Mountains loomed high around us. Huge, rocky mountains, showered with snow. Even the air was chilly; it had been chilly the whole afternoon and now it was getting colder as the sun sunk lower and lower. I couldn't help but long for warmth, for fire. Already, that strange burning sensation had returned within my throat, and it was hard not to long for cold water to soothe it. Telling myself that if I didn't drink, I'd be able to warm myself up in a few weeks. But the burn...
"Almost there," the dark blue dragon promised, slowing down slightly. Throughout the journey, he had slowly slowed down, ensuring that we kept up with him. Nonetheless, we still flew much faster than we ever had with the humans. "You have a choice."
"What is it?" Rutilus asked hopefully, his molten eyes brightening.
"My home lies on the other side of this mountain range. We can hunt now, or we can get there now. Its warm," smoke coiled from Kronx's nostrils, taunting me, reminding me once more why I should not drink water.
"I..." I wanted warmth. How nice it would be, to escape this chilly air! But I could not simply ignore my empty stomach. Food, I needed food. But I also needed to know what Kronx's home looked like, where it was. And, it was so cold!
"It will be warmed during the day. So if you can wait until the sun rises for food," the dark blue drake informed us, seeming to know what I was thinking. "It will be a much more pleasant temperature."
Glancing towards the red dragon, I knew what I wanted. "Your home, then. We can eat later. Not like we haven't gone without food," I shrugged, before meeting Rutilus's gaze firmly. Very quickly, I added,"If, of course, that is fine by you."
The red drake nodded rapidly, before turning towards Kronx. His molten eyes shining with curiosity. Not once did he glance regretfully towards the ground hoping for prey, but just held the giant dragon's gaze with amazement and excitement.
As though he was expecting that answer, the dark blue dragon twisted around with a mighty beat of his wings. Expertly, he sailed high above the clouds, maneuvering around the peaks of the giant, rocky mountains. Without hesitation, he tucked his huge wings to his flank, before diving down.
Eyes wide, I followed after him, suddenly aware that compared to him, my movements were more... slack. Sloppy, almost, despite my efforts. With a sigh, I veered after the dark blue drake. From a ledge on one of the towering mountains, he watched us with shining silver eyes. Even as I neared him, he spread his wings and glided towards the base of the mountain- right next to the gaping entrance of a large cave.
Pulling my wings towards my flank, I dived down towards the giant blue dragon and the gaping whole beside him. Somehow, the entrance to the cave was bigger than Kronx, and he was... he was huge! My head did not even reach the first joint on his forelegs, even when stretched to its highest.
"Is this..." Rutilus spoke in disbelief, molten gold eyes stretched wide. His voice trailed off, before he tried again. "Its HUGE! Bigger than you. How?"
"If you think that's huge, wait until we are inside," the giant, dark blue dragon chuckled in amusement, gesturing with his tail for us to follow him. Exchanging a glance with Rutilus, I followed after him, only bothering to land once the darkness of the cavern surrounded me completely.
I hastily examined what the darkness did not conceal. Rock walls loomed around us, reminding me of the Dragon Stable. But as continued on, there were a few glimmers of silver and blue gemstones glowing faintly like stars in the night sky.
"This is not even the best part," Kronx snorted ahead of us, upon noticing my awe. Silver eyes turned towards Rutilus and myself, slowly blinking. "The main cavern is up ahead, to the left. Trust me when I say that it is much more... glamorous than this tunnel."
More and more gemstones lined the tunnel, lighting it up. But the main cavern that was supposedly ahead of us remained out of sight no matter how far we walked. "How far is the main cavern?" I finally asked, impatient to see what the giant blue drake had called more beautiful than the tunnel flecked with glowing gemstones.
But Kronx did not answer, instead advancing silently down the tunnel. Each of his strides were long, but he was walking slow enough for us to keep up with him. Head held high, the dark blue drake looked completely calm and confident, perhaps pleased to be back home.
And suddenly, he halted.
