I had never felt as refreshed as I did after a night's rest following my escape. I looked at the other two dragons, keeping my gaze away from the skeletons that decorated the valley. Azrael was up, but didn't look like he planned on moving. Meanwhile, Thirak was huddled away in a slowly breathing pile. I stretched my wings as I got up, starting to feel antsy and needing to move. The moment I moved, however, caused Thirak to wake up, and within seconds the other dragon was on his feet and looking around with surprisingly clear eyes.
Seeing that I was up Thirak asked, "What are we going to do now? What allies do you still have?"
"I'm not sure that the elves can help as I'm sure they have their own problems. The wolf pack is an ally, but they won't fight because this isn't their battle," I responded slowly as I thought.
"What's the use of an ally that won't fight?" Thirak snapped aggressively. "Besides, just because they were on your side before, doesn't mean they still are!"
"They will be," I snarled back.
"You don't know that – you have no evidence about that fact!" Thirak said, a growl in his voice. I bared my teeth in response. Thirak didn't know what I had gone through. He didn't know anything about me! He might be on my side, but that doesn't mean I'll trust him. He had given me no reasons to trust him.
"We have nowhere else to go," Azrael growled, effectively stopping the argument. "A possibility is better than nothing." I shot a look at Thirak who looked like he was going to argue before nodding in agreement. "Right then, Seeryath you know where we're going?"
"Yes. We're actually quite lucky – the wolf pack's territory is nearby. They live in the forest to the west," I said.
"That's a lot of ground to cover," Azrael said with a frown.
"Once they smell our scent, they'll find us," I explained. "It won't be too hard to find them. Shall we leave now?"
I watched as Thirak shifted, form changing from dragon to human easily; dark skin taking the place of golden scales, but his eyes remained the same haunting colour as always. "Let's go," he said softly, and I lowered myself to allow him onto my back. It felt strange, awkward, but I ignored how uncomfortable it was and followed Azrael as he took flight, leading us through a tunnel to escape the hidden valley.
I hoped that the wolves would be able to help us.
***
The wolves found us surprisingly quickly. Fenris was the one to greet us, ears pricked forward. I reached out with my mind, dropping my head so I could meet the wolf's eyes. Greetings, I murmured to the wolf.
Greetings, Embers-On-Wind, Fenris replied. Why are you here?
We escaped, I said, our chains, and found another dragon. We are searching for allies, for a way to fight back. We have little strength by ourselves. We need something greater.
Fenris gazed at me, intelligent due to magic, and perhaps he saw something I didn't, for he tilted his head before dipping it in a nod. We will help you, he decided. We cannot do much nor can you right now, but we lend our paw to you in your fight. We will come when you need it. However, this will fulfil our debt and place you in ours.
I understand. Anything you can do to help us – we will be grateful no matter what comes.
There is a place, Fenris said slowly, and something helped us with who we are now, what we are now. Perhaps they can help you. It will... surprise you, but they may aid you.
Where do we go? I asked.
Follow my pack-mate, Fenris decided before howling loudly. Once he had finished calling his pack-mate, he said, I cannot leave my pack alone. But you can trust Shadow-Of-Moon to lead you to safety.
Thank you, I responded as a wolf came out of the bushes.
May your hunt be easy and your travelling swift, Fenris said, after talking to the wolf.
May your hunt be good and prey plentiful, I responded. I turned to Azrael and Thirak and quickly explained what had transpired. Thirak seemed hesitant and Azrael didn't appear to trust the wolves, but neither disagreed with my plan to follow Shadow-Of-Moon.
***
Go down the cliffs and swim into the river, Shadow-Of-Moon explained. Keep following the river and up the underground waterfall and keep going until you find them.
Who are they? I asked curiously.
You, Shadow-Of-Moon answered, which was rather unhelpful. They took us down there, but we cannot go back as we are. Only you are able to go down. Now go!
Good hunting, I said, raising my wings in preparation to fly down the cliff, which was smooth vertical rock. It was unnatural and clearly made by something – magic or by some being's own paw; I didn't know. Shadow-Of-Moon had taken off, heading back towards the forest and away from the mountains. Whatever the wolves thought would help us probably had wings. I wondered what creature it would be.
