Terraz growled furiously, his fangs drawn in a silent snarl. Fear flashed across his now dark green eyes. "They were right."
I stared after him, confused. What did he mean? Right about what? Narrowing my eyes, I glanced in the direction he'd been staring. Glittering faintly in the distance was not one dragon, but an entire wing. Were they who he was referring to?
No. I doubted that we would have been talking to humans. And all of the dragons had a human on their back.
I stiffened, eyeing them in unease. So many dragons, with humans on their back. There's nothing wrong with that, I tried to reassure myself. They were probably just dragon riders passing through the area. Especially since the human queen had promised that dragons were rapidly being released across the continent.
And yet, I could not bring myself to relax. It was all to easy to remember the same amount of dragons all controlled by humans hunting Rutilus and I. Not to mention how Terraz was glaring venomously at the dragons ahead of us. As though he knew something we didn't.
"What is it?" I murmured quietly, watching him nervously.
But he did not respond, his attention remaining on the dragon riders ahead of us.
Not at all comforted by the silence, I clenched my talons even as I glanced between the two drakes beside me, and the rapidly approaching humans.
Suddenly, Rutilus flinched beside me, letting out a strangled cry. For a split second, the red and gold drake stared at me. Emotions flashed across his eyes faster than ever. Fury. Fear. Anguish. With a shuddering breath, he glared at the dragon riders.
Curious, I watched him, staring ahead at them. What had upset him so much?
"Their tails, Argentum," Rutilus whispered mournfully, even as I spotted the metal rings clasped around each dragons' tail fin. A shudder ran down my spine. How long had it been since we'd been wearing one? Months, at least. Possibly a year - or move. But either way, it was impossible to forget the cold metal that seemed to bite into our scales and fins. The rings that the humans used to control us.
Which meant that those dragons were being controlled. They weren't free. All of them were still being forced to be used for the humans.
No, I stared at the dragons up ahead in anguish. The queen - she had promised that all of the dragons had been freed, or soon would be. Had she... had she lied? Had freeing the dragons at Erakor just been a ruse to make us trust her?
If the human queen had lied...
Suddenly, my stomach clenched. And, for a split second, my wings faltered.
Rutilus and I had followed the imperials here, and in the process, and in the process, we'd left the rest of our wing behind. All of them. Did they know? Surely they'd move away from the city if they did?
But they wouldn't. Kronx had insisted that they would be there when we returned. Not to mention that the dark blue drake was unable to fly - and it was unlikely that the entire wing would leave without him.
"We need to go back," I blurted to Terraz, but the bronze and green drake did not even acknowledge my words. Instead, he remained staring at the approaching humans, as though he was afraid to look away.
"Argentum, Terraz," Rutilus snarled, circling around us desperately. "Flee. Fly away, as fast as you can!"
"No," the bronze and green drake breathed, still staring at the humans. No. Not just staring - glaring, with his body tense and teeth bared. Even his talons flexed - ready to attack each of the dragons. "Too late. They've seen us."
Had they really? From how he was behaving, he seemed to rather want to fight, instead of escape.
Rutilus shook his head rapidly, the movement almost frantic. Terror blazed in his eyes, and he cried out in frustration.
Nervous, I glanced between the two drakes, before at the humans behind us. They were so close. So close! I could easily make out the features of each of the dragons - and human. From the sand coloured dragoness, to the dark green drake. The men on each of the dragons, all of them somewhat fatigued.
No. All of them except one further at the back - a human that was all to familiar.
Master.
My eyes narrowed, and I glared at the human. Of course he was among them, riding that dark green drake whom seemed to willingly do everything the humans commanded. It was as though he'd dedicated his life to re-catching me.
Just the mere thought of that infuriated me.
I will never be slave again, I promised silently, glaring at the man whom had once been my master.
Beside me, Rutilus braced himself, smoke coiling from his open jaws. A warning aimed to the humans; he was more than ready to burn them to ash. Fight them.
But there was another way. Not as glorifying as freeing the dragons at what would most likely lead to our capture, but...
"Follow me. Now!" I commanded, even as a mighty beat of my mottled silver and black wings had me swerving in the opposite direction.
Behind me, Terraz yelped, seemingly started. Hopefully he followed me. There was no time for me to glance behind me and make sure they did. We just had to get away now, while there was still time to escape the humans.
Perhaps the bronze and green drake was right; perhaps the humans had seen us. But even if they had, it was unlikely that they'd be able to keep up. All of the dragons were fatigued, needing a lot of food, and rest. And, chances were, most of them would be struggling against the humans, not wanting to help capture other dragons.
My wings pounded through the air, my momentum carrying me forwards. I could almost hold my wings out either side of me and still maintain my speed - but I wanted to go faster. Test our limits, almost.
Anything to get away from the humans.
Suddenly, Terraz gasped, seeming to realise what I was doing. Confirmation that he had indeed, followed. I relaxed ever so slightly, but my relief was short-lived.
"We're fleeing," the bronze and green drake hissed, spitting both words in distaste. "My father would never flee - and neither will I."
Confused, I whipped my gaze towards him. Before, he'd seemed ashamed of being the son of the former Dragon King, but now, he was the exact opposite.
Already, he was backing away, his green eyes bright with a steely resolve.
"Terraz, no!" I cried, hoping that he'd see reason. Surely he'd realise that there was no chance that he could win a fight against the mass of humans and dragons behind us.
But it was of no use. With a flash of his fangs, he turned tail, rapidly darting towards the humans.
"We need to keep going," Rutilus grunted beside me, his gold eyes dark. "He has chosen his fate. We have to continue, with or without him."
"No," I breathed, staring after the bronze and green drake in shock. Wishing that he'd turn back, and escape with us.
It was so similar to the time that Soriak had sacrificed herself so that we could remain free. So similar! One single dragon, turning to face a wing of dragons with humans upon their backs. Not even the slightest chance of succeeding.
But Terraz wasn't sacrificing himself.
Suddenly, more dragons burst through the sky, all four of them shooting towards Terraz. Anxious, I held my breath. I could only hope that none of them carried humans.
They didn't.
All of them were imperials. I recognised all of them; Querra, Amaroth and the two imperials we'd been introduced to earlier.
Were they joining him in battle? If they did, would they stand even the slightest of chances against the humans? Was it worth Rutilus and I going back to help? Killing my former Master myself was so tempting!
"Come on, Argentum!" Rutilus cried out, anxious to be on our way, and escape the humans.
But I couldn't. Even if they'd forced us to temporarily leave my wing, I couldn't leave them to fend for themselves against the humans! If they were going to fight, the maybe we should too.
"No. Just wait..." my voice trailed off even as the four imperials caught up to Terraz. They were still far away from the humans - but also far from us.
Holding my breath, I watched as they hovered in the air, undoubtedly debating whether to, or not to fight against the humans.
Seconds passed. The humans drew in closer. If they kept waiting around for long, they would have no choice but to fight. Time seemed to slow down. There was no sign of them so much as moving in a certain direction.
Still, the humans approached, forcing the dragons they rode closer.
My heart hammered against my chest faster and faster. Anxiously, I watched the five imperials. Watched as they all to slowly turned away from the humans, and raced towards us.
They had chosen to flee. And so, it seemed, had Terraz.
*~*
1548 words
A little bit late, sorry! But a longer chapter this time! :)
Next chapter should be out sometime next week (maybe earlier if we are lucky).
Please do drop a vote or comment if you enjoyed; they are all greatly appreciated!