Wings Of Fire: Closing Eyes (Prequel To The Last Day Series)

Exo - 29

    Exo was hating pretty much everything right now.

    And she hated how selfish that sounded.

    Although she cared about Bloom, Crevasse, and Splinter (and maybe Landslide), she felt numb to the grief everyone around her was feeling. She couldn't grasp the idea that she had technically lost loved ones, but it didn't feel like she had.

    Exo could feel Jellyfish stirring on her arms and lifted her chin up to let the little dragon up. Her side was warm where it had been leaning against Crab, the other side was cold and wet and achy. She pricked her ears and listened. Talon steps nearby, with the small wooden clicks and clanks- Epiphyte, talking to someone. A tail swish and a quiet clattering- like the tail of a SandWing.

    Exo slowly got up as Jellyfish clambered off to wake up her friends. She seemed very quiet for her age.

    "Hey," Exo said, carefully walking up to Beige and Epiphyte. They both twitched as if they were startled. "Sorry." She sat beside them. "I'm not interrupting or anything, am I?"

    "No, no," Epiphyte said, yawning. The fog clung to Exo's scales and wings.

    "How were you feeling?" Beige asked, brushing her wing with his. "With... everything happening."

    "I'm alright," Exo said. "I mean, it's horrible, but I don't think I'm as impacted as much as you guys are. I wasn't really that close to anyone the dragons we've lost."

    Exo felt the tension rise in Beige's wings. "I mean, I miss them and I'm scared for the future... but I don't know how to express that."

    "Oh," Beige said, relaxing. "I get that. We're all here for each other, remember."

    "Yeah," Exo said.

     Seagulls were crying in the sky. It felt so weirdly peaceful here. 

     "Are we all awake?" Cab called from the rest of the dragons.

     "I guess," Agate grumped from next to him. Exo's face twitched. 

     "Can we walk today?" Jellyfish piped up. "I don't want to be that high for a while."

     "Sure," Crab said. "Let's get a move on?"

     Beige, Epiphyte, and Exo sighed as they caught up to Crab and Agate, setting out on their trek again. The rocks stabbed into Exo's talons, which hurt. It was hard walking across such uneven terrain, especially when she couldn't see where she was walking. Rocks tumbled and tilted from under her talons, and more often than not someone had to help wretch her talon out of a hole. She was dragging them behind.

     Exo could hear the annoyed sighs every time she asked for help, even though the rest of the group was nice to her while freeing her.

     Eventually, the rocks turned to spiky tufts of grass. Pine needles tickled Exo's back as she followed her friends in the undergrowth. The fog was long gone from Exo's scales.

     "There's something up ahead," Beige said quietly. He put a talon on Exo's shoulder and she stopped.

    "It looks like a cabin!" Agate said, smiling through her voice. "Gosh, I hope they have food."

    There was the sound of talons rapping on wood, and the door creaked open.

    "Oh," Crab said. "It's open." Crab tapped Exo with his tail to come forward. "Hello?"

    The inside smelled damp and musty like it had been out here for a while. It was cold, and the wood under Exo's talons felt soft and rotting.

    "Oh, yuck," Agate grumped. "Wicked spider. Watch out, Beige."