"She explained the way we need to go," I told the other two. "We need to keep following the river, up the underground waterfall. There may be times where we need to swim."
"Lead on then," Azrael said. Thirak tapped my scales in agreement. I leapt off the clifftop, diving downwards, wind streaming past my face, and pulled up before the river. It was easy to follow the path river and I could easily fly above the wide river; Azrael following.
We flew in silence, wingbeats loud above the sound of the river until the river went into a cave. I hovered in front of the cave opening, knowing very well that I would have to swim in the river to enter. I grimaced. It would be freezing.
I dropped down into the water, letting it splash over my head. Thirak cursed under his breath, but didn't say anything else.
The water wasn't that deep and I was able to stand. I looked over my shoulder to check on Azrael, who would have the hardest time swimming with his two wings and two legs. However, the black dragon had simply taken to floating, wings extended slightly to keep him buoyant. I started swimming as well, moving faster than if I had simply walked. As we fought against the current that was growing stronger, I noticed we were heading upwards. Soon enough, it became pitch black and I had to trust in senses other than my sight and hope that everything would be fine.
The rushing, roaring sound of a waterfall filled my ears and we swam into a larger cave. Light fell through a hole accompanied by the waterfall. The waterfall was small, but the hole it poured down was massive, easily big enough for numerous dragons to fly through at once.
I glanced at Azrael, wondering if he had remembered the instructions we had been given about flying up a waterfall. The black dragon in question had ducked underwater, and seconds later was leaping into the air, wings pounding as he tried to escape the pull of gravity and the water. He managed it though and was quickly circling his way up towards the ceiling.
I crouched in the water, feeling it finally rise so it was almost at my head, and then bounded upwards, wings furiously beating as I strained to leave the river behind. And then I was free, circling below Azrael, and following him into sunlight.
Twisting in the air, I barely withheld a laugh bubbling in my throat. It felt great to be out of the black enclosed space that reminded me of terrible times. In the air, I almost froze, air freezing in my lungs and shock cascading through my body. Azrael was flying almost next to me and looked just as astonished as I was. All around us – everywhere we looked – were dragons. Alive! There was an entire colony of wild dragons alive, breathing, existing.
But- But they all looked prepared to attack.
"We're enemies of Alvah! We seek refuge and safety!" I shouted, panic filling my head and hoping that this wouldn't end badly; hoping that these dragons were on our side. Beside me, Azrael recoiled, and then loathing filled my head before everything abruptly cut off and my head was my own again.
A dragon came forward – one of the larger ones, "We haven't seen someone else with telepathy power for some time. Follow me. The other kinboks and I will meet with you and discuss what you need and what you want. Any questions you have can wait until then." I nodded, a choked motion, and followed the older dragon, heart thumping quickly in my chest. I was unable to believe everything; unable to perceive the life that surrounded me; unable to understand how it was still here.
All three of us were led onto a flat ledge that had small trees, bent over, crowded around the edge of the cliff; there was an opening in the cliff face that led to a cave, but we didn't go in. The dragon leading us was joined by five others, all bigger and older than me. They all looked different as well.
They all seemed to be watching us. One frowned, "Did you bring a human into our safe haven?" She asked.
"How are you all here?" Azrael asked seconds later.
"Are you enemies of Alvah?" I asked. I paused, re-evaluated the situation, and twisted my neck so I was looking at Thirak, who narrowed his eyes at me but slipped down my side. Stepping away, before shifting into his dragon form, scars and all.
"One question at a time young ones," the blue dragon who led us here said. "Firstly, all six of us are the kinboks of our respective dragoon."
I flicked my tail in confusion. "What do you mean by kinboks and dragoons?"
One of the dragons snarled, "How do you not know your history? Your culture? This is our way of living! And yet, you know so little." She stopped, took a breath, and then continued, "It's not your fault, of course. Still, it is sad nonetheless. Listen closely, young ones, and I'll explain. The first thing you need to know is that dragons have family – your parents and all their young ones. These families are known as clans. Dragoons are made up of your clan and your extended family. Your extended family is your parents' clans' clans. Most dragoons, or at least the ones here, are made up of ten to fifteen members. Each dragoon have a leader called a kinbok."
