No longer were the humans chasing us within sight. As soon as the sun slipped beneath the horizon, they had dramatically slowed down; their vision was nowhere near as good as it was during the day. And their own dragons did not appear to be helping them any more than they had to. I was surprised to realise that my feelings of fury that I had held towards the pursuing dragons had started to morph into gratitude.
Taking advantage of that, we flew through the night – but not without consequences. My wings felt like they were holding up the loads of coal I used to haul. Even with them just spread out beside me, gliding on the wind, it was as though they were wrapped in large, metal chains, slowing me down. Nor was I the only one flagging – Soriak was gradually falling behind, and even Rutilus was leading us at a much slower pace.
"I think," I panted between rasps of air, "that we should find a place to rest. Preferably near water; but somewhere sheltered, out of sight." At this point of time, none of us had the strength to fight off the humans if they managed to catch up.
Rutilus turned his head towards me, his gold eyes glimmering with reluctance. But even he knew that all of us would struggle staying in the air for too much longer. Best off finding a place to rest now, while we could. "I think that is one - right down there, to the west," he roared over the wind, as he swept lower to inspect.
Following him, I could see what he meant. Across the forest, was a cliff. Perhaps there were all sorts of caves hidden beneath the rugged edges. Caves in which we could hide in, rest in. Surely the humans would not find us there?
Banking my wings, I pushed myself forward, needing to examine that cliff; needing to land soon. And fast. Now that I had announced that I was tired, it had somehow made it more real.
Not caring that I had overtaken Rutilus, I eagerly lead the way to the cave, ignoring the throbbing burn in my throat, and the growl of hunger in my stomach. Sleep, I needed sleep. Needed to rest; to recover.
Finally, after several moments of shooting towards it, the cliff loomed before me. Noticeably small, but at least several caves were spotted. But only one of them was big enough to fit the three of us.
Folding my wings, I veered down. Barely snapping them open in time, I landed on the ground with a jolt. My talons sank into the soil, and I could see the cave entrance right in front of me, tucked under a large overhanging rock.
Longingly, I stared at the cave. Utterly exhausted, I crouched down on the ground, head hanging low as I rasped for air. Both of my wings sagged beside me; I did not have the strength to fold them up as per normal. Beside me, I was vaguely aware of Rutilus and Soriak landing, and doing the same.
With one last wheeze, I summoned the strength to lumber into the cave. Each step was heavy, my body had passed its limit. This was something I was all too familiar with – just keeping on going, no matter how my body protested or failed. Grinding my teeth, I stepped forwards tentatively.
As I ventured further into the cave, the dirt vanished exposing the hard stone underneath. Darkness surrounded me, but not the uneasy gloominess in the Dragon Stables, but rather, soothing blackness that enveloped me. Darkness that would help keep me safe while I slept.
After a few more steps, the cavern opened up, easily big enough to hold the three of us. Barely glancing at the two dragons that had trailed me inside, I collapsed against the far stone wall. Stone was not comfortable, but after so many years in the Dragon Stables, I was used to it.
With a grunt, Soriak settled down beside me. In the gloom, her pale scales seemed to glow. Her eyes could not betray her exhaustion, but even they gleamed much brighter in the dark. "I could get used to this," she admitted with a yawn, blinking her bright blue eyes slowly.
"It is good," I agreed, stretching my wings as I sank further into the stone. Somehow, despite being made of practically the same things, the cave was much more comfortable than the Dragon Stables. So much better than the cold walls that the humans had given us. "All those times I dreamed that I was free... I'd never thought that even sleeping would be so much more enjoyable."
Sprawled beside the entrance, Rutilus yawned lazily. "You are in for a shock if you think this is good," his molten gold eyes met mine for a moment, before glazing over as he recalled the past. "My mother and I use to sleep in the same cave every night. During the day, we'd gather wood that we could set alight during the night, and slept in nests lined with the pelts from our prey"
For a moment, I was jealous. To sleep in soft nests, near the warmth of a fire in a cave... such luxury! But it was the concept of prey that was enticing. Not rotten leftovers, but fresh meat. Warm and enriching, oozing with juicy blood. Just imagining the taste was overwhelming; my tastebuds started salivating.
But that had to wait. First, I needed rest.
I focused on the bright red drake once more. "Lets do that, then," I murmured, "After all, we are free now." Lowering my head onto the ground, I closed my eyes, finally letting sleep take me in its grasp.
But unlike the cave, my dreams were far from peaceful. Haunted with the faces of the other dragons back at Fehïrk, and the knowledge that Black Beast may have been killed and the sky-blue dragoness was probably being tortured, my sleep was anything but pleasant.
"Argentum," a soft voice awoke me.
Confused, I blinked open my eyes, to see Rutilus peering down in front of me. Glancing around, I realised that Soriak was nowhere in sight.
"Soriak went to scout the skies, to make sure the humans are not near by," he murmured quietly, before glancing towards the sunlight flooding into the cave. "She thought it was a good idea to make sure that there wern't any nearby when we left, just in case."
Satisfied with his answer, I dipped my head.
"I... We need to go back. Rescue them," I murmured softly, staring guiltily down at the stone ground. Something like pain flickered in his molten gold eyes as I continued. "We can't leave them there."
