My talons sank back into the earth, as I stared up at the dragons. Only one dragon remained with me — the sky blue dragoness that only lingered due to her master's curiosity.
Every other dragon was waiting in the air.
Unsure of what to do, I stared into the sky. After all these years of being unable to fly, was I really earthbound?
No. Not earthbound. There was no way I could be earthbound. Dragons were meant to fly – and even though I had not flown in so many years, I could return to the sky. The other dragons had, and so could I.
"You useless beast!" Master snarled at me with a yank of the reigns. But for once, I could not have cared less. Ignoring him completely, I focused on the sky, where other dragons were waiting for me. Where I belonged.
Determination filled me. I was a dragon, I could fly. Even if there was a human on my back, I'd still be up in the air! Air would rush past me, and perhaps I really would become that shining silver dragon soaring through the sky from my daydreams.
Carefully, I unfurled my wings. Bracing myself, I lowered myself to the ground, softly beating my wings, familiarising myself with the motion. Already, I could feel the wind, trying to lift me up into the air. But I knew better - I would need a lot more force.
Perhaps it had been years since I had last flown, but flying was instinctive.
Raising my wings, I focused intently on the sky. With a powerful thrust of my wings, I launched into the air, beating my wings to gain more and more speed. Wind rushed past, enveloping me as I enthusiastically climbed higher into the air.
Finally! I was flying!
Enthusiastically, I soared through the sky. So fast, that the wind was almost carrying me towards the Black Beast. Nonetheless, I continued to awkwardly pump my wings, admiring the way that certain angles helped pull me higher into the sky.
Yet no matter how excited I was each wing-beat was unsteady, making it even harder to reach the dragons hovering in the air. Gritting my teeth in determination, I tried to steady my wings, so that each beat was like a consistent rhythm until I neared the Black Beast.
Chains tugged at my neck, forcing me to slow.
Not daring to disobey Master, I froze. My wings remained flared by my side, not scooping up into the air to keep me aloft. Allowing us to plummet down through the sky.
I blinked.
Falling. We were falling. That wasn't supposed to happen. We should have been hovering in the sky, with the other dragons – all of which were still beating their wings.
Oh. How could I have forgotten that in order to stay aloft, I had to keep beating my wings.
Master uttered a curse on my back, his heels digging into my flank desperately. "Fly, you stupid beast!" His voice yelled over the wind. Yet he had not needed to shout; instinct kicked in as I thrust my wings through the air.
Dragging them down powerfully, I surged forwards, breaking the fall. Determined, I narrowed my eyes, even as I raised my wings once more. Each wing-beat was slow and powerful as I steadily regained my height.
"Good," Lord Raffael's voice rang out through the sky, and he ran his gaze over each of us. "Now let us go." Black Beast started flying north the moment the young lord stopped speaking.
Still excited to have made it into the air, I enthusiastically followed, careful to remain beating my wings whenever Master tugged on the chains.
Somehow, despite having spent a while earthbound, the other dragons easily sliced through the sky, making flight appear almost effortless. Even with my confidence growing with each powerful thump of my wings, I remained behind them, struggling to keep up.
"Hurry up!" Master hissed his annoyance with yet another jerk of my chains.
A soft growl rumbled in my throat, even as I tried to speed up. Tried to propel my wings through the sky faster and faster. Remembering to flap slowly, even when I was gliding on the wind currents. Slowly, but steadily, I was catching up to the other dragons.
Relaxing ever so slightly, I finally glimpsed the desolate fields I had worked in my whole life. From high up in the sky, no longer were they seemingly endless, but puny and pitiful – especially when compared with the surrounding forests.
To think that I had just lived in that empty patch of land my whole life. To think that I had laboured there, slept there, lived there. Finally, I was leaving. I never wanted to see it again.
Thrilled to be in the sky, I watched the passing landscape curiously. Despite being mostly forest, there was so much to look at - from the fallen trees to the rivers and creeks that glittered under the morning sun.
But there were also the animals. Bright flashes of colour as birds darted from tree to tree, singing merry songs. There were lots – each varying in so many different ways. Too many to even try to remember all at once. Larger shapes pounded through the forest too, sometimes grazing - deer and elk. Numerous times, I spotted large, predatory cats slinking between the trees.
Hours slipped by, and there was still a blanket of forest beneath us. Yet in the distance, the silhouettes of mountains towered over the horizon. Eventually, we'd be flying through magnificent mountains, weaving around the rocky peaks.
Directly in front of me was Black Beast, his scales dark and gloomy. When near him, I couldn't help but feel like a mere hatchling. Despite being old enough to be considered an adult, I felt so small, so insignificant compared to the giant black drake that was storming through the sky – paying little attention to the environment around him. Instead, he seemed to stare straight in front of him intensely.
Did he want to remain in the air forever, or did he just want to get to the human city soon? From what he had told me, it was only a day's flight – which, in my opinion, was much too short. A whole week of flight would be nice.
Abruptly, the Black Beast roared out, flaring his giant wings. His grey eyes roamed the sky, as though he was waiting.
Waiting for what?
"Go, go, go!" the black drake bellowed, his grey eyes wide with despair. But he was not talking to us, he was talking to something else. Someone else. My curiosity stirred. Who? Who was he screaming at?
