Imperial

Chapter 51

The constant beating of wings surrounding me sounded like the constant rolling of thunder. So loud, that I could barely hear anything else aside from the wind that was screeching past.

But I did not care.

Even now, after several flights of flying in an actual wing, elation still thrummed through me. Excitement coursed through me, urging me to go faster. But I couldn't. Not while Kronx was in lead, taking us to his safe-haven. Or while Soriak's wing was not completely healed.

There was time to do that later, anyways. Plentiful time, so long as we remained free.

Remain free. Not an easy task - if humans were sweeping across the land, intent on capturing us. If what the pale blue dragoness said was true, we'd always have to be wary. Steer clear away from any human activity.

But at the same time, Raffael had also stated that Erakor was capturing dragons faster than ever. How many dragons had it already captured? How many more would it capture? And why - why capture so many dragons so quickly? Perhaps it was simply because they'd devised a better strategy. But even so, it made no sense. Why would they need to hunt and enslave dragons, now more than before?

Uneasily, I stared into the distance. Soon enough, all dragons would steer clear of the human city. But that would not be enough. The humans would start searching the rest of the continent; anywhere they could, to keep capturing dragons.

Unless we could stop them.

Raffael had said himself that we could save each dragon in Erakor if we so much as wanted too. My breath caught in my throat. Attacking a human city would be dangerous. Dragons would die in the process. But... if we did, the sheer amount of dragons that would have their freedom restored would be enough to do more than shake the humans. Perhaps they'd finally stop trying to enslave us.

Smoke coiled from my jaws, as I sighed. Kronx had not been pleased at all when we had left to save the dragons at Fehïrk. Each time we'd asked him he'd flat-out refused. How was I supposed to convince him to let us attack a human city? 

"Why the rush?" Caelum suddenly asked, her voice breaking the silence. When I craned my neck to glance at the sky blue dragoness beside me, she was not looking at Rutilus, or I. Instead, she was staring behind her longingly, where Kronx's cave had since disappeared completely. "Why not wait until we were all awake?"

"A dragon rider warned us that the humans were searching the continent for us," Rutilus explained, and a jolt ran down my spine. Dragon rider. Raffael was a dragon rider. How had I not thought of it? He could understand us, when no other human could - and he was riding a dragon. Oblivious to my surprise, the red drake continued, "The sooner we leave, the safer we are."

"Pity," she sighed, her dark blue eyes staring into the distance."I quite liked the cave. It was so beautiful! How the crystals glittered against the stone walls... Did you see how the rocks were lines with a faint web of silver? And the water, never have I felt water so warm!"

On the other side of Rutilus, Thorak grumbled quietly, the sound like a distant roll of thunder. 

"The dragon rider also told us to stay away from the east, where a human city is capturing dragons," the red and gold drake added pensively, and for a split second, I held his gaze. Had he come to the same conclusion as I had; that we needed to convince Kronx to allow us to save the dragons there?

"Are we going to rescue them, as you saved us?" a dragon called out, and I quickly realised that it was the bronze drake whose name was Amarok. His green eyes were bright, as though hopeful - yet still challenging us to say that we wouldn't.

If it was down to me, we would be saving the dragons; we would already be on the way towards Erakor. But Kronx would make the decision, and while I was willing to argue and try to convince him, I was not about to defy him yet again. Especially so soon.

"You had better not," Adoria growled behind Rutilus, her yellow eyes flashing dangerously. But she was almost drowned out by the enthusiastic chorus of voices that agreed with the bronze drake.

The red and gold drake did not immediately respond. Instead, he turned towards me, clearly torn. Wanting to say yes, but knowing that we'd be unable too. His gaze shifted towards Kronx, his normally molten gold eyes so dark they were almost bronze.

To say that the ancient dragon was oblivious to the conversation was a lie. Despite remaining silent, and concentrating on the skies in front of us, I knew that he was listening. So when he tilted his head slightly to stare back at us, I was not in the least surprised.

"You want to attack a city?" his sonorous voice echoed across the sky, and the entire wing of dragons hastily fell silent. Deep in my chest, my heartbeat quickened, thrumming against my ribs. What did he have to say? Would he let us? "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

No dragon dared respond. Some even shrank away - including the now abashed bronze drake. 

"Are you not in enough danger as it is? The humans and the Dragon King are hunting us," Kronx continued, flicking his tail towards Rutilus and I. Silently reminding them that we were both imperials, and that saving them had exposed us to the Dragon King.

"Perhaps the humans would stop hunting us if we saved the dragons in the city. Prove to them that they can't capture them, if we can bring down an entire city," the Amarok insisted, his green eyes gleaming defiantly. Several dragons murmured in agreement.

Kronx sighed, turning towards Rutilus and I. "And what do you think we should do?"

"I..." Suddenly, my throat was dry. Forming words was suddenly hard. Voice hoarse, I managed, "we should save the dragons."

Beside me, Rutilus dipped his head. "Its worth a shot. Raffael said that we would be able to. And if we did... Perhaps Amarok is right. Perhaps the humans would finally stop hunting us."

Kronx sighed slowly, hints of smoke coiling from his nostrils. Silence fell, as we waited for his response. But he said nothing. Several minutes passed, during which the intensity of the silence had thickened.

Fidgeting awkwardly, I stared down at the landscapes beneath me. Forest - unsurprisingly. But looking closer, the trees were different. No longer the pine trees I'd become so familiar with, but other trees. Trees with leaves a lighter green, and wider spread branches. Flashes of colour darted between the trees. Birds. Smaller and brighter than they had been in the pine forests - yet still undoubtedly birds.

We hadn't travelled to far, and yet, the forests had already changed. How different would it be at Kronx's safe-haven, and the continent beyond that? I could only wonder. Soon enough, I'd probably find out. Kronx was most likely not going to let us travel to Erakor.

I sighed faintly, noticing that the dark blue drake had turned back towards us again.

"I can't stop you, can I?" he murmured, his eyes glazed. I wondered if he was recalling the time that Rutilus and I had left alongside Raegon, to go back to Fehïrk and save the dragons - our friends.

Surprised, I stared at him in shock. Was he really letting us go to Erakor? Letting us attack the human city, and save the dragons inside it? I would have thought that he'd put up more of a fight - not give in so easily.

"But first," he continued, his voice growing sharper, "you will come with me. Somewhere safe, where each dragon can recover. Regain their weight, and grow stronger and faster. Re-learn you to breathe fire."

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1344 words

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