"We won't, we'll come back for them later," a soft female voice murmured behind me. Tail sweeping back and forth anxiously, Soriak stood by the entrance of the cave. Her azure eyes were glazed as she stared at me. "But right now, what good could the three of us do? Get captured again?" Her words were bitter, although they were flooded with sorrow. As though she didn't want to leave the other dragons there, either.
She had a point, and I recounted Black Beasts final words to get free. There was little we could do right now. But someday, we would rescue them, but for the moment... Narrowing my eyes, I peered back at Rutilus, remembering how he seemed to be leading us. "Where are we going?"
For a few moments, he fidgeted his wings awkwardly. And then, "To the east there is a mountain range, overlooking the ocean. Rich with prey, and the dawns are always exquisite." He sighed longingly, and I could have sworn smoke curled from his nostrils. "My mother and I used to live in one of those mountains."
Of course he had a home to return too. He'd only been captured a few months, so it would be only natural for him to return there. So my answer was simple. "What is the ocean like? Is it really like a giant lake that goes on forever?" The dragons at Fëhirk barely ever spoke of the ocean.
Rutilus rose to his feet, beckoning for us to follow him with a sweep of his slender tail. Without saying a word, Soriak followed, her pale green scales shimmering. Reluctantly, I clambered to my feet to follow them out of the cave.
Dark clouds rolled through the sky, hiding the shining sun from sight. It wouldn't be too long before there would be a storm. Perhaps that would slow down the humans from finding us. The only way to escape it would to go above the clouds, and humans couldn't breathe very well high up in the sky.
"It will be easier to show you" the red drake finally answered my question, his red scales glittering under the morning sky. He flared his wings as he crouched down, readying for flight. "We should go now. Get away from here."
But Soriak stopped him. "We can wait a little longer. There are no humans nearby. Plus, my throat burns - I need water," her blue eyes held his, and I realised now that she had mentioned it, that my own throat ached. Burned as though fire was raging through it. Sure, it had been worse before, but... Yes, water, I needed water. Before, I had needed sleep, but now, I needed water.
Instinctively, my gaze raked across the landscape searching for water, but all I could see were trees. And the occasional flash of colour as a bird darted through the tree tops. Flaring my wings, I sighed. "Water. Water first."
Rutilus turned away, before launching into the air. Knowing that it would be easier to find water from high up, I followed after him. Wind rushed past me, and once I was at a decent height, I scanned the forest beneath us. It was only a matter of seconds before my gaze landed on a thin blue line twisting through the trees.
There.
Tucking my wings back towards my flank, I swooped down towards the stream. Birds cried out in alarm, and quickly scattered across the forest as I rushed closer and closer. Just before I reached the trees, I flared my wings and glided over the forest for a few moments, before landing right beside the stream.
Automatically, I was gulping down the water, needing it in my throat more than I needed to taste it. Somewhere near by, Soriak was doing the same - that I knew. After all, it had been her to point out the dull burn.
Finally satisfied, I returned to the sky, only to falter.
No... It couldn't be! Not already! Soriak had said that there were no humans in the area!
In the distance, a dark shape glittered in the sky, growing bigger and bigger before my eyes. It could only be a dragon, potentially even a few. And chances were, those dragons had humans on their back. I could only hope that the humans did not see us, nor the dragons respond to our presence.
"FLY!" I bugled suddenly, already twisting around and fleeing. "Fly NOW!" Like an arrow, I shot through the sky, quickly joined by Rutilus and Soriak. Neither bothered to ask questions or look behind them, instead too intent on getting away.
We flew fast, faster than we had yesterday as we struggled to get away. Not knowing if we had left the dragons behind, I dared risk a glance, and froze. The shape had not gotten smaller, but bigger, much bigger. Big enough for me to see it was only one dragon. But it could still have a human on its back.
"Faster!" I screeched, pumping my wings faster and faster. Wind rushed past me, and perhaps in any other circumstance, we'd glide for a few minutes. But we did not, instead struggling to get rid of the dragon behind us.
Behind me Soriak gasped, and started beating her wings faster. Not daring to look, Rutilus did everything in his power to keep up, thundering through the sky loudly. But there was another set of wing beats, dancing to a slower rhythm growing louder with every thud.
"Pitiful," a deep voice thundered behind us. Almost effortlessly, a giant, dark blue drake glided past. Stunning silver eyes scanned all of us, and with a jolt, I realised that it was the wild dragon we had come across on our journey to Ukurauis.
Not knowing how to respond, I stayed silent. This dragon was big enough that he could easily kill us all if he wanted too. The thought alone was enough to make me shiver. But something in me hardened. I was a dragon, and I was free. I would not bend down to another again.
"Perhaps you would also be pitiful if you had never been free before," I snapped back, amber eyes blazing furiously. Lashing my tail, I watched the dark blue drake's reaction carefully. Yet his face gave away nothing, aside from his eyes darkening.
"Perhaps," the dark blue drake sighed, with another powerful thud of his wings. For a split second longer, he eyed us, before twisting away abruptly. Stunned, I watched him leave, before turning to Rutilus and Soriak. Both were wide eyed.
"I think," Rutilus murmured, glancing after the massive dragon, "that we should get to our destination as fast as we can."
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