"Listen," the dark blue dragon rumbled, tilting his massive head ever so slightly.
"What is it?" Rutilus jumped back in alarm, scanning the tunnel in front of us nervously. When he found nothing, he glanced towards me, his molten gold eyes wide with anxiety. "Is someone waiting to attack us? Are humans-"
But Kronx cut him off, more amused than he was alarmed. "Listen," he stressed, before reassuring the bright red drake. "No intruders. Just listen." Patiently, he waited, his silver eyes watching us intently as we listened.
Now that no one was talking, I realised that I could hear something. Something trickling down the cave somewhere ahead. Listening intently, I turned towards the dark blue dragon in disbelief. "Water! I can hear it... but why is there water in a cave?"
"There are underground rivers and lakes in lots of caves," Kronx shrugged casually, still watching us as he led the way to the main cavern. With each step, the trickling water grew louder and louder, until the giant dragon halted once more. "Here we are."
The cavern was not directly in front of us. I turned towards him in confusion, only to find the dark blue dragon looking at some place beside me. Confused, I whipped my head around and stared.
How had I missed that?
There was a massive hole in the rock wall beside me.
And beyond it...
On the other side of me, Rutilus gasped in awe. Hesitantly, he stumbled towards the main cavern, transfixed. I was dimly aware of Kronx chuckling in amusement, his laughter sounding like deep rumbles of laughter. But I did not care about whether he found our reactions funny at that point of time.
It was so big, so beautiful. Big enough that it could easily fit five dragons that were Kronx's size, and still have room. And it was so beautiful, so much more beautiful than I had ever seen in my life. The dark blue dragon had been right when he said that the tunnels did not compare to this. Dark, yes, it was still pretty dark, and the walls were still made of soil and rock, but...
Millions of tiny blue gemstones glittered across the cavern's walls. All of them were glowing faintly, illuminating the cave with a soft, blue light. In a beautiful blue light. There was a small cliff between us and the cavern's ground, which consisted mostly of bright blue water. What was not covered by the water consisted of smooth, dark grey stone that shone brilliantly in the faint blue light.
"Look closer," the dark blue drake grunted beside me, gesturing back towards the smooth rocks that made up no more than a third of the cavern. And I did. Narrowing my eyes, I examined the rocks only to blink in shock. The rocks were lined with streaks of silver, with the delicacy of a spider web.
"Wow," Rutilus murmured in awe, his molten gold eyes examining every inch of the cavern. "Surely it gets cold in Winter?"
"That is what this is for," Kronx sprang from the tunnel and down into the cavern, easily landing on the smooth, dark rock opposite me. As I watched, he raised his head towards what looked like a whole in the wall. Suddenly, a silvery light filled the cavern, and the giant blue dragon moved his head to reveal a flickering silver flame dancing in the only hole in the whole cavern. Almost instantly, the cave grew warmer and I relaxed. The cave was prettier without the silver flame, but it was so much warmer!
Beside me, Rutilus surged forwards, and flared his gold-flecked wings, gently gliding onto the smooth, dark rock, beside Kronx. Hesitantly, I followed after him, circling around the cavern as I did so.
"Land in the water," Kronx's silver eyes were fixed on me. It was not an order, but more of a suggestion. Nonetheless, I stared at him in shock.
"You said that water would extinguish fire, though!" I protested.
But the dark blue dragon did not answer immediately, instead stepping into the water. Carefully, he lay down into the water, but still keeping his head high above the water. "Only if you drink it," Kronx's intense gaze held mine, watching me.
Hesitantly, I dived low enough that I skimmed across the surface of the water. Warm, it was also warm. Hot, even. Ah yes, resting in the water would be good, so very good. Snapping my jaws shut, I lowered myself into the water. Not wanting to risk slowing down my slowly returning fire, I kept my head above the surface.
"This, this is good," I sighed in contentment, dimly aware of Rutilus's gold eyes brightening with curiosity as he approached the water.
*~*
1587 words
Sorry it took a while! Hope you enjoyed! :)