Where Smoke Bleeds Gold

Chapter Four - Horizons

The horizon seemed to loom only further away as I flew for what seemed like seasons.
"Just suck it up a little longer," I told myself, eyes slipping shut. I tried to steady my breath but every breath felt harder. I blinked my eyes open, checking to see I wasn't flying too low. I was using Avalanche like a shield, letting her split the wind while I flew behind her. The cold winds were slicing my eyes, unlike in the desert. It was strange here, it felt so much colder. Like every day was getting a little colder than before.
I sighed, looking up to Avalanche again. She was starting to slow down, I couldn't tell why. I slid out from behind her, getting blasted by the harsh wind. I straightened my wings, each digit feeling increasingly tired.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I flew beside her, almost touching wingtips. I suddenly bit my tongue. What if something wasn't wrong? I probably shouldn't have assumed. Maybe she wasn't the kind of dragon to appreciate being cared for. Maybe she liked being seen as someone who didn't have problems. Had I hurted her ego? She was taking a long time to respond. What if-
"No, nothing's wrong," She said, opening her eyes. Were they closed the whole time? How was she that good at flying? Flicker always told me that she had to focus on everything around her when she was flying. That's what I was doing, and I even was falling behind and dipping into the trees.
"I'm just tired," She smiled. Although she stopped talking for a moment my eyes lingered on her. She was so much bigger than me. She was taller, brawnier, probably even stronger too.
"How do you do that?" I asked, noticing her eyes closed and a smirk on her face.
"What do you mean?" She asked, staring at me, looking genuinely curious. "Being amazing in general or just able to fly with my eyes closed?" She said with a sharp smile. Her teeth looked just as sharp and clean, too. It almost made me want to smile. A look in her eye already told me that she knew which I meant. I looked away, suddenly remembering how my crooked smile looked. But I held back an answer, making sure to hide my teeth.
"Just teasing," She said as I looked away. "FrostScales have quills on their tails," She said, raising her tail to show me the various blue spikes on her tail.
"I listen to them when I'm flying," She said, letting her tail fall back behind her. "If they make too much noise, it means I'm not following the wind. When flying in blizzards or other harsh storms, you can go blind with a shard of ice, my flight teachers told me that's why we evolved to have them," She said, shaking her tail. Teachers like at school? I wondered. I held my tongue, afraid to ask. I never went to school. Flicker was the only one to teach me how to read and such.
"That's cool," I said, hiding my smile.
"It's actually pretty cold," Avalanche said. I looked up at her, wondering if she was joking. As our eyes met she winked, flashing her icy blue eyes. A laugh escaped my teeth as I watched her.
"You have the prettiest smile," She said. I suddenly swung my wings, knocking my dark red wing against hers. My face burned as I looked away. Starshine was just far enough to be out of earshot.
"Uhm, whataboutQuake?" I stuttered before Avalanche could say anything. My wings swung clumsily struggling to stay afloat. "Shouldn't we wait for her?" I said, keeping my face behind my wings. A moment of silence passed before Avalanche said anything. Starshine was already slowing down beside us as she spoke.
"She's fine, she can run fast," Avalanche said. I couldn't read her voice, but I guess I was never able to get a hint from Flicker or my mom, either.
"I think I'm going to walk with her," I said, desperately trying to ignore the heat from my Firehorn. "My wings are tired," I muttered, diving toward the trees. The leaves whipped my face as I held my breath, hoping to hold the fire in to keep from lighting the trees. I crashed into a fallen log, crunching my teeth together.
"Help," A voice muttered. I sat up quickly. A black and white tail laid just a few claw lengths away. I stared at it blankly for a moment.
"Starshine?" I whispered as the tail slid slowly away.
"Flare!" Quake barked. I looked at her quickly. "Are you okay?" She asked. I thought about this for a moment.
"Yea," I said, ignoring the metallic taste in my mouth. I turned back to Strashine, but he was already gone.
"Let's hurry, Avalanche and Starshine are already flying away," Quake said.
"But," I began. Quake turned to me. She didn't seem angry. Yet. Her solid black eyes watched me to a point. "Nevermind," I said nervously. I was probably just tired, seeing things.
Avalanche wasn't lying about Quake being fast. She was already out of the trees, several steps away before I could even get up off the log. She was always just a wingspan away from me, even at my fastest. My tail kept whacking against roots and rocks. I wanted to stop, catch my breath, but Quake never asked me to run with her. I didn't deserve to make them stop. My eyes felt heavy as my wings kept knocking into trees. My talons felt sore, now more than ever.
I looked up to see the trees begin to clear. I shut my eyes for the last few steps. I collapsed as the ground beneath my talons felt different. I could hear the whistling as Starshine and Avalanche began plummeting toward the ground. My talons gripped the sand beneath me. It felt cool against my agitated scales.
"Next time I think you should stick to flying, little whelp," Quake laughed, pulling something together. Something didn't feel quite right. My scales shifted against the sand as I realized what it was. I jumped up, looking around to the golden sand as the sun began dipping at the horizon. I was about to begin rambling about the desert when I noticed the giant pool ahead of us. The water seemed to stretch forever.
"You care to help?" Quake asked, placing stones around a pile of sticks. Avalanche began rummaging through the box Quake had carried while Starshine laid down beside the campfire. I watched her for a moment, not wanting to ask "Me?" In case it upset her just as much as it did my mother. I scooched a little closer to the fireplace. I held my Firehorn to one of the sticks, letting it spark.
"Everything's here," Avalanche said, closing the crate again. "Welp, I'm tired, is anyone else ready to fall asleep?" She asked, swiveling her head over to the rest of us. Starshine was already laying by the fire, flicking his tail contently.
"I'm going to stay up a little," Quake said, shrugging away stares as she walked over to the shore. I wanted to object, my stomach was in knots. I have been doing so much in the past few days, more than I have ever done before. Didn't I need something? I laid back, trying to calm down my belly.
"I'm tired," I lied, closing my eyes.
"Okay," Avalanche said quietly. I held onto her voice for a moment. Like a sweet melody. "Goodnight," She said. I pretended that farewell was just for me. No one else. That she was saying "Until we wake," Just to me. I squirmed a little, a bit excited. Why? Why was I acting so weird?
I sighed, laying into the warm sand as the cold winds continued to nip at my scales.
"Goodnight," I told her.

Blinking away the darkness, talons gripped onto my face. It was so cold. Colder than what was okay. I looked at Avalanche, just a few claw lengths from my face. Cold water lapped at my talons.
"It's cold," I said, a bit too sleepy to realize what I was saying. Her dark blue face pointed up in a clean smile.
"But I know you like the cold," She said, gently pulling me closer into the water.
"Yea," I agreed quietly, following her into the water. The water now purled against my belly.
"How much do you like it?" She asked, her eyes looking just a bit off.
"It's strange," I said, stopping just as Avalanche revealed her glittering wings. "Strange like you," I said, smiling dumbfoundedly.
"Do you like strange things?" Avalanche asked, getting dangerously close. I took another step into the water, wincing as it bubbled around my neck.
"As much as you are pretty," I smiled, blinking the dark away, but it was already back and eating me away.

Hey there! I'm Lime, otherwise known as the author of this book. I know there aren't many people reading this yet, but if you come this far, please comment and vote so I can see anything I need to change. I know this isn't your typical Wattpad story, but if even one person gets this far in, I vow to do a better job publishing regularly. In the mean time, here's chapter five right along with it!
Thank you for reading!