Imperial

Chapter 53

Rutilus beat his wings faster, his golden eyes shining brightly - undoubtedly excited. Enthusiastically leaping a little higher into the air, he asked,"Do you know where exactly we'll be going?"

The dark blue dragon paused. Finally, he turned back towards us. "Yes... but there's a chance it might be occupied by another wing."

"What's it like?" Rutilus immediately asked, not waiting a second. Eager to learn more.

But Kronx did not answer. Instead, he merely rumbled in amusement, his silver eyes brighter than they had been in days.

The red and gold drake grunted in annoyance.

Hours slipped by. Still the same, endless blue ocean, with no sign of any land. Clouds stretched along the sky, each of them rather grey. Warning of incoming rain - possibly even a storm.

I narrowed my eyes, glancing towards Kronx worriedly. Whilst I knew I could keep flying for now, the last thing I wanted was to be caught in the air in the middle of a storm. Trying to fly against the wind would be significantly tiring; all of us would be exhausted afterwards. And Soriak's wing... would it be able to hold out after a storm?

"How much longer?" I asked Kronx, trying to keep my anxiety out of my voice. Nonetheless, I dared glance towards the pale green dragoness. Much to my relief, she did not sag in exhaustion - in fact, she barely seemed tired at all.

"Not too much further. Unlike other continents, this one is very close,"  Kronx responded, still staring out in front of him. Scanning the horizon."You should be able to see it soon."

That was good - I had not expected it to be so close! Perhaps we'd get there before the storm hit, if we travelled fast enough. Soon, we'd be up on land, away from the vast ocean.

I dimly recalled the awe and amazement I'd felt when I'd first seen the ocean. Although no where near as exciting as it had been, the ocean's sheer size was respectable. Even forests did not stretch on for this far!

But sure enough, Kronx was right. If I squinted, I could faintly make out the silhouette of looming mountains in the distant. Still a while away - but there. Something to stride towards, at last. Holding both wings out beside me, I relaxed into a glide, allowing my momentum to carry me forwards.

"We're almost there!" Caelum cried out in excitement, and for once, Thorak did not grumble in annoyance. Instead, he perked up, his icy blue eyes glancing across the sky before landing on the distant mountains.

As though the entire wing had been waiting for her to break the silence, they all started murmuring to each other excitedly. Impatient to get to the land; wanting to hunt and rest. I was even dimly aware of a few dragons talking about what the food would be like. 

Suddenly,  a clap of thunder split the air. Ringing in my ears, despite being further away.

Silence settled over the wing, and I glanced across the sky nervously. In the distance, I could make out the blur of rain. Still a while away, but still close for us to tense nervously. Knowing that soon enough, we'd be confronted by an onslaught of downpour.

My stomach churned uneasily. I'd misjudged the storm; it had already started - even if still further away. Beneath me, I could see the ocean starting to churn, swelling as the wind increased in speed and power.

Wind roared past us, and I quickly realised that we weren't being carried towards the distant mountains - but back the opposite way. Grinding my teeth in frustration, I started beating my wings again. Forcing myself forwards, however slowly.

At least, we didn't have too far to go.

It could have been worse - we could have had an entire ocean ahead of us when we were hit by the storm.

For several minutes, we struggled against the harsh winds. Gradually drawing closer to the mountains.

Soriak cried out in frustration.

"Not far now," I assured her, hoping that what I said was true. Because while the mountains were drawing near, it could still be hours before we reached the land.

She did not respond, still thrashing her wings desperately. Focusing on trying to fight the storm. It was impossible to tell whether her wing was hurting her, or if she was just frustrated to be unable to get to the mountains so fast.

Nonetheless, I shared an uneasy glance with Rutilus. 

There was no way either of us would let her give up. Not when we'd come so far, and travelled for so long. Not when she'd already sacrificed herself for us.

Slowly but steadily, we progressed forwards. Flying closer together, using each other's momentum to push us through the storm. Rain was bucketing down, almost pushing us towards the ocean's churning waves.

But now, the mountains were close. So close.

I could see every detail now. From the exact colours of the mountain, to every ledge on them. Some of them had a crater at the top, as though the summit had been sliced off. Briefly, I wondered why they were like that - before quickly dismissing the thought.

I could worry about that another time; now we just had to focus on landing.

"This way," Kronx directed, leading us through the storm and closer to the mountains. Swerving down, he dived down, his momentum building up before he finally landed just in front of the first mountain.

Following him, I roared in triumph as my talons dug into the rocky ground in front of the mountain. We'd made it. Relieved, I watched as each dragon landed. Relaxed further when Soriak landed her wings flared - and managed to remain standing, even if both of her wings drooped down beside her.

We had made it.

"Welcome to Herei Utang," Kronx rumbled, both wings flared above him as he stared down at us. But there was no mistaking the relief that shone through his silver eyes - as though he too had been worried that Soriak might not have made it.

But she did.

And now that she had, we wouldn't have to worry about humans anywhere near as much as we had.

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1679 words

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