Apex [Imperial: Book 2]

Chapter 6

Narrowing my eyes, I stared up at both dragons. Both were large imperials, seemingly none different to Querra or even Amaroth. And yet, I was certain I had not seen either before - I could not remember seeing the dark purple and yellow drake or the ginger and white dragoness were unfamiliar.

They hadn't fought at Erakor.

Which, I supposed, was good. Better a dragon that you didn't know, then one that you recognised from a fight - one that should be an enemy. And yet, I remained equally curious. Where had these dragons been, whilst the rest of their wing was fighting us at Erakor? What they been doing? After all, I doubted that Argon would leave behind two or more imperials for no reason at all.

With renewed interest, I stared at them, my gaze drifting between them steadily. Probing them silently, as though merely staring at them would answer my questions and ease my curiosity.

"We should rest," Amaroth declared, glancing towards the darkening sky. "At dawn, we can hunt." 

Not seeming to care that he was not far away from the water's edge, or exposed beneath the trees, he settled down on the ground, draping his wings over his blue and white body.

Confused, I stared at him. Why was he settling down there? Wasn't there a cave to sleep in? It was simply too dangerous being exposed when sleeping. The humans that might capture you, or even the threat that dragons in a nearby area posed.

Slightly worried, I voiced my thoughts to him, but the blue and white drake only scoffed.

"A cave? You want to sleep in a cave!" Amaroth slowly shook his head, although his turquoise eyes glittered with amusement. Seemingly surprised that I would ask such a thing."Why?"

Exchanging an uneasy glance with Rutilus, I hastily answered."It's safer. We won't be seen -"

"Seen by what?" He challenged, cutting me off with a thunderous voice. Blinking slowly, he raised his neck to look down on us, almost daring me to answer his question. But before I could say so much as a word, he grunted, "we are dragons, Argentum. Imperials. We are the apex predators on the earth. Nothing is stronger than us. We do not need to sleep in caves."

And yet, he'd made sure that we slept in caves on the way here - which meant that he was aware of the danger of not sleeping in one. Perhaps he just knew that there were no dragons nearby - or humans. Despite having released dragons all across the continent, I couldn't bring myself to fully trust the humans.

But nonetheless, I could not bring myself to relax.

Even Rutilus avoided Amaroth's gaze, his talons sinking into the ground as though he was just as uncomfortable as I was when thinking about sleeping without sturdy cave walls to hide us from sight.

"You're saying we should never sleep in caves ever again?" disbelief coloured Rutilus's voice when he turned to stare at the blue and white drake once more.

Amaroth hesitated. Exchanging a swift glance towards Querra, he shook his head. "While you are here, you do not need to sleep in a cave. But elsewhere..." His voice trailed off, turquoise eyes dark.

Despite his words, he was only willing to not sleep in a cave here. But why insist that we were the apex predators, safe from everything - if he didn't believe that completely himself?

"Why just here?" I demanded, staring at the blue and white drake.

But I might as well have not said anything; his eyes fluttered shut, nor did he acknowledge what I'd said. Even Querra, whom had settled down near him, barely glanced at me, not willing to answer the question.

Did they know something we didn't? Was there a greater threat that they didn't want us to know about? But what - and why?

Confused, I glanced towards Rutilus - but the red and gold drake was staring at Terraz instead. The bronze and green dragon was hovering in the air, his wing beats muffled thumps as he gazed down at us.

"If you want a cave, come this way," he declared, his green eyes glittering in a way that suggested leading us to a cave was not the only thing in mind. "There's a good one quite close to here, actually."

"Terraz..." A quiet but dangerously thin voice sliced through the air. With a jolt, I jerked my head towards Querra - whose yellow eyes weree fixed firmly on the bronze imperial. It was a warning aimed more to him than us; that much was obvious. But I found myself flinching away from the harsh tone. 

A tone that I'd heard many times before - but only from humans. The same one that they'd use seconds before a punishment, never failing to send shudders down my spine. 

Never a dragon.

Yet even more astonishingly, Terraz had merely flicked his tail, not at all fazed. "What? I'm not taking them to that cave."

What cave? Was there a cave nearby that they didn't want us to see? Curiosity shot through my veins, alongside a surge of suspicion. For a few dragons that had desperately wanted us to come here, they seemed to hide a lot of things. 

Querra grunted, the sound jerking me out of my thoughts. Her gaze darted from Rutilus and I nervously, but I could have sworn that it flicked with rage as she turned her attention back towards the bronze and green drake. 

For a few long seconds, they glared at each other.

My breath caught in my throat. It would be all to easy for Querra to force the younger drake to the ground - her sheer size alone was enough to guarantee that. But much to my relief, she sighed, resting her head on her talons.

Seemingly all the approval that Terraz needed.

"Follow me," he urged Rutilus and I, not giving us time to so much as utter a word before he whipped around and raced back through the sky. 

All to eagerly, Rutilus shot after him, his red and gold scales a blur of motion as he swept into the sky. Warily, I glanced back towards Amaroth and Querra. Neither had moved - not seeming to care that both drakes had gone.

Both drakes circled above me. Knowing better than to keep them waiting any longer, I launched into the sky. Wind swept past me, brushing against my scales as I rapidly gained altitude. 

"Over here!" Terraz called, eagerly looping across the sky. Far too excited to just be taking us to a cave.

Curiously, I glanced towards him. "Where are we really going?"

Rutilus glided beside me, his own eyes gleaming with excitement. How did he know where we were going? I hadn't heard him talking to the bronze and green drake!

"You haven't guessed?"  Terraz's green eyes brightened with devilish amusement, and he quickened his pace ever so slightly. Peering back towards me, he added, "Don't worry, we are going to a cave. But first..."

His voice trailed off as he stared at something far in front of him. Something that wiped away his excitement within a matter of moments.

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1197 words

Ah, I'm so sorry - its been more than a week since I updated! The past week has been a bit hectic readying for school again. Now that it has started, we should be back to updates at least once or twice a week. :)

Please do drop a vote if you enjoyed! All comments are greatly appreciated, too.

There might be a more spelling errors than normal in the second half of the chapter - I was writing on my iPad instead of my computer. Don't worry, I will go over it and fix them up sometime tomorrow.