!"

That was the last thing Terrin watched him do; he turned back to Nixi's direction and followed her to the corner of the table.

She had already found footing on the table's leg and had started her way down the thirty feet. Terrin anxiously waited for her to reach the bottom. A bit later both had climbed down and were under the table.

Terrin scanned the mesa, trying to look past the feet of dragons walking around. "We need to climb down the cliff, I think..." He turned to Nixi. "What do you-" He stopped, noticing her dazed look. "A-are you okay?" He asked softly. She didn't look at him.

"D-dad...he's gone..." She said softly, staring straight in front of her into space. "But he can't be gone...no, he isn't! He isn't gone!"

Terrin felt a pang of grief for her. She had only been reunited with her father not only an hour ago. Would I have the strength to go on if dad did the same?  He asked himself. "Nixi, your father told you to go. the best thing to do now is to honor his wish. We can mourn once we are safe."

Her eyes met his, clouded with confusion as if she forgot where she was. Then they returned to recognition and she nodded firmly. "You're right." The girl said. "We need to get out. I can't let his loss get in the way."

Terrin breathed a sigh of relief. She had returned to her senses and now they could focus on getting to safety. Terrin looked around and felt his heart drop. "It isn't going to be easy." He admitted. "Any dragon sees us and we're toast."

They were silent a moment, though with all of the dragons conversing just above and around them it was no quieter.

It was Terrin who spoke first. "I hate how it is the only option I see, but what if we scaled down the cliff?" He pointed to the edge of the clearing. "There's bound to be some footholds down." He glanced back at her. "Though its still a long way down. We're quite high up."

Nixi closed her eyes for a moment as if pondering on the idea. "I know this may sound like a bad idea, but what if we went up?" Terrin tilted his head as she went on. "Before me and my group was captured by the dragons, we noticed a smoother slope on the other side of the mountain. It would be far less steep, and we just need to probably climb higher so we could locate where it is."

"That actually sounds brilliant!" Terrin said brightly. Nixi perked up at that. "We'll do your plan. sounds better than climbing down to me." He noticed despite his encouragement at the idea, Nixi still looked nervous and afraid.

"Don't be scared, Nixi." Terrin said gently. "We're gonna be okay. We just need to be brave enough to move on despite what happens." The boy wasn't sure if even he could trust the words he spoke, but he had to be strong for her.

Nixi nodded gently. "Okay. I can do this."

Terrin took a step back. "When I say go, I want you to run as fast as you can to the edge of the cliff. Find some footing down. We'll try to meet up somewhere at the bottom." It sounded impossible, Terrin knew that. Either way, there was no turning back.

"Just tell me when." Nixi responded.

Terrin closed his eyes, Tensing up to sprint. His heart was pounding rapidly, stomach twisted with fearful excitement.

This is for you, dad. He whispered in his heart as if it were a prayer.

"GO!"

Immediately, his legs started to pump in response. Terrin ran with all the strength and speed he could towards the sea of dragon legs blocking their only way out. Was Nixi behind him? Terrin wanted to make sure she was okay, but he knew he had to keep running.

It all became real to him the moment a huge, taloned foot slammed down an the ground right behind him, milliseconds after he was in its way.

What the heck are we doing? This is insane!! His mind shrieked. Terrin tried to ignore it, dodging and weaving through the legs as much as he could.

Five times in a row he had to dive out of the way of a foot to prevent getting flattened. Each time his life flashed in his eyes before coming to reason and forcing himself to move.

He didn't know how long it took to cross the sea of talons; Terrin soon just found himself scrambling to the cliff. Then he began to work his way up one foothold at a time, to the top of the mountain.