"There are six of us here because there are six dragoons who live here," the first dragon who greeted us explained. "Now, what brings you three here and how did you know to come here?"
"Fenris and his wolf pack told us," I explain. "I was one of those who helped them escape their magical enslavement. They have been one of our allies since."
"I imagine, then, you are Embers-On-Wind?" One of the kinboks who hadn't spoken asked quietly. I nodded. "We have heard of you. Can you explain what has been happening in the outside world? The wolves could not as they didn't fully understand what has been happening." The light blue dragon kept his pink eyes on us, waiting patiently.
Thirak and I exchanged looks, both wondering where to start. I tilted my head at Thirak who bared his teeth, but nodded. "A few years ago," he began, "my rider and I found a dragon who called herself Alvah. She said she needed our help and that she had been hurt by evil beings. I was young back then and I knew little of the world. We lent her our aid. That was a mistake."
I picked up the explanation. "Much more recently, my rider and I were kicked out of one of the academies. We knew something was wrong and gathered our strength and allies. Some of our friends escaped the academy, months later, and found us. They told us that the leader of the academy had been killed and that one rider-dragon pair had risen above everyone. They said that everything was in chaos and people were either fleeing for their lives or submitting. We started spreading rumours and gaining power, gaining momentum. We took back villages and towns that had already been conquered by our enemies and cut off important towns. In the end, it all came down to one final battle – which we lost." I fell quiet; my voice no longer worked with my throat so choked up.
"Alvah came onto the battlefield for the first time," Thirak continued softly, and I wanted to snarl at him for the grief in his voice. What was he mourning? He had been the one to kill and kill and murder! This was his fault. He shouldn't grieve, shouldn't mourn, because everyone who died died because of him!
"She was an unstoppable force. The others had no way of winning against her. They weren't prepared for such a strong force. The battle was long, but the outcome was expected. The riders were all killed – all the ones who had been on the other side, at least. The dragons were taken into captivity and chained in cells. We were all forced to fight one another without a choice. It was fight or die. However, Seeryath and I met, and from there a plan started to form. Eventually, we had a moment where we had a chance to escape, so we did. Escape, that is."
"Fourteen of us remain," I continued, "Fourteen of so, so many." I closed my eyes against the grief, breathed out, then continued. "We have all fled, separating into small groups in order to survive. The others are all going into hiding. They will wait for my call and then aid us. Thirak and I knew we couldn't give up the fight, and have to continue gaining strength, gaining power, finding our allies – new and old. That's how we found Azrael. We were trying to find a place to rest."
"We will help you," the maroon kinbok told us. None of the dragons had even conferred, instantly agreeing to help. "We have our own grievances with Alvah."
"There's a valley with the skeletons of numerous dragons," Azrael said, "in this mountain range." He doesn't ask a question, but the question he wanted to ask is heard regardless.
"Our old home," another kinbok, this one a red colour, said bitterly. "We once had greater numbers. However, Alvah came and she didn't hesitate to kill anyone who didn't submit to her. All of us here had already managed to escape. We all knew it was futile to remain and Alvah never knew our numbers. We took those who could come. Those who remained promised to do their best to keep Alvah from getting to the eggs that were near hatching – we couldn't move those. They failed, which we expected but had hoped otherwise. The only way to keep Alvah from getting those eggs would have been by smashing them. That is something no dragon can stomach."
"We didn't fight in the war. We had gone into hiding, into isolation, years beforehand. We hadn't wanted to deal with the humans, and so left the war before it had even started. We had kept in contact with a few other colonies as we split up due to our numbers," the dragon who had first met us said, red eyes watching us.
"Are there any other colonies around?" I asked, hopeful.
"No," the green-blue kinbok said, dashing my hopes. "We are the only ones left."
There was a pause, before Thirak asked, "What did you mean, earlier, when you mentioned telepathy?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is this the start of a lot of world building? You bet it is! You guys have to wait 20 days until the next update, and I will have finished almost all my SACs and be prepping for my exams at that point. Currently, I enjoy spending nights stressing about failing exams and not getting the ATAR required to get into my course, and I still don't know what I want to do.
Stress is something guys - hope you all are looking after yourselves!
SilentSilverSlip/Gabby is out to go highlighting with all seven highlighters
Edited: 2/02/2021