The Last of the Dragons-Set 1

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      The mountains grew closer as we closed the gap, between us, and them. Their unrivalled size never failed to throw me into a sense of aw, looking up to their seemingly untouchable peaks, only reachable by a dragon. I scanned the edge of the mountains, looking for signs of other people, and to my relief, I spotted hundreds of people grouped together scrambling in between the massive rocks that otherwise dominated my view. As we flew over head and into the vast field of mountains, the group making their way in looked up at us and waved to get our attention. Thinking nothing of it, I gave a friendly wave back as we continued on. As we flew between the mountains, I spotted a clearing up ahead, encircled by dozens of mountains that were guarding the otherwise wide open space. 

"There! Take us there!" I commanded.

We dropped down, heading towards the clearing. I glanced down at the ground below to see untold numbers of people living between the mountains, on their sides, in their trees, in their caves, and in their valleys. But, as we neared the clearing, it became clear that the majority of those who survived the trip had made for the clearing, opting for comfort and numbers as opposed to a hidden place to live. We breached the wall of mountains, Doron's massive body casting a shadow over the nearest section of the clearing as the many thousands of people looked up and cheered deafeningly as we approached. Somehow, there was still room for the dragons to set down in the clearings centre, with the people residing on the edges of the clearing, leaving the middle vacant up until that point. As Doron set down with a mighty thud, I looked over the wide open space that stretched out for miles and miles in all directions.

"Is this all that made it?" I asked myself.

I hurriedly slide down Doron's wing and reunited with the others, as the crowd of people quickly came nearer, calling out my name. I tried to make out what they were saying, but struggled to understand any one persons word due to the endless sea of loud voices. I managed to make out one woman saying something about her husband and children, but I could decipher it no further.

"Well, looks like this is going to be home for a while." Amy said as she and Jules walked up to me.

"Yeah, looks like that is so. Hopefully the mountains can provide some kind of shield, at least giving us enough time to run if they find us. Now we just have two figure out that to do for food and water for all these people." I said.

"There's no way we can provide for everyone Jessica. Sometimes you need to put yourself ahead of others in order to ensure your own survival." Tahli said as she and the others joined us.

"Are we safe here?" Surrie asked in a shy voice as she peeked out from behind Jules.

I smiled and crouched down before responding.

"Yes. Of course we are. With these dragons watching over us, no-one will hurt us. I promise." I said in a confident yet calm voice.

"Ha. Yeah. Tell that to all the guys who died in the beach attack." Tahli said under her breath.

I scoffed at her sly response before turning back to Surrie.

"Like I said. We will be fine. I promise." I said.

I stood up and turned towards Doron. He looked down at me and purred with his eyes locked on mine. There seemed to be despair in his glowing eyes as he kept his gaze firmly locked with mine though I sensed that it wasn't to do directly with anything that had previously happened. I felt my heart start to sink as I tried to read the dragons mind, though for the first time, I could not figure out what he was thinking.

"Jess?" Amy exclaimed.

"I don't know." I replied over my shoulder.

Doron lowered his head to me and held it there for a moment as I patted him on the snout, before he raised his head high up once again, and began communicating with the others through a fascinating series of sounds. Then, Temano exclaimed in displeasure and looked down at Jules before turning to Doron, then spreading her wings and taking off and quickly ascending away, followed closely by Ionia and Belara. 

"What's happening??" Jules asked frantically.

Before I could respond, Veracon and Ragon moaned in depression as the hovered over Tahli and Amy before they too turned away and took off. Doron turned himself to join them, before he noticed that Magar hadn't followed the others. She stood by Bailey in defiance, before Doron snapped his jaws at her and forced her away from Bailey.

"MAGAR!!" Bailey screamed in despair.

Magar chirped and called out to her, before finally giving in to Doron's command, and took off after the others. Doron turned and looked down at me once again as the last of the dragons vanished into the clouds. He looked at me with deep sadness in his eyes, before he too turned and spread his massive wings, before lifting into the air and taking off after the others, with the sound of his powerful wings vanishing shortly there after.

There was a heavy silence that settled over us all for a moment, before a voice broke the silence.

"Jess...?" Bailey said with tears streaming down her face.

I paused before answering.

"W-We can't keep them safe anymore... And they know they can't keep us safe. He did what he thought was best for his kind. They-They're gone. And this time I don't think they're coming back." I said.

"What makes you think that?" Tahli snapped in frustration.

"I could see it in his eyes. He didn't want to leave, but after what has already happened, he isn't willing to loose anymore of his own family. I-I'm sorry, but we're all on our own now." I said.

I turned and looked off in the direction in which the dragons had disappeared, wondering what we would do from that point on. I always new the dragons had emotions, but I swear, on the life of everyone that I ever cared about and loved, that a single tear dripped down the scale covered giants face.