And then I saw it. A dark shape darting around up ahead. Ignoring the humans, even Master as he hammered me with more threats that I was sure he'd follow up on. Following the Black Beast's lead, I examined the dark shape ahead of us.
"Is that another dragon? A wild dragon?" A quite voice asked beside me, belonging to the bright red drake. His gold eyes were locked on the shape, but he glanced at me as I swung my head over towards him.
"You think it's a wild dragon?" I could not help but keep the awe out of my voice, the hope. Suddenly, I understood the Black Beast's desperation for it to go away; if the humans spotted it, they would try to catch the wild dragon. Ignoring the red dragon, I stared at the dark shape as it sailed lazily towards us.
Groaning out in fear and frustration, the Black Beast howled louder, desperately urging the dragon to go away. There was nothing else it could be. Even from here, I could see the long, leathery wings of a dragon, as well as the majestic shape. It was still far away, and yet from here, it was obviously enormous. Which meant that the wild dragon would have to be around the Black Beast's size.
Something slapped my flank, and I hissed in annoyance. "Enough!" Master commanded to me, his voice now impossible to ignore. "Stop this... Wait, what is that?" There was no doubt that he had seen the dragon now as well, even if his weak, human eyes could not know what it was.
Not daring to answer, and putting the wild dragon's life at risk, I hovered uncertainly. How I longed to get a closer look of the wild dragon, but I could not let the humans see it clearly. If they realised that it was a huge dragon the size of Black Beast or bigger, they would not wait another second before forcing us to help them catch it.
A low growl rumbled in my throat, but my eyes never left the approaching dragon.
Yet the wild dragon was not concerned at all as he drifted closer, so close that the humans gasped as they realised what it was. Slowly, the dragon circled us, drawing closer and closer as he did so.
Impressive dark blue scales glittered under the warm sunlight. Striking silver eyes examined us curiously yet calmly, lingering on the red drake beside me. Awed by his massive size, I twisted around, not daring to glance away from the wild dragon. Never had I ever dreamed that a dragon could be bigger than Black Beast, not to mention tower over him.
The dark blue dragon's eyes examined Black Beast's two riders. "You are fools," a sonorous voice thundered, and I realised that it was the wild dragon. Surely for a dragon his size and age he should know that the humans could not understand him!
No. He did know.
Silver eyes glittered with intelligence. He knew – and he knew that the humans knew that his snarl was a warning.
Confidently, he wheeled around, giving us one last glance, his rage and sympathy evident. Perhaps he would have helped us escape had the risk of him getting captured not been so great.
None of the humans had so much as reached for their weapons, too busy gaping at him in awe.
A real-life wild ancient dragon. I couldn't help but be jealous, and wish I was free. Roam the skies as I pleased, without humans controlling my every move. Had that wild dragon always been free? So big, so wild, so majestic... how lucky he was.
"Now you will be punished," Master's rough voice interrupted the silence, as he glared at me. "All of you beasts will be punished... We could have caught that dragon, dammit! How pleased Lord Carlos would have been, when he saw that in our ranks!" He rambled on furiously, only stopping when Lord Raffael gave him a dark, warning glance.
Confused by the lord's response to Master's words, I stared at him. Despite his demeanor being relaxed and calm, his sharp blue eyes were unmistakably colder than normal. Something Master had said had angered him.
In silence, we continued. Master's grip on my reigns was tighter than before. The ring on my tail fins frequently tightened and loosened as Master used his heels to control me. No longer the slight freedom I had had earlier. Better than normal, yes. But it was a far cry from when we had started the journey.
Wings pulsing through the air, I followed the Black Beast.
Yet no matter how far we travelled, I could not forget that wild drake. I could not fathom how he had confidently circled around us, in control of his every move, and not fear being caught. How lucky he was, to be able to soar the sky, without fear!
Eventually, rocky mountains loomed above us, their jagged peaks a welcome change to the endless forest. Yet impressive or not, the human city, Ukurauis rested somewhere behind one of the mountains.
Just the thought of city full of humans made my spine shudder - the few people I knew were already more than I wanted to encounter in my lifetime.
Twisting around one of the rocky peaks, I held my large wings close to my body. Wind screeched past me, almost deafening as I dropped from the sky abruptly, still following the Black Beast alongside the other three dragons.
Behind me, there was a sharp intake of breath. Not in awe, but fear. Whimpering nervously, the pale green dragoness stared at the surrounding mountains, not daring to even try to resist the human on her back.
"We're almost there," she murmured, glancing around at the mountains. I did not need to feel her warm breath on my tail to know that she was trying to peer in front of me, where the city of Ukurauis lay hidden amid the mountains and snow.
"Are you sure?" This time, it was the red drake whom spoke softly. Gold eyes were dark with fear as his gaze raked through the mountains, searching for the city. Despite never having been to the human city, he had heard plenty of horrifying tales of them.
"Ukurauis is on the other side of the mountain," Black Beast rumbled with a flick of his long, black tail. Only moments later we were curving around the base of one final mountain. On the other side, the human city awaited our arrival.
We could only dread what would happen during our stay.
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2195 words
So the past two chapters will still be edited quite a bit, but in terms of plot, everything should remain the same.
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